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Background Breast cancer is the most prevalent malignant among female population worldwide. Anoikis is a key progress during genesis and metastasis of malignant cells. Few studies investigate connections between anoikis and prognosis in breast cancer patients. Methods Anoikis-related genes (ARGs) were achieved from GeneCards and Harmonizome portals database. Based on expression patterns of prognostic ARGs, patients were classified as two subtypes and an ARG risk signature was constructed. Based on the formulation, risk score of every individual was calculated. Then, the ability of prognosis prediction was examined by ROC curve and Nomogram. Finally, we analyzed the correlation between TME, signal pathways enriched and treatment response between different risk groups. Results Patients were classified into two clusters based on ARG expression. Cluster B was featured by a longer OS. According to the expression profile of prognostic ARGs between clusters, we constructed a risk scoring signature based on five genes. Patients were again divided into the high- and low-risk group according to the score. The high-risk group was characterized by poorer diagnosis, fewer activated immune cells infiltration and worse treatment response to immune checkpoint inhibitors. Finally, the drug sensitivity analysis revealed the potential benefit of the model in supporting clinical decision. Conclusion We successfully established an ARG risk scoring system associating expression profile of ARGs with clinicopathological features to make breast cancer management more individualized and rationalized.

Biomechanical gait analysis informs clinical practice and research by linking characteristics of gait with neurological or musculoskeletal injury or disease. However, there are limitations to analyses conducted at gait labs as they require onerous construction of force plates into laboratories mimicking the lived environment, on-site patient assessments, as well as requiring specialist technicians to operate. Digital insoles may offer patient-centric solutions to these challenges. In this work, we demonstrate how a digital insole measuring osteoarthritis-specific gait signatures yields similar results to the clinical gait-lab standard. To achieve this, we constructed a machine learning model, trained on force plate data collected in participants with knee arthropathy and healthy controls. This model was highly predictive of force plate data from a validation set (area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (auROC) = 0.86; area under the precision-recall curve (auPR) = 0.90) and of a separate, independent digital insole dataset containing control and knee osteoarthritis subjects (auROC = 0.83; auPR = 0.86). After showing that digital insole derived gait characteristics are comparable to traditional gait measurements, we next show that a single stride of raw sensor time series data could be accurately assigned to each subject, highlighting that individuals (even healthy) using digital insoles can be identified by their gait characteristics. This work provides a framework for a promising alternative to traditional clinical gait analysis methods, adds to the growing body of knowledge regarding wearable technology analytical pipelines, and supports clinical development of at-home gait assessments, with the potential to improve the ease, frequency, and depth of patient monitoring.One Sentence SummaryBiosensor data collected by digital insoles is comparable to lab-based clinical assessments and can be used to identify subject-specific gait patterns.

Carbonaceous aerosol is a dominant component of fine particles in Beijing. However, it is challenging to apportion its sources. Here, we applied a newly developed method which combined radiocarbon (14C) with organic tracers to apportion the sources of fine carbonaceous particles at an urban (IAP) and a rural (PG) site of Beijing. PM2.5 filter samples (24 h) were collected at both sites from 10 November to 11 December 2016 and from 22 May to 24 June 2017. 14C was determined in 25 aerosol samples (13 at IAP and 12 at PG) representing low pollution to haze conditions. Biomass burning tracers (levoglucosan, mannosan, and galactosan) in the samples were also determined using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Higher contributions of fossil-derived OC (OCf) were found at the urban site. The OCf / OC ratio decreased in the summer samples (IAP: 67.8 ± 4.0 % in winter and 54.2 ± 11.7 % in summer; PG: 59.3 ± 5.7 % in winter and 50.0 ± 9.0 % in summer) due to less consumption of coal in the warm season. A novel extended Gelencsér (EG) method incorporating the 14C and organic tracer data was developed to estimate the fossil and non-fossil sources of primary and secondary OC (POC and SOC). It showed that fossil-derived POC was the largest contributor to OC (35.8 ± 10.5 % and 34.1 ± 8.7 % in wintertime for IAP and PG, 28.9 ± 7.4 % and 29.1 ± 9.4 % in summer), regardless of season. SOC contributed 50.0 ± 12.3 % and 47.2 ± 15.5 % at IAP and 42.0 ± 11.7 % and 43.0 ± 13.4 % at PG in the winter and summer sampling periods, respectively, within which the fossil-derived SOC was predominant and contributed more in winter. The non-fossil fractions of SOC increased in summer due to a larger biogenic component. Concentrations of biomass burning OC (OCbb) are resolved by the extended Gelencsér method, with average contributions (to total OC) of 10.6 ± 1.7 % and 10.4 ± 1.5 % in winter at IAP and PG and 6.5 ± 5.2 % and 17.9 ± 3.5 % in summer, respectively. Correlations of water-insoluble OC (WINSOC) and water-soluble OC (WSOC) with POC and SOC showed that although WINSOC was the major contributor to POC, a non-negligible fraction of WINSOC was found in SOC for both fossil and non-fossil sources, especially during winter. In summer, a greater proportion of WSOC from non-fossil sources was found in SOC. Comparisons of the source apportionment results with those obtained from a chemical mass balance model were generally good, except for the cooking aerosol.

