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Objectives To investigate the diagnostic performance of single-source dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) based on gemstone spectral imaging technology (including Discovery CT750HD and Revolution CT) in patients with suspected feet/ankles gouty arthritis, and evaluate the urate deposition with a novel semi-quantitative DECT scoring system. Methods A total of 196 patients were consecutively included. Feet and ankles were evaluated in all patients by single-source DECT scan. The 2015 EULAR/ACR criteria were used as the reference for the diagnosis of gout. The sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of DECT for the diagnosis of gout in the early (≤1 year), middle (1–3 years), and late (> 3 years) disease durations were calculated. Besides, a novel semi-quantitative DECT scoring system was assessed for the measurement of urate deposition, and the correlation between the scores and the clinical and serological data were also evaluated. Moreover, the influences of artifacts on the diagnostic performance of DECT were also determined. Results The sensitivity, specificity, and AUC of DECT in 196 patients were 38.10, 96.43%, and 0.673 in the early-stage group; 62.96, 100.00%, and 0.815 in the middle-stage group; and 77.55, 87.50%, and 0.825 in the late-stage group, respectively. The overall diagnostic accuracies in the AUC of DECT (Discovery CT750HD and Revolution CT) in the middle and late stages of gout were higher than that in the early stage of gout. Besides, the monosodium urate crystals were deposited on the first metatarsophalangeal joints and ankles/midfeet. Age, the presence of tophus, bone erosion, and disease duration considerably affected the total urate score. No statistical difference in the positive detection of nail artifact, skin artifact, vascular calcification, and noise artifact was found between the case and control groups. Conclusion DECT (Discovery CT750HD and Revolution CT) showed promising diagnostic accuracy for the detection of urate crystal deposition in gout but had limited diagnostic sensitivity for short-stage gout. Longer disease duration, the presence of tophus, and bone erosion were associated with the urate crystal score system. The artifacts do not remarkably affect the diagnostic performance of DECT in gout.

Recently, carbon nanotubes coated carbon black and polytetrafluoroethylene (CNTs-C/PTFE) gas diffusion electrode was used as an air-cathode in an electro-oxidation (EO) system for effectively generating hydrogen peroxide (H

We investigate how the existence of hydrogen molecules on grain surfaces may affect H$_2$ formation efficiency in diffuse and translucent clouds. Hydrogen molecules are able to reduce the desorption energy of H atoms on grain surfaces in models. The detailed microscopic Monte Carlo method is used to perform model simulations. We found that the impact of the existence of H$_2$ on H$_2$ formation efficiency strongly depends on the diffusion barriers of H$_2$ on grain surfaces. Diffuse cloud models that do not consider surface H$_2$ predict that H atom recombination efficiency is above 0.5 over a grain temperature (T) range 10 K and 14 K. The adopted H$_2$ diffusion barriers in diffuse cloud models that consider surface H$_2$ are 80$\%$ H$_2$ desorption energies so that H$_2$ can be trapped in stronger binding sites. Depending on model parameters, these diffuse cloud models predict that the recombination efficiency is between nearly 0 and 0.5 at 10 K $\leq$ T $\leq$ 14 K. Translucent cloud model results show that H$_2$ formation efficiency is not affected by the existence of surface H$_2$ if the adopted average H$_2$ diffusion barrier on grain surfaces is low (194 K) so that H$_2$ can diffuse rapidly on grain surfaces. However, the recombination efficiency can drop to below 0.002 at T $\geq$ 10 K if higher average H$_2$ diffusion barrier is used (255 K) in translucent cloud models., Comment: accepted for publication in MNRAS

