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Based on the cooperative principle brought up by American philosopher of language named Grice, with exemplification and explanation of the violation of four maxims, this paper also combines the cooperative principle with hedges, analyzing the translation of hedges so as to better manage implicit and explicit information in the translation. Meanwhile, analyzing how conversational maxims operate in a text can contribute to the characterization of style, “the perceived distinctive manner of expression in writing or speaking” (Wales, 2014, p. 397), helping the translator in maintaining a close stylistic link with the original text (Boase-Beier, 2014, p. 394). Analyzing how meaning is constructed or generated via maxims in a fictional text assists the translator in both hearing and recreating the literary style or narrative voice that guides the linguistic choices made by the author (Munday, 2008, p. 19). Take children literature translation as example, this paper not only offers a peek into the causes of explicitation and implicitation in children literature translation, but makes an explanatory study of it. Since the translation of children’s literature should comply with children’s cognition and characteristics so as to reconcile the relation between readability and educational functions, this paper will again analyze how meaning is constructed or generated via maxims in the text. Such analysis will help translators in maintaining the style of the original, which is conducive to managing implicit and explicit information in the translation.

Carbohydrate can be converted into fat by de novo lipogenesis, a process upregulated in fatty liver disease. Chemically, de novo lipogenesis involves polymerization and reduction of acetyl-CoA, using NADPH as the electron donor. The feedstocks used to generate acetyl-CoA and NADPH in lipogenic tissues remain, however, unclear. Here we show using stable isotope tracing in mice that de novo lipogenesis in adipose is supported by glucose and its catabolism via the pentose phosphate pathway to make NADPH. The liver, in contrast, derives acetyl-CoA for lipogenesis from acetate and lactate, and NADPH from folate-mediated serine catabolism. Such NADPH generation involves the cytosolic serine pathway in liver running in the opposite direction to that observed in most tissues and tumours, with NADPH made by the SHMT1-MTHFD1-ALDH1L1 reaction sequence. SHMT inhibition decreases hepatic lipogenesis. Thus, liver folate metabolism is distinctively wired to support cytosolic NADPH production and lipogenesis. More generally, while the same enzymes are involved in fat synthesis in liver and adipose, different substrates are used, opening the door to tissue-specific pharmacological interventions.

BACKGROUND: In recent years, immunotherapy has made great progress, and the regulatory role of epigenetics has been verified. However, the role of 5-methylcytosine (m(5)C) in the tumor microenvironment (TME) and immunotherapy response remains unclear. METHODS: Based on 11 m(5)C regulators, we evaluated the m(5)C modification patterns of 572 lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) patients. The m(5)C score was constructed by principal component analysis (PCA) algorithms in order to quantify the m(5)C modification pattern of individual LUAD patients. RESULTS: Two m(5)C methylation modification patterns were identified according to 11 m(5)C regulators. The two patterns had a remarkably distinct TME immune cell infiltration characterization. Next, 226 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to the m(5)C phenotype were screened. Patients were divided into three different gene cluster subtypes based on these genes, which had different TME immune cell infiltration and prognosis characteristics. The m(5)C score was constructed to quantify the m(5)C modification pattern of individual LUAD patients. We found that the high m(5)C score group had a better prognosis. The role of the m(5)C score in predicting prognosis was also verified in the dataset GSE31210. CONCLUSIONS: Our study revealed that m(5)C modification played a significant role in TME regulation of LUAD. Investigation of the m(5)C regulation mode may have some implications for tumor immunotherapy in the future.