This study aims to critically evaluate the source apportionment of fine particles by multiple receptor modelling approaches, including carbon mass balance modelling of filter-based radiocarbon (14C) data, Chemical Mass Balance (CMB) and Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) analysis on filter-based chemical speciation data, and PMF analysis on Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS-PMF) or Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor (ACSM-PMF) data. These data were collected as part of the APHH-Beijing (Atmospheric Pollution and Human Health in a Chinese Megacity) field observation campaigns from 10th November to 12th December in winter 2016 and from 22nd May to 24th June in summer 2017. 14C analysis revealed the predominant contribution of fossil fuel combustion to carbonaceous aerosols in winter compared with non-fossil fuel sources, which is supported by the results from other methods. An extended Gelencs´er (EG) method incorporating 14C data, as well as the CMB and AMS/ACSM-PMF methods, generated a consistent source apportionment for fossil fuel related primary organic carbon. Coal combustion, traffic and biomass burning POC were comparable for CMB and AMS/ACSM-PMF. There are uncertainties in the EG method when estimating biomass burning and cooking OC. The POC from cooking estimated by different methods was poorly correlated, suggesting a large uncertainty when differentiating this source type. The PM2.5 source apportionment results varied between different methods. Through a comparison and correlation analysis of CMB, PMF and AMS/ACSM-PMF, the CMB method appears to give the most complete and representative source apportionment of Beijing aerosols. Based upon the CMB results, fine aerosols in Beijing were mainly secondary inorganic ion formation, secondary organic aerosol formation, primary coal combustion and from biomass burning emissions.

Ambient air quality standards are the core strategic goal of ambient air quality management. Countries worldwide have given importance to research on the development of ambient air quality standards. To understand the history of the development of China's ambient air quality standards, this study analyzed the background associated with all previous formulations and revisions of the standards, classification of functional areas, standard grading, pollutants, and evolution of the standard limits over the past 40 years. The results show that since the initial release of the "Ambient Air Quality Standard" by China in 1982, it has been supplemented once, revised twice, and modified twice. The first ambient air quality standard specified the standard limits of six pollutants commonly found in ambient air. With the development of ambient air quality management, the number of pollutants has increased to ten. Since the release of the "Ambient Air Quality Standards" in 2012, the ambient air quality in China has significantly improved. However, the proportion of cities meeting these standards is still low. At present, China is suitably positioned to make the standards associated with 24 hr SO

Malignant eyelid tumors can invade adjacent structures and pose a threat to vision and even life. Early identification of malignant eyelid tumors is crucial to avoiding substantial morbidity and mortality. However, differentiating malignant eyelid tumors from benign ones can be challenging for primary care physicians and even some ophthalmologists. Here, based on 1,417 photographic images from 851 patients across three hospitals, we developed an artificial intelligence system using a faster region-based convolutional neural network and deep learning classification networks to automatically locate eyelid tumors and then distinguish between malignant and benign eyelid tumors. The system performed well in both internal and external test sets (AUCs ranged from 0.899 to 0.955). The performance of the system is comparable to that of a senior ophthalmologist, indicating that this system has the potential to be used at the screening stage for promoting the early detection and treatment of malignant eyelid tumors.

The photocatalyst sorbic acid (SA)/titanium dioxide (TiO2) was successfully synthesized by sol–gel method and characterized. The composite exhibited regularly spherical particles with the size of 50 nm and the specific surface area of 90.3 m2 g−1, furthermore, it showed mesoporous structure and significantly improved dispersion. SA was grafted on TiO2 surface by –COOTi and TiO2 existed as pure anatase phase in the composite. The addition of SA made the band gap of TiO2 increased from 3.03 to 3.35 eV, which indicting that the composite exhibited a strong response to the ultraviolet light. The optimum preparation parameters of the catalyst were as follows: n(Ti):n(SA) = 1:0.05, ethanol 60 mL, glacial acetic acid 40 mL, hydrothermal temperature 180 °C, hydrothermal time 12 h. The composite could reach the 4.31 log reduction of E. coli, with the optimum catalyst dosage of 0.7 g L−1, irradiated by UV light for 60 min. SA/TiO2 was an environmentally friendly, non-toxic and safe sterilized nanocomposite material appropriate for future bactericidal applications, providing a new way to effectively increase the dispersion of TiO2 particles to achieve superior photocatalytic sterilization efficiency.

