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The increased volume of rumors and attention on related topics during the COVID-19 pandemic have had a significant negative social impact. To combat rumors, it is crucial to study the actors involved in their spread. In this study, we first introduce prospect theory and construct an evolutionary game model between network operators and government regulators. We investigate collusion between network operators and Internet rumormongers as well as the regulatory behavior of government agencies. Second, we use prospect value to replace traditional expected utility to construct a profit prospect matrix and apply the dynamic replicator equation to analyze the equilibrium stability of the model. The stability conditions of the game between the two parties are closely related to the government's regulatory costs, and the strength of government punishment after collusion is detected. Finally, we propose relevant countermeasures against collusion problems during the network rumor control period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the effects of family functioning on problem behaviour among Chinese preschool children, 1,025 preschool parents were assessed using the family assessment device, child problem behaviour scale, and parent–child relationship scale through a random sampling method. Based on the McMaster model of family functioning and the Process Person Context Time model, this study analysed the relationships between family functioning and children's problem behaviour, taking into account the mediating role of the mother–child relationship. The results showed that preschool problem behaviour was significantly positively correlated with mother–child conflict and significantly negatively correlated with mother–child intimacy. In particular, mother–child conflict played a mediating role between family functioning and problem behaviour in preschool children. The results of this study suggest that improving family functioning and reducing mother–child conflict play an important role in reducing the incidence of problem behaviour among Chinese preschool children and promoting their healthy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to translate and culturally adapt the standardized outcomes in nephrology–hemodialysis fatigue (SONG–HD fatigue) scale and to assess the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the SONG–HD fatigue (C-SONG–HD fatigue) scale. Methods: Forward and back translations were used to translate the SONG–HD fatigue scale into Chinese. We used the C-SONG–HD fatigue scale to survey Chinese patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) in China. We examined the distribution of responses and floor and ceiling effects. Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega coefficient, intraclass coefficients, and Spearman correlations were used to assess internal consistency reliability, test–retest reliability, and convergent validity, respectively. Responsiveness was also evaluated. Results: In total, 489 participants across southeast China, northwest China, and central China completed the study. The C-SONG–HD fatigue scale had good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient 0.861, omega coefficient 0.916), test–retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient 0.695), and convergent validity (Spearman correlation 0.691). The analysis of all first-time HD patients did not show notable responsiveness, and only patients with temporary vascular access had good responsiveness with an effect size (ES) of 0.54, a standardized response mean (SRM) of 0.85, and a standard error of measurement (SEM) of 0.77. Conclusion: The Chinese version of the SONG–HD fatigue scale showed satisfactory reliability and validity in patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) in China. It could be used as a tool to measure the fatigue of Chinese HD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study intended to compare the difference between the anterior talofibular ligament (ATFL) and posterior talofibular ligament (PTFL) angle with chronic ankle instability (CAI) patients and healthy volunteers, and to confirm whether using the ATFL–PTFL angle could be a reliable assessment method for CAI, so as to improve the accuracy and specificity of clinical diagnosis. Methods: This retrospective study included 240 participants: 120 CAI patients and 120 healthy volunteers between 2015 and 2021. The ATFL–PTFL angle of the ankle region was gaged in the cross-sectional supine position on MRI between two groups. After participants undergoing a comprehensive MRI scanning, ATFL–PTFL angles were regarded as the main indicator of patients with the injured ATFLs and healthy volunteers to compare, and were measured by an experienced musculoskeletal radiologist. Moreover, other qualitative and quantitative indicators referring to anatomical and morphological characteristics of the AFTL were included in this study with MRI, such as the length, width, thickness, shape, continuity, and signal intensity of the ATFL, which can be used as secondary indicators. Results: In the CAI group, the ATFL–PTFL angle was 90.8° ± 5.7°, which was significantly different from the non-CAI group where the ATFL–PTFL angle for 80.0° ± 3.7° (p < 0.001). As for the ATFL-MRI characteristics, the length (p = 0.003), width (p < 0.001), and thickness (p < 0.001) in the CAI group were also significantly different from the non-CAI group. Over 90% of the cases, patients of the CAI group had injured ATFL with an irregular shape, non-continuous, and high or mixed signal intensity. Conclusion: Compared with healthy people, the ATFL–PTFL angle of most CAI patients is larger, which can be used as a secondary index to diagnose CAI. However, the MRI characteristic changes of ATFL may not relate to the increased ATFL–PTFL angle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To investigate the relationship between the prevalence of antinuclear antibody (ANA) ‐associated rheumatic diseases (AARD) and the presence of dense fine speckled (DFS) and homogeneous patterns in ANA tests. Methods: This retrospective study enrolled adult patients with either a DFS or homogeneous pattern in their ANA test. A mixed pattern was defined as the presence of more than one pattern reported in the test. The presence of anti‐DFS70 antibodies and other common autoantibodies were detected using EUROLINE ANA Profile 23. A 1:2 propensity score matching was applied to control for demographic and other interfering factors. Results: A total of 59 patients with a DFS pattern were enrolled and compared with a matched homogeneous group. The DFS group had a significantly lower prevalence of AARD (3.4% vs. 16.9%, p =.008) and the subgroup with anti‐DFS70 antibodies showed an even lower prevalence (2% vs. 20%, p =.002). Among the 33 patients with monospecific anti‐DFS70 antibodies, five had a mixed pattern, and all patients with common autoantibodies had an isolated DFS pattern. Conclusions: The findings of this study suggest that patients with a DFS pattern in their ANA test may have a lower prevalence of AARD compared with those with a homogeneous pattern. However, an isolated DFS pattern in ANA testing does not necessarily indicate the presence of monospecific anti‐DFS70 antibodies or AARD. Confirmatory testing for the monospecific anti‐DFS70 antibody is mandatory to exclude AARD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a devastating disease with high morbidity and mortality worldwide. We have previously shown that ferroptosis contributes to neuronal loss in ICH mice. The overload of iron and dysfunction of glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPx4) promote neuronal ferroptosis post-ICH. However, how epigenetic regulatory mechanisms affect the ferroptotic neurons in ICH remains unclear. In the current study, hemin was used to induce ferroptosis in N2A and SK-N-SH neuronal cells to mimic ICH. The results showed that hemin-induced ferroptosis was accompanied by an increment of global level of trimethylation in histone 3 lysine 9 (H3K9me3) and its methyltransferase Suv39h1. Transcriptional target analyses indicated that H3K9me3 was enriched at the promoter region and gene body of transferrin receptor gene 1 (Tfr1) and repressed its expression upon hemin stimulation. Inhibition of H3K9me3 with inhibitor or siRNA against Suv39h1 aggravated hemin- and RSL3-induced ferroptosis by upregulating Tfr1 expression. Furthermore, Suv39h1-H3K9me3 mediated repression of Tfr1 contributes to the progression of ICH in mice. These data suggest a protective role of H3K9me3 in ferroptosis post ICH. The knowledge gained from this study will improve the understanding of epigenetic regulation in neuronal ferroptosis and shed light on future clinical research after ICH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ocular blood flow provides a new perspective for studying the effects of diabetes and ischemic heart disease on systemic blood flow, pathological mechanisms, and prognosis. Previous studies have analyzed the hemodynamic changes of the ophthalmic artery (OA) in patients with diabetes and ischemic heart disease, but the results remain controversial due to limited observation methods. We aimed to explore the morphological and hemodynamic features in the OA in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) with and without acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Methods: In total, 134 participants, including 30 control participants, 34 with ACS only, 34 with T2D only, and 36 with both ACS and T2D, undergoing computed tomography angiography were enrolled. Three-dimensional OA models were reconstructed, and morphological parameters of the OA were measured. In addition, numerical simulations using computational fluid dynamics were used to acquire hemodynamic parameters of the OA. Results: In this study, 134 OA models were reconstructed. Morphological measurements revealed a smaller initial OA diameter in the T2D group than in the other two ACS groups. A hemodynamic simulation showed a significantly lower OA blood velocity in patients with ACS and T2D than that in controls (P < 0.001). The mass flow ratios in all disease groups were lower than those in the control group (P < 0.001, P = 0.020, and P < 0.001, respectively). The ACS and T2D groups had higher OA pressure levels than those of the control group (P = 0.013). The OA blood velocity and mass flow ratio were correlated with several clinical parameters. Conclusions: This study revealed morphological and hemodynamic differences in the OA between patients with T2D with and without ACS. Furthermore, the hemodynamic characteristics of the OA correlated with clinical prognostic biomarkers, suggesting the potential predictive ability of the OA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ocular blood flow provides a new perspective for studying the effects of diabetes and ischemic heart disease on systemic blood flow, pathological mechanisms, and prognosis. Previous studies have analyzed the hemodynamic changes of the ophthalmic artery (OA) in patients with diabetes and ischemic heart disease, but the results remain controversial due to limited observation methods. We aimed to explore the morphological and hemodynamic features in the OA in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) with and without acute coronary syndrome (ACS).Methods: In total, 134 participants, including 30 control participants, 34 with ACS only, 34 with T2D only, and 36 with both ACS and T2D, undergoing computed tomography angiography were enrolled. Three-dimensional OA models were reconstructed, and morphological parameters of the OA were measured. In addition, numerical simulations using computational fluid dynamics were used to acquire hemodynamic parameters of the OA.Results: In this study, 134 OA models were reconstructed. Morphological measurements revealed a smaller initial OA diameter in the T2D group than in the other two ACS groups. A hemodynamic simulation showed a significantly lower OA blood velocity in patients with ACS and T2D than that in controls (P < 0.001). The mass flow ratios in all disease groups were lower than those in the control group (P < 0.001, P = 0.020, and P < 0.001, respectively). The ACS and T2D groups had higher OA pressure levels than those of the control group (P = 0.013). The OA blood velocity and mass flow ratio were correlated with several clinical parameters.Conclusions: This study revealed morphological and hemodynamic differences in the OA between patients with T2D with and without ACS. Furthermore, the hemodynamic characteristics of the OA correlated with clinical prognostic biomarkers, suggesting the potential predictive ability of the OA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long noncoding (lnc)RNAs are reported to be key regulators of tumor progression, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The lncRNA long intergenic noncoding RNA 00673 (LINC00673) was indicated to play an important role in HCC progression, but the impacts of genetic variants (single-nucleotide polymorphisms, SNPs) of LINC00673 on HCC remain unclear. A TaqMan allelic discrimination assay was performed to analyze the genotypes of three tagging SNPs, viz., rs9914618 G > A, rs6501551 A > G, and rs11655237 C > T, of LINC00673 in 783 HCC patients and 1197 healthy subjects. Associations of functional SNPs of LINC00673 with HCC susceptibility and clinicopathologic variables were analyzed by logistic regression models. After stratification by confounding factor, we observed that elderly patients (≥60 years) with the LINC00673 rs9914618 A allele had an increased risk of developing HCC under a codominant model (p = 0.025) and dominant model (p = 0.047). Moreover, elderly patients carrying the GA + AA genotype of rs9914618 exhibited a higher risk of having lymph node metastasis compared to those who were homozygous for the major allele (p = 0.013). Genotype screening of rs9914618 in HCC cell lines showed that cells carrying the AA genotype expressed higher LINC00673 levels compared to the cells carrying the GG genotype. Further analyses of clinical datasets from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) showed that LINC00673 expressions were upregulated in HCC tissues compared to normal tissues, and were correlated with advanced clinical stages and poorer prognoses. In conclusions, our results suggested that the LINC00673 rs9914618 polymorphism may be a promising HCC biomarker, especially in elderly populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the first endoplasmic reticulum-targeted near-infrared fluorescent probe, ISO-Chy, with a dicyanoisophorone derivative as a fluorophore is reported by introducing the recognition group of 4-bromobutyl for chymotrypsin detection. The probe can be easily synthesized and has shown satisfactory sensitivity and selectivity to chymotrypsin. Meanwhile, ISO-Chy has a large Stokes shift (135 nm) to minimize self-absorption and interference from autofluorescence and then generate significant fluorescence enhancement upon incubation with chymotrypsin. Additionally, ISO-Chy has an excellent ability to target the endoplasmic reticulum, along with preferable Pearson's correlation coefficients (Rr) of 0.9411 and 0.9522 in P815 cells and HepG2 cells, respectively. Moreover, ISO-Chy was successfully utilized to visualize endogenous chymotrypsin in P815 cells and HepG2 cells and was first used to detect chymotrypsin activity in HepG2 tumor-bearing mice. These findings indicate that ISO-Chy could be an effective tool for detecting endogenous chymotrypsin activity, supporting its use for investigating chymotrypsin function in pathologic processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By using ionosonde data recorded at Chiang Mai (18.8° N, 98.9° E, magnetic latitude is 9.1° N), Puer (22.7° N, 101.1° E, magnetic latitude is 12.9° N), and Leshan (29.6° N, 103.7° E, magnetic latitude is 19.8° N), the statistical features of different types of spread F (SF) occurrence at low and middle latitudes were analyzed in this study. The results showed that the SF occurrence had obvious local time, latitude, and SF-type variations. The range spread F (RSF) occurrence in equinox months decreased with the increase in latitude, while the frequency spread F's (FSF) occurrence rate in the summer months increased and the onset time of FSF became earlier when the latitude increased. The generation of SF depends on the SF type. A plasma bubble excited by the generalized Rayleigh–Taylor instability (GRT) at the equator is more likely to produce RSF, while nighttime medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs) induced by Perkins instability at middle latitudes is the main reason for the generation of FSF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An aerobic 15N microcosmic experiment was conducted to compare the inhibitory effects of the biological nitrification inhibitor (BNI), methyl 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl) propionate (MHPP) at rates of 500 and 1000 mg kg−1 with the synthetic nitrification inhibitor 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) at 1% of applied NH4+, on the gross nitrification rate (n_gross) and on the abundance and community composition of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) of two contrasting soils (pH: 5.10 vs. 8.15, clay content 17.8 vs. 30.8). DMPP inhibited 56.6% of n_gross in the acidic soil and 50.3% in the calcareous soil, whereas MHPP inhibited 18.3–55.5% of n_gross in the acidic soil and 14.1–20.2% in the calcareous soil. MHPP used at the high rate showed the same inhibition on n_gross as DMPP in the acidic soil but not in the calcareous soil. DMPP and MHPP likely regulated n_gross by causing niche differentiation between AOA and AOB. Moreover, the community composition of AOB was more sensitive to nitrification inhibitor application than that of AOA, particularly in the acidic soil. However, the response of AOB community composition was less sensitive to the application of MHPP than to that of DMPP. MHPP mainly targeted Nitrosospira clusters 3a.2, 3b.2, and 9 of the AOB in the acidic soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY: Standardized naming systems are essential to integrate and unify distinct research fields, and to link multi‐species data within and across kingdoms. We conducted a comprehensive survey of cytoplasmic ribosomal proteins (CRPs) in the dicot model Arabidopsis thaliana and the monocot model rice, noting that the standardized naming system has not been widely adopted in the plant community. We generated a database linking the old classical names to their updated and compliant names. We also explored the sequences, molecular evolution, and structural and functional characteristics of all plant CRP families, emphasizing evolutionarily conserved and plant‐specific features through cross‐kingdom comparisons. Unlike fungal CRP paralogs that were mainly created by whole‐genome duplication (WGD) or retroposition under a concerted evolution mode, plant CRP genes evolved primarily through both WGD and tandem duplications in a rapid birth‐and‐death process. We also provide a web‐based resource (http://www.plantcrp.cn/) with the aim of sharing the latest knowledge on plant CRPs and facilitating the continued development of a standardized framework across the entire community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The MIR2118 family has undergone tremendous expansion in the grass lineage, in which the miRNA targets numerous noncoding PHAS loci to produce 21‐nt phased small interfering RNAs (phasiRNAs) involved in male fertility. However, the evolutionary trajectory of the grass MIR2118 genes and the functions of phasiRNAs have not yet been fully elucidated.We conducted comparative genomic, molecular evolution, expression and parallel analysis of RNA ends (PARE) analyses of MIR2118 and the miR2118‐mediated regulatory pathway in grasses, focusing on Oryza sativa.In total, 617 MIR2118 and eight MIR1859 novel members were identified. Phylogenetic analyses showed that grass MIR2118 genes form a distinct clade from the MIR482/2118 genes of nongrass species. We reconstructed hypothetical evolutionary histories of the grass MIR2118 clusters and its MIR1859 variants, and examined the polycistronic composition and the differential expression of the osa‐MIR2118 clusters. PARE data showed that osa‐miR2118 might also direct the cleavage of some protein‐coding gene transcripts. Importantly, we found that PARE analysis is inherently prone to false‐positive target predictions when a large number of small RNAs, such as phasiRNAs, are analysed.Our results revealed the evolution and diversification of the MIR2118 family, and provide new insights into the functions of phasiRNAs in the grasses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Fracture resistance of PICN VE was positively associated with specimen thicknesses. • 0.8 mm PICN VE on stiff substrate could withstand static heavy force 800 N loading. • 2.0 mm PICN VE on stiff substrate could withstand 800 N sliding motion. • PICN VE on soft substrate was not recommended for clinical use in bruxism. To determine the minimum thickness required for a monolithic hybrid ceramic crown on different substrates (soft vs stiff) used in posterior dentition for bruxism. 