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Ketosis is a common nutritional metabolic disease during the perinatal period in dairy cows. Although various risk factors have been identified, the molecular mechanism underlying ketosis remains elusive. In this study, subcutaneous white adipose tissue (sWAT) was biopsied for transcriptome sequencing on 10 Holstein cows with type II ketosis [blood β-hydroxybutyric acid (BHB) >1.4 mmol/L; Ket group] and another 10 cows without type II ketosis (BHB ≤1.4 mmol/L; Nket group) at d 10 after calving. Serum concentrations of nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA) and BHB, as indicators of excessive fat mobilization and circulating ketone bodies, respectively, were significantly higher in the Ket group than in the Nket group. Aspartate transaminase (AST) and total bilirubin (TBIL), as indicators of liver damage, were higher in the Ket group than in the Nket group. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) of the sWAT transcriptome revealed modules significantly correlated with serum BHB, NEFA, AST, TBIL, and total cholesterol. The genes in these modules were enriched in the regulation of the lipid biosynthesis process. Neurotrophic tyrosine kinase receptor type 2 (NTRK2) was identified as the key hub gene by intramodular connectivity, gene significance, and module membership. Quantitative reverse transcription PCR analyses for these samples, as well as a set of independent samples, validated the downregulation of NTRK2 expression in the sWAT of dairy cows with type II ketosis. NTRK2 encodes tyrosine protein kinase receptor B (TrkB), which is a high-affinity receptor for brain-derived neurotrophic factor, suggesting that abnormal lipid mobilization in cows with type II ketosis might be associated with impaired central nervous system regulation of adipose tissue metabolism, providing a novel insight into the pathogenesis underlying type II ketosis in dairy cows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personalized air conditioning systems are widely used in sleeping environments, where a sleeping human body is always immobile through night. The ventilation performance optimization of air conditioning system becomes necessary, and the influences from different supply air parameters were investigated in this study, including supply air flow rate and temperature, supply air outlet height and fresh air flow rate. To understand the effects of supply air parameters on ventilation performance, the occupied zone air flow field, air change efficiency, CO2 concentrations and CO2 concentrations distributions inside the room were numerically studied. It was indicated that placing the supply air outlet at lower levels of 1.1 and 0.8 m could directly deliver cooling air to the thermal manikin, leading to a much higher air change efficiency of around 70%. The air temperature of the occupied zone could not be well cooled down for the supply air outlet at a height of 0.8 m. Meanwhile, the higher supply air flow rate may cause significant draft risk. Finally, considering the ventilation performance and draft risk, a set of the supply parameters is suggested for this personalized air conditioning system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Ketosis in dairy cows is one of the common nutritional metabolic diseases during the perinatal period. We conducted the present subcutaneous white adipose tissue transcriptome-based study to investigate the pathogenesis of ketosis in dairy cows. The transcriptome results showed that the expression of PCK1 and PCK2, key enzymes of the glyceroneogenesis, was simultaneously downregulated post-partum compared to pre-partum, possibly resulting in impaired lipid storage in the adipose tissue of ketotic cows. Integrating the GO enrichment analysis and published gene expression traits, the inflammatory response biological process inhibiting PCK1 and PCK2 expression in adipose tissue may be important in the development of ketosis in dairy cows. The findings of the present study provided important clues for the therapeutic and preventive targets for ketosis. Ketosis is a common nutritional, metabolic disease during the perinatal period in dairy cows characterized by elevated blood β-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA). In this study, RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was performed to investigate adaptive changes in adipose tissue during the perinatal period of dairy cows. Blood and tailhead subcutaneous white adipose tissue (sWAT) were obtained from ketotic cows (Ket = 8, BHBA ≥ 1.4 mmol/L) and non-ketotic cows (Nket = 6, BHBA < 1.4 mmol/L) 21 d pre-partum and 10 d post-partum. Compared with pre-partum, decreased lipid synthesis due to down-regulation of PCK1 may be in a strong association with clinical ketosis. Simultaneously, PCK2 was downregulated in the Ket postnatally compared to its expression prenatally, and the expression of PCK2 was 2.7~4.2 times higher than that of PCK1, implying a more severe lipid storage impairment in the Ket. Moreover, compared to pre-partum, the upregulated differentially expressed genes post-partum in the Ket were enriched in the inflammatory response biological process. The higher expression of TNC (tenascin C) in the post-partum Ket relative to the Nket suggested that the adipose tissue of ketotic cows might also be accompanied by tissue fibrosis. Notably, pre-partum CD209 was higher in the Ket than in the Nket, which might be used as a candidate marker for the pre-partum prediction of ketosis. Combined with published gene expression traits, these results suggested that inflammation leads to a more widespread downregulation of the lipid synthesis gene network in adipose tissue in ketotic cows. Additionally, sWAT in post-partum cows with ketosis might also be accompanied by tissue fibrosis which could make the treatment of ketosis more difficult. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new species of Clitocella are proposed based on morphological and phylogenetic investigations. Clitocella borealichinensis sp. nov. is closely related to C. orientalis but distinguished from the latter by its slightly smaller basidiospores and hyphae of pileipellis with pale brown to brown intracellular or parietal pigment. Clitocella colorata sp. nov. is closely related to C. popinalis and C. mundula in macromorphology but is differentiated from C. popinalis by its slightly smaller basidiospores and the difference in genetic profile, and from C. mundula by its relatively colorful pileus (white to yellowish white, grayish white to grayish brown, pink white). Phylogenetic analyses based on sequence data from five different loci (ITS, nrLSU, tef1, rpb2 and atp6) support the taxonomic position of the two new species in the genus Clitocella. The illustrations and descriptions for the new taxa are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To satisfy the demands of soybean precision sowing, this article starts with statistics of the physical parameters of soybean seeds in Heilongjiang province, China. The filling process of soybean seeds was analyzed, and the ratio relationship between the diameter, depth, chamfer length of seed-metering wheel's holes and the mean diameter of soybean seeds was determined. EDEM was used to simulate seeding circumstances of hole seed-metering wheel with different holes' sizes. The hole diameter ratio, hole depth ratio, and chamfer length ratio were the test factors, while the percentage of single multiple and the empty seeds were test indexes. The triple quadratic regression orthogonal rotation combination test was designed, and the mathematical model between test indexes and test factors was established. Results showed that the influence of hole diameter ratio and hole depth ratio was significant (p < 0.01) in the case of single, multiple and empty seed percentage while chamfer length ratio was only significant in single seed percentage compared to multiple and empty seeds percentage (p > 0.05). The chamfer length ratio was 0.15, the hole diameter ratio was 1.63-1.73, the hole depth ratio was 0.81-1.20, the quality of seeding index was more than 90, and multiple and missing indexes were less than 6% and 4%, respectively. The soybean hole wheel seeding device was produced under the optimal parameter combination, to perform a comparative verification test with non-optimized parameters. The test showed anastomotic simulation results, verified the validity of the simulation. The seeding device after optimization expressed the best operating performance, which might satisfy the demands of soybean precision sowing. The study results can provide a theoretical reference for the optimization design of soybean seeding devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whilst PET-CT is useful for identifying suspicious hypermetabolic lesions, silicone lymphadenopathy may be FDG-avid and provide a false positive for malignancy.2 In this case, CT and MRI play an important role in characterising concerning lymph nodes. Breast, cardiophrenic lymph node, internal mammary lymphadenopathy, silicone lymphadenopathy Keywords: breast; cardiophrenic lymph node; internal mammary lymphadenopathy; silicone lymphadenopathy EN breast cardiophrenic lymph node internal mammary lymphadenopathy silicone lymphadenopathy 216 218 3 04/05/21 20210401 NES 210401 Silicone lymphadenopathy is a known, but rare complication of ruptured breast implants. [Extracted from the article]

DNA damage decreases genome stability and alters genetic information in all organisms. Conserved protein complexes have been evolved for DNA repair in eukaryotes, such as the structural maintenance complex 5/6 (SMC5/6), a chromosomal ATPase involved in DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair. Several factors have been identified for recruitment of SMC5/6 to DSBs, but this complex is also associated with chromosomes under normal conditions; how SMC5/6 dissociates from its original location and moves to DSB sites is completely unknown. In this study, we determined that SWI3B, a subunit of the SWI/SNF complex, is an SMC5-interacting protein in Arabidopsis thialiana. Knockdown of SWI3B or SMC5 results in increased DNA damage accumulation. During DNA damage, SWI3B expression is induced, but the SWI3B protein is not localized at DSBs. Notably, either knockdown or overexpression of SWI3B disrupts the DSB recruitment of SMC5 in response to DNA damage. Overexpression of a cotranscriptional activator ADA2b rescues the DSB localization of SMC5 dramatically in the SWI3B-overexpressing cells but only weakly in the SWI3B knockdown cells. Biochemical data confirmed that ADA2b attenuates the interaction between SWI3B and SMC5 and that SWI3B promotes the dissociation of SMC5 from chromosomes. In addition, overexpression of SMC5 reduces DNA damage accumulation in the SWI3B knockdown plants. Collectively, these results indicate that the presence of an appropriate level of SWI3B enhances dissociation of SMC5 from chromosomes for its further recruitment at DSBs during DNA damage in plant cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It has been shown that gene polymorphisms may play an important role in the carcinogenesis of esophageal cancer. This study is to investigate the role of alcohol dehydrogenase 1B (ADH1B) gene Arg47His polymorphism in esophageal cancer susceptibility. Methods: Case-control studies published between January 2000 and June 2015 were searched to retrieve relevant articles. The pooled odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were employed to calculate the strength of association. Results: A total of 23 relevant articles were finally selected for the analysis, including 9338 esophageal cancer patients and 14,896 matched controls. Overall, we found that the 47His allele was significant associated with the decreased risk of esophageal cancer when compared with the 47Arg allele in total populations (A vs. G: OR = 0. 