Nan Jiang,1,2,* Xiao-Lin Ge,2,* Zhao-Yue Zhang,2 Jia Liu,2 Pei-Pei Wang,2 Xin-Chen Sun,1,2 Min Yang1 1The First School of Clinical Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210000, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Radiotherapy, Jiangsu Province Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210000, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Min YangThe First School of Clinical Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, No. 818 of Tianyuan Road, Jiangning District, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210000, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 13701516659Email yangmin@jsinm.orgXin-Chen SunDepartment of Radiotherapy, Jiangsu Province Hospital, No. 300 of Guangzhou Road, Gulou District, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210000, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 13770662828Email sunxinchen2012@163.comPurpose: Intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) can improve the prognosis of patients with esophageal cancer. This study aimed to evaluate clinical factors relevant to the prognosis of patients with esophageal cancer who received intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) alone.Patient and Methods: Data of 103 patients with pathologically confirmed esophageal cancer who were admitted to our hospital between October 2011 and November 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. All patients had squamous cell carcinoma. All patients received IMRT. Patients with stage I–IVA tumors were included to represent the real-world clinical practice. We performed univariate and multivariate analyses to identify prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). In univariate analyses, the Kaplan–Meier method was used to estimate OS and PFS for various subgroups. In multivariate analyses, hazard ratios were calculated.Results: Single-factor analysis revealed that T stage (P=0.019), N stage (P =0.047), and lesion length (P =0.000) were associated with the prognosis of esophageal cancer patients who received IMRT. Cox regression analysis revealed that T stage (odds ratio [OR] = 4.68; P < 0.05), N stage (OR = 0.28; P < 0.05), and lesion length (OR = 0.09; P < 0.05) were independent factors relevant to prognosis.Conclusion: T stage, N stage, and lesion length influenced the long-term curative effects of IMRT for esophageal cancer and were prognostic factors for patients with esophageal cancer receiving definitive radiotherapy alone. The higher the stage and the longer the tumor, the lower the survival rate.Keywords: esophageal neoplasms, prognosis, intensity-modulated radiotherapy, retrospective studies

In this paper, the chaotic characteristics of air traffic flow are studied, ADS-B data easily available to ground aviation users are selected as the basic data of traffic flow, and a high-dimensional prediction model of air traffic flow time series based on the non-iterative PSR-ELM algorithm is established. The prediction results of the proposed algorithm are then compared with those of the SVR algorithm, which requires iteration. Moreover, airspace operation data before and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic are selected as the experimental scene, and the prediction effects of time series with different degrees of chaos are comparatively analyzed. The experimental results reveal that the PSR-ELM algorithm achieves fast and accurate results, and, when the traffic flow state is sparse, the degree of chaos is reduced and the prediction effect is improved. The findings of this research provide a reference for air traffic flow theory.

Understanding the chaos of air traffic flow is significant to the achievement of advanced air traffic management, and trajectory data are the basic material for studying the chaotic characteristics. However, at present, there are two main obstacles to this task, namely, large amounts of noise in the measured data and the tedium of existing data processing methods. This paper improves the incorrect trajectory processing method based on ADS-B trajectory data and proposes a method by which to quickly extract the traffic flow through a certain waypoint. Currently, the commonly used theoretical analysis tools for nonlinear complex systems include the classical nonlinear dynamics analysis method and the newly developed complex network-based analysis method. The latter is currently in an exploratory stage because it has just been introduced into the study of air traffic flow. From these two perspectives, the chaotic characteristics of air traffic flow are studied in the present work. From the perspective of nonlinear dynamics, the improved C-C method is used to calculate the reliability parameters, namely, the time delay τ and embedding dimension m, of phase-space reconstruction, and the maximum Lyapunov index is calculated by using the small data volume method to prove the existence of chaos in the system. From the perspective of complex networks, the construction of a visibility graph and horizontal visibility graph is used to prove the existence of chaos in the system, and the goodness-of-fit parameters of the degree distributions of two fitting methods under different time scales are evaluated, which provides support for the air traffic flow theory.

Objective: To compare the survival benefit between neoadjuvant and adjuvant radiotherapy for non-inflammatory non-metastatic breast cancer patients.Method: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using surveillance, epidemiology and end results databases. Our study recruited patients who had been diagnosed with stage I-III breast cancer and underwent surgery and radiotherapy. The overall survival was calculated by Kaplan Meier method. Cox risk model was used to determine the impact of radiotherapy according to stage, molecular subtype and other risk factors. Propensity score matching was used to balance measurable confounding factors. Results: Of all the 411483 enrolled patients varying from 1975 to 2016, 1712 patients received neoadjuvant radiotherapy, and 409567 patients received adjuvant radiotherapy. Compared with the adjuvant radiotherapy group, the neoadjuvant radiotherapy group showed significantly higher risks of overall mortality and breast cancer-specific mortality. Survival differences in treatment sequences were correlated with stage, molecular subtypes and other risk factors.Conclusion: According to the results of this study, neoadjuvant radiotherapy did not show a survival advantage, and adjuvant radiotherapy is still the primary treatment. However, neoadjuvant radiotherapy also has some theoretical advantages, such as phase reduction and recurrence reduction. Therefore, it is still worthy of further exploration.