Organic matter is a major component of PM2.5 in megacities. In order to understand the detailed characteristics of organic compounds (≥ C6) at a molecular level on non-haze and haze days, we determined more than 300 organic compounds in the PM2.5 from an urban area of Beijing collected in November–December 2016 using two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC × GC-ToF-MS). The identified organic compounds have been classified into groups, and quantitative methods were used to calculate their concentrations. Primary emission sources make significant contributions to the atmospheric organic compounds, and six groups (including n-alkanes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons – PAHs, levoglucosan, branched alkanes, n-alkenes and alkyl-benzenes) account for 66 % of total identified organic compound mass. In addition, PAHs and oxygenated PAHs (O-PAHs) were abundant amongst the atmospheric organic compounds on both haze and non-haze days. The most abundant hydrocarbon groups were observed with a carbon atom range of C19–C28. In addition, the total concentration of unidentified compounds present in the chromatogram was estimated in the present study. The total identified compounds account for approximately 47 % of total organic compounds (≥ C6) in the chromatogram on both the non-haze and haze days. The total mass concentrations of organic compounds (≥ C6) in the chromatogram were 4.0 and 7.4 µg m−3 on the non-haze and haze days, respectively, accounting for 26.4 % and 18.5 % of organic matter, respectively, on those days estimated from the total organic carbon concentration. Ratios of individual compound concentrations between haze and non-haze days do not give a clear indication of the degree of oxidation, but the overall distribution of organic compounds in the chromatogram provides strong evidence that the organic aerosol is less GC volatile and hence more highly oxidized on haze days.

The weighted differential evolution algorithm has the disadvantage of slipping into local optima and low convergence. To address these problems, an extended weighted differential evolution algorithm based on the chaotic mapping and optimal-worst dynamic opposite learning strategy is proposed. Firstly, the chaotic sequence generated by improved one-dimensional Logistic-Chebyshev mapping is employed to modify the starting population generated uniformly within the original algorithm, which aids in broadening the richness of the population. Secondly, to augment the probability of obtaining global optimum, an optimal-worst dynamic reverse learning strategy is used. Finally, a new evolutionary step size generation method is incorporated into the algorithm, which helps to acquire better solutions. The experimental outcomes obtained by testing 10 benchmark functions in CEC 2020 indicate that the proposed method has been greatly improved in accuracy.

Road traffic constitutes a major source of air pollutants in urban Beijing, which are responsible for substantial premature mortality. A series of policies and regulations has led to appreciable traffic emission reductions in recent decades. To shed light on long-term (2014-2020) roadside air pollution and assess the efficacy of traffic control measures and their effects on public health, this study quantitatively evaluated changes in the concentrations of six key air pollutants (PM

Fine particles were sampled from 9th November to 11th December 2016 and 22nd May to 24th June 2017 as part of the Atmospheric Pollution and Human Health in a Chinese megacity (APHH-China) field campaigns in urban Beijing, China. Inorganic ions, trace elements, OC, EC, and organic compounds including biomarkers, hopanes, PAHs, n-alkanes and fatty acids, were determined for source apportionment in this study. Carbonaceous components contributed on average 47.2 % and 35.2 % of total reconstructed PM2.5 during the winter and summer campaigns, respectively. Secondary inorganic ions (sulfate, nitrate, ammonium; SNA) accounted for 35.0 % and 45.2 % of total PM2.5 in winter and summer. Other components including inorganic ions (K+, Na+, Cl−), geological minerals, and trace metals only contributed 13.2 % and 12.4 % of PM2.5 during the winter and summer campaigns. Fine OC was explained by seven primary sources (industrial/residential coal burning, biomass burning, gasoline/diesel vehicles, cooking and vegetative detritus) based on a chemical mass balance (CMB) receptor model. It explained an average of 75.7 % and 56.1 % of fine OC in winter and summer, respectively. Other (unexplained) OC was compared with the secondary OC (SOC) estimated by the EC-tracer method, with correlation coefficients (R2) of 0.58 and 0.73, and slopes of 1.16 and 0.80 in winter and summer, respectively. This suggests that the unexplained OC by CMB was mostly associated with SOC. PM2.5 apportioned by CMB showed that the SNA and secondary organic matter were the highest two contributors to PM2.5. After these, coal combustion and biomass burning were also significant sources of PM2.5 in winter. The CMB results were also compared with results from Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) analysis of co-located Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) data. The CMB was found to resolve more primary OA sources than AMS-PMF but the latter apportioned more secondary OA sources. The AMS-PMF results for major components, such as coal combustion OC and oxidized OC correlated well with the results from CMB. However, discrepancies and poor agreements were found for other OC sources, such as biomass burning and cooking, some of which were not identified in AMS-PMF factors.

This study aims to critically evaluate the source apportionment of fine particles by multiple receptor modelling approaches, including carbon mass balance modelling of filter-based radiocarbon (

Multi-targets inhibitor 6-bromo-indirubin-3'-oxime (BIO) has diverse biological effects on cancer cells. The key component of the β-catenin destruction complex glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK-3β), one of the major target for BIO, polyubiquitination and degradation of the main oncoprotein β-catenin in colorectal cancer (CRC). In the present study, we evaluated the effect of BIO on drug resistance and biological properties of CRC cells. Whole-genome transcriptional profiling revealed that differentially expressed genes were mainly centered on well-characterized signaling pathways including stem cell, cell adhesion and cell growth in BIO-treated CRC cells. BIO treatment downregulated migration and invasion abilities of CRC cells, accompanying with MMP-9 downregulated and E-cadherin upregulated CRC cells. BIO treatment decreased apoptosis induced by 5-Fu/DDP in CRC SW480 cells. In addition, BIO treatment reversed the 5-Fu-induced CD133+ cell downregulation trend in CRC SW620 cells. After incubation with BIO, the expression levels of EpCAM, TERT and DCAMKL-1 proteins were upregulated in CRC cells. BIO treatment downregulated the activity of GSK-3β, upregulated and transported β-catenin to the nucleus in CRC cells. Our findings reveal that BIO treatment upregulated stemness, adhesive and chemoresistance of CRC cells. GSK-3β inhibition and WNT/β-catenin activation by BIO, may partly result in the biological behavior alterations in CRC cells.