67, 95% CI = 0.59-0.76, P < 0.00001). This protective relationship was observed under other genetic models as well (P < 0.00001). Subgroup analysis by ethnicity showed that ADH1B Arg47His variant was associated with the decreased esophageal cancer risk under all the genetic models (P < 0.00001) among Asians, especially in Chinese and Japanese; while in non-Asians, no significant correlation was detected in any genetic models (P>0.05). Furthermore, Arg/Arg genotype of ADH1B Arg47His variant combined with drinking, smoking and males appeared to show a high risk in patients with esophageal cancer. Conclusions: Our results suggested that ADH1B gene Arg47His variant was associated with the decreased esophageal cancer risk. Genetic-environmental interaction should be further considered in the future researches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It was revealed in a previous related study that for an air conditioning (A/C) system used in a sleeping environment, the height of its supply air outlet would significantly affect its ventilation performance in terms of effectiveness. To further examine the underlying reasons of the differences in ventilation performance, the air flow field, distributions of mean age of air, air change efficiency and distributions of CO 2 concentrations inside an experimental bedroom were numerically studied using CFD method under five different settings, where its supply air outlet was positioned at 5 different heights. The study results suggested that positing a supply air outlet at a lower level was effective in both saving energy and removing the exhaled CO 2 in a breathing zone, and when a supply outlet was positioned at a higher level, less CO 2 was removed from the region near the mouth of a sleeper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A bed-based TAC system applied to sleeping environments has been developed and its performances experimentally and numerically studied, and the study results are reported in this paper. Firstly, a detailed description of an experimental rig for the bed-based TAC system at two settings is presented with a return air inlet on the wall (Setting 1) and with a return air plenum and inlet placed under the bed (Setting 2). Secondly, the experimental results on the operating performances of the bed-based TAC system at the two settings in terms of thermal environmental control and energy saving are analyzed and reported. Thirdly, to supplement the experimental study for a more detailed analysis on air temperature and flow fields, a follow-up numerical study was carried out and is reported. Both the experimental and numerical study results suggested that the bed-based TAC system at Setting 2 performed better in controlling thermal environment in an occupied zone but with a relatively poorer energy saving performance, as compared to that at Setting 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, we deal with the one-dimensional backward stochastic differential equation (BSDE) driven by Poisson processes. By means of the comparison theorem, we first prove the existence of a (minimal) solution for BSDE where the coefficient is continuous and satisfies an improved linear growth assumption. Then we extend the result to the case where the coefficient is left or right continuous. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper considers the two-point boundary value problem of stochastic differential equation with the following form:The sufficient and necessary conditions are given for the existence of the adapted solutions. In the simple case that f(t, X t )= f t , the solution can be obtained by introducing a control term f t , extending the solution from X t to (X t , f t ), and constructing a process sequence. All the results obtained are compared with those related to the eigenvalue problems, and the “martingale approach” solution proposed by Pardoux and Peng for backward stochastic differential equations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this study, a bibliometric method was used to evaluate the global scientific production of risk assessment research for the last 16 years and provide insights into the characteristics of the risk assessment research activities and tendencies that may exist in the papers. Data were obtained on the online version of SCI, Web of Science from 1992 to 2007. Two important respects of the paper characteristics were analyzed: (i) performance of publication and (ii) research tendency and hotspots. The main results were as follows: English-language articles took the majority of all the publications. Number of articles in this field increased from 1 in 1968 to 1037 in 2007. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment published the most papers in this field, taking 3% of all. Research tendency was investigated by statistically analyzing the distribution of paper title, author keyword, and keyword plus. Furthermore, a new method named “word cluster analysis” was successfully applied to find the research hotspots of this field. Research hotspots of risk assessment mainly focused on three subject categories: environmental science, ecology, and epidemiology. This new bibliometric method can help relevant researchers realize the panorama of global risk assessment research, and establish the further research direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fabric filtration process is divided into three stages, i.e. depth filtration, transition filtration and surface filtration. A new model is proposed to describe the three stages under both virgin and regeneration conditions. The concept of an interface dust layer is introduced to predict the transition from the depth filtration stage to the transition filtration stage. The transition filtration stage due to the non-uniform accumulation of residual dust on a filter is characterized by two parameters — the surface cleaning fraction, f, and the residual dust load on the uncleaned surface, Wu0. It is found that f decreases and Wu0 increases with the number of filtration cycles. This result suggests that both the fraction of uncleaned surface and the thickness of dust cake on the uncleaned surface increase