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Abstract Background Pain is a relatively common complication after hook-wire puncture localization. However, the problem of pain occurrence following this localization procedure has not been sufficiently examined. In this prospective study, we aimed to investigate the incidence and risk factors associated with acute pain after preoperative CT-guided hook-wire puncture localization of pulmonary nodules. Methods Clinical data were collected prospectively from patients with small pulmonary nodules who underwent preoperative CT-guided hook-wire puncture localization between May 2022 and May 2023 at the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University. Patients were divided into two groups on the basis of the presence or absence of moderate-to-severe pain following the localization process. Univariate logistic analysis was conducted to analyse the clinical data of the two groups. Subsequently, the significant variables (P

Abstract Background Generalized anxiety (GA) is showing a high prevalence among adolescents nowadays; investigations on influencing factors and potential mechanisms are important to inform intervention development. The present two-wave study investigated the ways in which family functioning predicted GA six months later among adolescents, by considering the mediating role of self-identity and cognitive flexibility. Methods Adolescents were recruited from 27 randomly selected classes in two secondary schools in Chongqing and Fujian Province, China. Survey questionnaires assessing family functioning, self-identity, cognitive flexibility and GA were obtained from 1223 adolescents (M age = 13.14, SD = 1.35) at two time points of the 6-month interval. Results The association between family functioning (T1) and GA (T2) was significant (r= -0.152, p

Study region: The Poyang Lake is located in northern Jiangxi Province, which is the largest fresh water in China. The upstream connection with rivers and downstream access to the Yangtze River create seasonal hydrological regimes, resulting in over 100 seasonal lakes within the floodplain. These lakes provide important habitats for migratory birds to forage and nest during dry seasons, and contribute to floodwater regulation during wet seasons, maintaining lake ecosystem. Study focus: This study has combined laboratory experiments and numerical simulations to mechanically analyze the effect of the depth, width, slope of seasonal lakes, water level amplitude and dry season periods on water recharge patterns, exchange fluxes and solute transport characteristics at the sediment-water interface. New hydrological insights for the region: Reducing the lake area by 33% through adjustments in depth or slope significantly reduces solute transport range (12.81% and 6.5% within 120 min) and high velocity area. The sensitivity of the solute amount in the lakebed to depth is the highest, followed by slope and width. Decreasing water level amplitude during dry seasons increases the flow velocity within the beach, facilitating short-term solute transport towards the lakebed. Extending the duration of dry periods increases cumulative flux of solutes entering the lakebed. These findings contribute to the ecological restoration efforts in floodplains and water pollution control measures.

Abstract Video summarisation can relieve the pressure on video storage, transmission, archiving, and retrieval caused by the explosive growth of online videos in recent years. Most existing supervised video summarisation methods use convolutional neural network (CNN) or recurrent neural network (RNN) to model the temporal dependencies between video frames or video shots. CNN mainly focuses on local information, and RNN loses long‐term information when the input sequence is long, both of which have limited ability to obtain long‐range memory in the video. Therefore, a recurrent unit augmented memory network (RUAMN) for video summarisation is proposed, which effectively utilises the long‐term memory extraction ability of the end‐to‐end memory network (MemN2N) and solves the problem that MemN2N is insensitive to temporal sequence information. At the same time, the proposed RUAMN enhances the process of memory update between multiple computational steps (hops), and finally generates a meaningful video summarisation result. Specifically, the proposed RUAMN is mainly composed of the input module, the global‐and‐local sampling, the memory module and the output module. The input module uses a bidirectional GRU to obtain the forward and backward information of each video frame. Then the global‐and‐local sampling performs global sampling and local sampling on the output sequence of the input module respectively to obtain several shorter sequences, so that the memory modules can capture the fine‐grained relationship features between video frames more effectively. The memory module extracts the long‐term memory information in the feature sequence, and finally the frame‐level importance scores are predicted by the output module. Extensive experiments on benchmark datasets, that is, TVSum and SumMe, demonstrate the superiority of our method over several state‐of‐the‐art supervised video summarisation methods.

