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Given that the role of Gelsemine in neuroinflammation has been demonstrated, this research aimed to investigate the effect of Gelsemine on neonatal hypoxic-ischemic (HI) brain injury. An in vivo HI brain injury neonatal mouse model and an in vitro oxygen–glucose deprivation (OGD) cell model were established and pretreated with Gelsemine. The brain infarct volume, neuronal loss and apoptosis, as well as spatial learning and memory were examined by TTC staining, Nissl's staining, TUNEL staining and Morris water maze test. Immunohistochemical staining was applied to detect the microglia cells and astrocytes in the mouse brain tissue. The cell viability was analyzed by CCK-8 assay. The levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 were determined via ELISA. The lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release and reactive oxygen species (ROS) level in OGD-treated cells were detected by colorimetry and DCFH-DA staining. Nrf2, HO-1, and inflammation-related factors were analyzed by immunofluorescence, qRT-PCR, or western blot. Gelsemine reduced the infarct volume and neuronal loss and apoptosis, yet improved spatial learning and memory impairment of HI-injured mice. Gelsemine inhibited the elevated MDA, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, LDH and ROS levels, promoted the reduced SOD level and viability, and strengthened the up-regulation of HO-1 and Nrf2 in brain tissues and OGD-treated cells. However, Nrf2 silencing reversed the effects of Gelsemine on the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway, inflammation, and oxidative stress in OGD-treated cells. Gelsemine produces neuroprotective effects on neonatal mice with HI brain injury by suppressing inflammation and oxidative stress via Nrf2/HO-1 pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Future changes in spatiotemporal features of the mean wind speed over China have been extensively reported, but future changes in the maximum wind speed, such as the daily maximum wind speed (DMWS), were rarely estimated. In this study, the performance of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6) models in simulating the DMWS changes across China is evaluated, based on which the projection on DMWS is carried out under different shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs). The observed DMWS shows a significant reduction during all four seasons, with the strongest decrease in spring and the weakest decrease in autumn. The DMWS increases from January to April and decreases from April to August. The spatiotemporal characteristics of the DMWS are captured by the multimodel ensemble of CMIP6; however, the reduction of DMWS in CMIP6 is weaker than those in observations. The performance of CMIP6 in simulating the future DMWS changes over China shows regional and seasonal discrepancies. The projected DMWS exhibits a reduction for all SSPs from 2021 to 2100, and the decreasing trend is increased accompanied by the strength in the forcing scenario. The lower-emission scenario likely avoids the long-term weakening of the DMWS. The effects of strength in forcing scenarios on the trends of DMWS are more significant than the DMWS climate state. The seasonal cycle of the projected DMWS under the different SSPs is consistent with the historical DMWS; however, the strength in the forcing scenario could induce enhanced variability in the month-to-month DMWS difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summer mean (June, July, and August) surface air temperature (SSAT) in East Asia during the period from 1958 to 2001 has shown a warming. However, the relative contributions of external forcing (EF) and internal climate variability (ICV) to the SSAT changes over East Asia remain unclear. In this study, a new approach is applied to estimate the changes in the SSAT determined by the effects of EF and ICV over East Asia during the period from 1958 to 2001. Reanalysis data as well as simulated results from both global atmosphere–ocean coupled model outputs and a regional climate model (RCM) are used for this approach. The observed SSATs over East Asia have undergone a decreasing trend from 1958 to 1972 (20.148C decade-1, p<0.01) and an increasing trend after 1972 (0.248C decade-1, p<0.01). While these features are not captured by the reanalysis studied here, they are reproduced when the reanalysis output is downscaled using an RCM. The effects of the EF and the ICV on the SSAT can be separated based on the RCM downscaling simulation. The results show that the SSAT with EF displayed significant warming over most regions of East Asia, whereas the SSAT with ICV mainly exhibited cooling over East Asia. Furthermore, EF mainly influenced the decadal changes of the SSAT, whereas the ICV mainly influenced the interannual changes in the SSAT over East Asia. The interannual changes of the SSAT over East Asia that were influenced by the ICV are mainly manifested as the combined effects of the large-scale ocean–atmosphere circulations, which expressed 79% explanatory power on the SSAT changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Palmitoylation may be relevant to the processes of learning and memory, and even disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder and aging-related cognitive decline. However, underlying mechanisms