with the number of filtration cycles. The present model successfully describes the change in pressure drop during the filtration cycles using the parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The VDI type 1 rig and JIS rig are two of the major testing rigs for cleanable fabric filters. We measured the filter performance using these rigs and compared the results in order to characterize the two testing rigs. The filter performance tests showed that the filter cleaning efficiency measured with the VDI type 1 rig is higher than that with the JIS rig. The difference in cleaning efficiency led to the different residual pressure drop after the aging of the filter. The difference in filter performance measured by the two rigs can be minimized by modifying the aging condition, i.e. either reducing the number of filtration cycles during the aging with the JIS rig or increasing it with the VDI type 1 rig so as to give the same residual pressure drop after aging. Furthermore, it is found that there is an optimum filtration cycle time to grow the residual pressure drop during the filter aging in order to minimize the time period of filter aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To investigate the prognostic value of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and albuminuria in determining pregnancy outcomes in women with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.Methods: An observational study of pregnant women with type 1 (n = 92) and type 2 diabetes (n = 106) who delivered between 2004 and 2014 at a single tertiary obstetric centre. Clinical and biochemical characteristics were determined and related to major obstetric outcomes: preeclampsia, preterm birth <32 and <37 weeks, and neonatal intensive care admission. We used univariate analyses and multivariable logistic regression models with eGFR using the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) equation and albuminuria as covariates.Results: In the pooled diabetes cohort, multivariable logistic regression with eGFR and albuminuria status demonstrated that the presence of albuminuria (albumin-to-creatinine ratio ≥ 3.5 mg/mmol) (OR, 2.7; 95% CI, 1.42-4.99; P = 0.002) was associated with preeclampsia, whilst an eGFR of < 120 mL/min/1.73 m2 was associated with preterm birth < 32 weeks (OR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.00-1.09; P = 0.02).Conclusions: Despite its recognized limitations in pregnancy, lower eGFR values were associated with increased risk of adverse outcomes. Our exploratory data suggest eGFR, along with albuminuria, can aid in identifying women at high risk of developing adverse obstetric outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Spray falling film of oily wastewater over a horizontal tube was investigated. • VOF model was used to simulate the gas-liquid falling film flow. • The non-uniform film flow, temperature and thickness distributions were analyzed. • The non-uniform heat transfer properties were quantitatively investigated. • The effects of oil content, spray density and tube diameter were studied. Recently, the spray heat exchanger became an important technology in a sewage source heat pump (SSHP) to recover thermal energy from oily wastewater. Hence, it's necessary to study the heat transfer properties and its enhancements. In this paper, a numerical model with VOF method was established to study the oily wastewater spray falling film over a horizontal tube. The flow field, falling film distribution and temperature distribution and heat transfer coefficient were investigated, and the non-uniformity of flow, temperature and heat transfer were further analyzed. Regions of low level film thickness were found around tube suggesting the non-uniform axial and circumferential distribution, corresponding to low film temperature regions. The non-uniformity of heat transfer coefficient at different circumferential angles was evaluated showing severe non-uniformity in impingement and departure regions due to the intense impinging of falling wastewater at the top and instability of dropping flow at the bottom. Thereafter, the influence of oil content, spray density and tube diameter were studied. The increase in oil content led the flow pattern changed from sheet flow to column-sheet flow due to increase in viscosity, resulting to non-uniformity increase from 0.15 to 0.19. Compared to tube diameter of 25.4 mm, the 12.7 mm tube accelerated flow downstream, therefore, the non-uniformity at the top was weakened to 0.13 and the downstream non-uniformity was strengthened to 0.19. The higher spray density of 0.262 kg/m∙s reduced the negative effect of viscosity, enhanced the flow velocity and weakened the non-uniformity at the top. However, the increase in flow velocity raised the flow instability in downstream suggesting higher non-uniformity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air source heat pump (ASHP) units are widely used in recent years, and reverse cycle defrosting becomes the most popular method to solve their undesired frosting problem. During defrosting, a transient and nonlinear heat and mass transfer procession, the metal energy stored in the indoor and outdoor coils are varying as their temperature fluctuations. On the other hand, authors have previously confirmed the effects of melted frost and metal energy storage on system defrosting performance. However, detailed energy transfer procession without melted frost influence is still not identified. This fundamental problem directly affects the development and modification of two coils in a novel ASHP unit or an existing one. Consequently, basing on frost evenly accumulated on each circuit's surface, two cases were thereby designed in this study. Experimental results show that, the heating supply of indoor air thermal energy contributed about 80% of the total energy usage for defrosting, nearly 90% of energy consumed on frost melting and ambient air heating, respectively. After the total area of outdoor coil was enlarged by 50%, the metal energy storage effect