Based on a review of related concepts and theories this study investigates the different impacts of research and development (R&D) innovation and political background on corporate growth in a particular context. Unlike other studies, we integrate these two factors. We empirically analyze 6079 sets of data from 1292 A-share private manufacturing enterprises in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2012 to 2019. The results show that these factors directly impact corporate growth and have heterogeneous effects at different enterprise growth levels. We find the effect of R&D innovation on corporate growth is more pronounced for young firms. These findings highlight the need for firms to adjust their investments in R&D innovation and political backgrounds at different stages of development to adapt to different markets and political environments.

BackgroundNeuropathic foot ulcers are the leading cause of nontraumatic foot amputations, particularly among patients with diabetes. Traditional methods of monitoring and managing these patients are periodic in-person clinic visits, which are passive and may be insufficient for preventing neuropathic foot ulcers and amputations. Continuous remote temperature monitoring has the potential to capture the critical period before the foot ulcers develop and to improve outcomes by providing real-time data and early interventions. For the first time, the effectiveness of such a strategy to prevent neuropathic foot ulcers and related complications among high-risk patients in a real-world commercial setting is reported. ObjectiveThis study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a real-world continuous remote temperature monitoring program in preventing neuropathic foot ulcers and amputations in patients with diabetes. MethodsIn this retrospective analysis of a real-world continuous remote temperature monitoring program, 115 high-risk patients identified by clinical providers from 15 geographically diverse private podiatry offices were analyzed. Patients received continuous remote monitoring socks as part of the program. The enrollment was based on medical necessity as decided by their managing physician. We evaluated data from up to 2 years before enrollment and up to 3 years during the program. The primary outcome was the rate of wound development. Secondary outcomes included amputation rate, the severity of the foot ulcers, and the number of visits to an outpatient podiatry clinic after enrolling in the program. ResultsWe observed significantly lower rates of foot ulceration (relative risk reduction [RRR] 0.68; 95% CI 0.52-0.79; number needed to treat [NNT] 5.0; P

In this study, the total synthesis of osajin, scandenone and their analogues have been accomplished. The key synthetic steps include aldol/intramolecular iodoetherification/elimination sequence reactions and a Suzuki coupling reaction to assemble the tricyclic core, chemoselective propargylation and Claisen rearrangement reactions to obtain natural compounds. In addition, we also designed and synthesized twenty-five natural product analogues. All synthetic compounds were screened for anti-inflammatory activity against tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. Collectively, Compound 39e and 39d were considered as promising lead compounds for further development.

Stable magnetorheological fluids (MRFs) are inevitably required to develop reliable MRF-based applications. Suspension stability of MRFs can be studied using an automated vertical axis inductance monitoring system (AVAIMS), where an inductance sensor is translated vertically along a column of MRF to measure particle concentration as a function of column height and time. The AVAIMS allows for tracking the particle concentration discontinuities due to the sedimentation of MRFs including the mud-line, the gel-line, and the cake-line. The sedimentation progress of MRFs can be evaluated by analyzing these boundaries. In this study, the AVAIMS design was improved to better identify the sedimentation zone boundaries by using an optimized inductance sensor that measures the concentration gradient as a function of time. The inductance sensor design, material selection, and geometry were optimized to improve the sensor sensitivity. The calibration curve of the sensor was obtained by measuring samples with different particle volume fractions. The sensor design was validated by examining an MRF sample with a particle concentration of 20% volume fraction for seven consecutive days. These tests show the effectiveness of the AVAIMS optimized to better localize the sedimentation zone boundaries using the concentration gradient profile method.