80 polymer-infiltrated ceramic networks Vita Enamic (PICN VE) disc specimens with four different occlusal thicknesses (0.8, 1.2, 1.6 and 2.0 mm), were produced using a computer-aided design/manufacturing system, and cemented on a stiff (zirconia) or soft (polyamide) substrate of 4-mm thickness. The ten specimens, in soft or stiff groups, were subjected to compressive loading by a MTS machine until fracture or maximum load (4500 N) was reached. The unbroken specimens were examined using optical coherence tomography. Eight axisymmetric finite element models and eight 3D models comprising the four different occlusal thicknesses and two substrates under different vertical loads and sliding movements were constructed. The maximum principal stress was selected to evaluate the stress distribution in this study. The fracture resistance of the specimens was significantly different between the two substrates (P < 0.001). Fracture resistance was positively associated with specimen thickness (r = 0.597 and 0.896 for the soft and stiff substrate respectively). Specimens on the soft substrate had lower fracture loads, whilst cone cracks were observed in unbroken samples on different soft/stiff substrate prior to final fracture. The finite element analysis confirmed that samples on the stiff substrate had lower maximum principal stress values than those on the soft substrate. For the maximum principal stress not to exceed the flexural strength of PICN VE, a stiff substrate and minimum thickness of 2.0 mm are required for the prostheses. A minimum 2.0 mm thick, stiff substrate was needed for bruxism as shown by the effect of high/large chewing force on the posterior dentition of monolithic PICN VE crowns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The fibroblast growth factor receptor substrate 2 (FRS2) gene is located close to MDM2 and CDK4 within the 12q13-15 chromosomal region. FRS2 gene was recently found to be consistently amplified in atypical lipomatous tumor (ALT)/well-differentiated liposarcoma (WDL) and dedifferentiated liposarcoma (DDL), suggesting the detection of FRS2 amplification could be a diagnostic tool for ALT/WDL/DDLs. However, the expression of FRS2 protein and diagnostic value of FRS2 immunohistochemistry (IHC) has not been evaluated in a large cohort of ALT/WDL/DDLs. Methods: A SNOMED search of hospital surgical pathology files from January 2007 to July 2020 identified 182 ALT/WDL/DDLs with available materials. FRS2 fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and IHC were performed on 182 ALT/WDL/DDLs and 64 control samples. The expression of FRS2 was also compared with that of classic immunomarkers (MDM2 and CDK4) of this tumor entity. Results: This study included 91 ALT/WDLs and 91 DDLs. The FISH results showed 172 of 182 (94.5%) cases were FRS2-amplified, and 10 cases were FRS2-nonamplified. Immunostaining results showed 171 (94.0%) ALT/WDL/DDLs were positive for FRS2 and 11 cases (6.0%) were FRS2-immunonegative. In 172 FRS2-amplified cases, 166 (96.5%) were FRS2-immunopositive, and 6 (3.5%) were negative. Among 10 FRS2-nonamplified ALT/WDL/DDL cases, 5 cases were FRS2-immunonegative, and 5 tumors displayed 1+ staining for this marker. In 64 control cases, none of them exhibited FRS2 amplification. Forty-seven (73.5%) control cases were negative for FRS2 immunostaining, while 17 cases (26.5%) were FRS2-immunopositive. Fifteen of these false positive samples (15/17, 88.2%) showed 1+ positivity and only 2 cases (2/17, 11.8%) displayed 2+ positivity. In ALT/WDL/DDLs, the sensitivity of FRS2 immunostaining was slightly lower than MDM2 (FRS2 vs. MDM2: 94.0% vs 100.0%) and CDK4 (FRS2 vs. CDK4: 94.0% vs 97.0%). However, the specificity of FRS2 (73.5%) was slightly higher than that of MDM2 (67.8%) and CDK4 (64.4%). Conclusion: This study indicated that FRS2 IHC had relatively good consistency with FRS2 FISH, suggesting that FRS2 immunostaining could be utilized as an additional screening tool for the diagnosis of ALT/WDL/DDL. It must be emphasized that MDM2/CDK4/FRS2 especially MDM2 FISH remains the gold standard and the most recommended method to diagnose this entity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is one of the rare but lethal infectious complication in patients with SLE, manifesting progressive central nervous demyelination caused by JC virus (JCV). There have been no effective antiviral agents so far; however, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have been demonstrated as potential treatments by reinvigorating antiviral T-cell activity against JC virus. To date, sixteen PML cases treated with anti-PD-1 have been reported; however, there was no report addressing the use of ICI in patients with concomitant PML and rheumatic disease, possibly due to the concern for possible autoimmune disease flare-up. In addition, treatment outcomes of these ICI-treated cases were heterogeneous. Experiences from these cases suggested that high disease burden, JC viral load in CSF, and severe immunosuppression status at baseline may predict poor response to treatment. Our case, a 62-year-old woman with long-standing SLE, turned out to have a delayed but effective response to prolonged ICI treatment despite of her high JC viral load and immunosuppressed status caused by high-dose steroid and rituximab. To our knowledge, this is the first case report with SLE complicated with PML clinically improved by pembrolizumab treatment without consequent immune related adverse events (irAE). Considering the lethal nature of PML and absence of effective medication, ICI is a reasonable consideration in patients with SLE and progressive PML. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observed reddening in the circum-galactic medium (CGM) indicates a significant abundance of small grains, of which the origin is still to be clarified. We examine a possible path of small-grain production through shattering of pre-existing large grains in the CGM. Possible sites where shattering occurs on a reasonable time-scale are cool clumps with hydrogen number density n H ∼ 0.1 cm−3 and gas temperature T gas ∼ 104 K, which are shown to exist through observations of Mg ii absorbers. We calculate the evolution of grain size distribution in physical conditions appropriate for cool clumps in the CGM, starting from a large-grain-dominated distribution suggested from theoretical studies. With an appropriate gas turbulence model expected from the physical condition of cold clumps (maximum eddy size and velocity of ∼100 pc and 10 km s−1, respectively), together with the above gas density and temperature and the dust-to-gas mass ratio inferred from observations (0.006), we find that small-grain production occurs on a time-scale (a few × 108 yr) comparable to the lifetime of cool clumps derived in the literature. Thus, the physical conditions of the cool clouds are favourable for small-grain production. We also confirm that the reddening becomes significant on the above time-scale. Therefore, we conclude that small-grain production by shattering is a probable cause for the observed reddening in the CGM. We also mention the effect of grain materials (or their mixtures) on the reddening at different redshifts (1 and 2). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macronutrient limitation and increased solar exposure coincide with ocean warming‐enhanced stratification, with consequences for phytoplankton within the upper mixing layer. In this study, we grew a diatom, Thalassiosira punctigera, under nitrogen‐limited and replete conditions for more than 14 generations and investigated both the biochemical composition of treated cells and their photochemical responses to high light and UV exposure. The photosynthetic pigment and the particulate organic nitrogen (PON) content significantly decreased in the low nitrate grown cells, with drastic decline of the absorption of UV absorbing compounds. Under an acute exposure to high light or UV radiation, we observed a significant decline in the photochemical yield along with an increase of nonphotosynthetic quenching (NPQ), with the former lowered and the latter raised in the low‐nitrogen grown cells. The results reveal a decreased repair rate and enhanced photoinhibition of the diatom under nitrogen limitation when exposed to increased levels of light and UV radiation, suggesting a higher vulnerability of the diatom phytoplankton under influences of oceanic global change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Vasoconstriction is triggered by an increase in intracellular-free calcium concentration. Growing evidence indicates that contraction is also regulated by calcium-independent mechanisms involving RhoA-Rho kinase (ROCK), protein kinase C (PKC), and so on. In this study, we studied the changes of vascular reactivity as well as the underlying signaling pathways in aging spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs).Methods: The artery tension induced by α1-adrenergic receptor activator (α1-AR) phenylephrine (PE) was measured in the absence or presence of myosin light chain kinase (MLCK), PKC, and ROCK inhibitors. The α1-AR, PKC, ROCK, phosphorylation of myosin light chain (MLC), and PKC-potentiated phosphatase inhibitors of 17 kDa (CPI-17) of rat mesenteric arteries were analyzed at the mRNA level or protein level.Results: The vascular tension measurements showed that there was a significant increase in the mesenteric artery contraction induced by PE in old SHR. MLCK inhibitor ML-7 can similarly inhibit PE-induced vasoconstriction. PKC inhibitor GF109203X has the weakest inhibitory effect on PE-induced contraction in old SHR. At the presence of ROCK inhibitor H1152, PE-induced contraction was significantly reduced in young Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats, but this phenomenon disappeared in other