Search

Abstract Temporary microgrids containing a high proportion of distributed renewable generations can offer great benefits during the recovery stage after large‐scale power system blackout, by picking up critical load and speeding up the entire grid recovery process. To solve the frequency security problem of temporary microgrids faced in the load restoration process, this paper proposes an adaptive fuzzy model predictive control (adaptive fuzzy‐MPC) strategy to obtain effective frequency regulation to suit the special characteristics of this process. First, the load restoration plan within a short time frame is regarded as the feedforward information and assists in the establishment of the MPC model. Then, considering the uncertainty of renewable distributed generations, the regulation resources are cooperated by an adaptive fuzzy controller which provides the weights of different regulation resources adopted in MPC. Specifically, the base weights of the energy storage system and renewable distributed generations are obtained from fuzzy rules, and then the weight for each regulation resource is modified by the designed adjustment rules. Simulation results illustrate that the proposed strategy can efficiently improve frequency performance while making various frequency regulation resources with different regulation capacities cooperate properly, which can further accelerate the load restoration progress and enhance system resilience.

Abstract Wind energy is one of the most significant renewable sources of energy while accurate and reliable wind power forecasting methods may greatly benefit power system planning and scheduling. Recently, many machine learning algorithms have shown significant advantages in how to extract temporal features for wind power forecasting. However, wind power curves in the time domain frequently display intermittent features and significant uncertainty, which is not favorable to precise and reliable forecasting. In this paper, the Diffusion and Channel Attention‐based Wind Power Forecasting (DC‐WPF) framework is proposed, which transforms wind power data into the frequency domain while applying advanced channel attention techniques to aid the model in capturing the frequency domain information and ultimately enhancing accuracy. With high‐accuracy results, DC‐WPF then proposes a diffusion‐based framework to transform the point forecasting results into probabilistic forecasts to capture the uncertainty. Finally, extensive experiments on six wind power plants show that our method can improve the point forecasting accuracy of wind power and provide advanced probabilistic forecasts at a multi‐time scale.

Recombinant Muscovy duck parvovirus (rMDPV) is a product of genetic recombination between classical Muscovy duck parvovirus (MDPV) and goose parvovirus (GPV). The recombination event took place within a 1.1-kb DNA segment located in the middle of the VP3 gene, and a 187-bp sequence extending from the P9 promoter to the 5′ initiation region of the Rep1 ORF. This resulted in the alteration of five amino acids within VP3. Despite these genetic changes, the precise influence of recombination and amino acid mutations on the pathogenicity of rMDPV remains ambiguous. In this study, based on the rMDPV strain ZW and the classical MDPV strain YY, three chimeric viruses (rZW-mP9, rZW-mPR187, and rYY-rVP3) and the five amino acid mutations-introduced mutants (rZW-g5aa and rYY-5aa(ZW)) were generated using reverse genetic technology. When compared to the parental virus rZW, rZW-g5aa exhibited a prolonged mean death time (MDT) and a decreased median lethal dose (ELD50) in embryonated duck eggs. In contrast, rYY-5aa(ZW) did not display significant differences in MDT and ELD50 compared to rYY. In 2-day-old Muscovy ducklings, infection with rZW-g5aa and rYY-5aa(ZW) resulted in mortality rates of only 20% and 10%, respectively, while infections with the three chimeric viruses (rZW-mP9, rZW-mPR187, rYY-rVP3) and rZW still led to 100% mortality. Notably, rYY-rVP3, containing the VP3 region from strain ZW, exhibited 50% mortality in 6-day-old Muscovy ducklings and demonstrated significant horizontal transmission. Collectively, our findings indicate that recombination and consequent amino acid changes in VP3 have a synergistic impact on the heightened virulence of rMDPV in Muscovy ducklings.

Summary: T cells are able to recognize and kill pathogens that infect host cells, including bacteria, viruses, and tumor cells. Here, we present a protocol to detect T cell function and bacterial load in OVA-Listeria monocytogenes-infected mice. We provide a detailed description of the steps for detecting OVA-specific CD8+ T cells and their cytokine expression levels in splenocytes using flow cytometry on day 7 after infecting mice with OVA-Listeria monocytogenes. Additionally, we describe the steps for detecting the OVA-Listeria monocytogenes load in the mouse liver.For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Chen et al.1 : Publisher’s note: Undertaking any experimental protocol requires adherence to local institutional guidelines for laboratory safety and ethics.