Under the new era of China’s high-quality development, the innovation driving of enterprises is shifting from single patent competition to patent portfolio competition, which is of great significance for cultivating a more robust domestic market and realizing a higher level of opening-up. This paper puts the firms’ patent portfolio index and domestic value-added ratio into a unified analysis framework. It explores the relationship between them by utilizing the Chinese Industrial Database, Chinese Financial Database and China Customs Database from 2000 to 2014. The empirical results suggest that: (1) Domestic patent portfolio plays a significant role in promoting enterprises’ export domestic value-added ratio, the suitability of domestic invention and utility model patents is not high in China; (2) Based on the heterogeneity analysis, the domestic patent portfolio of public trading enterprises and high productivity enterprises has a more significant promotion effect on domestic value-added ratio. (3) By examining the mechanism, it shows that price-cost markup and the relative price of intermediate goods are significant intermediate variables of domestic patent portfolio promoting domestic value-added ratio, and patenting abroad is an essential channel of domestic invention patent promoting domestic value-added ratio. This paper made an in-depth analysis of the influence of domestic patent portfolio on domestic value-added ratio, which provides a policy reference value for optimizing the Chinese patent system and enhancing competitive export advantage.

Transition metal sulfides are favored as anode materials for the next generation of lithium-ion batteries because of their high theoretical capacities and abundant natural resources. However, serious volume changes during charging and discharging pose great challenges to their stability. In this work, petal-like MoS2/Co9S8/C nanohybrids were synthesized via the immobilization of molybdyl acetoacetonate MoO2(acac)2 in ZIF-67 and subsequent combined vulcanization and thermolysis process. Benefiting from the homogeneous bimetallic sulfide and highly conductive carbon layer, the as-obtained MoS2/Co9S8/C nanohybrids exhibited a high initial discharge capacity of 988.3 mAh g−1 at 200 mA g−1 and a capacity retention > 99.9% after 50 cycles. Even at a high current density of 1000 mA g−1, the reversible capacity of MoS2/Co9S8/C is still as high as 754.6 mAh g−1, revealing extraordinary rate ability. This work can provide a general approach to design and synthesize other advanced bimetallic chalcogenides for boosting lithium-ion batteries storage performance.

Abstract The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic has severely affected the lives of people around the world, especially some patients with severe chronic diseases. This study aims to evaluate the impact of the COVID‐19 outbreak from December 2019 to April 2020 on treating patients with PH. A questionnaire regarding the medical condition of PH patients during the COVID‐19 pandemic was designed by PH diagnostic experts in The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, China Respiratory Center. One hundred and fifty‐six subjects with PH from non‐Hubei regions in China were invited to participate in this survey online. 63.4% (n = 99) of them had difficulty seeing a doctor, and the main reason was fear of contracting severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) in the hospital. Medical treatment was affected in 25% (n = 39) of patients, and who lived in rural areas, and discontinued medical therapy for financial reasons were at a higher risk of medical treatment being affected. Patients who reduced nutrition, and had difficulty seeing a doctor were more likely to get deteriorated. During the epidemic, the hospitalization rate of PH patients was 33.33%. Patients with aggravated PH had a high risk of hospitalization (odds ratio [OR] = 2.844), while patients who visited a doctor during the epidemic reduced the risk of hospitalization (OR = 0.33). In conclusion, during the COVID‐19 pandemic, PH patients had difficulty seeing a doctor, and their medical treatment was affected, even worsened, and increased the risk of hospitalization.

BackgroundPrevious studies have shown that various cell indices are associated with a higher risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE), however, whether these findings reflect a causal relationship remains unclear. Therefore, we performed a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to assess the causal association of various blood cells with VTE risk.Study Design and MethodsSummary statistics of genetic instruments representing cell indices for erythrocytes, leukocytes, and platelets were extracted from genome-wide association studies of European ancestry, by Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization. Inverse variance weighting (IVW) was used as the primary analytical method for MR. Sensitivity analyses were performed to detect horizontal pleiotropy and heterogeneity.ResultsGenetically predicted red blood cell distribution width, mean reticulocyte volume, and mean red blood cell volume were positively associated with VTE, with odds ratio (OR) of 1.002 [CI 1.000–1.003, P = 0.022), 1.003 (CI 1.001–1.004, P = 0.001, respectively)] and 1.001 (CI 1.000–1.002, P = 0.005). Genetically predicted monocyte count was negatively correlated with VTE, with OR = 0.998 (CI 0.996–0.999, P = 0.041).ConclusionGenetically liability to high- red blood cell distribution width, mean reticulocyte volume, mean red blood cell volume, and low monocyte count are associated with the higher risk of VTE. Targeting these factors might be a potential strategy to prevent VTE.