To compare the inorganic chemical compositions of TSP (total suspended particulate), PM 10 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 10 μm) and PM 2.5 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 μm) in southern and northern cities in China, atmospheric particles were synchronously collected in Dalian (the northern city) and Xiamen (the southern city) in spring and autumn of 2004. The mass concentrations, twenty-three elements and nine soluble ions were assessed. The results show that in Dalian, the mass concentrations of Mg, Al, Ca, Mn and Fe in spring were 4.0–10.1, 2.6–8.0, 4.1–12, 1.2–3.6 and 2.9–7.9 times higher, respectively, than those in Xiamen. The dust storm influence is more obvious in Dalian in spring. However, in Xiamen, heavy metals accounted for 13.9%–17.9% of TSP, while heavy metals contributed to 5.5%–9.3% of TSP in Dalian. These concentrations suggest that heavy metal pollution in Xiamen was more serious. In addition, the concentrations of Na + , Cl − , Ca 2 + and Mg 2 + were higher in Dalian due to the influence of marine aerosol, construction activities and soil dust. The NO 3 − /SO 4 2 − ratios in Dalian (0.25–0.49) were lower than those in Xiamen (0.51–0.62), indicating that the contributions of vehicle emission to particles in Xiamen were higher. Coefficient of divergence values was higher than 0.40, implying that the inorganic chemical composition profiles for the particles of Dalian and Xiamen were quite different from each other.

The photocatalyst sorbic acid (SA)/titanium dioxide (TiO2) was successfully synthesized by sol–gel method and characterized. The composite exhibited regularly spherical particles with the size of 50 nm and the specific surface area of 90.3 m2 g−1, furthermore, it showed mesoporous structure and significantly improved dispersion. SA was grafted on TiO2 surface by –COOTi and TiO2 existed as pure anatase phase in the composite. The addition of SA made the band gap of TiO2 increased from 3.03 to 3.35 eV, which indicting that the composite exhibited a strong response to the ultraviolet light. The optimum preparation parameters of the catalyst were as follows: n(Ti):n(SA) = 1:0.05, ethanol 60 mL, glacial acetic acid 40 mL, hydrothermal temperature 180 °C, hydrothermal time 12 h. The composite could reach the 4.31 log reduction of E. coli, with the optimum catalyst dosage of 0.7 g L−1, irradiated by UV light for 60 min. SA/TiO2 was an environmentally friendly, non-toxic and safe sterilized nanocomposite material appropriate for future bactericidal applications, providing a new way to effectively increase the dispersion of TiO2 particles to achieve superior photocatalytic sterilization efficiency.

// Feng Luo 1, * , Jinbang Li 1, * , Shigang Wu 1 , Xuefang Wu 1 , Meixiang Chen 1 , Xueyun Zhong 2 , Kunping Liu 1 1 Department of Pathology, Qingyuan People’s Hospital, Jinan University, Qingyuan 511518, China 2 Department of Pathology, Medical College, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Kunping Liu, email: gdqylkp@163.com Xueyun Zhong, email: tzxy@jnu.edu.cn Keywords: colorectal cancer, drug resistance, WNT signaling pathway, EMT, cancer stem cells Received: March 14, 2016 Accepted: August 11, 2016 Published: August 24, 2016 ABSTRACT Metastases cause recurrence and mortality for patients with colorectal carcinomas (CRC). In present study, we evaluated heterogeneity on drug resistance and its underlying mechanism between metastatic and primary CRC. Immunohistochemical results from clinical tissue microarray (TMA) suggested that the expression concordance rates of cancer stem cells (CSCs) and drug resistance relative proteins between lymph-node metastatic and primary CRC foci were low. The apoptotic and proliferation indexes in metastasis CRC specimens were decreased compared with primary. In vitro experimental results indicated that the migration and invasion abilities were upregulated in metastatic cells SW620 compared with primary cells SW480, the cellular efflux ability and WNT/β-catenin activity were also upregulated in SW620 cells. After 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu) treatment, the reduction in the proportion of cell apoptosis, CD133 and TERT expression levels in SW620 were lower than that in SW480 cells. Bioinformatics analysis in whole-genome transcriptional profiling results between metastatic and primary CRC cells suggested that differentially expressed genes were mainly centered on well-characterized signaling pathways including WNT/β-catenin, cell cycle and cell junction. Collectively, heterogeneity of drug resistant was present between metastatic and primary CRC specimens and cell lines, the abnormal activation of WNT/β-catenin signaling pathway could be a potential molecular leading to drug resistant ability enhancing in metastatic CRC cells.