was changed from −0.44% to −3.67%. Meanwhile, defrosting efficiency was improved by 11.66%, from 47.13% to 58.79%. Contributions of this study can effectively guide the design optimization of an ASHP unit, improve occupant's thermal comfort and promote the energy saving in buildings and industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the aquaculture industry, feed that is of poor quality or nutritionally imbalanced can cause problems including low weight, poor growth, poor palatability, and increased mortality, all of which can induce a decrease in aquaculture production. Fishmeal is considered a better source of protein and its addition as an ingredient in the aquafeed makes aquatic animals grow fast and healthy. This means that fishmeal is the most important feed ingredient in aquafeed for the aquaculture industry. For the aquaculture industry in Taiwan, about 144,000 ton/USD $203,245,000 of fishmeal was imported, mostly from Peru, in 2016. Therefore, the evaluation and selection of fishmeal suppliers is a very important part of the decision-making process for a Taiwanese aquaculture enterprise. This study constructed a multiple criteria decision-making evaluation model for the selection of fishmeal suppliers using the VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) approach based on the weights obtained with the entropy method in a fuzzy decision-making environment. This hybrid approach could effectively and conveniently measure the comprehensive performance of the main Peruvian fishmeal suppliers for practical applications. In addition, the results and processes described herein function as a good reference for an aquaculture enterprise in making decisions when purchasing fishmeal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high heat flux on the CPV (concentrator photovoltaic) cells may lead to heat dissipation difficulty and high temperature, which will result in the decrease in electricity efficiency or even damage of CPV cells. To tackle with this problem, microchannel cooling has attracted increasing attentions recently due to its much higher heat transfer performance. However, the significantly varying solar radiation intensity will cause the sudden variation of heat load on the CPV cells, which may further influence the flow boiling inside the microchannels. Therefore, in this study, the flow characteristics including the pressure drop and flow pattern of deionized water boiling in a single straight microchannel (DH = 400 μm) under sudden heat flux increase were experimentally investigated. The serious pressure drop variation and flow boiling instability properties after the sudden heat flux increase were observed. The study on the influential factors indicates that increasing the mass flux from 411.66 to 720.41 kg m−2 s−1 and lowering the inlet temperature from 55 to 45 °C helped weaken fluctuation intensity of pressure drop due to the lower vapor quality. Meanwhile, the detailed flow pattern encountering different levels of heat flux increase were observed using high speed camera, which indicates that much higher heat flux increase leaded to a more rapid bubble generating and phase change phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Diverticular disease remains one of the most common conditions in the western world. Up to 25% of patients with diverticular disease require hospitalization, 15–30% of those of which require surgical intervention. CT scoring systems have been proposed as means to drive assessment and stratify patients necessitating hospital intervention. To assess and correlate CT scoring systems with clinical and surgical outcomes. Methods: Retrospective cohort analysis at a single institution. Single institutional assessment with patients presenting to emergency with a CT diagnosed episode of acute diverticulitis. One hundred and eighty‐nine patients were included in the study, 61% of which were male. Patient demographics, comorbidities, medications, biochemistry and inflammatory markers, type of complication following acute diverticulitis, operative/procedural intervention, hospital outcome and mortality were measured. CT scoring systems assessed included modified Hinchey, modified Neff, World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES) and modified Siewert scoring systems. Results: Majority of patients had left‐sided diverticulitis (91%) with localized air (88%) and pericolic abscess (49%) the most common radiological findings. 28% of patients required radiological and/or surgical management with 12% requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission. There was a general trend for surgical/radiological intervention as the scores increased in severity. The four scoring systems were found to be statistically significant predictors of any intervention and of ICU admission with minimal statistical differences across the different scoring systems. Conclusion: Radiological CT scores for complicated diverticulitis are at best, moderate predictors of clinical and surgical outcomes and may serve to guide management with minimal statistical differences across different scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantification of the association between selenium and risk of oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC) is still conflicting. The purpose of this meta-analysis is to explore the relationship between selenium levels and OAC risk. PubMed and Web of Knowledge were searched for the related articles. Pooled relative risks (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) from random effects models were calculated. Sensitivity analysis and publication bias were conducted. Dose-response relationship was assessed by restricted cubic spline and variance-weighted least squares regression analysis. Five articles involving 748 OAC cases were included in this meta-analysis. Pooled results suggest that higher selenium level was not significantly associated with the risk of OAC (summary RRs=1.08, 95% CIs=0.84- 1.39, I2 =0%). Besides, no significant association was