Per capita fructose consumption has increased 100-fold over the last century1. Epidemiological studies suggest that excessive fructose consumption, and especially consumption of sweet drinks, is associated with hyperlipidaemia, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, obesity and diabetes2–7. Fructose metabolism begins with its phosphorylation by the enzyme ketohexokinase (KHK), which exists in two alternatively spliced forms8. The more active isozyme, KHK-C, is expressed most strongly in the liver, but also substantially in the small intestine9,10 where it drives dietary fructose absorption and conversion into other metabolites before fructose reaches the liver11–13. It is unclear whether intestinal fructose metabolism prevents or contributes to fructose-induced lipogenesis and liver pathology. Here we show that intestinal fructose catabolism mitigates fructose-induced hepatic lipogenesis. In mice, intestine-specific KHK-C deletion increases dietary fructose transit to the liver and gut microbiota and sensitizes mice to fructose’s hyperlipidaemic effects and hepatic steatosis. In contrast, intestine-specific KHK-C overexpression promotes intestinal fructose clearance and decreases fructose-induced lipogenesis. Thus, intestinal fructose clearance capacity controls the rate at which fructose can be safely ingested. Consistent with this, we show that the same amount of fructose is more strongly lipogenic when drunk than eaten, or when administered as a single gavage, as opposed to multiple doses spread over 45 min. Collectively, these data demonstrate that fructose induces lipogenesis when its dietary intake rate exceeds the intestinal clearance capacity. In the modern context of ready food availability, the resulting fructose spillover drives metabolic syndrome. Slower fructose intake, tailored to intestinal capacity, can mitigate these consequences. Modulating the capacity of the intestinal epithelium to catabolize fructose is shown to alter fructose-induced lipogenesis in the mouse liver, suggesting that fructose clearance in the small intestine protects from steatosis.

Background: The optimal therapeutic strategy in locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) primarily treated by surgery remains unknown. This study was designed to evaluate the impact of postoperative chemoradiotherapy and postoperative sequential chemoradiotherapy on survival in this population. Methods: The study included a total of 228 consecutive patients who underwent radical esophagectomy and were confirmed to have stage pT3–4 or pN+ ESCC from September 2011 to September 2017 at our institution. All patients received postoperative radiotherapy with or without concurrent or sequential chemotherapy after esophagectomy. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to compare the survival of patients with postoperative radiotherapy, postoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy, and postoperative sequential chemoradiotherapy. Results: After a median follow-up of 52 months, the 3- and 5-year overall survival (OS) rates were 70.2% [95% confidence interval (CI), 63.7–76.7%] and 62.2% (95% CI, 54.6–69.8%), respectively. The disease-free survival (DFS) rates at 3 and 5 years were 65.2% (95% CI, 58.7–71.7%) and 55.2% (95% CI, 47.6–62.8%), respectively. The 3- and 5-year locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRFS) rates were 65.1% (95% CI, 58.4–71.8%) and 55.5% (95% CI, 47.7–63.3%). Of the 228 patients, 38 (16.7%) had distant metastases. Subgroup analysis showed that being male and having a higher T stage were independent poor prognostic factors for OS and DFS in patients with pN+ or stage III + IVA ESCC. The results also showed that in patients with stage III + IVA ESCC, the DFS of the patients in the concurrent chemotherapy (CCT) group was improved compared with that in the no CCT group [hazard ratio (HR), 0.551; 95% CI, 0.323–0.938; P=0.028]. Multivariate analysis showed that sequential chemoradiotherapy was associated with poor LRFS (HR, 2.312; 95% CI, 1.078–4.959; P=0.031), especially in stage T3–4 patients, and it was also related to the poor DFS (HR, 1.781; 95% CI, 1.086–2.921; P=0.022) in patients with stage T3–4 ESCC. Conclusions: In patients with locally advanced ESCC, those who underwent sequential chemoradiotherapy had a worse LRFS. Postoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy was the most effective adjuvant therapy for resected stage III–IVA ESCC. In addition, being male, having a higher T stage, and being node-positive were independent poor prognostic factors for OS and DFS.