This study investigated the relationship between obesity and executive function, and between executive function and fall risk (as estimated from select gait parameters). Of the 39 young adults (age = 21.3 ± 2.6 years) recruited from the local university population via email announcement, 19 were in the obese group (based upon BMI and body fat percentage) and 20 were in the nonobese comparison group. Executive function was assessed using standardized tests including the Stroop test for selective attention; Trail Making test for divided attention, visuomotor tracking, and cognitive flexibility; the Verbal Fluency test for semantic memory; and the Digit-span test for working memory. Participants performed single- and dual-task walking (walking while talking) to evaluate fall risk during gait as measured by minimum toe clearance, required coefficient of friction, stance time, and stance-time variability. The obese group had lower scores for selective attention, semantic memory, and working memory. All participants had gait changes suggestive of a higher fall risk, for example, lower minimum toe clearance, longer stance time, and increased stance variability, during dual-task walking compared with single-task walking, and executive function scores (selective attention) were associated with gait (stance-time variability) during dual-task walking. RESULTS indicate obesity was negatively associated with executive function among young adults and could increase fall risk.© The Author(s) 2016. Language: en

This study was designed to investigate the seasonal characteristics and apportion the sources of organic carbon during non-haze days (

Organic matter is a major component of PM2.5 in megacities. In order to understand the detailed characteristics of organic compounds (> C6) at a molecular level on non-haze and haze days, we determined more than 300 organic compounds in the PM2.5 from an urban area of Beijing in November-December 2016 using two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC × GC-TOFMS). The identified organic compounds have been classified into groups, and quantitative methods were used to calculate their concentrations. Primary emission sources make significant contributions to the atmospheric organic compounds and six groups (including n-alkanes, PAHs, levoglucosan, branched-alkanes, n-alkenes and alkyl-benzenes) account for 66 % of total identified organic compound mass. In addition, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and oxygenated PAHs (OPAHs) were abundant amongst the atmospheric organic compounds on both haze and non-haze days. A near-unimodal molecular distribution, peaking approximately within the range of C19-C28, was observed in most hydrocarbon groups. In addition, the concentrations of unidentified compounds were also estimated in the present study. The total identified compounds account for approximately 47 % of total organic compounds (> C6) in the chromatogram on both the non-haze and haze days. The total mass concentrations of organic compounds (> C6) in the chromatogram were 4.0 μg m−3 and 7.4 μg m−3 on the non-haze and haze days respectively, accounting for 26.5 % and 18.5 % of OM respectively on those days. There is strong evidence that the organic aerosol is more highly oxidised, and hence less GC-volatile on haze days.

APHH-Beijing (Atmospheric Pollution and Human Health in a Chinese Megacity) is an international collaborative project to examine the emissions, processes and health effects of air pollution in Beijing. The four research themes of APHH-China are: (1) sources and emissions of urban atmospheric pollution; (2) processes affecting urban atmospheric pollution; (3) exposure science and impacts on health; and (4) interventions and solutions to reduce health impacts. Themes 1 and 2 are closely integrated and support Theme 3, while Themes 1–3 provide scientific data for Theme 4 on the development of cost-effective solutions. A key activity within APHH-Beijing was the two month-long intensive field campaigns at two sites: (i) central Beijing, and (ii) rural Pinggu. The coordinated campaigns provided observations of the atmospheric chemistry and physics in and around Beijing during November–December 2016 and May–June 2017. The campaigns were complemented by numerical air quality modelling and air quality and meteorology data at the 12 national monitoring stations in Beijing. This introduction paper provides an overview of (i) APHH-Beijing programme, (ii) the measurement and modelling activities performed as part of it in Beijing, and (iii) the air quality and meteorological conditions during the two field campaigns. The winter campaign was characterized by high PM2.5 pollution events whereas the summer experienced high ozone pollution events. Air quality was poor during the winter campaign, but less severe than in the same period in 2015 when there were a number of major pollution episodes. PM2.5 levels were relatively low during the summer period, matching the cleanest periods over the previous five years. Synoptic scale meteorological analysis suggests that the greater stagnation and weak southerly circulation in November/December 2016 may have contributed to the poor air quality.