rats. Furthermore, in old SHR the protein expression of α1-AR decreased and phosphorylation of MLC and CPI-17 were upregulated and MLC phosphatase (MLCP) activity was significantly lower. The expressions of PKC were upregulated in SHR and old rats. In addition, the expression of ROCK-1 was decreased and ROCK-2 was significantly upregulated with age in SHR.Conclusion: In aging hypertension, the expression/activity of PKC or ROCK-2/CPI-17 excessively increased, MLCP activity decreased and MLC phosphorylation enhanced, leading to increased α1-AR-induced vasoconstriction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for pleural recurrence of thymoma that was not suitable for surgery and had progressed after chemotherapy.Materials and Methods: From February 2012, consecutive patients with pleural recurrence of thymoma were prospectively enrolled. Due to dose restrictions to normal tissue (lung, liver, and kidney), 3 different levels of radiation doses (30 Gy, 40 Gy, and 50 Gy) were prescribed for pleural lesions of different sizes and locations, with a daily fraction dose of 2 Gy. The objective response rate, local control time (LCT), overall survival time, and toxicity were recorded, respectively.Results: By August 2016, 31 patients had completed the IMRT treatment. There were 21 male and 10 female patients, with a median age of 49 (range, 22-70) years. B3 thymoma was the major (62%) tumor subtype observed. During the median follow-up of 48 (24-70) months, the objective response rate was 97%, and the median LCT was 49 (95% confidence interval, 40.4-58.1) months. However, 29 (93.5%) patients developed out-of-field recurrence, among whom 10 (32%; 30 Gy, n = 7; 40 Gy, n = 3) developed both out-of-field and in-field recurrence. The median progression-free survival was 19 months, and no in-field recurrence occurred in the 50 Gy group. Moreover, a higher dose was related to a longer LCT. No toxicities higher than a grade 4 occurred after IMRT within the normal-tissue dose limitation. The 5-year overall survival of the patients was 81%.Conclusions: IMRT for pleural recurrence may act as an alternative treatment when surgery is not feasible, with a higher dose resulting in a longer LCT. In this study, out-of-field recurrence was considerably common, but repeated IMRT for new recurrence should be cautiously carried out due to the high risk of radiation-induced pneumonitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lunar surface has complex geomorphic characteristics. Since the lunar terrain entropy can reflect the amount of geomorphic information contained in the lunar terrain, this article uses the ratio of the elevation value of a local point on the lunar surface to the total elevation value of the neighborhood to calculate the local terrain entropy value of the Moon. Then, the hierarchical polishing splines algorithm is proposed to construct the digital terrain entropy model (DTEM) of the Moon, wherein the new algorithm produces a sequence of functions based on a hierarchy of coarse-to-fine control lattices to generate the modeling function, which has good modeling performance. Using the proposed algorithm, multiscale DTEMs of the Moon are constructed based on square moving windows with different sizes. From the lunar DTEMs, it can be found that the lunar terrain entropy is sensitive to the size of the square moving window and the resolution of lunar DEM, and the high-resolution lunar DTEM with suitable moving window can well show topographical variations. In addition, the lunar terrain entropy distribution models are created based on the lunar DTEMs, which is significantly important to the study of the lunar terrain entropy distribution law. Besides, two terrain parameters, i.e., surface roughness and surface slope, are selected to show that the geomorphic characteristics of the Moon can be well reflected by the lunar terrain entropy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Four stages of calcite were identified, varying from magmatic to hydrothermal. • LREE-rich carbonate melts and aboundant fluids were exsolved from alkaline magmas. • The REE was mainly transported as REE-sulfate complexes. • Deposition of REE was mainly induced by fluid boiling. • Ore-forming materials were derived from an enriched mantle modified by oceanic slab. The Weishan REE deposit, hosting more than one million tons of light REE oxides (LREE 2 O 3), is one of the largest LREE deposits in China. It has been considered to be a carbonatite-related REE deposit, but whether carbonatites occurred or not is still controversial, leading to the confusions of how the LREE originated and mineralized. Here, we conducted in-situ elemental and Sr-Nd isotopic analyses on different stages of calcite from the Weishan REE deposit, combined with petrographic and bulk C-O isotopic studies, with the aim to unravel the origin and mineralization processes of REE. Four stages of calcite (Cal-1, Cal-2, Cal-3 and Cal-4) were identified, of which the Cal-1 typically coexists with K-feldspar and quartz while the Cal-2 and Cal-3 coexist with sulfates and REE minerals (e.g., bastnäsite and parisite), respectively. The Cal-4 occurs in the post-ore veinlets and coexists with sulfides. The Cal-1 is characterized by exsolution of carbocernaite along its cleavage planes with highest Na, K, Sr, Ba and LREE contents. The other stages of calcite show continuous decrease of the above elements. Combined with petrographic features and elemental discrimination diagrams, it is concluded that the Cal-1 is magmatic while the others are hydrothermal. These calcites thus indicate a continuous magmatic-hydrothermal evolution. The four stages of calcite show similar isotopic compositions, which are consistent with those of the alkaline silicate rocks in the ore district, suggesting an uniform source or magma chamber for their derivation. Considering the magmatic features of Cal-1, it is inferred that carbonate melts coupled with abundant alkaline fluids were exsolved from the alkaline magmas. Alkalis (e. g., K and Na) were enriched in the magmatic-hydrothermal system with potassic metasomatism being more prevalent, which might play an important role in REE exsolution and transportation. Focused REE deposition occurred shortly after massive deposition of sulfates, indicating that REE-sulfate complexes might be the dominant transporting ligands of REE. The deposition of REE was mainly induced by fluid boiling, as indicated by the boiling/unmixing features of fluid inclusions. The Sr-Nd isotopic compositions of ores and associated alkaline rocks show affinities to the enriched lithospheric mantle (EM) beneath the study region, but are more depleted. Because subduction of the Paleo-Pacific oceanic plate beneath the eastern Asian occurred since the Jurassic, it is inferred that CO 2 - and REE-rich melts/fluids released from the subducted oceanic slab metasomatized the EM, leading to a REE-rich carbonated mantle. Rollback of the subducted slab occurred during the early Cretaceous, resulting in partial melting of the EM and thus generating the CO 2 - and REE-rich alkaline magmas. This deposit shows significant hydrothermal features with poorly-developed carbonatites, distinct from the typical carbonatite-related REE deposits in the other places. The REE mineralization is thus considered to be basically controlled by the alkaline magmas rather than the carbonatites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Barbaram (1), a neolactam together with other five known compunds (2–6) was isolated from the EtOAc-soluble fraction of an EtOH extract of the root and stem of Lycium barbarum by using silica gel, Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography and semi-preparative RP-C18 HPLC. Based on HR-TOF-MS, NMR spectral data, quantum chemistry ECD calculations and referencing to the data reported earlier, the structures of these compounds (1–6) were determined, specially including the absolute configuration of the neolactam (1). Compounds 2 and 4 showed significant anti-inflammatory activity in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 macrophages with the IC50 values of 8.98 ± 0.57 μM, 6.68 ± 0.77 μM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have systematically studied the high-pressure (up to 100 GPa) behavior of ammonia borane at 0 K using particle optimization algorithm combined with the first principles calculation. The long-unsolved high-pressure structures and a complete phase transition sequence were obtained: P6 3 mc → Pmn2 1 → P2 1 (Z = 2) → P2 1 (Z = 4) → C2/m → P2 1 /m, and the phase transition pressures are 1.23, 2.77, 11.9, 13.8, 22.34 GPa, respectively. The lack of imaginary phonon frequency effectively proves the rationality and dynamic stability of the above structures. The Raman modes calculated by density functional theory (DFT) reveals the evolution of the vibration mode under pressure, which is in good agreement with the experiment results. The analysis of dihydrogen bonds in ammonia borane shows the bonding mechanism of different high-pressure phase structures. Our research not only enriches the high-pressure phase structure of the ammonia borane system but also provides essential information for hydrogen storage materials. Image 1 • The high-pressure phase structures by structure search. • A complete phase transition sequence of ammonia borane at high pressure. • The structures of the experiment were confirmed by the comparison of Raman spectra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Accurate assessment of left ventricular (LV) systolic function is important after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). LV ejection fraction (LVEF) is conventionally used to evaluate LV systolic function; deformation parameters can be used to detect subtle LV systolic dysfunction. It is unclear whether an incised pericardium without sutures during CABG could affect LV morphology and function. We investigated the effect of pericardial incision on LV morphology and systolic function during CABG.Methods: Intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography was performed in 27 patients during elective off-pump beating heart CABG 5 min before and after pericardial incision. LV longitudinal and mid-cavity transversal diameters, sphericity index, volumes, and LVEF were measured. LV global longitudinal strain (GLS), global circumferential strain (GCS), global radial strain (GRS), and twist obtained by two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography were measured simultaneously.Results: LV mid-cavity transversal diameter increased, while the LV sphericity index decreased (P < 0.001) immediately after pericardial incision. The GLS, GCS, and twist significantly decreased, while the GRS notably increased (P < 0.001). The LV volumes and LVEF remained unchanged.Conclusions: Pericardial incision immediately transformed LV morphology from an ellipsoid to sphere, with decreased longitudinal and circumferential strain and twist, and increased radial strain, while LVEF remained unchanged. This should be considered when evaluating LV systolic function in patients after CABG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the evolution of galaxies and the circumgalactic medium (CGM) through cosmic time by correlating ∼50,000 Mg ii absorbers, tracers of cool gas (∼104 K), detected in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey quasar spectra with galaxies detected in the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys. By doing so, we extract the properties of galaxies associated with absorbers from redshift 0.4 to 1.3 with effectively ∼15,000 pairs and explore the covering fraction of Mg ii absorbers as a function of galaxy type, stellar mass, impact parameter, and redshift. We find that the gas covering fraction increases with stellar mass of galaxies by. However, after we normalize the impact parameter by the virial radius of dark matter halos, the gas profiles around galaxies with masses ranging from 109 to become weakly dependent on stellar mass. In addition, the gas distribution depends on galaxy type: the covering fraction within around star-forming galaxies is 2–4 times higher than that around passive galaxies at all redshifts. We find that the covering fraction of strong absorbers () around both types of galaxies evolves significantly with redshift, similarly to the evolution of star formation rate (SFR) of galaxies, while such an evolution is not detected for weak absorbers (). We quantify the H i mass traced by strong absorbers and find that the gas mass around galaxies evolves consistently with the SFR of galaxies. This result suggests that the properties of galaxies and their CGM coevolve through cosmic time. Finally, we discuss the origins of strong absorbers around passive galaxies and argue that its redshift evolution may trace the star formation activity of satellite galaxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the incidence of tubulointerstitial injury in lupus nephritis (LN) and to examine clinicopathological factors that could indicate the presence of tubulointerstitial injury. Methods: This study included 98 patients with LN. Clinical data and the pathological results of the initial renal biopsy were collected. Results: The frequency of each tubulointerstitial injury parameter was over 50%, except for the interstitial edema, in the 98 patients investigated in this study. The most frequently detected tubulointerstitial injury parameter was tubular atrophy in this study. Neutrophil infiltration/karyorrhexis, wire loop lesion, and arteriosclerosis were observed frequently in patients with tubulointerstitial injuries. High serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) were observed more frequently in patients with tubulointerstitial injuries except tubular degeneration. The multivariable regression analysis showed a relationship between neutrophil infiltration/karyorrhexis and interstitial fibrosis/tubular degeneration, a relationship between wire loop lesion and tubulointerstitial inflammation/edema, and a relationship between arteriosclerosis and tubulointerstitial injuries (except interstitial edema). Patients with tubular degeneration had lower D-Dimer levels compared with those without. Patients with interstitial fibrosis had higher blood leukocyte counts than those without. The rate of low response to therapy was 13% among those without tubulointerstitial inflammation, but 35% in those with interstitial inflammation (P = 0.03). Conclusion: Acute and chronic renal tubulointerstitial lesions are often found along with glomerular and vascular lesions. Immune and vascular factors are probably involved in tubulointerstitial injuries. Tubulointerstitial inflammation may be the initiator of chronic renal injury and may predict response to therapy. Key Points •To provide a theoretical basis for tubulointerstitial injury in LN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Three methods was proposed to automatic identification of spread F. • The comparison of three methods in scaling of ionogram was carried out. • The CNN might be the best method in automatic identification of spread F. Ionospheric spread-F (SF) is a commonly observed phenomenon of electron density perturbation in the F-layer. The ionospheric irregularities structure has an adverse effect on the propagation of electromagnetic waves in the ionosphere. The automatic identification of ionospheric spread-F and statistical study of the formation of spread-F are of great significance to the study of the physical mechanism of ionospheric inhomogeneity and for prediction of ionospheric irregularities. In this paper, we describe and implement three automatic identification methods of spread-F based on machine learning: decision tree, random forest, and convolutional neural network (CNN). The performance of these automatic identification methods was verified using a large set of test data. Results show that the accuracy of all three methods on identifying ionograms with spread-F exceeded 90%. After comparing the results of the three methods, we found that the decision tree method was the simplest and with the structure easiest to be understood, and it required the shortest interpretation time. In terms of the identification results, the random forest method provided better results than the decision tree method, and the CNN method was the best at accurately identifying ionograms with spread-F. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our previous study demonstrated that type II cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG II) inhibited epidermal growth factor (EGF) induced tyrosine phosphorylation/activation of the EGF receptor (EGFR). This paper was designed to investigate the mechanism of the inhibition of PKG II on EGFR activation. Gastric cancer cells HGC-27 and AGS were infected with an adenoviral vector encoding the cDNA of PKG II (Ad-PKG II) to overexpress PKG II and treated with 8-(4-chlorophenylthio) guanosine-3′,5′-cyclic monophosphate (8-pCPT-cGMP) to activate the kinase. Co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) assay were performed to detect the interaction between PKG II and EGFR. Western blotting, mass spectrometry (MS) and site mutagenesis were performed to detect the PKG II-specific phosphorylation site on EGFR. The results showed that in living COS-7 cells, which were infected with Ad-PKG II and treated with 8-pCPT-cGMP, there was an interaction between PKG II and EGFR. The results also showed that PKG II caused threonine 669 (T669) phosphorylation of EGFR in HGC-27 and AGS cells infected with Ad-PKG II and treated with 8-pCPT-cGMP, and then inhibited the activation of EGFR. When T669 of EGFR was mutated to alanine, the inhibitory effect of PKG II on the activation of EGFR was eradicated. These findings suggested a PKG II-specific phosphorylation site on EGFR, and might be beneficial to illuminate the anti-tumor role of PKG II. • Interaction between PKG II and EGFR was detected in living cells. • PKG II caused T669 phosphorylation of EGFR. • PKG II inhibited the activation of EGFR via phosphorylating its T669. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large eddy simulation (LES) model and wind tunnel experiments were used to investigate the wind-driven ventilation of monoslope greenhouses with ridge vents. The accuracy of the numerical simulation was verified by the results of wind tunnel experiments. The numerical model was then employed to systematically examine the influences of wind direction, opening configuration and greenhouse length on the cross ventilation. In addition, an analytic model, based on inviscid flow assumption and mass conservation, was used to compute the ventilation rate. The results showed that the total ventilation rates of the multi-span greenhouses with open ridge vents were much larger than that of with closed ridge vents. The windward ridge vent (directly facing the wind direction when θ = 180°) can substantially increase the ventilation rate of multi-span monoslope greenhouses, as compared to the leeward ridge vent when wind direction θ = 0°. In other words, to take full advantage of the wind-driven ventilation the ridge vents of the greenhouses should directly face the prevailing wind direction. The ventilation rates can be reduced by adjusting the degree of opening and the number of the operable ridge vents. • Wind-driven natural ventilation in multi-span greenhouse with ridge vent is studied. • Wind tunnel experiments, LES numerical and analytic model are used. • The ventilation rate decreases as the span number of greenhouse increases. • The ridge vents greatly enhance the ventilation when wind directly facing the vents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, two chiral nitronyl nitroxyl radicals, L1 and D1 , were synthesized and evaluated for their potential radioprotective properties in vitro and in vivo. We synthesized the new stable nitronyl nitroxide radicals, L1 and D1 , according to Ullman's method, and their chemical structures were characterized using UV-vis absorption, electron spin resonance (ESR), and circular dichroism (CD) spectra. The cytotoxicity of L1 and D1 on C6 glioma cells (C6 cells) was examined using the MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. To study the anti-radiation effects of L1 and D1 on C6 cells, we determined the optical density (OD) values of irradiated C6 cells using the MTT assay. The effects of L1 and D1 on the survival rate of mice after radiation exposure was evaluated. To demonstrate the influence of L1 and D1 pre-treatment on the antioxidant enzyme system, we studied the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), malondialdehyde (MDA), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH) in mouse plasma after exposure to 6.5 Gy gamma