Despite the increasing awareness of long-term care (LTC) research after the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, little attention was given to quantitatively describe the evolution of the research field during this period. A total of 1024 articles retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection database were systematically analyzed using CiteSpace visualization software. The overall characteristics analysis showed that, in the context of the pandemic, attention to LTC research increased significantly—over 800 articles were published in the past two years. The USA, Canada, Italy, and England formed the leading LTC research group, which was consistent with the conclusions of existing bibliometric studies on LTC research before the outbreak. A rigorous analysis based on a dual perspective of references and keywords was applied to reveal that, compared with previous studies, in the context of the pandemic, the focus shifted from the mental and physical health status of older adults in need of LTC to the impact of the pandemic on those of older adults in LTC facilities, from the prevention of general epidemics to the prevention and response of significant public health emergencies, from providing and paying for LTC to strategies for LTC facilities to improve the quality of LTC and well-being of their residents during the pandemic. These findings can provide help and reference for academics, civil folks, and LTC practitioners, as well as help with the sustainable development of LTC research in the context of COVID-19 pandemic.

The first total synthesis of lineaflavones A, C, D, and their analogues has been accomplished. The key synthetic steps include aldol/oxa-Michael/dehydration sequence reactions to assemble the tricyclic core, Claisen rearrangement and Schenck ene reaction to construct the key intermediate, and selective substitution or elimination of tertiary allylic alcohol to obtain natural compounds. In addition, we also explored five new routes to synthesize fifty-three natural product analogues, which can contribute to a systematic structure–activity relationship during biological evaluation.

Background: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a severe and fatal clinical syndrome characterized by high blood pressure and vascular remodeling in the pulmonary arterioles, which is also a rapidly progressing disease of the lung vasculature with a poor prognosis. Although PAH medication made great advances in recent years, the efficacy and safety of the medication are unsatisfactory. Therefore, we aimed to update and expand previous studies to explore the efficacy and safety of PAH-targeted medications. Methods: Relevant articles were searched and selected from published or publicly available data in PubMed, Cochrane Library, CNKI, PsycInfo, and MEDLINE (from inception until October 1st, 2020). To assess the efficacy and safety of PAH therapies, five efficacy outcomes [6-minute walking distance (6MWD), mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP), WHO functional class (WHO FC) improvement, clinical worsening, death] and two safety outcomes [adverse events (AEs), serious adverse events (SAEs)] were selected. And 6MWD was regarded as the primary efficacy outcome. Results: 50 trials included with 10 996participants were selected. In terms of efficacy, all targeted drugs were more effective than placebo. For 6MWD, Bosentan + Sildenafil, Sildenafil, Bosentan + Iloprost were better than others. Bosentan + Iloprost and Bosentan + Sildenafil were better for mPAP. Bosentan + Iloprost and Ambrisentan + Tadalafil were more effective in improving WHO FC. Bosentan + Tadalafil and Bosentan + Iloprost had the Ambrisentan probability to reduce the incidence of clinical worsening. It is demonstrated that Ambrisentan had clear benefits in reducing all-cause mortality. In terms of safety, no therapies had been shown to reduce the incidence of SAEs significantly, and Ambrisentan + Tadalafil significantly increased the incidence of AEs. Conclusions: Phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitor (PDE5i) + Endothelin Receptor Antagonists (ERA) seems to be better therapy for PAH. Prostacyclin analogs (ProsA) + ERA appear promising, though additional data is warranted. Registration PROSPERO CRD42020218818.