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect the motion-correction reconstruction algorithm SnapShot Freeze (SSF) on the diagnostic performance of coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) using high-resolution, wide-detector CT. Methods: CCTA was performed using an electrocardiography-triggered auto-gating protocol in 62 patients. All images were reconstructed using both standard algorithm and motioncorrection algorithm (SSF). According to the American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines for coronary angiography, the coronary artery was divided into 15 segments. The coronary artery segments were evaluated using a 4-point Likert scale to determine the image quality. Arteries with a score greater than 1 were further evaluated by two expert radiologists blinded to conditions. The diagnostic performance of SSF was compared in the patients with high heart rate (HR ≥ 75 beats per minute) compared to low HR (< 75 beats per minute). Results: At the segmental level, the Likert score for segments 1–4 and 6–14 were higher in SSF compared to standard algorithm (p < 0.05). The proportion of images that was improved by SSF was greater for the high HR systolic phase imaging (66.7%) than for the low HR diastolic phase imaging (34.3%, p < 0.05). Conclusion: The SSF algorithm improves coronary CTA images acquired using a 256-row wide detector CT, compared to standard algorithm, particularly in patients with high HR.

To study the high-transition dense-gas tracers and their relationships to the star formation of the inner $\sim$ 2 kpc circumnuclear region of NGC253, we present HCN $J=4-3$ and HCO$^+ J=4-3$ maps obtained with the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). With the spatially resolved data, we compute the concentration indices $r_{90}/r_{50}$ for the different tracers. HCN and HCO$^+$ 4-3 emission features tend to be centrally concentrated, which is in contrast to the shallower distribution of CO 1-0 and the stellar component. The dense-gas fraction ($f_\text{dense}$, traced by the velocity-integrated-intensity ratios of HCN/CO and HCO$^+$/CO) and the ratio $R_\text{31}$ (CO 3-2/1-0) decline towards larger galactocentric distances, but increase with higher SFR surface density. The radial variation and the large scatter of $f_\text{dense}$ and $R_\text{31}$ imply distinct physical conditions in different regions of the galactic disc. The relationships of $f_\text{dense}$ versus $\Sigma_\text{stellar}$, and SFE$_\text{dense}$ versus $\Sigma_\text{stellar}$ are explored. SFE$_\text{dense}$ increases with higher $\Sigma_\text{stellar}$ in this galaxy, which is inconsistent with previous work that used HCN 1-0 data. This implies that existing stellar components might have different effects on the high-$J$ HCN and HCO$^+$ than their low-$J$ emission. We also find that SFE$_\text{dense}$ seems to be decreasing with higher $f_\text{dense}$, which is consistent with previous works, and it suggests that the ability of the dense gas to form stars diminishes when the average density of the gas increases. This is expected in a scenario where only the regions with high-density contrast collapse and form stars., Comment: accepted to MNRAS

Increasing evidence points to the tight relationship between alternative splicing (AS) and the salt stress response in plants. However, the mechanisms linking these two phenomena remain unclear. In this study, we have found that Salt-Responsive Alternatively Spliced gene 1 (SRAS1), encoding a RING-Type E3 ligase, generates two splicing variants: SRAS1.1 and SRAS1.2, which exhibit opposing responses to salt stress. The salt stress-responsive AS event resulted in greater accumulation of SRAS1.1 and a lower level of SRAS1.2. Comprehensive phenotype analysis showed that overexpression of SRAS1.1 made the plants more tolerant to salt stress, whereas overexpression of SRAS1.2 made them more sensitive. In addition, we successfully identified the COP9 signalosome 5A (CSN5A) as the target of SRAS1. CSN5A is an essential player in the regulation of plant development and stress. The full-length SRAS1.1 promoted degradation of CSN5A by the 26S proteasome. By contrast, SRAS1.2 protected CSN5A by competing with SRAS1.1 on the same binding site. Thus, the salt stress-triggered AS controls the ratio of SRAS1.1/SRAS1.2 and switches on and off the degradation of CSN5A to balance the plant development and salt tolerance. Together, these results provide insights that salt-responsive AS acts as post-transcriptional regulation in mediating the function of E3 ligase., Author summary High salinity severely affects plant growth and development, impairing crop production worldwide. E3 ligase is a stress-responsive regulator through ubiquitin-proteasome system for selective protein degradation. The E3s are regulated by transcriptional regulation and post-translational modifications. Here, we have discovered that stress-responsive AS acts as a post-transcriptional regulation modulating the function of E3 ligases. Intriguingly, the truncated proteins generated by salt-responsive AS play opposite roles compared with the full-length E3 ligase. The truncated isoform losing key domain could not degrade the target protein, instead, it interacts and competes with the E3 ligase through binding the same domain of the targets. This finding contributes significantly to a deeper mechanistic understanding of how AS regulates the function of E3 ligase in response to salt stress.