radiation. The results showed that L1 and D1 did not have any obvious cytotoxicity at concentrations below 125 μg mL−1. Moreover, L1 and D1 had the same cytotoxic effects on C6 cells. L1 and D1 significantly enhanced C6 cell survival after 8, 10, and 12 Gy radiation exposure, and there was no significant difference in the OD values between L1 and D1. The effects of these drugs on mouse survival rates were dose-dependent. Pre-treatment with different concentrations of L1 , D1 , or WR2721 significantly increased the activity of SOD, CAT, and GSH and significantly decreased the activity of MDA compared with radiation exposure only. In addition, the activities of SOD, CAT, and GSH in the L1 group were higher than those in the D1 group, whereas the activity of MDA was lower. Therefore, L1 and D1 have potential as safe and efficient therapeutic drugs against radiation damage. A pair of chiral nitronyl nitroxyl radicals, L1 and D1 , were synthesized and characterized using UV-vis absorption, ESR, and CD spectroscopy. They are good free radical scavengers and can be converted into their reduced form, hydroxylamine, in the redox process. Our findings showed that L1 and D1 are worthy of further study as potential therapeutic drugs against radiation damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop a semi-analytic model to explore the physical properties of cool pressure-confined circumgalactic clouds with mass ranging from 10 to |$10^{8} \, \rm M_{\odot }$| in a hot diffuse halo. We consider physical effects that control the motion and mass-loss of the clouds, and estimate the lifetime and the observed properties of individual cool gas clouds inferred from the cloudy simulation. Our results show that the cool pressure-confined gas clouds have physical properties consistent with absorption line systems with neutral hydrogen column densities |$N_{\rm H\,{\small I}}\ge 10^{18.5} \rm cm^{-2}$| such as strong metal absorbers, sub-damped Lyman alpha systems, and damped Lyman alpha systems. The cool circumgalactic clouds are transient due to evaporation and recycling and therefore a constant replenishment is needed to maintain the cool cirumgalactic medium (CGM). We further model the ensemble properties of the cool CGM with clouds originated from outflows, inflows, or/and in situ formation with a range of initial cloud mass function and velocity distribution. We find that only with a certain combination of parameters, an outflow model can broadly reproduce three cool gas properties around star-forming galaxies simultaneously: the spatial distribution, down-the-barrel outflow absorption, and gas velocity dispersion. Both a constant in situ model and gas inflow model can reproduce the observed covering fractions of high |$\rm \mathit{ N}_{H\,{\small I}}$| gas around passive galaxies but they fail to reproduce sufficient number of low |$\rm \mathit{ N}_{H\,{\small I}}$| systems. The limitations and the failures of the current models are discussed. Our results illustrate that semi-analytic modelling is a promising tool to understand the physics of the cool CGM which is usually unresolved by state-of-the-art cosmological hydrodynamic simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • For the first time, particle swarm optimization algorithm was used to search for many isomers of C 11 and C 12. • The structural properties and bonding properties of C 11 and C 12 isomers have been studied. • The infrared spectra of C 11 and C 12 stabilized structures were simulated and classified. Abstract The low energy structures of neutral carbon clusters C n (n = 11, 12) are predicted by means of particle swarm optimization and quantum chemistry calculation. The energy and geometrical structure of these isomers are further optimized by DFT, MP2 and CCSD computation methods. The relative Gibbs free energy below 5000 K was calculated, which indicates that C 11 clusters are more sensitive to temperature. We also illustrate the computational simulated IR spectra obtained at B3LYP/cc-pVTZ level, which shown the vibrational modes and vibrational regions of different structural isomers. Combining nuclear independent chemical shift (NICS) and harmonic oscillator measure of aromaticity (HOMA), we have analyzed the aromaticity of the three single-ring structures and found that C 11 cluster is not aromatic, while the ground stated structure of C 12 is anti-aromaticity. Chemical bond analysis of the ground state is performed by Adaptive Natural Density Partition (AdNDP) injunction with electron localization function (ELF), it is found that the 2c-2e bonds of C 11 and C 12 planar ring structures presented strong and weak alternations, respectively, and their multi-central bonds were strongly dependent on the symmetry of molecular configuration. Finally, topological and natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis indicate that there is no electrostatic interaction in the C n (n = 11, 12) clusters, and the high angular momentum orbital has a primary contribution to negative natural valance electron configuration. From the electronic configuration, we can see that the natural hybridized orbit of C 11 and C 12 clusters is mainly composed of sp hybrids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • A data-driven residual generation method is proposed for process monitoring. • The generated residuals instead of original measurements are modeled and monitored. • Case studies demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed DPLS-RG method. Abstract The main focus of the current work is to propose a purely data-based residual generation method for statistical process monitoring. The proposed approach utilizes but not limit to the partial least squares (PLS) algorithm to construct a specific regression model for each variable in a distributed manner, the model residual (i.e. , estimation error) instead of the original data and the PLS latent components is then monitored. Given that every variable is transferred into the residual through its corresponding soft sensing model, the generated residual can reflect the variation in the defined input-output relationship. Furthermore, the residual is expected to follow a Gaussian distribution or at least much closer to a Gaussian distribution in contrast to the original data and the latent components, once the output variable is well predicted by the regression model. The main contributions of the presented work are as follows: 1) distributed soft sensing models for generating residuals, 2) statistical process monitoring for the generated residuals instead of original data, and 3) the comparison studies demonstrate the validity and superiority of the proposed monitoring scheme with the utilization of the PLS algorithm. It can be concluded from the comparisons and the illustrated superiority that the proposed approach would be an efficient and comparative alternative in process monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is the first comprehensive study on the effect of dietary polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) levels on the expression of fatty acid elongase 5 (AJELOVL5), PUFA composition, and growth in juvenile sea cucumbers. The specific growth rate (SGRw) was improved in n‐3 PUFA‐rich diets compared to low n‐3 PUFA diets. AJELOVL5 expression was apparently upregulated in juveniles fed lower PUFA diets relative to higher PUFA diets, with higher expression in the body wall and respiratory tree of juveniles fed diets without ɑ‐linolenic acid (ALA, 18:3n‐3) compared to juveniles fed higher ALA level diets; similar results were also detected in juveniles fed diets with lower eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n‐3), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n‐3), and none of ALA, EPA, or DHA respectively. The concentrations of ALA, EPA, and DHA in tissues were positively related to the content of dietary corresponding PUFA, with higher ALA content in juveniles fed diet ALA12.71 than in the ALA7.46 and ALA0 groups. Similar results were also obtained in sea cucumber fed diets enriched with either EPA or DHA. Interestingly, considerable levels of EPA and DHA were found in the tissues of juveniles fed diets of CK0 and DHA0, with no specific input of EPA or DHA, showing that the sea cucumber was capable of biosynthesizing EPA and DHA from their corresponding precursors as ALA and linoleic acid (LA, 18:2n‐6). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The microwave radiometer (MRM) on-board the Chinese Chang’e-2 (CE-2) lunar probe measures the lunar brightness temperature (also referred to as TB) data that are large-scale scientific data. In order to construct lunar TB map, the optimized hierarchical MK splines method is proposed, which uses a hierarchy of coarse-to-fine control lattices to generate a fine control lattice. The computation of the TB construction function is limited to the small number of control points in the merged control lattice, and then the desired high-resolution TB maps are constructed. At the same time, some basis relations between the lunar TB and frequencies are also analyzed based on the constructed TB maps. It can be found that the high-frequency TB map shows lunar topographic features with close similarity. Furthermore, to express the TB distribution features quantitatively, the lunar TB distribution models, including the global TB model of the Moon, the TB model of the lunar far side, and the TB model of the lunar near side, are established based on the constructed TB maps, and the obtained TB distribution models are log-normal distributions. The establishment of the lunar TB distribution model is important to reasonably select the color layer and intensity of color for the lunar TB maps, and is helpful for studying the lunar TB distribution law. In addition, the topographic data measured by the lunar orbiter laser altimeter are selected to discuss the influence of elevation on the lunar TB, and the CE-2 TB data combined with the FeO and TiO2 abundances are used to study the microwave thermal emission features of the lunar regolith. The research results have important implications for studying the thermal radiation of the Moon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Spread F is a commonly observed phenomenon on ionograms caused by plasma irregularities or wave-like structures in the ionosphere. In general, Spread F could induce fluctuations of