BackgroundLower extremity complications of diabetes represent major health care complications both in terms of cost and impact to quality of life for patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Temperature monitoring has been shown in previous studies to provide a useful signal of inflammation that may indicate the early presence of a foot injury. ObjectiveIn this study, we evaluated the temperature data for patients that presented with a diabetic foot injury while using a sock-based remote temperature monitoring device. MethodsThe study abstracted data from patients who were enrolled in a remote temperature monitoring program (2020-2021) using a smart sock (Siren Care). In the study cohort, a total of 5 participants with a diabetes-related lower extremity injury during the study period were identified. In the second comparison cohort, a total of 26 patients met the criteria for monitoring by the same methods but did not present with a diabetes-related podiatric lower extremity injury during the same period. The 15-day temperature differential between 6 defined locations on each foot was the primary outcome measure among subjects who presented with a diagnosed foot injury. Paired t tests were used to compare the differences between the two groups. ResultsA significant difference in temperature differential (temperature measured in °F) was observed in the group that presented with a podiatric injury over the course of evaluation versus the comparator group that did not present with a podiatric injury. The average difference from all 6 measured points was 1.4 °F between the injury group (mean 3.6, SD 3.0) and the comparator group (mean 2.2, SD 2.5, t=–71.4, df=39; P

BackgroundRemote patient monitoring (RPM) devices are increasingly being used in caring for patients to reduce risks of complications. Temperature monitoring specifically has been shown in previous studies to provide a useful signal of inflammation that may help prevent foot ulcers. ObjectiveIn this cross-sectional study, we evaluated utilization data for patients who were prescribed smart socks as remote temperature monitoring devices. MethodsThis study evaluated data from a patient registry from January to July 2021. The utilization data, which were collected starting from the first full month since patients were prescribed the smart socks, were evaluated along with retention over time, the average time that the socks were worn, and the number of days that the socks were worn per month and per week. ResultsA total of 160 patients wore the smart sock RPM device for 22 to 25 days per month on average. The retention rate was 91.9% (147/160) at the end of the 7-month period; a total of 13 patients were lost to follow-up during this period. The average number of days that the socks were worn per week was 5.8. The percentage of patients with a utilization rate of >15 days ranged from 79.7% (106/133) to 91.9% (125/136) each month. ConclusionsThis study shows a high level of utilization for a smart sock RPM device and a high compliance rate. A future prospective study on the clinical outcomes after the use of the smart socks may further solidify the idea of conducting temperature monitoring for foot ulcer prevention.

Oncogene induced senescence protects cells from unrestricted growth and cancer. Here, the authors show that PAK4 overrides this senescence in breast cancer cells through phosphorylation of RELB, thereby inhibiting transcription of the senescence regulator C/EBPβ.

An urban development boundary is an effective means to guide urban development and restrain unplanned expansion of urban space. Scientifically-based delineation and control of the boundary can help with sustainable use of land resources and better spatial planning. This study took land use data from 2000, 2010, and 2020 for the central urban area of Zhengzhou and predicted the land use pattern in 2035. We used auto-logistic selection of driving factors, future land use simulation, and system dynamics models to delineate the development boundary of the central urban area. We complemented and optimized the boundary using agricultural and ecological perspectives. The results indicated the following: (1) The ROC values of land driving factors were greater than 0.75 in the regression test, and the Kappa and OA were greater than 0.92 in the accuracy test of land simulation results. (2) The boundary range initially delineated based on morphology was 2319 km2. There was a clear overall development trend of the central urban area to the east and southeast, which included the historical urban area of Zhengzhou and the new government planning area. (3) The optimized boundary of the central district area was 2209 km2, the ecological land control area was 136 km2, and the basic farmland protection area was 54 km2. The Yellow River, the airport, and the western, southern, and eastern areas were already formed. The study concluded that the delineated boundary was in line with the scientific concepts of ‘rigid’ and ‘flexible’ factors, which have positive effects on the protection of arable land resources and ecological land, as well as meeting the needs of urban development. The level of sustainable development of the region was effectively improved.