After regular rehabilitation training, paralysis sequelae can be significantly reduced in patients with limb movement disorders caused by stroke. Rehabilitation assessment is the basis for the formulation of rehabilitation training programs and the objective standard for evaluating the effectiveness of training. However, the quantitative rehabilitation assessment is still in the experimental stage and has not been put into clinical practice. In this work, we propose improved spatial-temporal graph convolutional networks based on precise posture measurement for upper limb rehabilitation assessment. Two Azure Kinect are used to enlarge the angle range of the visual field. The rigid body model of the upper limb with multiple degrees of freedom is established. And the inverse kinematics is optimized based on the hybrid particle swarm optimization algorithm. The self-attention mechanism map is calculated to analyze the role of each upper limb joint in rehabilitation assessment, to improve the spatial-temporal graph convolution neural network model. Long short-term memory is built to explore the sequence dependence in spatial-temporal feature vectors. An exercise protocol for detecting the distal reachable workspace and proximal self-care ability of the upper limb is designed, and a virtual environment is built. The experimental results indicate that the proposed posture measurement method can reduce position jumps caused by occlusion, improve measurement accuracy and stability, and increase Signal Noise Ratio. By comparing with other models, our rehabilitation assessment model achieved the lowest mean absolute deviation, root mean square error, and mean absolute percentage error. The proposed method can effectively quantitatively evaluate the upper limb motor function of stroke patients.

Abstract Background Combining immune checkpoint inhibitors with chemotherapy can synergistically improve antitumor activity and are generally well tolerated. Recently, the efficacy and safety of combination therapy has been demonstrated for many cancers, including urothelial carcinomas. The aim of this retrospective pilot study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of tislelizumab plus chemotherapy as first-line adjuvant treatment for locally advanced or metastatic bladder cancer. Methods We conducted a retrospective analysis of 31 patients with locally advanced or metastatic bladder cancer from December 2020 to January 2022 with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0/1. Of the 31 patients, 14 patients received tislelizumab (200 mg i.v. every 3 weeks, Q3W) plus 21 days cycles of chemotherapy (gemcitabine, 1000 mg/m2 i.v. on days 1 and 8 of each cycle + cisplatin, 70 mg/m2 i.v. on day 2 of each cycle) (TGC) treatment and 17 patients received gemcitabine plus cisplatin chemotherapy (GC) treatment. All patients treated with bladder cytoreductive surgery and were treated for four 21 days cycles until disease progression or intolerable treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs). The objective progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), overall response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), clinical benefit rate (CBR) and TRAEs were recorded and reviewed. Results As of the cut-off date (March 25, 2022), PFS, OS, ORR, DCR, CBR and TRAEs were evaluated in 14 patients receiving combination therapy and 17 patients in the chemotherapy alone group. The median PFS was 36.0 [95% confidence interval (CI) 33.1–38.9] weeks in the TGC group and 29.0 (95% CI 25.4–32.6) weeks in the GC group [hazard ratio (HR) 0.15 (95% CI 0.04–0.55)]. In the GC group, the median OS was 48.0 (95% CI 39.7–56.3) weeks; the median OS was not yet mature for the TGC group [HR 0.26 (95% CI 0.07–0.94)]. Treatment with TGC resulted in improved DCR (TGC 71.4%; GC 65.0%) and CBR (TGC 64.3%; GC 52.9%) compared with GC. However, although higher incidences of grade ≥ 3 TRAEs were observed with TGC compared with GC (35.7% vs 23.5%), the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.47). Conclusion This study suggested that TGC provided survivors of locally advanced or metastatic bladder cancer with encouraging antitumor activity and was generally well tolerated.

PurposeLower urinary symptoms (LUTS) may persist in a proportion of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) following transurethral resection of prostate (TURP), which is a major cause of reduced quality-of-life. We aimed to investigate the effect of frailty on LUTS in patients with BPH treated with TURP.MethodsWe longitudinally evaluated LUTS and health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL) in patients with BPH treated with TURP from February 2019 and January 2022 using International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) and Short Form-8 (SF-8), respectively. Patients were divided into frail and non-frail groups according to the Fried phenotype (FP). The primary purpose was comparing the outcomes of LUTS and HRQOL between two groups. Secondary purposes were investigating the frailty as a preoperative predictor of postoperative adverse LUTS outcomes following TURP using logistic regression analysis. A 1:2 propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to reduce the effects of selection bias and potential confounders.ResultsOf the 567 patients enrolled, 495 (87.3%) patients were non-frail (FP = 0–2), and the remaining 72 (12.7%) patients were classified into the frail group. There were no significant differences in body mass index (BMI), urine white blood cell (UWBC), creatinine, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and prostate volume in both groups at baseline (all p > 0.05). However, patients with frailty were older, higher comorbidity rates, lower peak flow rates and lower HRQOL. In the frail group, although LUTS and HRQOL at 6 months following TURP improved significantly compared to those at baseline, it did not show a significant improvement compared with the non-frail group (both p