found in case-control studies (summary RRs=1.13, 95% CIs=0.84-1.52, I2 =0%) or cohort studies (summary RRs=0.99, 95% CIs=0.55-1.78, I2 =32.6%). A linear dose- response relationship was attested that an increase in dietary selenium intake of 10 μg/day is marginally associated with 1% increase in the risk of developing OAC (summary RRs=1.01, 95% CIs=0.99-1.03), but not statistically significant. No publication bias was found. In conclusion, our analysis indicated that a higher selenium level was not significantly associated with the risk of OAC. The relevant further studies are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In eukaryotes, the STRUCTURAL MAINTENANCE OF CHROMOSOME 5/6 (SMC5/6) complex is critical to maintaining chromosomal structures around double-strand breaks (DSBs) in DNA damage repair. However, the recruitment mechanism of this conserved complex at DSBs remains unclear. In this study, using Arabidopsis thaliana as a model, we found that SMC5/6 localization at DSBs is dependent on the protein scaffold containing INVOLVED IN DE NOVO 2 (IDN2), CELL DIVISION CYCLE 5 (CDC5), and ALTERATION/DEFICIENCY IN ACTIVATION 2B (ADA2b), whose recruitment is further mediated by DNA-damage-induced RNAs (diRNAs) generated from DNA regions around DSBs. The physical interactions of protein components including SMC5-ADA2b, ADA2b-CDC5, and CDC5-IDN2 result in formation of the protein scaffold. Further analysis indicated that the DSB localization of IDN2 requires its RNA-binding activity and ARGONAUTE 2 (AGO2), indicating a role for the AGO2-diRNA complex in this process. Given that most of the components in the scaffold are conserved, the mechanism presented here, which connects SMC5/6 recruitment and small RNAs, will improve our understanding of DNA repair mechanisms in eukaryotes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Taxol is a powerful chemotherapy agent leading to mitotic arrest and cell death; however, its clinical efficacy has been hampered due to the development of drug resistance. Taxol specifically targets the cell cycle. Progress through mitosis (M stage) is an absolute requirement for drug-induced death because cell death is markedly reduced in cells blocked at the G1-S transition. The measured doubling time for ovarian cancer cells is about 27 h. As such, during treatment with Taxol most of the cells are not in the M stage of the cell cycle. Thus, the effect of cell-cycle synchronization was investigated in regard to reversing Taxol resistance in ovarian cancer cells. Methods: Giemsa-Wright staining was used for assessing the morphology of the cells. The doubling time of the cells was calculated using formula as follows: Td = In2/slope. The resistant index and cell cycle were measured via MTT assays and flow cytometry. Thymidine was used to induce cell-cycle synchronization, and cell apoptosis rates following exposure to Taxol were measured using a flow cytometer. Results: The growth doubling time of two Taxol-resistant cell lines were longer than that of Taxol-sensitive cells. Apoptotic rates in Taxol-sensitive and -resistant cell lines after synchronization and exposure to Taxol were all higher compared to unsynchronized controls (p <0.05). Conclusions: Synchronization of the cell-cycle resulted in an increased effectiveness of Taxol toward ovarian cancer cell lines. We speculated that formation of drug resistance toward Taxol in ovarian cancer could be partly attributed to the longer doubling time of these cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most frequent type of cancer found in men worldwide, with around one in nine men being diagnosed with PCa within their lifetime. PCa often shows no symptoms in its early stages and its diagnosis techniques are either invasive, resource intensive, or has low efficacy, making widespread early detection onerous. Inspired by the recent success of deep convolutional neural networks (CNN) in computer aided detection (CADe), we propose a new CNN based framework for incidental detection of clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCa) in patients who had a CT scan of the abdomen/pelvis for other reasons. While CT is generally considered insufficient to diagnose PCa due to its inferior soft tissue characterisation, our evaluations on a relatively large dataset consisting of 139 clinically significant PCa patients and 432 controls show that the proposed deep neural network pipeline can detect csPCa patients at a level that is suitable for incidental detection. The proposed pipeline achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC-AUC) of 0.88 (95% Confidence Interval: 0.86–0.90) at patient level csPCa detection on CT, significantly higher than the AUCs achieved by two radiologists (0.61 and 0.70) on the same task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve the uniformity of the flow when fertilizer apparatus discharges fertilizer, a kind of fertilizer apparatus owned arc gears was designed. Also, the design and working principle of its general structure and key components were analyzed theoretically. Aiming at exploring the influence of arc structural parameters to the performance of arc gears discharging fertilizer, DEM simulation was used in this study. Fertilizer apparatus owned arc gears was taken as the research object to analyze the influence of two key components including the arc radius of gears' concave-grooves and the minimal length between two mutual meshing gears. The variation coefficient of fertilizer discharging amount stability and the linear determined coefficient of fertilizer discharging amount in unit time as evaluation index were selected. Two factors and five levels quadratic rotation orthogonal experiment was applied, and Design-Expert 8.0 software was used to achieve data processing and analysis. The results of experiment indicated that the arc radius of gears' concave-grooves had significant effect on the linear determined coefficient of fertilizer discharging amount in unit time, and the minimal length between two mutual meshing gears had