amplitude and phase of radio waves which travel through the ionosphere. Therefore, investigation of Spread F could be used to not only reveal ionospheric electrodynamics process, but also have a significant engineering application. Due to a large amount of ionograms recorded by ionosondes, it is a challenge work to manually identify ionograms with Spread F to study characteristics of Spread F. Thus, much work has been devoted to automatic identification of Spread F. In the present study, a machine learning method related to decision tree was adopted to automatically identify Spread F from ionograms. First, ionograms were processed by image method and projection techniques to provide input parameters for decision tree. The output of the proposed decision tree is whether Spread F is present or not on ionograms. Then, a set of ionograms was used to construct a decision tree. At last, a set of ionograms was adopted to validate the performance of this decision tree. In this study, ionograms recorded at Puer station (Geographic latitude and longitude: 22.7°N, 101.5°E; Geomagnetic latitude: 12.8°N) in the Yunnan province were used. Results indicate that the decision tree performed well in automatic identification of Spread F on ionograms. The accuracy of automatic identification in a set of ionograms with Spread F was reached up to 89%. It inspires us to continually improve the performance of automatic identification of Spread F in the future work. Highlights • A new method was proposed to automatic identification of spread F. • A decision tree was first applied in scaling of ionogram. • Results inspire us to further improve the present method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • FTT and BMI in medicated MDD patients were poorer and lower than controls. • No differences on HOMA-IR, HOMA-β, and LDL between MDD patients and controls. • No significant impact on metabolic index and cognitive deficits among MDD patients. Abstract The aim of this study was to examine the metabolic parameters, including body mass index (BMI), homeostasis model assessment-estimated insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), homeostasis model assessment-estimated pancreatic β-cell function (HOMA-β), and lipid plasma level, in medicated patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and to assess factors related to metabolic parameters in patients with MDD. 121 patients with MDD and 63 controls were recruited. The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), Continuous Performance Test (CPT), and Finger-Tapping Test (FTT), were administered. BMI, HOMA-IR, and HOMA-β were calculated as modifiable metabolic parameters. The FTT results and BMI in depressed patients were significantly poorer and lower, respectively, than those of the controls. However, no significant differences were noted between MDD patients and controls included metabolic parameters and other neuropsychological tests. Among depressed patients, higher BMI is significantly related with lower education, no tobacco use, and male. The result demonstrated metabolic parameters could be neutral among medicated patients with MDD, particularly in non-elderly Asian individuals. The deficits of psychomotor speed could be more prominent than other cognitive alterations in patient with MDD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Previous studies revealed that type II cGMP‐dependent protein kinase G (PKG II) could inhibit the activation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) which is a widely investigated RTK. PDGFR belongs to family of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) too. However, the effect of PKG II on PDGFR activation is not clear yet. This study investigated potential regulatory effect of PKG II on activation of PDGFRβ and the downstream signaling transductions in gastric cancer. The results from CCK8 assay and Transwell assay indicated that PDGF‐BB induced cell proliferation and migration. Activated PKG II reversed the above variations caused by PDGF‐BB. Immunoprecipitation and Western blotting results showed that PKG II combined with PDGFRβ and phosphorylated this receptor, and thereby inhibited PDGF‐BB induced activation of PDGFRβ, and MAPK/ERK and PI3K/Akt mediated signal transduction pathways. Based on the prediction by phosphorylation site software, Ser643 and Ser712 were mutated to alanine respectively which prevented phosphorylation at these sites. Mutation at Ser712 abolished the inhibitory function of PKG II on PDGFRβ activation but mutation of Ser643 had no such an effect, indicating that Ser712 was PKG II‐specific phosphorylating site of PDGFRβ. In conclusion, PKG II inhibited PDGFRβ activation in gastric cancer via phosphorylating Ser712 of this RTK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By using 2-(fluorosulfonyl)difluoroacetic acid as sulfur reagent, bisindole sulfanes were highly efficient synthesized under transition-metal-free conditions. Results indicate that this proceeded not at the relatively acidic C-2 position but rather selectively at the nucleophilic C-3 position to give the desired compounds with excellent regioselectivities and good yields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Origins and ore-forming processes of Fe mineralization were revealed by apatite. • The ore-forming fluids were high-fluorine fluids. • The fluorine promoted iron leaching from wallrocks. • Fluid metasomatism contributed to elevate and lower Fe grade, respectively. Apatite commonly contains abundant halogens and trace elements, which can occur in both the magmatic and hydrothermal stages, becoming favorable for recording the magmatic-hydrothermal properties and processes. Skarn-type iron deposits associated with high-Mg diorites are widespread in the Luxi Block, eastern North China Craton. Their ore-forming processes, especially how the different wallrocks (limestones and dolomites) controlled the formation of high-grade iron ores, have been poorly constrained. To unravel the mechanisms, in this contribution, in-situ textural, geochronological (U-Pb dating) and geochemical (halogens and trace elements) analyses by SEM, EPMA and LA-ICP-MS were conducted on apatite from the representative Fe skarn deposits (Jinling and Zhangjiawa deposits) in the Luxi Block. Three generations of apatite were identified in the Jinling deposit, which occur in the feldspathization (Ap1), garnet–pyroxene skarns (Ap2) and massive magnetite ores (Ap3), respectively. One generation of apatite occurring in the massive magnetite ores (Ap-3) was identified in the Zhangjiawa deposit. The Ap2 and Ap-3 apatite grains show patchy textures composed by residual bright zones (Ap2a and Ap-3a) and newly-formed grey to dark zones (Ap2b and Ap-3b), which indicate fluid metasomatism. LA-ICP-MS U-Pb dating shows that the Ap1, Ap2a and Ap3 apatite in the Jinling deposit formed at 130.4 ± 0.9 Ma (2σ), 128.5 ± 2.4 Ma and 128.3 ± 9.2 Ma, respectively, whereas the Ap-3a in the Zhangjiawa deposit formed at 128.1 ± 4.2 Ma. These ages are well consistent with the intrusive ages of the spatially associated high-Mg diorites within errors, corroborating the ore-forming fluids originating from the high-Mg rocks. All the studied apatite grains show F/Cl ratios higher than 1, especially in the early-stage apatite (e.g., 5–19 in Ap1), indicating that the originally exsolved fluids were enriched in F. The high F contents probably played a significant role in leaching Fe from the high-Mg rocks by enhancing rock porosities. The Eu/Eu* ratios of apatite increase from Ap2a to Ap3 while the Ce/Ce* ratios decrease. This suggests an increase of oxygen fugacity. The Sr concentrations in Ap3 are much higher than those in Ap-3a, correlating well with the wallrocks that limestones are developed in the former while dolomites in the latter. The above features indicate that fluid-rock interaction likely led to the increase of oxygen fugacity, which controlled the massive Fe deposition. In the Jinling deposit, the altered apatite grains (Ap2b) show much lower REE + Y but higher F contents than those of the unaltered (Ap2a), not only indicating the REEs being easily mobilized during metasomatism, but also suggesting that the high F contents likely contributed to the formation of high-grade ores by leaching additional Fe from the previously formed Fe-rich skarns. In the Zhangjiawa deposit, the altered apatite grains (Ap-3b) shows lower Cl contents than those of the unaltered (Ap-3a). This probably indicates the mixing of low-salinity fluids (e.g., recycling meteoric water), leading to the loss of Fe and thus lowering the Fe grade. The above results indicate that metasomatism is common in the skarn deposits, which can either elevate or lower the metal grade. The processes can be well recorded by apatite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Animal studies have demonstrated that oxytocin can influence addiction behaviors and might interact with the dopaminergic system, which is a key component of addiction behaviors. However, related evidence from clinical studies is scarce. The aim of our study was to explore the relationship between plasma oxytocin level and heroin craving among patients receiving methadone maintenance treatment, and to ascertain whether this relationship is moderated by novelty-seeking.Methods: The study was conducted in a methadone maintenance therapy clinic of a medical center in Taiwan. Seventy-seven patients with heroin addiction were enrolled. Plasma oxytocin was measured using an ELISA kit. Craving was assessed using an established instrument, the Chinese Craving Scale.Results: A significant negative association was found between the plasma oxytocin level and craving score, which remained robust after controlling the effects of social support and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. An interaction between oxytocin and novelty-seeking indicated that this relationship was stronger among patients with a lower level of novelty-seeking.Conclusion: This finding may be taken into account in future studies and may provide a basis for the development of potential treatment for addiction. The effect of oxytocin for the treatment of opioid dependence might be modulated by some psychological factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the limitations of statistical absorption measurements with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) optical