The rapid rise of glacioeustatic change is the most extreme paleoenvironment alteration in the aftermath of Snowball Earth. Although geologists conducted a lot of multi-subdiscipline research on this issue previously, there still exists the potential room for further discussions of the process in detail. For decades, the practice proved that the Fischer plot is a simple and robust tool to illustrate the fluctuations of accommodation patterns v.s. cycle sets or strata depth which could be interpreted as relative sea-level changes. This research simulates the Fischer plot to unravel the sea-level change in the aftermath of Marinoan glaciation by measuring the lower Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation in Shennongjia, South China. The result shows that 131 fifth-order cycles and nine third-order cycles help us propose a completed second-order cycle variation of ice melting-forced sea-level change, i.e., (1) early high-frequency and slow to rapid stepwise rising, and (2) followed by a stable decrease in the latter. In addition, the vertical sedimentary facies of the lower Doushantuo Formation display, in ascending order, (1) intertidal carbonate rock, (2) subtidal clastics with turbidite, and (3) intertidal lagoon fine clastics, indicating the process of the relative waxing and waning of sea-level. Such interpretation of the Fischer plot and the sedimentary facies’ vertical evolution is beneficial for studying the high-frequency sea-level change and paleogeographic reconstruction of post-Marinoan deglaciation.

Abstract Background There is limited and controversial evidence on the prognosis of partial nephrectomy (PN) versus radical nephrectomy (RN) in patients with T3aN0/xM0 renal cell carcinoma (RCC) upstaged from clinical T1 RCC. In this study, we aimed to assess the prognosis difference following PN versus RN in patients with ≤7 cm T3aN0/xM0 RCC. Methods From the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database, a total of 3196 patients receiving treatment of PN/RN for ≤7 cm T3aN0/xM0 RCC with only extrarenal fat extension in 2010–2017 were identified. An inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW)‐adjusted cause‐specific Cox model with hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) was used for overall survival (OS) and cancer‐specific survival (CSS) analyses. Sensitivity analysis was based on the propensity score matching of PN and RN groups and from the dataset of 2010–2013. Results A total of 872 patients underwent PN, compared with 2324 undergoing RN. After IPTW adjustment, there was no significant difference in preoperative baseline characteristics between the PN and RN cohorts. Patients who underwent RN had worse OS (HRIPTW‐adjusted, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.16–1.84; p = 0.001) and comparable CSS (HRIPTW‐adjusted, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.64–1.66; p = 0.890) than those receiving PN in all cohorts and subgroups with T3a RCC of ≤4 cm and perinephric fat extension. Further, in patients with 4–7 cm T3a RCC with perinephric‐fat invasion and all sizes of T3a RCC with sinus/perisinus fat extension, PN led to comparable OS and CSS. Sensitivity analyses validated these results. Conclusion PN provides comparable CSS and OS or even better OS than RN for patients with RCC ≤7 cm T3aN0/xM0. Although our study has some limitations, our results indicated that PN might oncologically safe for clinical T1 RCC, even confirmed a pathologically T3a upstaging post‐PN.

The nuclear island analog system in the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant is made up of discrete analog boards. Owing to the difficulties in purchasing spare parts and maintaining systems, the overall digital upgrade and modification shall be carried out during the 30-year overhaul period. In view of the difference between analog and digital systems in expressing and processing process signals, this paper proposed the proportional–integral (PI) controller parameter conversion method for digital modification, highlighting the importance of controller input/output range matching in the process of parameter conversion. The Daya Bay process simulation model, minimum digital system, and minimum analog system are built into a system verification platform through a programmable logic controller (PLC). Taking primary single-phase pressure control loop system and downflow pressure control loop system as research objects, the disturbance was introduced through the step of the primary pressure setting value and opening/closing of the second downflow orifice plate respectively, and the adjustment time、 overshoot and other adjustment quality differences in different systems are compared. The correctness of the parameter conversion method is verified through the system verification platform, which not only ensures the correct input of controller parameters of the Daya Bay DCS modification project but also provides invaluable experience for other digital modification projects of analog systems.