Fractal theory is a new scientific method and theory that can describe the complexity and irregularity of nature. Aiming at the problem that the frequency modulation slope obtained by the traditional linear frequency modulation (LFM) signal parameter estimation algorithm has high complexity with poor real-time performance and small SNR adaptation range, the LFM signal frequency modulation slope estimation method based on the fractal-box dimension is proposed. The proposed method is utilized to evaluate the frequency modulation slope of the LFM signal, and the affect of signal amplitude and phase on the fractal-box dimension of the signal is taken into account. The estimation error at different SNRs is analyzed, and the relationship graph of the pulse width, FM bandwidth and fractal-box dimension is drawn. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method can accurately estimate the parameters of LFM signals under varying SNR environment. Compared with the traditional linear frequency modulation (LFM) signal parameter estimation algorithms, the anti-noise performance of the proposed algorithm is stronger, and the proposed algorithm is relatively simple and has good application value.

Carbohydrate can be converted into fat by de novo lipogenesis, a process upregulated in fatty liver disease. Chemically, de novo lipogenesis involves polymerization and reduction of acetyl-CoA, using NADPH as the electron donor. The feedstocks used to generate acetyl-CoA and NADPH in lipogenic tissues remain, however, unclear. Here we show using stable isotope tracing in mice that de novo lipogenesis in adipose is supported by glucose and its catabolism via the pentose phosphate pathway to make NADPH. The liver, in contrast, derives acetyl-CoA for lipogenesis from acetate and lactate, and NADPH from folate-mediated serine catabolism. Such NADPH generation involves the cytosolic serine pathway in liver running in the opposite direction to that observed in most tissues and tumours, with NADPH made by the SHMT1-MTHFD1-ALDH1L1 reaction sequence. SHMT inhibition decreases hepatic lipogenesis. Thus, liver folate metabolism is distinctively wired to support cytosolic NADPH production and lipogenesis. More generally, while the same enzymes are involved in fat synthesis in liver and adipose, different substrates are used, opening the door to tissue-specific pharmacological interventions.

BackgroundConcurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) is the standard treatment for nonsurgical esophageal cancer (EC). However, esophageal cancer patients receiving CCRT alone are still unsatisfactory in terms of local control and overall survival (OS) benefit. Clinicians generally add consolidation chemotherapy (CCT) after CCRT. It remains controversial whether CCT following CCRT is beneficial for esophageal cancer. We, therefore, undertook a meta-analysis to assess the need for CCT in inoperable esophageal cancer.Materials and MethodsWe combed PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and CNKI for relevant published articles up to July 2020 that compared CCRT plus CCT to CCRT alone for patients with nonsurgical EC. Our primary endpoint was OS and progression-free survival (PFS), and the secondary endpoint was treatment toxicity. We analyzed the hazard ratio (HR) to estimate the time-to-event data and the odds ratio (OR) to compare the treatment-related effect. To assess heterogeneity, we performed the I2 test and examined publication bias using funnel plots analysis.ResultsThe 11 retrospective studies involved 2008 patients. Of these 2008 patients, 1018 received CCRT plus CCT, and 990 received CCRT. Compared to CCRT alone, CCT after CCRT did not improve disease control rate (DCR) (OR 1.66; 95% CI 0.53–5.15, p=0.384) and objective response rate (ORR) (OR 1.44; 95% CI 0.62–3.35, p=0.393). However, OS (HR 0.72; 95% CI 0.59–0.86, p < 0.001) and PFS (HR 0.61; 95% CI 0.44–0.84, p=0.003) did increase. Our results show that CCT plus CCRT had a clear survival advantage over CCRT alone. The risk of treatment toxicity did not increase for EC patients who received CCT.ConclusionCCT after CCRT significantly increases OS and PFS in patients with nonsurgical EC and could provide them remarkable survival benefits. The results provide an evidence-based framework for the use of CCT after CCRT.