Versatile video coding (VVC) achieves enormous improvement over the advanced high efficiency video coding (HEVC) standard due to the adoption of the quadtree with nested multi-type tree (QTMT) partition structure and other coding tools. However, the computational complexity increases dramatically as well. To tackle this problem, we propose a decision tree accelerated coding tree units (CTU) partition algorithm for intra prediction in VVC. Firstly, specially designated image features are extracted to characterize the coding unit (CU) complexity. Then, the trained decision tree is employed to predict the partition results. Finally, based on our newly designed intra prediction framework, the partition process is early terminated or redundant partition modes are screened out. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm could achieve around 52% encoding time reduction for various test video sequences on average with only 1.75% Bjontegaard delta bit rate increase compared with the reference test model VTM9.0 of VVC.

Abstract Background This meta-analysis aimed to assess whether the specific nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) naproxen has a role in reducing the occurrence of heterotopic ossification after hip surgery. Methods Potential studies were identified in the following electronic databases: PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Google. We included studies involving hip surgery patients in which the intervention group received naproxen and the control group received placebo. The occurrence of heterotopic ossification and complications were the final outcomes. Stata 13.0 was used for the meta-analysis. Results Four randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving 269 patients were ultimately included in this meta-analysis. The use of naproxen was associated with a significant reduction in the occurrence of heterotopic ossification at 1.5-, 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-ups (P 0.05). Conclusion Our analysis indicates that naproxen can decrease the occurrence of heterotopic ossification without increasing complications in hip surgery patients. Due to the limited number of studies included, more high-quality RCTs are needed to identify the optimal dose of naproxen.

Virtual reality (VR) can provide users an immersive and realistic visual experience, which leads to the widely use of VR in many fields. However, transmission of the ultrahigh resolution omnidirectional video requires huge bandwidth, which brings great challenges for real-time VR application. In this paper, we propose a scalable omnidirectional video coding method to improve the coding efficiency with the help of the viewer's point of view (POV) and provide three-layer scalability as well. Based on the equirectangular projection (ERP), a down-sampling procedure of ERP video with corresponding super-resolution method is proposed to save bandwidth and provide spatial resolution scalability. With the super-resolution version of the reconstructed down-sampled video as the inter-view reference, the viewer's POV within sphere is mapped and encoded in high quality, while the non POV areas are compressed in low quality to further improve the coding efficiency and provide quality scalability. The correlation of the ERP and cube map projection is utilized in the POV mapping procedure. The proposed scalable coding method is achieved based on the multiview extension of high efficiency video coding, where only a few modifications are operated in the encoder side. Experiments results demonstrate that the proposed method can save approximately 75% average bit rate with no significant decrease in quality of the viewer's POV region compared with HEVC standard.

Massive recent investigations from both industry and academia have been poured into autostereoscopic display. One of the emerging techniques, light field image (LFI), can provide more immersive perception by increasing the number of views and the spatial resolution. However, these advantages restrict the storage and transmission due to such dense-view image simultaneously. To solve this problem, we propose to compress the LFI using multiview video plus depth (MVD) coding architecture. In this paper, we preliminarily estimate the depth based on the concept of epipolar plane image. To achieve a depth value, we design an optimal slope decision algorithm to determine the best slope with the minimal cost. While this rough estimation produces some error points within initial depth map, therefore, we present a depth optimization algorithm using the characteristic of the associated texture image. Ultimately, a small number of selected viewpoint images are encoded with their corresponding depth maps using the MVD framework, and then, the unselected viewpoint images are synthesized by depth image-based rendering technique. To verify the validity of the proposed LFI compression scheme, extensive experiments are conducted. The simulated results demonstrate that the proposed depth map estimation algorithm is superior to other state-ofthe-art methods for the LFI. Meanwhile, our LFI compression method outperforms other LFI compression algorithms significantly.