Abstract Diabetes is an important risk factor for liver cancer, but its mechanism is unknown. Corosolic acid (CA) has been proven to have both hypoglycemic and antitumor effects, so revealing the function of CA can help us understand the relationship between diabetes and liver cancer. In previous studies, we confirmed that CA can effectively inhibit the expression of YAP, an important oncoprotein in HCC cells, and the proliferation of HCC cells. In addition, we also found that O-GlcNAcylation plays an indispensable role in HCC tumorigenesis. However, it is not clear whether CA can inhibit the effect of O-GlcNAcylation on HCC cells. In this study, the antitumor ability of CA was investigated by inhibiting the O-GlcNAcylation level and its corresponding mechanism. The results showed that HG (high glucose) could promote the proliferation of liver cancer cells, while CA could inhibit cell growth under HG conditions and tumor growth in a xenotransplantation model. CA can inhibit the activation of the HBP pathway and reduce the expression of YAP and OGT under HG conditions. Importantly, we found that CA can reduce YAP expression and O-GlcNAcylation by inhibiting the activity of CDK19. Overexpression of CDK19 partially reversed the CA-induced decrease in YAP and O-GlcNAcylation. This is the first evidence that CA can reduce the proliferative capacity of cells with high glucose levels and further inhibit tumor growth by inactivating the CDK19/YAP/O-GlcNAcylation pathway, suggesting that CA is a candidate drug for the development of treatments against diabetes-associated liver cancer.

ObjectivesSudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) is a common otology emergency in the practice. Its severe hearing impairment and prognosis impair the quality of life. Given that cochlear hair cell vulnerability is not consistent across frequencies, this study aims to investigate the impact of frequency-specific hearing loss on prognosis in SSNHL.MethodsThe study included 255 patients with full-frequency SSNHL. The baseline, clinical, and hearing characteristics, as well as possible cardiovascular predictors in blood, were collected for analysis.ResultsThe 4,000 and 8,000 Hz hearing levels in the responder group were significantly lower than those in the non-responder group (p = 0.008, p < 0.001), while the average hearing was not (p = 0.081). Logistic regression showed that only vertigo (OR, 95% CI, 0.265, 0.102–0.684, p = 0.006) and 8,000 Hz hearing level (OR, 95% CI, 0.943, 0.916–0.971, p < 0.001) were strongly associated with treatment outcome.ConclusionsCompared with other frequencies, 8,000 Hz hearing level was closely related to prognosis in SSNHL. In an adjusted model, our study did not find an effect of mean hearing on prognosis in SSNHL. However, further multicenter prospective studies are needed for validation.

Bladder tissue engineering is a promising approach to generating new tissues to replace damaged or diseased organs, breaking the limitations of current therapies using reconfigured autogenous bowel segments. Adipose tissue extract (ATE) is a non-cellular three-dimensional macromolecular network that provides an appropriate local microenvironment for cells and affects cellular metabolism, proliferation, differentiation, or organoid formation. This study integrated electrospun nanofibers mats and hyaluronic acid colloidal solution to constitute a multilayered nanofibrous patch, where ATE was added as a biological additive. In vitro study, we observed an increase in the pluripotent marker proteins (Oct-4, Sox-2, and Nanog) of adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) and bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) when cultured with ATE. The CCK-8 test, scratch assay, transwell migration assay, and tube formation assay demonstrated the positive effect of ATE on endothelial cells (ECs) proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis. The feasibility and effectiveness of the patch were investigated in a rat bladder defect model. The primary ideal results revealed the patches' great potential for tissue engineering repair and regenerative medicine.

Renal biopsy is the gold standard for defining renal fibrosis which causes calcium deposits in the kidneys. Persistent calcium deposition leads to kidney inflammation, cell necrosis, and is related to serious kidney diseases. However, it is invasive and involves the risk of complications such as bleeding, especially in patients with end-stage renal diseases. Therefore, it is necessary to identify specific diagnostic biomarkers for renal fibrosis. This study aimed to develop a predictive drug target signature to diagnose renal fibrosis based on m6A subtypes. We then performed an unsupervised consensus clustering analysis to identify three different m6A subtypes of renal fibrosis based on the expressions of 21 m6A regulators. We evaluated the immune infiltration characteristics and expression of canonical immune checkpoints and immune-related genes with distinct m6A modification patterns. Subsequently, we performed the WGCNA analysis using the expression data of 1,611 drug targets to identify 474 genes associated with the m6A modification. 92 overlapping drug targets between WGCNA and DEGs (renal fibrosis vs. normal samples) were defined as key drug targets. A five target gene predictive model was developed through the combination of LASSO regression and stepwise logistic regression (LASSO-SLR) to diagnose renal fibrosis. We further performed drug sensitivity analysis and extracellular matrix analysis on model genes. The ROC curve showed that the risk score (AUC = 0.863) performed well in diagnosing renal fibrosis in the training dataset. In addition, the external validation dataset further confirmed the outstanding predictive performance of the risk score (AUC = 0.755). These results indicate that the risk model has an excellent predictive performance for diagnosing the disease. Furthermore, our results show that this 5-target gene model is significantly associated with many drugs and extracellular matrix activities. Finally, the expression levels of both predictive signature genes EGR1 and PLA2G4A were validated in renal fibrosis and adjacent normal tissues by using qRT-PCR and Western blot method.