At low temperatures (10 K), hydrogen atoms can diffuse quickly on grain ice mantles and frequently encounter hydrogen molecules, which cover a notable fraction of grain surface. The desorption energy of H atoms on H2 substrates is much less than that on water ice. The H atom encounter desorption mechanism is adopted to study the enhanced desorption of H atoms on H2 substrates. Using a small reaction network, we show that the steady-state surface H abundances predicted by the rate equation model that includes H atom encounter desorption agree reasonably well with the results from the more rigorous microscopic Monte Carlo method. For a full gas-grain model, H atom encounter desorption can reduce surface H abundances. Therefore, if a model adopts the encounter desorption of H atoms, it becomes more difficult for hydrogenation products such as methanol to form, but it is easier for C, O and N atoms to bond with each other on grain surfaces., 11 pages, 6 figures, Accepted for publication in Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics (RAA)

Prostate Cancer has become the second leading cause of male cancer-related incidence and mortality in United States. Hyperthermia (HT) is known to serve as a powerful tool in treatment of prostate cancer in clinical. The combination treatment with HT and cisplatin has a synergistic effect to inhibit prostate cancer progression and demonstrates better clinical effectiveness than HT or chemotherapy alone. But molecular mechanisms of this phenomenon have not been illuminated clearly. In this study, we used MTS assay to examine cell viabilities of PC-3, LNCaP, DU-145 and RM-1 cells after treated by HT and cisplatin. Then colony formation of PC-3 and DU-145 cells after treated with HT and cisplatin were photographed. To investigate whether the combination therapy would enhance apoptosis of PC-3 and DU-145 cells, we used Western blot analysis to detect expression level of proteins on apoptosis-regulated signaling pathway in PC-3 and DU-145 cells. Our results showed that the combination treatment decreased cell viabilities and colony formation of prostate cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner and this combination therapy enhanced apoptosis of PC-3 and DU-145 cells via activation of Caspase-3 and cleavage of PARP. We also found that the combination therapy could down-regulate the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 and IAP family proteins. At last, the combination therapy activated AMPKα-JNK signaling pathway and inhibited Akt-mTOR-p70s6k signaling pathway to promote apoptosis of PC-3 and DU-145 cells. In conclusion, this study clearly elucidated how the combination therapy with HT and cisplatin promoted apoptosis of prostate cancer cells in synergy.

The nonlocal beam theories are widely used to study the mechanics of cylindrical nanotubes (NTs). The one-dimensional models however are unable to account for the nonlocal effect in the circumferential direction, which may substantially affect the applicability of the nonlocal beam models. To address the issue this letter examines the circumferential nonlocal effect (CNE) on the buckling and vibration of the NTs. Here the CNE is characterized by the difference between the nonlocal beam model considering the axial nonlocal effect only and the nonlocal shell model with both axial and circumferential nonlocal effects. The aspect ratio and radius-dependence of the CNE are calculated for the singlewall carbon NTs selected as a typical example. The results show that the CNE is substantial for the buckling and vibration of the NTs with small radius (e.g.

The kinetic Monte Carlo simulation is a rigorous numerical approach to study the chemistry on dust grains in cold dense interstellar clouds. By tracking every single reaction in chemical networks step by step, this approach produces more precise results than other approaches but takes too much computing time. Here we present a method of a new data structure, which is applicable to any physical conditions and chemical networks, to save computing time for the Monte Carlo algorithm. Using the improved structure, the calculating time is reduced by 80 percent compared with the linear structure when applied to the osu-2008 chemical network at 10 K. We investigate the effect of the encounter desorption in cold cores using the kinetic Monte Carlo model with an accelerating data structure. We found that the encounter desorption remarkably decreases the abundance of grain-surface H2 but slightly influences the abundances of other species on the grain.

