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Summary: Stoichiometric rules may explain the allometric scaling among biological traits and body size, a fundamental law of nature. However, testing the scaling of elemental stoichiometry and growth to size over the course of plant ontogeny is challenging.Here, we used a fast‐growing bamboo species to examine how the concentrations and contents of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), relative growth rate (G), and nutrient productivity scale with whole‐plant mass (M) at the culm elongation and maturation stages.The whole‐plant C content vs M and N content vs P content scaled isometrically, and the N or P content vs M scaled as a general 3/4 power function across both growth stages. The scaling exponents of G vs M and N (and P) productivity in newly grown mass vs M relationships across the whole growth stages decreased as a −1 power function.These findings reveal the previously undocumented generality of stoichiometric allometries over the course of plant ontogeny and provide new insights for understanding the origin of ubiquitous quarter‐power scaling laws in the biosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop a Bayesian local influence procedure for generalized failure time models with latent variables and multivariate censored data. We propose to use the penalized splines (P-splines) approach to formulate the unknown functions of the proposed models. We assess the effects of minor perturbations to individual observations, the prior distributions of parameters, and the sampling distribution on statistical inference through various perturbation schemes. The first-order local influence measure is used to quantify the degree of minor perturbations to different aspects of a statistical model with the use of Bayes factor as an objective function. Simulation studies show that the empirical performance of the Bayesian local influence procedure is satisfactory. An application to a study of renal disease for type 2 diabetes patients is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skin mucus has been demonstrated to provide stress biomarkers for evaluating the physiological status, providing new convenient and non‐invasive methods to detect stress response in fish. Here, we investigated the anaesthetic efficacy of tricaine methanesulphonate (MS‐222; 75–115 mg/L) for discus Symphysodon aequifasciata (34.27 ± 4.46 g; 8.10 ± 0.59 cm) using skin mucus stress biomarkers. The induction time, recovery time and respiratory frequency were also determined. According to the criteria for anaesthesia and recovery, discus fish to reach stage A3 (deep anaesthesia) within 3 min and to reach stage R4 (full recovery of normal behaviour) within 5 min were observed at 95–105 mg/L MS‐222. Respiratory frequency increased first and then decreased during MS‐222 exposure and increased after recovery. At 10 min after deep anaesthesia, a lower mucus glucose was only observed at 115 mg/L MS‐222. No change in mucus cortisol and increased lactate were observed in all treatments. Increased mucus protein was observed at 75, 85 and 95 mg/L MS‐222. At 10 min after recovery, increased mucus glucose and decreased mucus protein were observed at 85, 95 and 115 mg/L MS‐222, but increased mucus cortisol only at 115 mg/L and lactate only at 75 and 105 mg/L MS‐222. At 24 hr after recovery, mucus glucose returned to the initial level only at 75, 95 and 105 mg/L MS‐222, while cortisol at 75 and 85 mg/L and protein and lactate at 75 mg/L respectively. Overall, the effective dose of MS‐222 for discus fish has been suggested to be 95–105 mg/L. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a semiparametric failure time model to analyze multivariate censored data with latent variables. The proposed model generalizes the conventional accelerated failure time model to accommodate latent risk factors that could be measured by multiple observed variables through a factor analysis and to incorporate additive nonparametric functions of observed and latent risk factors to examine their functional effects on multivariate failure times of interest. A Bayesian approach, along with Bayesian P-splines and Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques, is developed to estimate the unknown parameters and functions. The empirical performance of the proposed methodology is evaluated by a simulation study. An application to a study on the risk factors of two diabetes complications is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cocaine is a type of drug that functions to increase the availability of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain. However, cocaine dependence or abuse is highly related to an increased risk of psychiatric disorders and deficits in cognitive performance, attention, and decision-making abilities. Given the chronic and persistent features of drug addiction, the progression of abstaining from cocaine often evolves across several states, such as addiction to, moderate dependence on, and swearing off cocaine. Hidden Markov models (HMMs) are well suited to the characterization of longitudinal data in terms of a set of unobservable states, and have increasingly been used to uncover the dynamic heterogeneity in progressive diseases or activities. However, the existence of outliers or influential points may misidentify the hidden states and distort the associated inference. In this study, we develop a Bayesian local influence procedure for HMMs with latent variables in the presence of missing data. The proposed model enables us to investigate the dynamic heterogeneity of multivariate longitudinal data, reveal how the interrelationships among latent variables change from one state to another, and simultaneously conduct statistical diagnosis for the given data, model assumptions, and prior inputs. We apply the proposed procedure to analyze a dataset collected by the UCLA center for advancing longitudinal drug abuse research. Several outliers or influential points that seriously influence estimation results are identified and removed. The proposed procedure also discovers the effects of treatment and individuals’ psychological problems on cocaine use behavior and delineates their dynamic changes across the cocaine-addiction states. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The depths, which have been used to detect outliers or to extract a representative subset, can be applied to classification. We propose a resampling-based classification method based on the fact that resampling techniques yield a consistent estimator of the distribution of a statistic. The performance of this method was evaluated with eight contaminated models in terms of Correct Classification Rates (CCRs), and the results were compared with other known methods. The proposed method consistently showed higher average CCRs and 4% higher CCR at the maximum compared to other methods. In addition, this method was applied to Berkeley data. The average CCRs were between 0.79 and 0.85. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The weight-loaded swimming capability, tumor growth, survival time and biochemical markers of Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides (GLPs) in a chemotherapy-related fatigue mouse model were tested in the present study. The results showed that the middle-dose GLPs (GLP-M) and the high-dose GLPs (GLP-H) could increase the exhausting swimming time, which was observed to decrease in the cisplatin control group(PCG) and the tumor control group (TCG).The GLP-M and the GLP-H had reduced serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-αand interleukin-6, which were up-regulated by cisplatin. Cisplatin and the presence of tumor significantly enhanced the malondialdehyde (MDA) content and inhibited the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the muscle. Administration of GLPs at a high dose decreased the levels of MDA and up-regulated the SOD activity. The high-dose GLPs + cisplatin group presented a decreased tendency of tumor volume and a lower tumor weight compared with PCG. Moreover, the mice in the GLP-M and GLP-H groups had longer survival times compared with the mice in the TCG and PCG.The levels of creatinine and serum blood urea nitrogen, which are up-regulated by cisplatin, were significantly reduced by GLP-M and GLP-H. Therefore, these results suggest that GLPs might improve chemotherapy-related fatigue via regulation of inflammatory responses, oxidative stress and reduction of nephrotoxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Bamboo invasion significantly increased soil pH across the subtropical forests of China. • The magnitude of soil pH increase was related to the invaded forest type. • The change in soil pH increased linearly with invasive bamboo density. Soil pH has cascading effects on terrestrial ecosystem functions by regulating the biogeochemical cycle, which can be altered by plant invasion. Bamboo invasion occurs throughout the world in both native and introduced habitats, especially in Asia. However, the effect of bamboo invasion on soil pH is still poorly understood. Here, we investigated the invasion-induced change in pH (CIP) with pairwise sampling from 215 bamboo-tree transects in subtropical China, including 203 pure bamboo forest (BF) plots, 188 mixed bamboo-tree forest (MBTF) plots and 199 non-bamboo-invaded tree forest (TF) plots. We found a significant increase in soil pH after bamboo invasion from 4.44 (±0.03) in TFs to 4.52 (±0.03) in MBTFs and 4.67 (±0.03) in BFs. The CIP was related to the invaded forest type, with the largest changes in deciduous broadleaf (0.38 ± 0.09) and mixed evergreen and deciduous broadleaf forests (0.38 ± 0.10), followed by mixed needleleaf and broadleaf forests (0.24 ± 0.05), and the smallest changes in evergreen broadleaf (0.19 ± 0.03) and needleleaf forests (0.20 ± 0.03). Further analysis showed that the CIP increased linearly with invasive bamboo density and was independent of climate factors. Overall, we provide the first evidence of a large-scale observation for bamboo invasion-induced forest soil pH increase. Our findings highlight that plant invasion should not be neglected as a driver of global change via its effects on soil pH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Moso bamboo ( Phyllostachys pubescens) is a typical native invasive plant imposing serious threats on ecosystem processes and functions. A primary concern is alterations of litter and soil N mineralization in evergreen broadleaved forests coupled with bamboo population expansion. Methods: We conducted a field study to determine the litter production, quality, N resorption efficiency, and soil N mineralization rates in bamboo-dominated forest (BDF) and adjacent uninvaded evergreen broadleaved forest (EBF) in subtropical China. Results: The mean annual litter production for BDF was 5.82 Mg ha, 36.0 % lower than that for EBF (9.09 Mg ha). Litter N concentration was also lower, but C: N was higher after bamboo expansion, coupled with higher N resorption efficiency for Moso bamboo and lower litterfall, resulting in potential N return decreasing as much as 60.41 kg N ha yr to the soil. The soil N net nitrification and mineralization rates exhibited lower values in BDF than in EBF. In addition, annual soil N mineralization rate was positively correlated with litter production but negatively with C: N ratio of litter. Conclusions: Expansion of bamboo into neighboring EBF decreased litter production and quality, reduced soil N mineralization rate, and ultimately retarded N cycling. These effects should be carefully considered in the design of restoration strategies for ecosystems impacted by bamboo species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isolation of metabolites from Plumula nelumbinis led to the discovery of eleven compounds, including six flavonoids and five phenolderivatives. Their structures have been determined on the basis of chemical and spectroscopic data. Most of them, such as compounds 1, 4, 6, 8, and 10, have shown inhibitory activity against hospital-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (HA-MRSA). MICs of compound 8 against SA-200195 and SA-300150 were 2 μg/mL and 8 μg/mL, respectively. And the antioxidant activity of isolated compounds was determined by checking the scavenging activity against three different radicals: 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrydrazyl (DPPH) radical, hydroxyl radical (OH∙), and superoxide anion (O2∙-), as well as xanthine oxidase inhibition. All flavonoids showed strong antioxidant activity. And compound 6 displayed the highest inhibitory effect against xanthine oxidase with IC50 value of 8.2 μg/mL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In rodents, adrenergic signaling by norepinephrine (NE) in the hippocampus is required for the retrieval of intermediate-term memory. NE promotes retrieval via the stimulation of β1adrenergic receptors, the production of cAMP, and the activation of both protein kinase A (PKA) and the exchange protein activated by cAMP. However, a final effector for this signaling pathway has not been identified. Among the many targets of adrenergic signaling in the hippocampus, the slow afterhyperpolarization (sAHP) is an appealing candidate because its reduction by β1, signaling enhances excitatory neurotransmission. Here we report that reducing the sAHP is critical for the facilitation of retrieval by NE. Direct blockers of the sAHP, as well as blockers of the L-type voltage-dependent calcium influx that activates the sAHP, rescue retrieval in mutant mice lacking either NE or the β1 receptor. Complementary to this, a facilitator of L-type calcium influx impairs retrieval in wild-type mice. In addition, we examined the role of NE in the learning-related reduction of the sAHP observed ex vivo in hippocampal slices. We find that this reduction in the sAHP depends on the induction of persistent PKA activity specifically in condi-tioned slices. Interestingly, this persistent PKA activity is induced by NE/β1 signaling during slice preparation rather than during learning. These observations suggest that the reduction in the sAHP may not be present autonomously in vivo, but is likely induced by neuromodulator input, which is consistent with the idea that NE is required in vivo for reduction of the sAHP during memory retrieval. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Memories for emotionally arousing experiences are typically vivid and persistent. The recurrent, intrusive memories of traumatic events in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are an extreme example. Stress-responsive neurotransmitters released during emotional arousal are proposed to enhance the consolidation of fear memory. These transmitters may include norepinephrine and epinephrine (NE/E) because stimulating &bgr;-adrenergic receptors shortly after training can enhance memory consolidation. However, mice lacking NE/E acquire and consolidate fear memory normally. Here, we show by using pharmacologic and genetic manipulations in mice and rats that NE/E are not essential for classical fear memory consolidation because signaling by the &bgr;2-adrenergic receptor is redundant with signaling by dopamine at the D5-dopaminergic receptor. The intracellular signaling that is stimulated by these receptors to promote consolidation uses distinct G proteins to redundantly activate phospholipase C. The results support recent evidence indicating that blocking-&bgr;adrenergic receptors alone shortly after trauma may not be sufficient to prevent PTSD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three new constituents were obtained along with 10 known compounds from the seeds of Brucea javanica. The structures of these compounds were determined based on spectral and chemical evidence. These new compounds included a monoterpenoid glycoside and two sesquiterpenes. Bioactivity screening of these constituents showed that compounds 1, 3, 8, 9, and 13 with obvious activities in inhibiting multiplication of the Tobacco mosaic virus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aquatic animals can be influenced by exposure to microplastics (MPs), but little is known about their recovery capacity following MPs excretion. Here, common carp were exposed to environmentally relevant concentrations of MPs for 30 days and followed by MPs excretion for another 30 days. Growth, isotopic and elemental compositions and intestinal microbiota were investigated. We found that fish growth was not influenced by exposed to MPs but was significantly reduced following MPs excretion, indicating a delayed effect on growth. MPs intake and excretion, however, had no obvious effects on isotopic and elemental compositions. MPs altered the community structure and composition of intestinal microbiota and might reduce functional diversity. After MPs excretion, interestingly, bacterial community structures of MPs treatments were grouped together with the control, suggesting the general resilience of fish intestinal microbiota. Nevertheless, high abundance of pathogenic Shewanella , Plesiomonas and Flavobacterium was observed in MPs treatments but did not affect the functional potential of intestinal microbiota. The results of this study provide new information for the application of adverse outcome pathway (AOP) in MPs, suggesting the necessity of paying attention to recovery assay following MPs intake in the development of AOP frameworks. [Display omitted] • Growth of common carp was not influenced by MPs intake. • Reduced growth occurred after MPs excretion. • MPs had no obvious effects on body isotopic and elemental compositions. • MPs intake altered community composition and structure of intestinal microbiota. • After MPs excretion bacterial community generally recovered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Using a spotted 65-mer oligonucleotide microarray, we have characterized the developmental expression profile from mid-gastrulation (75% epiboly) to 5 days post-fertilization (dpf) for >16,000 unique transcripts in the zebrafish genome. Microarray profiling data sets are often immense, and one challenge is validating the results and prioritizing genes for further study. The purpose of the current study was to address such issues, as well as to generate a publicly available resource for investigators to examine the developmental expression profile of any of the over 16,000 zebrafish genes on the array. On the chips, there are 16,459 printed spots corresponding to 16,288 unique transcripts and 172 β-actin (AF025305) spots spatially distributed throughout the chip as a positive control. We have collected 55 microarray gene expression profiling results from various zebrafish laboratories and created a Perl/CGI-based software tool (http://serine.umdnj.edu/∼ouyangmi/cgi-bin/zebrafish/profile.htm) for researchers to look for the expression patterns of their gene of interest. Users can search for their genes of interest by entering the accession numbers or the nucleotide sequences and the expression profiling will be reported in the form of expression intensities versus time-course graphical displays. In order to validate this web tool, we compared 74 genes’ expression results between our web tool and the in situ hybridization results from Thisse et al. [Thisse, B., Heyer, V., Lux, A., Alunni, A., Degrave, A., Seiliez, I., Kirchner, J., Parkhill, J.-P., Thisse, C., 2004. Spatial and temporal expression of the zebrafish genome by large-scale in situ hybridization screening. Meth. Cell. Biol. 77, 505–519] as well as those reported by Mathavan et al. [Mathavan, S., Lee, S.G., mark, A., Miller, L.D., Murthy, K.R., Tong, Y., Wu, Y.L., Lam, S.H., Yang, H., Ruan, Y., Korzh, V., Gong, Z., Liu, E.T., Lufkin, T., 2005. Transcriptome analysis of zebrafish embryogenesis using microarrays. PLoS Genet. 1, 260–276]. The comparison indicates that our microarray-derived expression patterns are 80% and 75% in agreement with the in situ database (Thisse et al., 2004) and previously published microarray data (Mathavan et al., 2005), respectively. Those genes that conflict between our web tool and the in situ database either have high sequence similarity with other genes or the in situ probes are not reliable. Among those genes that disagree between our web tool and those reported by Mathavan et al. (2005), 93% of the genes are in agreement between our web tool and the in situ database, indicating our web tool results are quite reliable. Thus, this resource provides a user-friendly web based platform for researchers to determine the developmental profile of their gene of interest and to prioritize genes identified in microarray analyses by their developmental expression profile. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Two new neolignan glycosides, davidioside A (1) and davidioside B (2), have been isolated along with six known compounds from the branch bark of Davidia involucrata. Identification of their structures was achieved by 1D and 2D NMR experiments, including 1H-1H COSY, NOESY, HMQC, and HMBC methods as well as FAB mass spectral data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the sole proprietorship structure where no agency problems exists, the owner acting as the manager does not necessarily always work as hard as possible to maximize the firm's value as the classical economic theory assumed. Allowing for less data, small and not typically distributed sample and uncertainty, we appraise via grey relational analysis the factors affecting the extent of the managers' efforts to work for the firm when the firm is managed by the owner and the agent respectively, and have obtained credible and consistent results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new cerebroside, asperiamide A (1), and adenosine were produced from a marine fungus, identified as Asperillus sp ., collected in the Mei Zhou Gulf, China. Two-dimensional NMR methods, FAB-MS, were used to established the structure of the new compound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many experiments have suggested that the adrenergic system is important for arousal and the regulation of sleep/wake states. Electrophysiological studies have found strong correlations between the firing of adrenergic neurons and arousal state. Lesions of adrenergic neurons have been reported to cause changes in sleep/wake regulation, although findings have been variable and sometimes transient. To more specifically address the role of adrenergic signaling in sleep/wake regulation, we performed electroencephalographic and electromyographic recordings in mice with a targeted disruption of the gene for dopamine beta-hydroxylase, the enzyme that converts dopamine to norepinephrine. These mice are unable to synthesize the endogenous adrenergic ligands norepinephrine and epinephrine. The mutant mice sleep approximately 2 h more each day. The decrease in waking is due to a considerable decrease in the duration of waking bouts in spite of an increase in the number of waking bouts and transitions from sleep to waking. In contrast, the amount of rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep is only half that in control mice due to a decrease in the number and duration of REM sleep bouts. Delta power is selectively increased in the mutant mice, and there is much less variation in non-REM sleep delta power over 24 h. After 6 h of total sleep deprivation during the first half of the light period, there is no rebound recovery of sleep time in the mutant mice. These results provide genetic evidence that adrenergic signaling acts to maintain waking and is important for the regulation of REM sleep and possibly sleep homeostasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adrenergic system is a neuromodulatory system whose endogenous ligands are considered to be the catecholamines norepinephrine (NE) and epinephrine (E). Evidence suggests that the catecholamine dopamine (DA) may also activate adrenergic signaling. Further, tyramine (TA) and octopamine (OA) are other monoamines that can be produced in catecholaminergic cells when tyrosine hydroxylase activity is low or absent, as in some genetic mouse models of adrenergic function. Here, we systematically examine the ability of these l-tyrosine-derived monoamines to activate all 10 known isoforms of the cloned mouse adrenergic receptors expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells. In comparison to NE or E, DA is nearly as efficacious in this system but is from 1 to 4 orders of magnitude less potent. In comparison to DA, OA has roughly equivalent potency but is usually only a partial agonist. TA is either very weak or lacks agonism. Of note, all three mouse α1 receptors increase cAMP, in contrast to results reported for human α1d receptors. In addition, a 12-amino acid hemagglutinin epitope tag added to the N-terminus of α2 receptors selectively enhances the potency of NE ~10- to 100-fold, indicating that caution should be applied when interpreting physiological results from experiments using modified receptors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Human Genome Project has provided abundant gene sequence information on human and important model organisms. The chicken is well positioned from an evolutionary standpoint to serve as a link between higher and lower organisms, particularly mammals, and amphibia and fish. In this study we used stringent criteria to select 565 triples of chicken, human, and mouse candidate orthologs. We analyze the sequences with respect to nucleotide and amino acid similarities. This analysis also allows measurement of evolutionary distances of different proteins. We found that chicken-human and chicken-mouse sequence identities are highly correlated; similarly for chicken-human and chicken-mouse evolutionary distances. With chicken as the out-group, we found that mouse has a higher substitution rate than human, supporting the generation-time effect hypothesis. We also described the transversion bias, which is the preference for some transversions than others in nucleotide substitutions. We demonstrated that there are statistically significant properties in the differences of orthologous sequences. The differential patterns, in combination with sequence similarity analysis, may lead to the identification of genes that are very divergent from the mammalian orthologs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three new triterpenoid saponins, hylonosides III-V ( 1 - 3 ) have been isolated, along with three known oleanolic acid saponins ( 4 - 6 ), from the methanol extract of leaves of Ilex hylonoma . The structures were elucidated using a combination of homo- and hetero-nuclear 2D NMR techniques (COSY, TOCSY, NOESY, HMQC and HMBC) and negative FAB-MS. The new compounds were characterized as 3- O -β- d -glucopyranosyl-(1→4)-β- d -glucuronopyranosyl siaresinolic acid-28- O -β- d -glucopyranosyl ester ( 1 ), 3- O -β- d -glucopyranosyl-(1→4)-β- d -glucopyranosyl-(1→2)-β- d -glucuronopyranosyl siaresinolic acid-28- O -β- d -glucopyranosyl ester ( 2 ), 3- O -β- d -glucopyranosyl-(1→4)-β- d -glucopyranosyl-(1→2)-β- d -glucuronopyranosyl oleanolic acid-28- O -β- d -glucopyranosyl ester ( 3 ). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microplastics (MPs) can be easily taken up by a wide range of aquatic animals and cause blockage of the digestive tract leading to starvation. Meanwhile, aquatic organisms are facing threats posed by food restriction in both wild and cultured environment. Little knowledge, however, exists on how MPs interact with food conditions to affect aquatic animals. Here, koi carp were exposed to polystyrene MPs (0, 100 or 1000 μg/L) under controlled feeding (satiated or starved) for 30 or 60 days. MPs reduced and interacted synergistically with food conditions on growth after 30 days but antagonistically after 60 days. MPs reduced crude lipid and carbohydrate but increased and antagonistically interacted with feeding conditions on crude protein. Food conditions interacted with MPs on C, N and P but stoichiometric responses were decoupled with macromolecules changes. Food conditions antagonistically interacted with MPs on δ13C after 60 days. Linear discriminant analysis revealed that C:P and N:P were the two most important measured parameters accounting for the response of koi towards MPs and food restriction, presenting an antagonistic interaction of MPs and food status with the prolonged exposure duration. ga1 • MPs reduced growth and interacted synergistically with food condition after 30 days but antagonistically after 60 days. • Food restriction antagonistically interacted with MPs on crude protein after both 30 and 60 days. • Food condition antagonistically interacted with MPs on δ13C after 60 days. • C:P and N:P might account for the response of koi towards MPs and food restriction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intelligent methods have long been researched in fault diagnosis. Traditionally, feature extraction and fault classification are separated, and this process is not completely intelligent. In addition, most traditional intelligent methods use an individual model, which cannot extract the discriminate features when the machines work in a complex condition. To overcome the shortcomings of traditional intelligent fault diagnosis methods, in this paper, an intelligent bearing fault diagnosis method based on ensemble sparse auto-encoders was proposed. Three different sparse auto-encoders were used as the main architecture. To improve the robustness and stability, a novel weight strategy based on distance metric and standard deviation metric was employed to assign the weights of three sparse auto-encodes. Softmax classifier is used to classify the fault types of integrated features. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated with extensive experiments, and comparisons with the related methods and researches on the widely-used motor bearing dataset verify the superiority of the proposed method. The results show that the testing accuracy and the standard deviation are 99.71% and 0.05%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Camrelizumab plus rivoceranib showed significant clinical benefits in progression-free survival and overall survival compared to sorafenib in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study aimed to assess its cost effectiveness from the perspective of Chinese health care system. Methods: A Markov state-transition model was developed based on the Phase 3 randomized CARES-310 clinical trial data. Health state utility values were obtained from the CARES-310 clinical trial, and direct medical costs were derived from the relevant literature and local charges. The measured outcomes included quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). Probabilistic and one-way sensitivity analyses were performed to assess the uncertainty of the model. Results: In the base-case analysis, the incremental effectiveness and cost of camrelizumab plus rivoceranib versus sorafenib were 0.41 QALYs and $13,684.84, respectively, resulting in an ICER of $33,619.98/QALY, lower than the willingness-to-pay threshold of China ($35,864.61/QALY). Subgroup analyses revealed that the ICERs of camrelizumab plus rivoceranib versus sorafenib were $35,920.01 and $29,717.98 in patients with ALBI grade 1 and grade 2, respectively. One-way sensitivity analyses indicated that the cost of camrelizumab, the proportion of patients receiving subsequent treatment in the camrelizumab plus rivoceranib group, and the cost of rivoceranib were the most significant factors in the base-case analysis. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis suggested that the probabilities of cost effectiveness of camrelizumab plus rivoceranib were 61.27%, 51.46%, and 82.78% for any grade, and ALBI grade 1 and grade 2, respectively. Conclusions: Camrelizumab plus rivoceranib was more cost effective than sorafenib as first-line therapy for unresectable HCC in the Chinese setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In psychological, social, behavioral, and medical studies, hidden Markov models (HMMs) have been extensively applied to the simultaneous modeling of heterogeneous observation and hidden transition in the analysis of longitudinal data. However, the majority of the existing HMMs are developed in a parametric framework without latent variables. This study considers a novel semiparametric HMM, which comprises a semiparametric latent variable model to investigate the complex interrelationships among latent variables and a nonparametric transition model to examine the linear and nonlinear effects of potential predictors on hidden transition. The Bayesian P-splines approach and Markov chain Monte Carlo methods are developed to estimate the unknown, a Bayesian model comparison statistic, is employed to conduct model comparison. The empirical performance of the proposed methodology is evaluated through simulation studies. An application to a data set derived from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Introduction: Brain metastases (BM) remains the most cumbersome disease burden in patients with lung cancer. This study aimed to investigate whether serum brain injury biomarkers can indicate BM, to further establish related diagnostic models, or to predict prognosis of BM. Materials and methods: This was a prospective study of patients diagnosed with lung cancer with BM (BM group), with lung cancer without BM (NBM group), and healthy participants (control group). Serum neurofilament light chain (NfL) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) were detected at baseline. We identified and integrated the risk factors of BM to establish diagnostic models. Results: A total of 158 patients were included (n = 37, 57, and 64 in the BM, NBM, and control groups, respectively). Serum biomarker levels were significantly higher in the NBM group than in the control group. Higher serum NfL and GFAP concentrations were associated with BM (odds ratios, 3.06 and 1.79, respectively). NfL (area under curve [AUC] = 0.77, p < 0.001) and GFAP (AUC = 0.64, p = 0.02) had diagnostic value for BM. The final diagnostic model included NfL level, age, Karnofsky Performance Status. The model had an AUC value of 0.83 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.75–0.92). High NfL concentration was correlated with poor overall survival of patients with BM (hazard ratio, 3.31; 95% CI 1.22–9.04; p = 0.019). Conclusion: Serum NfL and GFAP could be potential diagnostic biomarkers for BM in patients with lung cancer. We established a model that can provide individual diagnoses of BM. Higher NfL level may be associated with poor prognosis of patients with BM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Vascular fibrosis is a universal phenomenon associated with aging, and oxidative stress plays an important role in the genesis of vascular damage in line with the aging process. However, whether antioxidants can ameliorate vascular fibrosis remains unclear. Objectives: The present study was to determine antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) could ameliorates aortic fibrosis in aging wild-type C57BL/6 mice. Methods: The aortas were harvested from both 12-week and 60-week wild-type mice. The 60-week mice were treated with and without the NAC for 12 weeks starting at the age of 48 weeks. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining and Masson's trichrome staining of aortic samples were performed, and the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), RNA expression of GAPDH, TNF-α, MCP-1, IL-6, IL-10, IL-4, SIRT-1, SIRT-3, FOXO-1, and macrophage polarization were determined. Results: There is a positive relationship between collagen deposition and the M1/M2 macrophage ratio in the aortic wall of aged wild-type C57BL/6 mice. The higher collagen area percentage in the aortas of 60-week-old mice than in 12-week-old mice was reversed by NAC. NAC could not impact the total number of macrophages, but partly promoted M2 macrophage polarization. By performing qRT-PCR using aortic samples from these mice, we identified that SIRT-1, SIRT-3, FOXO-1 could be somehow responsible for aging-related fibrosis. Conclusions: NAC ameliorates aortic fibrosis in aging wild type mice partly by promoting M2 macrophage polarization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the solutions of the Green's function for a saturated porous medium obtained by the authors, and using transformation of axisymmetric coordinates, Sommerfeld integrals and superposition of the influence field on a free surface, the authors have obtained displacement solutions of a saturated porous medium subjected to a torsional force in a half-space. The relationship curves of the displacement solutions and various parameters (permeability, frequency, etc.) under action of a unit of torque are also given in this paper. The results are consistent with previous Reissner's solutions, where a two-phase medium decays to a single-phase medium. The solution is useful in solving relevant dynamic problems of a two-phase saturated medium in engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new phenolic glycoside, 4-O-β-D-apifuranosyl-(1 → 2)-β-D-glucopyranosyl-2-hydroxy-6-methoxyacetophenone (2) and 11 known compounds were isolated from the MeOH extract of the plant Celosia argentea. The structures of the compounds were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analysis and chemical methods. Among the isolated compounds, stigmasterol (10) showed moderate inhibitory activities against SGC-7901 and BEL-7404 cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three new water-soluble compounds, pungens A-C, along with four known compounds including two phenol glycosides, one secoiso-flavanol and one phenol ether, have been isolated from the bark of Elaeagnus pungens. Among them, pungen C (7) (200 μg/ml) was tested in SGC-7901 and BEL-7404 tumor cell lines, and showed moderate cytotoxic activity. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data and chemical evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In recent years, the problem of community structure detection has attracted more and more attention and many approaches have been proposed. Recently, Newman pointed out that this issue can be transformed into the problem of constrained maximization of the assignment matrix over possible divisions of a network. He presents further that this maximization process can be written in terms of the eigenspectrum of the “modularity matrix”. On the basis of this work and the vector partition approach in computer science, we propose a kind of multiway division approach for detecting community structure of complex networks. Experimental results indicate that the algorithm works well and is effective at finding both good communities and the appropriate number of communities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective: NUT midline carcinoma (NMC), a rare type of squamous cell carcinoma, is genetically characterised by NUT midline carcinoma family member 1 (NUTM1) gene rearrangement. NMC can arise from the lungs; however, there is no standard for the management of primary pulmonary NMC. This study aimed to confirm the clinical features and report the treatments, especially with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), and outcomes of patients with primary pulmonary NMC.Methods: A retrospective review of patients with primary pulmonary NMC was performed in the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University between January 2015 and December 2018. Clinical manifestations as well as radiographic and pathological findings were recorded. Whole-exome sequencing (WES), a predictor for ICI response, was used to determine the tumour mutational burden (TMB). Treatments, especially by immune checkpoint blockade, and patient survival were analysed.Results: Seven patients with primary pulmonary mass (four men and three women) with a mean age of 42 years (range, 23-74) who were diagnosed with NMC according to NUT immunohistochemistry staining were included for analysis. One patient had a rare fusion of CHRM5-NUTM1 by tumour sequencing. A wide range of TMB (1.75-73.81 mutations/Mbp) was observed. The initial treatments included chemotherapy (5/7, 71.4%), surgery (1/7, 14.3%), and radiotherapy (1/7, 14.3%). Five patients (5/7, 71.4%) received ICIs (programmed cell death protein 1 [PD1]/programmed cell death ligand 1 [PDL1] monoclonal antibody) as second- or higher-line treatments. The median overall survival (OS) was 4.1 months (range, 1.5-26.7 months).Conclusions: Patients with primary pulmonary NMC have a poor prognosis and chemotherapy is often preferred. Checkpoint immunotherapy is a good option as the second- or higher-line treatment. TMB seems to be not associated with OS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Primary myoepithelial carcinoma of the lung is a rare subtype in lung cancer. Comprehensive molecular profiling of myoepithelial carcinoma of the lung is absent, neither was clinical evidence of targeted therapy available for this disease. Therefore, the optimal treatment regimen of this tumor needs to be established. Case presentation: Here we present a case of a 68-year-old patient with stage IVB primary myoepithelial carcinoma of the lung who harbored EGFR exon 19 deletion and KRAS mutation and underwent icotinib targeted therapy, achieving partial response (PR) with progression free survival (PFS) of 3 months. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this study describes the first documented case of primary myoepithelial carcinoma lung cancer patient harboring EGFR exon 19 deletion and KRAS mutation, and showed clinical efficacy of epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKI) treatment in this patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutant non-small cell lung cancer can benefit significantly from EGFR tyrosine-kinase inhibitors (TKIs) treatment, but almost every patient will inevitably develop resistance. The transformation to small cell lung cancer (SCLC) has been described as an EGFR-TKI resistance often associated with aggressive clinical course and poor prognosis. In this study, we report an unexpected favorable response to etoposide and cisplatin (EP) from an EGFR-mutant patient who developed SCLC transformation at disease progression after the administration of erlotinib with a progression-free survivalof 7.7 months. At disease progression (PD) after erlotinib, rebiopsy showed typical SCLC histology accompanied by positive expressions of CD56, TTF-1, CK7, and synaptophysin. Subsequently, he was switched to standard SCLC treatment regimen EP in combination with erlotinib due to the retention of EGFR 19 del and achieved PR four cycles after the treatment. His disease progressed again 7.7 months after the initiation of EP treatment, with an enlargement of both primary and metastatic lesions. Collectively, this case illustrated the transformation from adenocarcinoma to SCLC and the subsequent durable benefit from standard treatment for SCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigated the chemical components of the flowers of Cymbidium Lunagrad Eternal Green for the first time. In the whole post-fertilization, a new alkaloid, named Lunagrad A (1), and a new aromatic glucoside, named Lunagrad B (2), were isolated from the MeOH extract of the flowers of Cymbidium Lunagrad Eternal Green, along with other six known aromatic compounds (3-8) and three flavone glucosides (9-11). These structures were determined on the basis of NMR experiments, as well as chemical evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new approach has been developed for the synthesis of 8-substituted 2H-chromenes, featuring a novel cascade aromatic Claisen rearrangement/o-quinone methide formation/6π-electrocyclization. This new method was demonstrated with 28 examples tolerating different substitutions at alkenes, allylic and aromatic ring and with total syntheses of three 2H-chromene natural products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dove tree, Davidia involucrata Baill. which is endemic in western China, is not only one of the best known relict species of the tertiary, but also a famous ornamental plant with dove-shaped flowers. A diverse array of secondary metabolites have been isolated and identified from Davidia involucrata. The 58 structures of the secondary metabolites were presented and classified as triterpenoids, tannins, phenolic compounds, lignans, flavonoids, alkaloids, and sterol. In addition, the biosynthetic route of some triterpenoids was proposed. Moreover, the advances in the discovery of unprecedented compounds and uncovering of notable bioactivities were highlighted in this review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To relieve large airway obstruction in a patient with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) by injecting the mouse-human chimeric monoclonal antibody radiolabeled with iodine 131 chimeric tumor necrotic treatment (131I-chTNT) and to study the irradiation absorption in the tumor and critical organs.Methods: A 50-year-old patient with NSCLC was treated with radioimmunotherapy. His airway was still obstructed in spite of intensive chemotherapy and radiotherapy.131I-chTNT was injected into the tumor at the right bronchus through a fiberscope. A131I scan was performed during treatment, and a computed tomography (CT) scan of the chest and fiberscope were performed pre- and post-treatment.131I-chTNT distribution in tissues was followed for up to 4 weeks using gamma camera imaging.Results: The radiation material accumulated notably in the tumor, relieving the patient's symptoms by suppressing the tumor. Recanalization of the airway was achieved so that the patient was able to breathe easily and cough.Conclusion: As a new type of radioimmunotherapy,131I-chTNT may be helpful in treatment of advanced lung cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The anti-fatigue effects of the Radix Rehmanniae Preparata polysaccharides (RRPP) were studied in mice. The RRPP were orally administered at doses of 50, 100 and 200mg/kg for 4 weeks and the anti-fatigue activity was evaluated using a weight-loaded swimming test, along with the determination of serum urea nitrogen (SUN), hepatic glycogen and blood lactic acid (BLA) contents. The results showed that there was no significant difference in the body weight of mice in the three RRPP groups compared with the negative control group during initial, intermediate and terminal stages in the experiment (p >0.05). The ratio of exhausting swimming time was obviously increased 31.48% (p <0.05) and 61.51% (p <0.01) in the middle-dose group and the high-dose RRPP group, respectively. The BLA and SUN levels were decreased in middle-dose and high-dose RRPP groups (p <0.01). Hepatic glycogen level was increased in three RRPP treated groups (p <0.01). Therefore, RRPP may be responsible for the pharmacological effect of anti-fatigue of Radix Rehmanniae Preparata. The mechanism was related to the increase of the storage of hepatic glycogen and the decrease of the accumulation of SUN and BLA. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Many herpesviruses, including Marek''s disease viruses (MDV1 and MDV2), encode microRNAs. In this study, we report microRNAs of two related herpesviruses, infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV) and herpesvirus of turkeys (HVT), as well as additional MDV2 microRNAs. The genome locations, but not microRNA sequences, are conserved among all four of these avian herpesviruses. Most are clustered in the repeats flanking the unique long region (I/TRL), except in ILTV which lacks these repeats. Two abundant ILTV microRNAs are antisense to the immediate early gene ICP4. A homologue of host microRNA, gga-miR-221, was found among the HVT microRNAs. Additionally, a cluster of HVT microRNAs was found in a region containing two locally duplicated segments, resulting in paralogous HVT microRNAs with 96–100% identity. The prevalence of microRNAs in the genomic repeat regions as well as in local repeats suggests the importance of genetic plasticity in herpesviruses for microRNA evolution and preservation of function. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Chronic drinking water exposure to inorganic arsenic and its metabolites increases tumor frequency in the skin of K6/ODC transgenic mice. To identify potential biomarkers and modes of action for this skin tumorigenicity, we characterized gene expression profiles from analysis of K6/ODC mice administered 0, 0.05, 0.25, 1.0 and 10 ppm sodium arsenite in their drinking water for 4 weeks. Following exposure, total RNA was isolated from mouse skin and processed to biotin-labeled cRNA for microarray analyses. Skin gene expression was analyzed with Affymetrix Mouse Genome 430A 2.0 GeneChips®, and pathway analysis was conducted with DAVID (NIH), Ingenuity® Systems and MetaCore''s GeneGo. Differential expression of several key genes was verified through qPCR. Only the highest dose (10 ppm) resulted in significantly altered KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) pathways, including MAPK, regulation of actin cytoskeleton, Wnt, Jak–Stat, Tight junction, Toll-like, phosphatidylinositol and insulin signaling pathways. Approximately 20 genes exhibited a dose response, including several genes known to be associated with carcinogenesis or tumor progression including cyclin D1, CLIC4, Ephrin A1, STAT3 and DNA methyltransferase 3a. Although transcription changes in all identified genes have not previously been linked to arsenic carcinogenesis, their association with carcinogenesis in other systems suggests that these genes may play a role in the early stages of arsenic-induced skin carcinogenesis and can be considered potential biomarkers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Intermedin (IMD) is a novel member of the calcitonin/calcitonin gene-related peptide (CT/CGRP) family identified from human and other vertebrate tissues. Preprointermedin (preproIMD) can generate a 47 amino acid mature peptide (IMD1–47) and a shorter 40 amino acid one (IMD8–47) by proteolytic cleavage. Amino acid sequence analysis showed that cleavage sites are located between two basic amino acids at Arg93-Arg94, resulting in the production of preproIMD95–147, namely IMD1–53. The present study was designed to observe the effects of IMD1–53 on cardiac function in ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in isolated rat hearts. Perfusion with high-dose IMD1–53 gave higher left ventricular systolic pressure (LVSP) and maximal rate of increase and decrease of left ventricle pressure (±LVdP/dtmax), and coronary perfusion flow (CPF) than those of controls. Cardiac I/R induced a marked inhibition of cardiac function and myocardial injury. Reperfusion with IMD1–53 significantly ameliorated the inhibited cardiac function and bradycardia induced by I/R. Compared with the I/R-treatment alone, IMD1–53 reperfusion augmented CPF, LVSP, and maximal rate of increase and decrease of left ventricle pressure (±LVdP/dtmax) and decreased LVDP. In addition, reperfusion with IMD1–53markedly attenuated the leakage of lactate dehydrogenase and malondialdehyde content in myocardia compared with I/R alone. Reperfusion with IMD1–53increased the content of cyclic adenosine monophosphate in comparison with I/R alone. Interestingly, the above IMD1–53 effects are similar to those of adrenomedullin. These results suggest that IMD1–53, like adrenomedullin, has cardioprotective effects against myocardial I/R injury. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A role for norepinephrine in learning and memory has been elusive and controversial. A longstanding hypothesis states that the adrenergic nervous system mediates enhanced memory consolidation of emotional events. We tested this hypothesis in several learning tasks using mutant mice conditionally lacking norepinephrine and epinephrine, as well as control mice and rats treated with adrenergic receptor ago- fists and antagonists. We find that adrenergic signaling is critical for the retrieval of intermediate-term contixtual and spatial memories, but is not necessary for the retrieval or consolidation of emotional memories in general. The role of norepinephrine in retrieval requires signaling through the β1-adrenergic receptor in the hippocampus. The results demonstrate that mechanisms of memory retrieval can vary over time and can be different from those required for acquisition or consolidation. These findings may be relevant to symptoms in several neuropsychiatric disorders as Well as the treatment of cardiac failure with β blockers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The acyclic organic alkynes and carbyne bonds exhibit linear shapes. Metallabenzynes and metallapentalynes are six- or five-membered metallacycles containing carbynes, whose carbine-carbon bond angles are less than 180°. Such distortion results in considerable ring strain, resulting in the unprecedented reactivity compared with acyclic carbynes. Meanwhile, the aromaticity of these metallacycles would stabilize the ring system. The fascinating combination of ring strain and aromaticity would lead to interesting reactivities. This mini review summarized recent findings on the reactivity of the metal–carbon triple bonds and the aromatic ring system. In the case of metallabenzynes, aromaticity would prevail over ring strain. The reactions are similar to those of organic aromatics, especially in electrophilic reactions. Meanwhile, fragmentation of metallacarbynes might be observed via migratory insertion if the aromaticity of metallacarbynes is strongly affected. In the case of metallapentalynes, the extremely small bond angle would result in high reactivity of the carbyne moiety, which would undergo typical reactions for organic alkynes, including interaction with coinage metal complexes, electrophilic reactions, nucleophilic reactions and cycloaddition reactions, whereas the strong aromaticity ensured the integrity of the bicyclic framework of metallapentalynes throughout all reported reaction conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The total synthesis of a natural product alkaloid fusaric acid (FA), which exhibits herbicide, fungicide, insecticide and even diverse notable pharmacological activities, was accomplished in four steps using commercially available materials. The synthesis, based on a unified and flexible strategy using 6-bromonicotinaldehyde as a common intermediate, is concise, convergent, practical and can be carried out on a two-gram scale. This approach could be readily applicable to the synthesis of its analogues. In addition, FA had a wide range of inhibitory activities against 14 plant pathogenic fungi in this study, which demonstrated that as a leading compound, and it has great potential to be further developed as an agricultural fungicide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The total synthesis of potent anti-obesity lansiumamide B was accomplished in four steps using commercially available materials. The synthetic strategy, featured with copper-catalyzed Buchwald coupling, is concise, convergent, practical and can be carried out on a one-gram scale. This approach could give either Z- or E-configured enamide moiety in natural products with absolute stereocontrol and was applied in the total synthesis of natural products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]