Abstract Objective To compare the survival outcomes of local ablation (LA) and partial nephrectomy (PN) for T1N0M0 renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Method We identified 38,155 T1N0M0 RCC patients treated with PN or LA in 2004‐2016 from the retrospective Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results databases. Among them, there were 4656 LA and 33,499 PN. A Cox proportional hazards regression model, cause‐specific Cox regression and Fine and Gray sub‐distribution hazard ratio (sHR) with inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) adjusting was utilized to compare the effects of LA vs PN on all‐, RCC‐, and non‐RCC–caused mortality. Results Within the IPTW analysis, patients who underwent PN experienced a better overall survival (OS) (HR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.40‐1.74; P 85 years (HR, 1.14; 95% CI, 0.73‐1.79, P = .577), chromophobe RCC (HR, 1.68; 95% CI, 0.94‐3.00, P = .078), and tumor size 85 years (sHR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.52‐1.27, P = .520) and tumor size 85), small RCC (

Aminopeptidase N (APN) was closely associated with cancer invasion, metastasis, and angiogenesis. Therefore, APN inhibitors have attracted more and more attention of scientists as antitumor agents. In the current study, we designed, synthesized, and evaluated one new series of pyrazoline-based hydroxamate derivatives as APN inhibitors. Moreover, the structure–activity relationships of those were discussed in detail. 2,6-Dichloro substituted compound 14o with R1 = CH3, showed the best capacity for inhibiting APN with an IC50 value of 0.0062 ± 0.0004 μM, which was three orders of magnitude better than that of the positive control bestatin. Compound 14o possessed both potent anti-proliferative activities against tumor cells and potent anti-angiogenic activity. At the same concentration of 50 μM, compound 14o exhibited much better capacity for inhibiting the micro-vessel growth relative to bestatin in the rat thoracic aorta ring model. Additionally, the putative interactions of 14o with the active site of APN are also discussed. The hydroxamate moiety chelated the zinc ion and formed four hydrogen bonds with His297, Glu298 and His301. Meanwhile, the terminal phenyl group and another phenyl group of 14o interacted with S2′ and S1 pockets via hydrophobic effects, respectively.

PurposeSecond primary malignancy (SPM) is challenging for treatment and long-term survival. We sought to investigate the standardized incidence rate (SIR), risk factors, and survival outcomes for SPM after renal cell carcinoma (RCC) treatment.MethodA nested case-control study was designed, we identified all T1-4N0-1M0 RCC patients diagnosed between 2004 and 2015 in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database and followed them for SPM diagnosis for up to 13 years. Patients with SPM diagnosis ≥6 months after treatment of primary T1-4N0-1M0 RCC were identified as the case cohort and SPM-free patients were the control cohort. SIRs and the excess risk were calculated. A competing risks and Cox model were used to evaluate the risk factors of SPM and overall survival (OS).ResultsA cohort of 6,204 RCC patients with SPM were matched with a control group of 31,020 RCC patients without SPM. The median time-to-SPM interval was 54.5 months in RCC patients with SPM diagnosis. Besides, an SPM of T3/4 or/and M1 stage diagnosis was positively associated with a longer time-to-SPM interval. SIR of SPM increased by follow-up time and decreased with age at diagnosis (Pfor all