We present HCN J=4-3 and HCO^+ J=4-3 maps of six nearby star-forming galaxies, NGC 253, NGC 1068, IC 342, M82, M83, and NGC 6946, obtained with the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope as part of the MALATANG survey. All galaxies were mapped in the central 2 arcmin $\times$ 2 arcmin region at 14 arcsec (FWHM) resolution (corresponding to linear scales of ~ 0.2-1.0 kpc). The L_IR-L'_dense relation, where the dense gas is traced by the HCN J=4-3 and the HCO^+ J=4-3 emission, measured in our sample of spatially-resolved galaxies is found to follow the linear correlation established globally in galaxies within the scatter. We find that the luminosity ratio, L_IR/L'_dense, shows systematic variations with L_IR within individual spatially resolved galaxies, whereas the galaxy-integrated ratios vary little. A rising trend is also found between L_IR/L'_dense ratio and the warm-dust temperature gauged by the 70 \mu m/100 \mu m flux ratio. We find the luminosity ratios of IR/HCN(4-3) and IR/HCO^+(4-3), which can be taken as a proxy for the efficiency of star formation in the dense molecular gas (SFE_dense), appears to be nearly independent of the dense-gas fraction (f_dense) for our sample of galaxies. The SFE of the total molecular gas (SFE_mol) is found to increase substantially with f_dense when combining our data with that on local (ultra)luminous infrared galaxies and high-z quasars. The mean L'_HCN(4-3)/L'_HCO^+(4-3) line ratio measured for the six targeted galaxies is 0.9+/-0.6. No significant correlation is found for the L'_HCN(4-3)/L'_HCO^+(4-3) ratio with the SFR as traced by L_IR, nor with the warm-dust temperature, for the different populations of galaxies., Comment: 29 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

Malignant melanoma has shown increased incidence and high mortality rate in the last three decades. In this study, we investigated whether combination therapy with ch282-5 (a novel BH3 mimetic) and microwave hyperthermia could display synergistic antitumor effects against melanoma. Our results indicated that combination therapy reduced the viability and proliferation of melanoma cells. Through inhibiting the expression of anti-apoptotic proteins of Bcl-2 and IAP family and activating MAPK proteins, combined hyperthermia enhanced ch282-5-induced apoptosis. Combination therapy also synergistically disturbed the mTOR/p70S6k signaling pathway, which is important for cell survival and migration. Moreover, our results showed that combination therapy remarkably suppressed melanoma cell migration in vitro and significantly reduced experimental pulmonary metastasis in vivo. In conclusion, our results indicate that combination therapy with ch282-5 and hyperthermia has synergistic antitumor effects and provides a possible therapeutic strategy for advanced melanoma.

Since the maximum foaming temperature window is only about 4 degrees C for supercritical CO2 (scCO(2)) foaming of pristine polypropylene, it is important to raise the melt strength of polypropylene in order to more easily achieve scCO(2) foaming. In this work, radiation cross-linked isotactic polypropylene, assisted by the addition of a polyfunctional monomer (triallylisocyanurate, TAIC), was employed in the scCO(2) foaming process in order to understand the benefits of radiation cross-linking. Due to significantly enhanced melt strength and the decreased degree of crystallinity caused by cross-linking, the scCO(2) foaming behavior of polypropylene was dramatically changed. The cell size distribution, cell diameter, cell density, volume expansion ratio, and foaming rate of radiation-cross-linked polypropylene under different foaming conditions were analyzed and compared. It was found that radiation cross-linking favors the foamability and formation of well-defined cell structures. The optimal absorbed dose with the addition of 2 wt % TAIC was 30 kGy. Additionally, the foaming temperature window was expanded to about 8 degrees C, making the handling of scCO(2) foaming of isotactic polypropylene much easier.

We have prepared an ~1.4 μm thin hybrid film from polyurethane (PU) hydrogel and tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) by a sol–gel method, and have incorporated the red-luminescent ruthenium-tris-bipyridyl complex. At an optimized ratio of PU/TEOS (1.5:1; w/w) and annealing temperature (60 °C), the membrane sensor exhibits good capability to extract water from organic solvents but also can well retain the ruthenium dye. If contacted with water-containing organic solvents such as acetone or THF, both the luminescence intensity and wavelength change significantly. The response of luminescence intensity to the water fraction in organics is sigmoidal, which can be well fitted with a modified Stern-Volmer equation. The sensor works in the ranges of 0–6 % and 0–12 % (v/v) of water in acetone and THF, respectively, with detection limits of 0.13 % and 0.486 % (v/v).