Industrial wastewater and sewage are both important sources of heavy metals and metalloids in urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). China has made great efforts to control heavy metal and metalloid pollution by setting discharge limits for WWTPs. There is, however, limited discharge data and no systematic methodology for the derivation of discharge limits. In this study, 14 heavy metals and metalloids (Hg, alkyl mercury, As, Cd, Cr, Cr6+, Pb, Ni, Be, Ag, Cu, Zn, Mn, Se) that are listed in the Discharge Standard of Pollutants for Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant (GB 18918-2002) were selected for the analysis of discharge characteristics while using the supervised monitoring data from more than 800 WWTPs located in nine provinces in China. Of the 14 heavy metals and metalloids, all but alkyl mercury were detected in the discharge water. There was a high rate of detection of As, Cu, Mn, Se, and there were some samples that exceeded the standard concentrations of Cr, Cr6+, Pb, and Ni. Removal rates of Hg, As, Cd, Cr, Cr6+, Pb, Ni, Cu, Zn, Mn, and Se were higher than 40%, comparable to values from other countries. Hg and As were selected to analyze the influencing factors of effluent and derive discharge limits of WWTPs using a statistical method, because these two metals had more detected data than other metals. The study used supervised monitoring data from Zhejiang WWTPs with 99 for Hg and 112 for As. Based on the delta-lognormal distribution, the results showed that geographic location was significantly closely correlated with Hg (P = 0.027 &lt, 0.05) and As (P &asymp, 0 &lt, 0.05) discharge concentrations, while size (for Hg P = 0.695 &gt, 0.05, for As P = 0.088 &gt, 0.05) and influent concentration (R2 &lt, 0.5) were not. Derived Hg and As discharge limits suggest that it is necessary to establish stricter discharge limits for WWTPs, which is more consistent with the real-world situation in China. The study here comprehensively researches the discharge characteristics of heavy metals and metalloids in effluent of WWTPs in China, and developed for the first time in China heavy metals and metalloids discharge limits based on statistical methods. The results may inform special discharge limit settings for WWTPs in China.

Falls due to slipping are a serious concern, with slipping estimated to cause 40-50% of all fall-related injuries. Epidemiological data indicates that older and obese adults experience more falls than young, non-obese individuals. An increasingly heavier and older U.S. population and workforce may be exacerbating the problem of slip-induced falls. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of obesity and age on slip severity and rate of falling resulting from laboratory-induced slips. Four groups of participants (young obese, young non-obese, older obese, older non-obese) were slipped while walking at a self-selected, slightly hurried pace. Slip severity (slip distance, slip duration, mean slip speed and peak slip speed) and slip outcome (fall or recovery) were compared between groups. Obese individuals experienced 22% faster slips than non-obese individuals in terms of mean slip speed (p=0.022). Obesity did not affect slip distance, slip duration or peak slip speed. Obese individuals also exhibited a higher rate of falls; 32% of obese individuals fell compared to 10% of non-obese (p=0.005). Obese individuals were more than eight times more likely to experience a fall than non-obese individuals when adjusting for age, gender and gait speed. No age effects were found for slip severity or slip outcome. These results, along with epidemiological data reporting higher fall rates among the obese, indicate that obesity may be a significant risk factor for experiencing slip-induced falls. Slip severity thresholds were also reported that may have value in developing controls for fall prevention.

Aberrant Wnt signaling pathway is associated with a wide array of tumor types and plays an important role in the drug resistance of cancer stem cells (CSCs). To explore the effects and mechanism of WNT signaling pathway inhibitor XAV939 on drug resistance in colon cancer cells, the colon cancer cells SW480 and SW620 were treated with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)/cisplatin (DDP) alone or combined with XAV939. Cell cycle distribution, apoptosis level and the percentage of CD133+ cells were detected by flow cytometry. The protein expression of Axin, β-catenin, EpCAM, TERT and DCAMKL-1 was detected by western blotting. XAV939 upregulated Axin , decreased the total and nuclei of β-catenin in SW480 and SW620 cells. Furthermore, XAV939 significantly downregulated the CSC markers EpCAM, TERT and DCAMKL-1 in SW480 cells, as well as EpCAM in SW620 cells. No significant difference was found in the apoptosis of SW480 and SW620 cells with XAV939 treatment, but XAV939 significantly increased apoptosis induced by 5-FU/DDP in SW480 cells, whereas, the effects were slight in SW620 cells. Collectively, we show for the first time that the WNT signaling pathway inhibitor XAV939 was able to significantly increase the apoptosis induced by 5-FU/DDP, accompanied by the protein expression level alternation of β-catenin, Axin and CSC markers in colon cancer cells. Axin, an important component of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway could be a potential molecular target for reversing multidrug resistance in colon cancer.

Impaired foot plantar sensitivity has been hypothesized among individuals who are obese, and may contribute to their impaired balanced during quiet standing. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of obesity on plantar sensitivity, and explore the relationship between plantar sensitivity and balance during quiet standing. Thirty-nine young adults from the university population participated in the study including 19 obese and 20 non-obese adults. Plantar sensitivity was measured as the force threshold at which an increasing force applied to the plantar surface of the foot was first perceived, and the force threshold at which a decreasing force was last perceived. Measurements were obtained while standing, and at two locations on the plantar surface of the dominant foot. Postural sway during quiet standing was then measured under three different sensory conditions. Results indicated less sensitive plantar sensitivity and increased postural sway among the obese, and statistically significant correlations between plantar sensitivity and postural sway that were characterized as weak to moderate in strength. As such, impaired plantar sensitivity among individuals who are obese may be a mechanism by which obesity degrades standing balance among these individuals.