ObjectivesWe aimed to determine preoperative risk factors associated with pathologic T3a (pT3a) upstaging of clinical T1 (cT1) renal cell carcinomas (RCCs) and develop a novel model capable of accurately identifying those patients at high risk of harboring occult pT3a characteristics.MethodsA retrospective analysis of 1324 cT1 RCC patients who underwent partial nephrectomy (PN) or radical nephrectomy (RN) was performed. The study cohort was divided into training and testing datasets in a 70:30 ratio for further analysis. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify predictors associated with cT1 to pT3a upstaging and subsequently, those significant risk factors were used to construct models. We used the area under the curve (AUC) to determine the model with the highest discrimination power. Decision curve analyses (DCAs) were applied to evaluate clinical net benefit associated with using the predictive models.ResultsThe rates of upstaging were 6.1% (n = 81), 5.8% (n = 54) and 6.8% (n = 27) in the total population, training cohort and validation cohort, respectively. Tumor size, clinical T stage, R.E.N.A.L. (radius, exophytic/endophytic properties, nearness of tumor to collecting system or sinus, anterior/posterior) nephrometry score, lymphocyte to monocyte ratio (LMR), prognostic nutrition index (PNI) and albumin to globulin ratio (AGR) were significantly associated with pT3a upstaging. The model that consisted of R.E.N.A.L. score, LMR, AGR and PNI achieved the highest AUC of 0.70 in the validation cohort and yielded the highest net benefit. In the subpopulation with complete serum lipid profile, the inclusion of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and Castelli risk index-I (CRI-I) significantly improved the discrimination of model (AUC = 0.86).ConclusionsOur finding highlights the importance of systemic inflammation response markers and serum lipid parameters in predicting pT3a upstaging. Our model had relatively good discrimination in predicting occult pT3a disease among patients with cT1 renal lesions, and the use of the model may be greatly beneficial to urologists in risk stratification and management decisions.

Industry 4.0 features intelligent manufacturing. Among them, the vision-based defect inspection algorithm is remarkable for quality control in parts manufacturing. With the help of AI and machine learning, auto-adaptive instead of manual operation is achievable in this field, and much progress has been made in recent years. In this study, considering the demand of inspection features in industrialization, we made further improvement in smart defect inspection. An efficient algorithm using Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA)-accelerated You Only Look Once (YOLO) v3 based on an attention mechanism is proposed. First, because of the relatively fixed camera angle and defect features, an attention mechanism based on the concept of directing the focus of defect inspection is proposed. The attention mechanism consists of three improvements: (a) image preprocessing, which is to tailor images for selectively concentrating on the defect relevant things. Image preprocessing mainly includes cutting, zooming and splicing, named CZS operations. (b) Tailoring the YOLOv3 backbone network, which is to ignore invalid inspection regions in deep neural networks and optimize the network structure. (c) Data augmentation. First, two improvements can be made to efficiently reduce deep learning operations and accelerate the inspection speed, but the preprocessed images are similar and the lack of diversity will reduce network accuracy. So, (c) is added to mitigate the lack of considerable amounts of training data. Second, the algorithm is deployed on a PYNQ-Z2 FPGA board to meet the industrialization production requirements for accuracy, efficiency and extensibility. FPGA can provide a low-latency, low-cost, high-power-efficiency and flexible architecture that enables deep learning acceleration for industrial scenarios. A Xilinx Deep Neural Network Development Kit (DNNDK) converted the improved YOLOv3 to Programmable Logic (PL), which can be deployed on FPGA. The conversion process mainly consists of pruning, quantization and compilation. Experimental results showed that the algorithm had high efficiency, inspection accuracy reached 99.2%, processing speed reached 1.54 Frames per Second (FPS), and power consumption was only 10 W.

ObjectiveMore T1N0M0 renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is detected and the prognosis has improved, but, the current focus on non-RCC-related mortality is superficial. We investigated cause-specific mortality and its temporal patterns after an RCC diagnosis.MethodsIn the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-18 database, patients with T1N0M0 RCC treated with partial nephrectomy (PN) or radical nephrectomy (RN) during 2000–15 were identified. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) for cause of death were calculated. Risk predictors for each cause-specific mortality were investigated using the Fine and Gray sub-distribution model.ResultsIn all, 68,612 eligible patients were pooled. A total of 14,047 (20.5%) patients had died (cardiovascular disease [CVD], 28.3%; other non-cancer-related diseases, 20.3%; RCC, 18.7%; other cancer types, 16.3%; non-disease events, 16.1%) during follow-up. Heart disease, diabetes mellitus, and cerebrovascular disease were the primary causes of non-RCC-related mortality within 1 year after the diagnosis. The greatest proportion of death (39.0%) occurred within 1–5 years after the diagnosis, mostly due to RCC itself, followed by heart disease. However, >5 years after the diagnosis, heart disease became the leading cause of death. Compared with the general US population, a 21% (SMR, 1.21; 95%CI 1.19–1.23) increased risk of all-mortality was observed; RCC patients had a higher risk of heart disease-related death within 5–10 years (SMR, 1.10; 95%CI 1.04–1.17) and >10 years (1.12; 1.02–1.22) after the diagnosis. Older age and RN increased the death risk of CVD and RCC-specific mortality. Although a larger tumor diameter increased the risk of RCC-specific death, this was not a significant predictor for CVD. Moreover, for T1N0M0 RCC tumors of diameter >4 cm, there was no significant difference in CVD incidence for RN vs. PN.ConclusionsRCC-specific mortality is a common challenge for the prognosis. Importantly, a large proportion and higher SMRs of other non-RCC-related diseases (especially CVD) should not be disregarded for the better holistic management of survivors of local RCC. Targeted prevention strategies for non-RCC-related death could lead to significant reductions in mortality for RCC survivors.