This paper listed the mathematic model of transmission line firstly, and PSASP was used to simulate the fluctuate voltage of transformer substation which affected by wind generate electric power capacity which combined to the grid changed and the power flow of XINJIANG sent into GANSU changed. At the end, the conclusion and construction of improve grid running state was presented.

Based on the experimental research, the prism compressive strength and cubic compressive strength of specified density steel fiber concrete are studied. Through regression analysis, the influence of type of steel fiber, volume content of the fiber and substitution ratio of lightweight aggregate is studied. According to the test results, the formula of prism compressive strength and cubic compressive strength is given.

Based on the experiment, the splitting tensile strength and axial tensile strength of specified density steel fiber concrete are studied. The influence of type of steel fiber, volume content of the fiber and substitution ratio of lightweight aggregate is analyzed. The relationship between splitting tensile strength and axial tensile strength of specified density steel fiber concrete is suggested.

Heavy metal contamination was the main environmental problem around the Jinchang Ni–Cu mine area of Gansu, Northwest China. The concentration of heavy metals (Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) in various environmental mediums around the Jinchang Ni–Cu mine area were analyzed using atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). The different chemical speciation of heavy metals was extracted using BCR (European Community Bureau of Reference) sequential extraction procedure, and the concentration of chemical speciation of each heavy metal was measured by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. The results showed that Cu and Ni were the most important heavy metal pollutants in various mediums including cultivated soils, dust on slagheap surfaces, tailings, and sediments in waste water drains. In the tailings and sediments, the concentrations of Ni were obviously higher than those of Cu, whereas, in the soil and dust, the concentrations of Cu were higher than those of Ni. Analysis of chemical speciation indicated that Cr and Zn were mainly in residual fraction; Cu was mainly in oxidizable fraction; Ni was mainly in reducible fraction and acid soluble fraction; and Pb was mainly in reducible fraction and residual fraction. The extent of contamination of various environmental mediums was different because the heavy metals were derived from different sources. Furthermore, the mobility of various heavy metals was different because of the different distribution of chemical speciation.

To assess the relation between CT attenuation value and iodine concentration in vitro, using gemstone spectral imaging (GSI) with single-source dual-energy CT and traditional polychromatic X-ray imaging (TPXI), respectively.A polypropylene phantom with eight test tubes in which iodine concentrations of solution were 0.4, 0.7, 2, 5, 10, 20, 30 and 50 mg/mL underwent GSI and traditional polychromatic X-ray scans (80, 100, 120 and 140 kV(p)), using single-source dual-energy spectral CT (Discovery CT750HD; GE Healthcare Technologies, Milwaukee, WI, USA) at the same tube speed of 0.8 s/rotation. All spectral imaging data were analysed with GSI viewer to obtain monochromatic images (50-140 keV, interval of 10 keV). Computed tomography attenuation values of iodine solution were measured with the same size of regions of interest and at the exact same level for both monochromatic and polychromatic images. The relation between CT attenuation value and iodine concentration was examined.A linear correlation was found between CT attenuation value and iodine concentration for both monochromatic and polychromatic images. Moreover, the fitting coefficients for CT attenuation values and iodine concentrations were closer to one with GSI (r(2) = 0.99824-0.99996) than that with TPXI (r(2) = 0.99640-0.99736).Owing to the better correlation coefficients between CT attenuation value and iodine concentration, GSI may be a preferred method for quantitative measurement compared with TPXI.

It Points out that when the wind farms are undertaking the short-term forecast , wind power will be all crew for a machine to equivalent the whole prediction of the deficiencies, and through the forecast of the contrast, it proves the influence of the overall prediction power according to the units in different layouts .Considering the wind power prediction ,the established prediction model of wind farms super short term is be tested by the example,which improves that wind speed has greater influence on the overall power output and it is important to predict the wind direction when predict the speed in order to improve the prediction precision of power .