Mobile cloud computing has become a new paradigm, because of rapid growth of mobile devices such as smart mobile phone performance and cloud computing. This mobile cloud environment, with various kinds of service and IT resources according to the user's requirements, effectively provides services and IT resources are necessary. Therefore, in this paper we propose the use of frequency mobile cloud based analysis and filtering method of computing resources to distribute resources and services to users based on context-awareness information. Introduction

This study examines the predictive ability of fall risks among community dwelling elderly using wearable wireless sensors. Forty-eight community-dwelling elderly (17 non-fallers and 31 fallers) participated in the study. Timed up and go test, sit-to-stand test and ten-meter walking test were carried out. Activitiesspecific Balance Confidence (ABC) Scale was also obtained. The results showed fairly good predictive ability of fall risks among older adults, with stance time, walking velocity and timed up and go time being promising of indicating fall risks. Further investigation is warranted to better understand the signals from the wearable sensors and justify the model. Larger sample size is also warranted to validate the model.

Two capillary porous membrane bioreactors (MBRs) were used in series to treat xylene mixture and the performance of MBRs was studied. No inhabitation between the removal of o -, m -, p -xylene was found. A maximum xylene elimination capacity reached 409 g m −3 h −1 ( EC v ,max = 102 mg m −3 h −1 ) at a gas residence time of 9 s. The estimated yield coefficient ( Y ), determined from the carbon dioxide production, reached 0.73 g (VSS) g −1 (xylene) and 0.89 g (VSS) g −1 (xylene) under operation conditions with nutrient (I) and (II), respectively. The results implied that MBRs could become one of the best available technologies for the reduction of VOC emissions in the chemical sector.

The purpose of this study was to describe antecedents and characteristics of same level fall injuries. Fall incidents and costs were compiled from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and other sources from 2006-2010. This study indicated that over 29% of 'fall on same level' injuries resulted in 31 or more workdays lost. The major source of injury was 'floors, walkways or ground surfaces', and the most affected body parts were the lower extremities and the trunk. With regard to gender and age, female workers had the highest risk of falls, while advancing age coincided with an increase in incidence rates. Overall, workers in the healthcare and social assistance industry, the transportation and warehousing industry, and the accommodation and food services industry had the highest risk for 'fall on same level' injuries. Furthermore, the overall compensation cost increased by 25% from 2006-2009. Along with existing evidence, these results may facilitate the design and implementation of preventative measures in the workplace and potentially reduce fall-related compensation costs. Practitioner summary This research presents a unique and detailed analysis of non-fatal 'fall on same level' injuries in a large population of workers from various private industries in the USA. This information can be used to prioritise designing and implementing preventive measures and to provide workers with the understanding of risk factors associated with falls in the workplace.

The purpose of this study was to describe antecedents and characteristics of nonfatal fall-related injuries among health care workers in the United States. A special request was made for the Bureau of Labor Statistics to obtain nonfatal fall-related injury data from 2008 to 2010. Overall, workers in the nursing-related profession had the highest percentages of workplace fall-related injuries. Ninety-one percent of these injured workers were female, and more than 50% were between the ages of 45 and 64 years. More than 25% of fall injuries resulted in 31 or more workdays being lost. This study indicated that the most affected body parts were the lower extremities, with most injuries resulting in sprains, strains, and tears. Accordingly, this 3-year study revealed that a high number of fall injuries occurred at night for health care workers compared to other workers in the U.S. private sector.

To compare the inorganic chemical compositions of TSP (total suspended particulate), PM

The conversion of fuel-N to NO x is the main contribution of NO x from coal-fired industrial boilers and is the least-studied modelling problem arising from coal combustion. This paper summarises the current understanding of the mechanisms that account for the formation of NO x from fuel-N during coal combustion. Further experimentation on NO x emissions during bituminous coal combustion was simulated with attention focused on the contribution of char-N and volatile-N to fuel-NO x through the Coal/Char combustion method. The critical analysis of this issue allowed for the identification of uncertainties and produced well-founded conclusions. The results indicated that fuel-NO x formation was a very complex physical-chemical process involving many competing mechanisms. These mechanisms included chemical reactions, convective mass transfer, heat transfer, adsorption and desorption. The contribution of char-N in this experiment varied between 30% and 70%. There may be a slight question as to the exact identity of the main contributor to fuel-NO x , and no definitive conclusion can be made as of yet. This uncertainty is because the contribution of char-N to fuel-NO x was heavily affected by the combustion conditions and the contribution of char-N increased monotonically as temperature increased. There was a critical point in the relationship between particle size, air flow, O2 concentration and the contribution of char-N. The contribution of char-N increased with the increase of particle size and air flow initially when less than the critical value, and decreased when more than thecritical value. The contribution of char-N initially decreased when the O2 concentration was increased from 10% to 15% and increased more with the further increase in O2 concentration.