Background: The kidney is a target organ that could be infected by SARS-CoV-2, and acute kidney injury (AKI) was associated with a higher risk of COVID-19 patients' in-hospital death. However, no published works discussed about the risk factors of COVID-19 related AKI.Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study, recruiting COVID-19 inpatients from the Sino-French branch of Tongji Hospital. Demographic, clinical, treatment, and laboratory data were collected and compared. We used univariable and multivariable logistic regression methods to identify the risk factors of COVID-19-related AKI.Results: Of the 116 patients in our study, 12 (10.3%) were recognized as AKI, including 5 (4.3%) in-hospital AKI. Multivariable regression showed increasing odds of COVID-19-related AKI associated with COVID-19 clinical classification (OR = 8.155, 95% CI = 1.848–35.983, ref = non-critical, p = 0.06), procalcitonin more than 0.1 ng/mL (OR = 4.822, 95% CI = 1.095–21.228, p = 0.037), and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)

Objectives: Currently, renal cell carcinoma (RCC) presenting with perisinus fat invasion (PSI) and/or perinephric fat invasion (PFI) is merged as one entity, pathological T3a (pT3a); however, the combination of PFI and PSI (PFI+PSI) may not be associated with equivalent prognosis compared with either PFI or PSI alone (PFI/PSI). Here, we analyzed the prognostic significance of PFI+PSI vs. PFI/PSI in pT3aN0–1M0–1 RCC.Method: We identified 5,290 patients with pT3aN0–1M0–1 RCC, treated by nephrectomy, from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database, between 2010 and 2016. Cox proportional hazards regression and Fine and Gray competing risks regression were fitted to assess risks of survival outcomes, respectively. 1:1 propensity score method was used to minimize differences in the covariates' distributions.Results: Among all patients, 746 patients (14.1%), 2,569 patients (48.5%) and 1,975 patients (37.3%) experienced PFI+SI, PFI, and PSI, respectively, and 3,952 patients (74.7%) without diseases of lymphnode (N1) and/or distant metastasis (M1). PFI alone compared with PSI alone showed a comparable overall survival (OS) and cancer-special survival (CSS), either PFI or PSI alone experienced a better OS and CSS than PFI+PSI. In patients with pT3aN0M0 RCC, PFI+PSI compared with the PFI/PSI was significantly associated with worse OS with hazard ratio (HR) [95% confidence interval (CI)]: 1.38 [1.12–1.69], p = 0.002 and 1.41 [1.06–1.87], p = 0.017 for unmatched data and matched data, respectively, and higher RCC-special mortality (HR [95%CI]: 1.55 [1.21–1.99], p = 0.001 and 1.70 [1.19–2.43], p = 0.004 for unmatched data and matched data, respectively). However, in pT3aN1/M1 RCC patients, PFI+PSI was not significantly associated with RCC-special mortality (HR [95%CI]: 1.02 [0.85–1.23], p = 0.800 and 0.99 [0.79–1.24], p = 0.920 for unmatched data and matched data, respectively) in comparison with PFI/PSI. In addition, invasion type was not an independent risk factor for patient's prognostication in the pT3a RCC with diseases of N1 and/or M1 (all p > 0.5).Conclusion: Multiple invasion patterns (PFI+PSI) are associated with inferior survival relative to PFI/PSI alone in patients with pT3aN0M0 RCC; however, these effects are masked in patients with metastatic disease. These results warrant consideration in the development of the next edition of the tumor-node-metastasis staging system, to improve risk stratification.