spectroscopic surveys. We show that changes in the data reduction strategy throughout different data releases have led to a better accuracy at long wavelengths, in particular for sky line subtraction, but a degradation at short wavelengths with the emergence of systematic spectral features with an amplitude of about 1 per cent. We show that these features originate from inaccuracy in the fitting of modelled F-star spectra used for flux calibration. The best-fitting models for those stars are found to systematically overestimate the strength of metal lines and underestimate that of Lithium. We also identify the existence of artefacts due to masking and interpolation procedures at the wavelengths of the hydrogen Balmer series leading to the existence of artificial Balmer α absorption in all SDSS optical spectra. All these effects occur in the rest frame of the standard stars and therefore present Galactic longitude variations due to the rotation of the Galaxy. We demonstrate that the detection of certain weak absorption lines reported in the literature is solely due to calibration effects. Finally, we discuss new strategies to mitigate these issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of FRS2 amplification and its relationship with the clinicopathological features of atypical lipomatous tumour (ALT)/well‐differentiated liposarcoma (WDL)/de‐differentiated liposarcoma (DDL). Methods and results: FRS2 and MDM2 fluorescence in‐situ hybridisation (FISH) was performed on 146 tumours (70 ALT/WDLs and 76 DDLs). One hundred and eight control samples were included for FRS2 analysis. FRS2 amplification was detected in 136 of 146 (93.2%) ALT/WDL/DDLs, including 63 ALT/WDLs and 73 DDLs. A higher FRS2/CEP12 ratio was observed in DDLs than in ALT/WDLs (P = 0.0005). The FRS2/CEP12 ratio of peripheral tumours was lower than that of central tumours (P = 0.00004). All the ALT/WDL/DDLs showed MDM2 amplification (100%). The MDM2+/FRS2− series included seven ALT/WDLs and three DDLs. Four of seven (57.1%) MDM2+/FRS2− ALT/WDLs occurred in peripheral sites, slightly higher than the percentage of MDM2+/FRS2+ ALT/WDLs (28 of 63, 44.4%). All the three MDM2+/FRS2− DDLs (100%) were peripheral tumours, a much higher proportion than that of MDM2+/FRS2+ DDLs (10 of 73, 13.7%). A high percentage of homologous pleomorphic liposarcoma‐like DDLs (two of three) were observed in the MDM2+/FRS2− group. In the control group all the parosteal osteosarcomas (five of five, 100%) were FRS2 amplified, whereas the remaining 103 samples were FRS2 non‐amplified. Conclusions: These findings suggest that FRS2 is amplified consistently in ALT/WDL/DDLs and offer another avenue for the investigation of the biology of this tumour group. MDM2+/FRS2− cases seem to be associated with certain clinicopathological features, and further investigation is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Patients with liver cirrhosis (LC) are at increased risk for bacterial infections. It is not fully understood how exposure to infections induces further development of hepatic encephalopathy (HE). This study estimated risks of infection associated with HE among patients with LC. Methods: A nested case-control study of 14,428 adult patients with LC was performed using the population-based Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2000 in Taiwan. Cases were cirrhotic patients who developed HE during follow-up. Controls were matched to each case by age at LC diagnosis (±2 years), sex, Charlson Comorbid index score, year of LC, and follow-up time with a 1:1 ratio. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to determine and compare the odds of developing HE based on exposure to various risk factors, including site of infection, cirrhosis-related complications, Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy, and peptic ulcer bleeding. Patient survival was evaluated using the time-dependent Cox regression model. Results: Cirrhotic patients with HE (n = 714) and without HE (n = 714) were matched to compare risks. Infections and more frequent yearly infections were significantly associated with increased risk of HE. Independent predictors of HE included (aOR, 5.13; 95% CI, 3.03–8.69), sepsis (aOR, 2.54; 95% CI, 1.82–-3.53), and biliary tract infection (aOR, 2.03; 95% CI, 1.2–3.46), controlling for confounders. Conclusion: Frequent infections are associated with increased risk of HE in cirrhotic patients. More frequent exposure to infection increases the risk of HE and mortality rates. Appropriate prevention of infection and the use of antibiotics for cirrhotic patients at risk for HE are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel dimensionality reduction algorithm named nonlocal and multiple neighborhoods preserving embedding (NoMNPE) is proposed for modeling and monitoring industrial processes. The NoMNPE method implements dimensionality reduction by maximizing the variance scattered by nonlocal data points, while simultaneously preserving multiple neighborhoods relationships, which include time neighbors, distance neighbors, and angle neighbors for a given dataset. Therefore, three different manifold characteristics and one additional nonlocal relationship are taken into account in the NoMNPE model. The NoMNPE thus is expected to explore more intrinsic information in contrast to its counterparts, and could achieve enhanced monitoring performance as a result. The comparison studies on two industrial processes have also demonstrated the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed NoMNPE-based process monitoring approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The solubility of 2,3,5,4′-tetrahydroxystilbene-2- O - β -D-glucoside (THSG) was measured in nine organic solvents (methanol, ethanol, n -propanol, i -propanol, ethyl acetate, acetone, acetonitrile, N , N -dimethylformamide (DMF), and tetrahydrofuran (THF)) in the temperature range 278.15 to 318.15 K at atmosphere pressure by the gravimetrical method. In the temperature range considered, the solubility of THSG in all of the solvents increases with increasing temperature. At a given temperature, the solubility of THSG in the different solvents is in the order DMF > THF > acetone > methanol > ethanol > n -propanol > i -propanol > ethyl acetate > acetonitrile. The solubility data of THSG are well correlated with the modified Apelblat equation, Buchowski–Książczak λ h equation, and Van't Hoff equation. The correlation shows good agreement with the experimental results, and the largest values of the relative average deviation and root-mean-square deviation are 2.37 × 10 −2 and 4.53 × 10 −4 , respectively. The apparent dissolution enthalpy and excess enthalpy of the solutions were also investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cisplatin is one of the first-line drugs for urothelial bladder cancer (UBC) treatment. However, its considerable side effects and the emergence of drug resistance are becoming major limitations for its application. This study aimed to investigate whether matrine and cisplatin could present a synergistic anti-tumor effect on UBC cells. Methods: Cell viability assay was used to assess the suppressive effect of matrine and cisplatin on the proliferation of the UBC cells. Wound healing assay and transwell assay were applied respectively to determine the migration and invasion ability of the cells. The distribution of cell cycles, the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the apoptosis rate were detected by flow cytometry (FCM). The expressions of the relative proteins in apoptotic signal pathways and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) related genes were surveyed by western blotting. The binding modes of the drugs within the proteins were detected by CDOCKER module in DS 2.5. Results: Both matrine and cisplatin could inhibit the growth of the UBC cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner. When matrine combined with cisplatin at the ratio of 2000:1, they presented a synergistic inhibitory effect on the UBC cells. The combinative treatment could impair cell migration and invasion ability, arrest cell cycle in the G1 and S phases, increase the level of ROS, and induce apoptosis in EJ and T24 cells in a synergistic way. In all the treated groups, the expressions of E-cadherin, β-catenin, Bax, and Cleaved Caspase-3 were up-regulated, while the expressions of Fibronectin, Vimentin, Bcl-2, Caspase-3, p-Akt, p-PI3K, VEGFR2, and VEGF proteins were down-regulated, and among them, the combination of matrine and cisplatin showed the most significant difference. Molecular docking algorithms predicted that matrine and cisplatin could be docked into the same active sites and interact with different residues within the tested proteins. Conclusions: Our results suggested that the combination of matrine and cisplatin could synergistically inhibit the UBC cells' proliferation through down-regulating VEGF/PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, indicating that matrine may serve as a new option in the combinative therapy in the treatment of UBC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large eddy simulation (LES) model was used to examine the wind-driven cross ventilation of gable-roof greenhouses containing vegetation. The obstruction of air flow by vegetation was described by a porous drag model in the numerical model, and the simulation results were validated using wind tunnel experiments. The numerical model was then utilised to inspect the influences of vegetation and greenhouse length (in the wind direction) on the ventilation rate. The results revealed that the diminishing effects of the vegetation, insect screen and internal friction on the ventilation rate can all be quantified by a physical-based resistance model. The driving force (the difference between windward and leeward pressures) of long, multi-span greenhouses was found to be less than that of a short, single-span greenhouse leading to a lower ventilation rate. The resistance factor of the vegetation and the insect screen depends on their porosity, while the resistance factor of the internal friction increased as the greenhouse length increased. In addition, the internal friction of multi-span greenhouses should be considered when the length of the greenhouse was greater than six times the greenhouse height. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]