Abstract Background Transcriptomic profiling of breast tumors provides opportunity for subtyping and molecular-based patient stratification. In diagnostic applications the specimen profiled should be representative of the expression profile of the whole tumor and ideally capture properties of the most aggressive part of the tumor. However, breast cancers commonly exhibit intra-tumor heterogeneity at molecular, genomic and in phenotypic level, which can arise during tumor evolution. Currently it is not established to what extent a random sampling approach may influence molecular breast cancer diagnostics. Methods In this study we applied RNA-sequencing to quantify gene expression in 43 pieces (2-5 pieces per tumor) from 12 breast tumors (Cohort 1). We determined molecular subtype and transcriptomic grade for all tumor pieces and analysed to what extent pieces originating from the same tumors are concordant or discordant with each other. Additionally, we validated our finding in an independent cohort consisting of 19 pieces (2-6 pieces per tumor) from 6 breast tumors (Cohort 2) profiled using microarray technique. Exome sequencing was also performed on this cohort, to investigate the extent of intra-tumor genomic heterogeneity versus the intra-tumor molecular subtype classifications. Results Molecular subtyping was consistent in 11 out of 12 tumors and transcriptomic grade assignments were consistent in 11 out of 12 tumors as well. Molecular subtype predictions revealed consistent subtypes in four out of six patients in this cohort 2. Interestingly, we observed extensive intra-tumor genomic heterogeneity in these tumor pieces but not in their molecular subtype classifications. Conclusions Our results suggest that macroscopic intra-tumoral transcriptomic heterogeneity is limited and unlikely to have an impact on molecular diagnostics for most patients.

In the CaCu3TiO4 solid bulks with the giant permittivity of ∼104, the 100-fold permittivity-drop below 200 K has been observed without any long-range structural transition. In the frame of the comprehensive model, the Ising-model analysis of dielectric polarization is applied and the energy of the nearest interaction among the dipoles is deduced from the experiments by utilizing the particle swarm optimization. The interaction energy of ∼56 meV is reasonably smaller than the experimental value of the thermal activation energy of ∼88 meV. The interaction energy is independent of the temperatures, the dipole-chain lengths, and the frequencies of the applied AC electric field. Therefore, such appropriate, stable, and intrinsic interaction energy makes the many-body dielectric relaxation rather than the structural transition responsible for the permittivity drop.

The flame propagation characteristic of polyethylene dust cloud inside a semi-open tube is studied in virtue of high-speed photographing technology. The rules of the influence of initial distribution range of polyethylene dust cloud on flame speed and shape is focused on. Studies show that flame propagation range generally exceed the initial distribution range of dust cloud and is positively correlated to it. Flames within certain dust cloud distribution range can accelerate continuously; however, flames will decelerate after its initial acceleration when dust clouds are too centralized or decentralized. When dust mass is constant, the maximum flame speed and average flame speed generally increase and then decrease with the increasing initial distribution range. Initial distribution range affects flame shape evolution significantly, such as its influence on the flame width along the radial direction, flame brightness, front smoothness, fault, etc. The conclusions provide scientific basis for flame monitoring and safety control at the initial stage of accident.

Helicobacter pylori is the etiologic agent in a variety of gastroduodenal diseases. As its key pathogenic factors, both urease and Hsp60 play important roles in the pathogenesis of H. pylori. Previous studies have suggested that there is close relationship between urease and Hsp60, which implied that Hsp60 may act as a chaperone in urease stabilization and assembly. However, how these two proteins interact remains unclear. In this study, the impact of Hsp60 on urease activity of H. pylori lysate was first detected to confirm the interaction between urease and Hsp60. Pull-down assays further indicated that Hsp60 could bind to UreA subunit but not UreB. Then, the 3D structure of Hsp60 was modeled using I-TASSER to simulate the binding complex with UreA by molecular docking. The results showed that UreA is a perfect fit for the cavity of Hsp60. Analysis of the resulting model demonstrated that at least seven residues of UreA, located on two interfaces, participate in the interaction. Site-directed mutagenesis of these potential residues showed reduced affinity with Hsp60 than the wild type UreA through surface plasmon resonance (SPR) experiments, and D68 appears to have an important role in the affinity. Further analysis also showed that mutation of E25 and K26 caused a more rapid association and dissociation than with wild UreA, implying that they have roles in stabilizing the interaction complex. These affinity comparisons suggested that the interfaces predicted by molecular docking are credible. Our study indicated a direct interaction between Hsp60 and urease and revealed the binding interfaces and key residues involved in the interaction. These results provide further evidence for the chaperone activity of Hsp60 toward urease and lay a foundation to better understand the maturation mechanism of urease in H. pylori.