To explore the effects and mechanism of glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK-3β) inhibitor (2'Z,3'E)-6-bromo-indirubin-3'-oxime (BIO) on drug resistance in colon cancer cells.The colon cancer SW480 and SW620 cells were treated with BIO, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and BIO/5-FU, separately. Cell cycle distribution, apoptosis level and efflux ability of rhodamine 123 (Rh123) were detected by flow cytometry. The protein expressions of P-glycoprotein (P-gp), multidrug resistance protein 2 (MRP2), thymidylate synthase (TS), β-catenin, E2F-1 and Bcl-2 were detected by Western blot. β-catenin and P-gp were stained with double immunofluorescence and observed under a confocal microscope.BIO up-regulated β-catenin, P-gp, MRP2 and TS, enhanced the efflux ability of Rh123, decreased Bcl-2 protein and gave the opposite effect to E2F-1 protein in SW480 and SW620 cells. Furthermore, BIO significantly inhibited cell apoptosis, increased S and G(2)/M phase cells, and reduced the cell apoptosis induced by 5-FU in SW480 cells, whereas the effects were slight or not obvious in SW620 cells.GSK-3β was involved in drug resistance regulation, and activation of β-catenin and inhibition of E2F-1 may be the most responsible for the enhancement of 5-FU chemotherapy resistance induced by GSK-3β inhibitor BIO in colon cancer.

Obesity is associated with structural and functional limitations with impairment of normal gait. Although falls have been identified as the most common cause of injuries in the obese, the mechanisms associated with increased fall risk among the obese population are still unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of gait adaptations of the obese individuals and its implication on risk of slip initiations as measured by friction demand characteristics. To exclude the aging and gender effects, a total of ten healthy young male adults participated in the study. Kinematic and kinetic data were collected using a three-dimensional motion analysis system and force plates while subjects were walking at their self-selected walking pace. Results indicated that young obese adults walked similarly as their lean counterparts except for exhibiting greater step width and higher transversal friction demand, suggesting that slip-induced fall risks are similar along the horizontal direction, but increased along the transversal direction under certain floor conditions.

In this study, PM10 and PM2.5 samples were obtained in a northern city in China. The 12-h averaged concentrations of particulate matter and species were analyzed. A PCA-MLR model was applied to identify the potential source categories and to estimate the source contributions for the PM10 and PM2.5 datasets. Five factors were extracted for the PM10 samples, and their percentage contributions were estimated as follows: crustal dust-39.87%; vehicle exhaust-30.16%; secondary sulfate and nitrate-14.42%; metal emission source-6.77%; and residual oil combustion source-1.82%. Four factors were resolved for the PM2.5 dataset, and their contributions were obtained: crustal dust-35.81%; vehicle exhaust-22.67%; secondary sulfate and nitrate-32.35%; and metal emission and residual oil combustion sources-4.57%. In addition, a Potential Source Contribution Function (PSCF) was used to investigate the possible locations of the major sources. The PSCF results showed that for each source category, PM10 and PM2.5 had similar potential source areas.

In the case of surgical scalpels, blade retraction and disposability have been incorporated into a number of commercial designs to address sharps injury and infection transmission issues. Despite these new designs, the traditional metal reusable scalpel is still extensively used and this paper attempts to determine whether the introduction of safety features has compromised the ergonomics and so potentially the take-up of the newer designs. Examples of scalpels have been analysed to determine the ergonomic impact of these design changes. Trials and questionnaires were carried out using both clinical and non-clinical user groups, with the trials making use of assessment of incision quality, cutting force, electromyography and video monitoring. The results showed that ergonomic performance was altered by the design changes and that while these could be for the worse, the introduction of safety features could act as a catalyst to encourage re-evaluation of the ergonomic demands of a highly traditional product.

Data mining clustering is a broad research field. It is used to partition the data set of clusters. Different clustering methods use different similarity definition and technology. Several popular clustering algorithms are analyzed from three different perspectives: the clustering criterion, clustering algorithm frame representation. Furthermore, some new construction algorithm, mixed or generalization of some algorithm is introduced. As a result of the analysis of several points of view, it can be covered and distinguished from most existing algorithms. It is based on self-tuning algorithm and clustering benchmark.

Obese aging population is increasing in the United States, and obese elderly experience fall twice as frequent as their lean counterparts. However, the mechanisms of older obese adults fall are still not clear. It is not known whether the obese elderly has more functional mobility impairments than their lean counterparts, and consequently have increased risks of falls. It was hypothesized that obese elderly have more functional mobility impairments compared with their healthy weight counterparts. Six lean and six obese community-dwelling elderly participated in the study. “Timed up & go” test was used to quantify the functional mobility for both lean and obese elderly. Stopwatch and custom-made inertial measurement units were used to obtain the temporal and kinematic parameters. The results showed that there is no significant difference in overall time to complete the “timed up & go” task, but significant difference in anterior posterior acceleration, time to reach the peak extension angular velocity from initiation and double support time between lean and obese groups of participants. Therefore, we concluded that older obese adults have some functional mobility impairments compared with their lean counterparts but the completion time of the “timed up & go” test may not be able to differentiate these individuals. Our results also suggested that obese elderly might have more muscular impairments than their healthy weight counterparts, which can result in higher fall risks. Future studies are warranted to investigate the mechanisms of increased fall risks among obese elderly.