Electroporation of Micromonospora sp. 40027 isolated from soil was studied with Streptomyces plasmid pSET152, an integrative vector commonly used in Streptomyces genetic manipulation. Transformant was not obtained by electroporation with germinated spores of Micromonospora sp. 40027 as recipient, but plasmid pSET152 can be electroporated into the fresh mycelium of Micromonospora sp. 40027, and the highest electroporation efficiency was yielded under the electric field strength of 13kV/cm. Plasmid stability experiment and southern blot showed that pSET152 could stably exist in the Micromonospora sp. 40027, and was integrated into its chromosome via the attP site, originated from Streptomyces phage phiC31. These data suggested that plasmid pSET152 was successfully electroporated into Micromonospora, and that the integrase gene and attP site of Streptomyces phage phiC31 could play the same role in Micromonospora.

To explore the morbidity, burdens caused and risk factors of injuries among children and to provide information for policy making on prevention.By PPS sampling method, we selected 28 000 households in Beijing and using a questionnaire developed by UNICEF, TASC and China CDC.The morbidity of child injury in Beijing was 2.25%, higher than that of adults (1.56%) with 6-9 year group the highest (2.83% ). The morbidity of boys was 3.04% higher than that of girls (1.37%). Among the 7 death cases, 3 were caused by injury(2 RTA, 1 drowning). The three leading causes of injuries were fall, animal bite and road traffic accident in children. Among children aged 0-5 years, fall, animal and burn/machine injuries were the leading causes. Among children aged 0-5 years, the leading causes were hurt by animals, fall and RTA with the leading causes as fall, sprain and RTA. The average medical cost of injury cases was 1617.57 Yuan. There were 3500 children (injured orphan) whose parents were injured leading to death or disability in Beijing in 2003.Injury was the leading cause of child deaths in Beijing with children of 6-9 years old having the highest morbidity with RTA the most severe type of injuries in Beijing which affects both children and their parents.

We investigate the distribution of the switching current of a current-biased Josephson junction (CBJJ) and its dependence on the microwave frequency using two theoretical methods, one of which is the quantum trajectory method and the other is the master equation method. Both the methods show that the distribution of the switching current of CBJJ will exhibit double peaks in a certain range of microwave frequency if proper microwave power is given, and the gap between the two peaks will increase with the microwave frequency. The obtained results can be used to identify the energy difference of the ground and first excited states in a Josephson junction for any bias current.

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in blast phase is refractory with a poor prognosis. This study was to evaluate efficacy of imatinib mesylate, a specific inhibitor of BCR/ABL tyrosine kinase, on CML in blast phase.Nineteen patients with CML in blast phase (imatinib treatment group) received induction of cytarabine-based standard chemotherapy for 2 cycles, and 400 mg/d of imatinib mesylate for 4 weeks. Patients with no remission received 600 mg/d of imatinib mesylate for another 8 weeks. Treatment of 600 mg/d of imatinib mesylate was maintained if it showed effects after 8 weeks, otherwise it would be stopped. Twenty-two patients with CML in blast phase (historical control group) received inducement of cytarabine-based chemotherapy for 2 cycles, and other regimens of consolidation or continuous induction.Sixteen patients of imatinib treatment group achieved no hematologic remission after induction. After treated with imatinib mesylate, 6 of 16 (38%) achieved hematologic complete remission (CHR), and major cytogenetic response; 2 of 16(13%) achieved hematologic partial remission (PHR); 1 of 16 (6%) returned to chronic phase with minor cytogenetic response. Total hematologic response rate of imatinib treatment group was 57%; 1-year survival rate was 38% (6/16). Eighteen patients of historical control group achieved no hematologic remission after inducement. After treated with other regimens, 2 (11%) achieved CHR, and 1 (6%) achieved PHR. Total hematologic response rate of historical control group was 17%; 1-year survival rate was 6%(1/18), significantly lower than that of imatinib treatment group (P0.05).Imatinib mesylate may have anti-leukemic activity, and prolong survival time of patients with CML in blast phase. But problems of tumor relapse, and drug resistance are still present.