Contralateral axillary lymph node metastasis (CAM) in breast cancer is rare, and the reason is unclear. CAM may be found at the time of primary breast cancer diagnosis or following primary tumor treatment. CAM staging and treatment methods are controversial. Hence, we summarized the features of CAM patients and explored the therapeutic options. We report the case of an 82-year-old woman with right breast cancer accompanied by CAM. The records of breast cancer patients with CAM in PubMed (January 2000-May 2020) were also reviewed. After undergoing comprehensive treatments (neoadjuvant chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy, endocrine therapy, and targeted therapy), no signs of recurrence and metastasis were noted during the 25-month follow-up. Overall, 17 studies (36 patients) were selected for the review, of which 15 had synchronous CAM and 21 had metachronous CAM. Nineteen of 22 patients had histologic grade 3. Forty percent (12/30) had ≥4 positive lymph nodes. Among these 36 patients, 9 had triple-negative breast cancers, and 9 were human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 positive. Among the 30 patients staged, 6 (20%) were in stage I; 7 (23.33%), stage II; and 17 (56.67%), stage III. Two patients received systemic therapy, while one received an unknown treatment. The remaining 33 patients all received local treatment (surgery or radiotherapy). The survival time of synchronous and metachronous CAM patients was 12-72 months with the death rate of 1/7 and 12-144 months with that of 3/12, respectively. CAM may be a regional manifestation rather than a distant metastasis. Comprehensive treatment, including surgery and radiotherapy, may provide better control.

To achieve flight risk identification and assessment in the new field of UAVs, two index systems of risk prediction and safety evaluation are constructed in this work by categorizing the set of UAV flight risks, and the identification subset is set according to the UAV characteristics and use. Risk identification elements are set for the identification subset, and the qualitative attributes of risk identification elements are quantified by set-valued statistics. A general quantitative model for the flight risk identification of UAVs is established. According to the different flight risk factors, UAV flight risks are categorized, the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method is adopted, and case data are used to quantitatively evaluate different types of risks. Finally, the application of the techno-economic evaluation method to the feasibility evaluation of the UAV flight risk prevention scheme is proposed to provide support for UAV flight risk management.

Background To determine the diagnostic accuracy of preoperative T/N stage with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in lower and middle rectal cancer patients and the impacts on clinical decision‐making. Patients and methods A total of 211 patients were recruited from October 2015 to March 2017 in this retrospective study. High‐resolution MRI was performed within 2 weeks before surgery. Histopathologic results were evaluated for the postoperative T/N stage and the diagnostic accuracy of MRI was assessed according to the postoperative histopathologic results. The accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were evaluated for T/N staging and κ values were used to evaluate MRI consistent analysis compared with postoperative histopathologic staging. Results The overall MRI diagnostic accuracy was 79.62% for T1‐4 staging and 54.50% for N0‐2 staging. The κ values were 0.619 and 0.255 for T1‐4 and N0‐2 staging, respectively. The diagnostic accuracy of MRI for treatment decision‐making was 80.57%. Conclusion MRI allows a highly accurate preoperative assessment of T stage but only a fairly accurate preoperative assessment of N stage for rectal cancer. The diagnostic accuracy of MRI for treatment decision‐making is promising, but additional studies are needed to validate these findings in a larger sample size from multiple centers.

To scientifically evaluate the reliability of air traffic networks, a definition of air traffic network reliability is proposed in this paper. Calculation models of the connectivity reliability, travel-time reliability, and capacity reliability of the air traffic network are constructed based on collected historical data, considering the current status and the predicted future evolution trends. Considering the randomness and fuzziness of factors affecting reliability, a comprehensive evaluation model of air traffic networks based on the uncertainty transformation model is established. Finally, the reliability of the US air traffic network is analyzed based on data published by the Transportation Statistics Bureau of the US Department of Transportation. The results show that the connectivity reliability is 0.4073, the capacity reliability is 0.8300, the travel-time reliability is 0.9180, and the overall reliability evaluated is &ldquo, relatively reliable&rdquo, This indicates that although the US structural reliability is relatively low, the US air traffic management is very efficient, and the overall reliability is strong. The reliability in nonpeak hours is much higher than that in peak hours. The method can identify air traffic network reliability efficiently. The main factors affecting reliability can be found in the calculation process, and are beneficial for air traffic planning and management. The empirical analysis also reflects that the evaluation model based on the uncertainty transformation model can transform the quantitative data of network structure and traffic function into the qualitative language of reliability.