significant effect on the variation coefficient of fertilizer discharging amount stability. The optimum structural parameters were 8.54 mm as the arc radius of gears' concave-grooves and 5.22 mm as the minimal length between two mutual meshing gears. Upon this circumstance, the variation coefficient was 0.28 and determination coefficient was 0.9972. The optimum apparatus was selected to conduct the bench test and field simulation test. The results indicated that the variation coefficient is 0.27, and the linear determined coefficient of is 0.9980. The results of simulation experiment were anastomotic basically with the real result, which showed that DEM simulation technology was usable to the experiment of testing fertilizer discharging. The results of this research can provide a reference to the improving of performance in discharging fertilizer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent demonstration of topological states in antiferromagnets (AFMs) provides an exciting platform for exploring prominent physical phenomena and applications of antiferromagnetic spintronics. A famous example is the AFM topological insulator (TI) state, which, however, was still not observed in two dimensions. Using a tight-binding model and first-principles calculations, we show that, in contrast to previously observed AFM topological insulators in three dimensions, an AFM TI can emerge in two dimensions as a result of a nonsymmorphic symmetry that combines the twofold rotation symmetry and half-lattice translation. Based on the spin Chern number, Wannier charge centers, and gapless edge states analysis, we identify intrinsic AFM XMnY (X=Sr and Ba, Y=Sn and Pb) quintuple layers as experimentally feasible examples of predicted topological states with a stable crystal structure and giant magnitude of the nontrivial band gaps, reaching as much as 186 meV for SrMnPb, thereby promoting these systems as promising candidates for innovative spintronics applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DNA damage occurs in all cells and can hinder chromosome stability and cell viability. Structural Maintenance of Chromosomes5/6 (SMC5/6) is a protein complex that functions as an evolutionarily conserved chromosomal ATPase critical for repairing DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). However, the mechanisms regulating this complex in plants are poorly understood. Here, we identified the transcriptional coactivator ALTERATION/DEFICIENCY IN ACTIVATION2B (ADA2b) as an interactor of SMC5 in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). ADA2b is a conserved component of the Spt-Ada-Gcn5 acetyltransferase complex, which functions in transcriptional regulation. Characterization of mutant and knockdown Arabidopsis lines showed that disruption of either SMC5 or ADA2b resulted in enhanced DNA damage. Both SMC5 and ADA2b were associated with γ-H2AX, a marker of DSBs, and the recruitment of SMC5 onto DSBs was dependent on ADA2b. In addition, overexpression of SMC5 in the ada2b mutant background stimulated cell death. Collectively, our results show that the interaction between ADA2b and SMC5 mediates DNA repair in plant cells, suggesting a functional association between these conserved proteins and further elucidating mechanisms of DNA damage repair in plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The catalyzing effect on nucleation of recrystallization from existing grains resulting from previous lower temperature deformation is analyzed, analogous to the size effect of foreign nucleus in heterogeneous nucleation. Analytical formulation of the effective nucleation site for recrystallization leads to a negative temperature dependence of recrystallized grain size of metals. Non-isochronal annealing-where annealing time is set just enough for the completion of recrystallization at different temperatures-is conducted on pure copper after severe plastic deformation. More homogeneous and smaller grains are obtained at higher annealing temperature. The good fit between analytical and experimental results unveils the intrinsic feature of this negative temperature dependence of recrystallized grain size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Cardiac arrest (CA) is a common and serious event in emergency medicine. Despite recent improvements in resuscitation techniques, the survival rate of patients with CA is unchanged. The present study was undertaken to observe the effect of mild hypothermia (MH) on the reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the effect of neurological function and related mechanisms METHODS: Sixty-five healthy male Sprague Dawley (SD) adult rats were randomly (random number) divided into 2 groups: blank control group (n=5) and CPR group (n=60). CA was induced by asphyxia. The surviving rats were randomly (random number) divided into two groups: normothermia CPR group (NT) and hypothermia CPR group (HT). Normothermia of 37 °C was maintained in the NT group after return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), hypothermal intervention of 32 °C was carried out in the HT group for 4 hours immediately after ROSC. Both the NT and HT groups were then randomly divided into 2 subgroups 12 hours and 24 hours after ROSC (NT-12, NT-24, HT-12, HT-24 subgroups). During observation, the neurological deficit scores (NDSs) was recorded, then the bilateral hippocampi were obtained from rats' head, and monoplast suspension of fresh hippocampus tissue was made immediately to determine the level of intracellular ROS by flow cytometry. Transmission electron microscope was used to observe the ultramicro changes of cellular nucleus and mitochondria. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to determine the expression of caspase-3 mRNA, and western-blotting (WB) was used to determine the level of LC3 in frozen hippocampus tissue. Measured data were analyzed with paired sample t test and One-Way ANOVA. RESULTS: Of 60 rats with CA, 44 (73%) were successfully resuscitated and 33 (55%) survived until the end of the experiment. The NDSs of rats in the NT and HT groups were more significantly reduced than those in the BC group (F=8.107, P<0.05), whereas the NDSs of rats in the HT-12 and HT-24 subgroups were significantly increased in comparison with those NDSs of rats in the NT-12 and NT-24 subgroups, respectively (t=9.692, P<0.001; t=14.374, P<0.001). The ROS in hippocampus nerve cells in the NT and HT groups significantly increased compared to the BC group (F=16.824, P<0.05), whereas the ROS in the HT-12 and HT-24 subgroups significantly reduced compared with that ROS in the NT-12 and NT-24 subgroups, respectively (t=9.836, P<0.001; t=7.499, P<0.001). The expression of caspase-3 mRNA in hippocampus nerve cells in the NT and HT groups were significantly increased compared to the BC group (F=24.527, P<0.05), whereas the expression of caspase-3 mRNA in rats of the HT-12 and HT-24 subgroups was significantly reduced compared to the NT-12 and NT-24 subgroups, respectively (t=6.935, P<0.001; t=4.317, P<0.001). The expression of LC3B-II/I in hippocampus nerve cells of rats in the NT and HT groups significantly increased compared to the BC group (F=6.584, P<0.05), whereas the expression of LC3B-II/I in rats of the HT-12 and HT-24 subgroups significantly reduced compared to the NT-12 and NT-24 subgroups, respectively (M0.836, P<0.001; t=2.653, P=0.02). Ultrastructure damage of nucleus and mitochondria in the NT group was more evident than in the BC group, and eumorphism of nucleus and mitochondria were maintained in rats of the HT group compared with the NT group CONCLUSION: Mild hypothermia lessened the injury of nerve cells and improved the neurological function of rats that survived from cardiac arrest by reducing the ROS production of nerve cells and inhibiting the expression of caspase-3 mRNA and LC3, leading to cellular apoptosis and massive autophagy in rats that survived from cardiac arrest after CPR [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are characterized by their hematopoiesis-supporting and immunosuppressive capacity, while osteoclasts are main cell components in the endosteal hematopoietic stem cell niche and pivotal players in osteoimmunology. To clarify the association of these 2 kinds of cells, mouse CD11bmonocytes were cultured onto MSC layers in the presence or absence of macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) and receptor activator of NF-B ligand (RANKL). The results showed that MSCs independently supported osteoclast development and this effect was enhanced by M-CSF and RANKL. Interestingly, tumor necrosis factor- (TNF-)–stimulated MSCs turned to inhibit osteoclast formation and protect tusk slices from osteoclastic resorption. Real-time PCR and ELISA assays demonstrated that osteoprotegerin expression at both mRNA and protein levels in TNF-–stimulated MSCs was up-regulated, at least partially by activating the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. Furthermore, TNF-–stimulated MSCs maintained their immunophenotypic, multipotential differentiation and immunosuppressive characteristics. Moreover, MSCs treated with synovial fluid from rheumatoid arthritis patients modulated osteoclast generation in close relation with the TNF- levels. This study suggests that MSCs exhibit dual modulatory function on osteoclasts and the result might shed light on understanding the involvement of MSCs in the inflammatory diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence has emerged that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) represent a promising cell population for supporting new clinical cellular therapies. Currently, bone marrow represents the main source of MSCs, but their differentiation capacity declines with age. We have identified possible novel multilineage mesenchymal cells from human placenta. In addition to their multilineage differentiation, they have a direct immunosuppressive effect on proliferation of T lymphocytes from human adult peripheral blood (PB) and umbilical cord blood (UCB) in vitro. This immunoregulatory feature strongly implies that they have a potential application in allograft transplantation. Since placenta and UCB can be obtained from the same donor, placenta is an attractive source of MSCs for co-transplantation in conjunction with UCB-derived hematopoietic stem cells to reduce the potential of graft-versus-host disease in recipients. However, the way that they modulate the immune system is unclear. In this investigation, we have addressed the effects of human placental MSCs on various subtypes of UCB-derived and PB-derived T lymphocytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on a study which engineered a series of retroviral vectors encoding human gene to transduce human umbilical cord blood CD34+. Main problem of human cancer chemotherapy; Materials and methods used; Results and discussion.

New blood vessels are formed through the assembly or sprouting of endothelial cells (ECs) and become stabilized by the formation of perivascular matrix and the association with supporting mural cells. To investigate the role of endothelial Smad4 in vascular development, we deleted the Smad4 gene specifically in ECs using the Cre-LoxP system. EC-specific Smad4 mutant mice died at embryonic day 10.5 due to cardiovascular defects, including attenuated vessels sprouting and remodeling, collapsed dorsal aortas, enlarged hearts with reduced trabeculae, and failed endocardial cushion formation. Noticeably, Smad4-deficient ECs demonstrated an intrinsic defect in tube formation in vitro. Furthermore, the mutant vascular ECs dissociated away from the surrounding cells and suffered from impaired development of vascular smooth muscle cells. The disturbed vascular integrity and maturation was associated with aberrant expression of angiopoietins and a gap junction component, connexin43. Collectively, we have provided direct functional evidence that Smad4 activity in the developing ECs is essential for blood vessel remodeling, maturation, and integrity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]