Several microRNAs (miRNAs) have been reported as oncogenes or tumor suppressors in many cancers, including gastric cancer (GC). However, the role and molecular mechanism of miR-3129 in GC is largely unknown. We aimed to explore the function and the underlying molecular mechanism of miR-3129 in GC. Cancer tissues and corresponding adjacent tissues were collected from 50 patients with GC, and the expression of miR-3129 was detected by RT-qPCR. The expression of miR-3129 and pRb in human GC cell line SCG7091 was altered by transient transfection. Thereafter, MTT and flow cytometry assays were used to analyze cell viability and cell cycle. The expression of cyclin E, CDK2, CDK2 inhibitors (p16 and 21), and pRb were detected by RT-qPCR and western blot. A significant up-regulation of miR-3129 was observed in GC tissues compared to adjacent tissues. Overexpression of miR-3129 significantly improved cell viability after 4 days of post-transfection. Flow cytometry assay results showed that the miR-3129 overexpression arrested more SGC7901 cells at S phase. Moreover, overexpression of miR-3129 down-regulated the expression of CDK2 inhibitors while it up-regulated the expression levels of cyclin E, CDK2, and pRb. Interestingly, we found that pRb inhibition reversed the effect of miR-3129 inhibitor on cell proliferation in SGC7901 cells, increased cell viability, reduced cells at G0/1 phase, and modulated the expression of proliferation-related factors. Our results revealed that miR-3129 functioned as an oncogene through positive regulation of pRb and may prove to be a promising option for molecular therapy of GC.

Ti-6242 is a near alpha titanium alloy, which has excellent high-temperature creep resistance and is widely used in jet engine compressors. This alloy is susceptible to creep fatigue failure under dwell loading below 473 K. The existence of microtextured regions (MTRs) contributes significantly to this fast crack propagation. Mechanical processing in the alpha + beta region has been employed to eliminate MTRs, but the efficiency depends significantly on the applied strain path. Previous investigations based on crystal plasticity finite element (CPFE) simulations have demonstrated the relationship between breakdown efficiency and loading direction. Therein, MTRs with regular geometry and pure initial orientation were used to isolate the effect of loading direction from initial microstructure. In this paper, the behavior of MTRs with realistic initial microstructure was investigated using a hierarchical multiscale modeling framework, and the microscale results were analyzed in detail to understand the behavior of MTRs under different loading conditions. It was shown that a hierarchical multiscale model with realistic initial microstructure at the microscale can reflect the influences from different strain paths, initial orientation distributions, and positions of the region simultaneously. The combined effect of initial orientation distribution and loading direction on the MTR breakdown efficiency is discussed in detail.

Background & Objective: Headache is a common symptom and disease. Cervicogenic headache (CH) is a common type of headache that can be effectively treated with both manual therapy (MT) and dry needling (DN). However, the results of MT plus DN (MDN) for CH remain controversial. We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of MDN for CH. Methods: A systematic search from database inception to June 1, 2023 on clinical outcome of MDN and MT in the treatment of CH was conducted. Four databases were searched, including Pubmed (Medline), Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane Library related randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Main outcomes included numeric pain rating scale (NPRS) in the post-treatment, the first month and the third month, extension and flexion in the post-treatment, headache frequency in the first month and the third month, neck disability index (NDI) in the first month and the third month. Results: Three studies involving 263 patients out of 68 studies were conducted. The pooled data showed that there was significant differences in NPRS in the post-treatment, the first month and the third month, extension in the post-treatment, flexion in the post-treatment between MDN group and MT group, but there was no statistically significant difference in the headache frequency in the first month and the third month, NDI in the first month and the third month. Conclusion: Current evidence suggests that MDN may be superior to MT in improving NPRS, extension, and flexion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]