Background/Aims: Phagocytosis of bacteria by monocytes/macrophages can trigger the immune response and the clearance of bacteria. This innate immune response involves Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). However, much remains unknown about the mechanism of TLR4-regulated phagocytosis of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. typhimurium) within sheep monocytes/macrophages. Here, we aimed to address these knowledge gaps by infecting transgenic sheep overexpressing TLR4 with S. typhimurium and examining the phagocytic mechanisms involved. Methods: Transgenic sheep were generated by microinjection of the constructed plasmids into fertilized eggs. Monocytes/macrophages isolated from sheep blood were stimulated with LPS and S. typhimurium. Phagocytosis-related factor expression, phagocytic ability, and adhesion were then determined. TLR4/phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling was inhibited to investigate if this pathway is involved in changes in bacterial internalization in sheep. Results: We found that TLR4 overexpression effectively activated the PI3K signaling pathway and upregulated the expression of scavenger receptors. Additionally, actin polymerization and adhesive capacity were both enhanced in TLR4-overexpressing sheep monocytes/macrophages. TLR4 inhibition decreased S. typhimurium phagocytosis by reducing the actin polymerization and adhesive capacity of cells. Furthermore, inhibition of PI3K markedly impaired TLR4-dependent phagocytosis by restraining actin polymerization and scavenger receptor expression and reduced the adhesive capacity of the monocytes/macrophages. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that overexpression of TLR4 enhances phagocytosis through PI3K signaling and the subsequent activation of actin polymerization and scavenger receptors in sheep monocytes/macrophages infected with S. typhimurium.

Abstract Background Muscovy duck parvovirus (MDPV) and Goose parvovirus (GPV) are important etiological agents for Muscovy duck parvoviral disease and Derzsy’s disease, respectively; both of which can cause substantial economic losses in waterfowl industry. In contrast to GPV, the complete genomic sequence data of MDPV isolates are still limited and their phylogenetic relationships largely remain unknown. In this study, the entire genome of a pathogenic MDPV strain ZW, which was isolated from a deceased Muscovy duckling in 2006 in China, was cloned, sequenced, and compared with that of other classical MDPV and GPV strains. Results The genome of strain ZW comprises of 5071 nucleotides; this genome was shorter than that of the pathogenic MDPV strain YY (5075 nt). All the four deleted nucleotides produced in strain ZW are located at the base-pairing positions in the palindromic stem of inverted terminal repeats (ITR) without influencing the formation of a hairpin structure. Recombination analysis revealed that strain ZW originated from genetic recombination between the classical MDPV and GPV strain. The YY strain of MDPV acts as the major parent, whereas the virulent strains YZ99–6 and B and the vaccine strain SYG61v of GPV act as the minor parents in varying degrees. Two recombination sites were detected in strain ZW, with the small recombination site surrounding the P9 promoter, and the large recombination site situated in the middle of the VP3 gene. The SYG61V strain is a vaccine strain used for preventing goose parvoviral disease. This strain was found to be solely involved in the recombination event detected in the P9 promoter region. Phylogenetic analyses between strain ZW and other classical strains of MDPV and GPV were performed. The results supported the in silico recombination analysis conclusion. Conclusions MDPV Strain ZW is a novel recombinant parvovirus, and the bulk of its genome originates from the classical MDPV strain. Two virulent strains and a vaccine strain of GPV were involved in the recombination process in varying degrees.

Genetic modification offers alternative strategies to traditional animal breeding. However, the food safety of genetically modified (GM) animals has attracted increasing levels of concern. In this study, we produced GM sheep overexpressing TLR4, and the transgene-positive offsprings (F1) were confirmed using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Southern blot. The expression of TLR4 was 2.5-fold compared with that of the wild-type (WT) sheep samples. During the 90-day safety study, Sprague-Dawley rats were fed with three different dietary concentrations (3.75%, 7.5%, and 15% wt/wt) of GM sheep meat, WT sheep meat or a commercial diet (CD). Blood samples from the rats were collected and analyzed for hematological and biochemical parameters, and then compared with hematological and biochemical reference ranges. Despite a few significant differences among the three groups in some parameters, all other values remained within the normal reference intervals and thus were not considered to be affected by the treatment. No adverse diet-related differences in body weights or relative organ weights were observed. Furthermore, no differences were observed in the gross necropsy findings or microscopic pathology of the rats whose diets contained the GM sheep meat compared with rats whose diets contained the WT sheep meat. Therefore, the present 90-day rat feeding study suggested that the meat of GM sheep overexpressing TLR4 had no adverse effect on Sprague-Dawley rats in comparison with WT sheep meat. These results provide valuable information regarding the safety assessment of meat derived from GM animals.