of palmitoylation in these processes remain unclear. Herein, we used acyl-biotin exchange, coimmunoprecipitation and biotinylation assays, and behavioral and electrophysiological methods, to explore whether palmitoylation is required for hippocampal synaptic transmission and fear memory formation, and involved in functional modification of synaptic proteins, such as postsynapse density-95 (PSD-95) and glutamate receptors, and detected if depalmitoylation by specific enzymes has influence on glutamatergic synaptic plasticity. Our results showed that global palmitoylation level, palmitoylation of PSD-95 and glutamate receptors, postsynapse density localization of PSD-95, surface expression of AMPARs, and synaptic strength of cultured hippocampal neurons were all enhanced by TTX pretreatment, and these can be reversed by inhibition of palmitoylation with palmitoyl acyl transferases inhibitors, 2-bromopalmitate and N-(tert-butyl) hydroxylamine hydrochloride. Importantly, we also found that acyl-protein thioesterase 1 (APT1)-mediated depalmitoylation is involved in palmitoylation of PSD-95 and glutamatergic synaptic transmission. Knockdown of APT1, not protein palmitoyl thioesterase 1, with shRNA, or selective inhibition, significantly increased AMPAR-mediated synaptic strength, palmitoylation levels, and synaptic or surface expression of PSD-95 and AMPARs. Results from hippocampal tissues and fear-conditioned rats showed that palmitoylation is required for synaptic strengthening and fear memory formation. These results suggest that palmitoylation and APT1-mediated depalmitoylation have critical effects on the regulation of glutamatergic synaptic plasticity, and it may serve as a potential target for learning and memory-associated disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conclude that bias in CWRES and WRES can be detected but is small and unlikely to impact decisions made based on weighted residual-based diagnostic plots when the M3 method with MDVRES is performed to accommodate BLQ observations in the scenarios we studied. B Concentration data below the limit of quantification (BLQ) are common in population pharmacokinetic (PK) analyses, and one method used to accommodate these during nonlinear mixed effects modeling is the M3 method. Finally, the pairwise deviations between the means of the individual average weighted residuals calculated with the SUBSET and the M3 data sets were plotted as a histogram for each scenario. [Extracted from the article]

Present work investigates the performance of a combined solar photovoltaic (PV) and Pumped-Hydro and Compressed-Air energy storage system to overcome the challenges of using solar energy systems. This energy system, which is one of the newest hybrid systems, is able to generate electricity and store energy. To examine the solar PV performance the climatic conditions of Shiraz (in Iran) and Abu Dhabi (in UAE) are considered. The results revealed that, the required pump work, which must be supplied by PV system, is equal to 2.85 and 2.62 MJ/m3 for isothermal and isentropic processes, respectively. Furthermore, the total system efficiency is equal to 76.5%. In addition, the total exergy destruction of hybrid system for isentropic process is 8.91% less than that isothermal process. In addition, instead of the solar PV system, a phosphoric acid fuel cell is coupled to the storage system and the results are compared with the main system. Image 1 • Performance of Pumped-Hydro and Compressed-Air storage system for PV is presented. • To examine the PV performance the climatic conditions of two cities are considered. • The pre-set pressure plays a significant role in designing the storage system size. • In the storage system, greater share of exergy destruction is related to the pump. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models have shown great promise in preclinical and translational applications, but their consistency with primary tumors in phenotypic, genetic, and pharmacodynamic heterogeneity has not been well-studied. This study aimed to establish a PDX repository for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and to further elucidate whether it could preserve the heterogeneity within and between tumors in patients. Methods: A total of 75 surgically resected NSCLC specimens were implanted into immunodeficient NOD/SCID mice. Based on the successful establishment of the NSCLC PDX model, we compared the expressions of vimentin, Ki67, EGFR, and PD-L1 proteins between cancer tissues and PDX models using hematoxylin and eosin staining and immunohistochemical staining. In addition, we detected whole gene expression profiling between primary tumors and PDX generations. We also performed whole exome sequencing (WES) analysis in 17 first generation xenografts to further assess whether PDXs retained the patient heterogeneities. Finally, paclitaxel, cisplatin, doxorubicin, atezolizumab, afatininb, and AZD4547 were used to evaluate the responses of PDX models to the standard-of-care agents. Results: A large collection of serially transplantable PDX models for NSCLC were successfully developed. The histology and pathological immunohistochemistry of PDX xenografts were consistent with the patients' tumor samples. WES and RNA-seq further confirmed that PDX accurately replicated the molecular heterogeneities of primary tumors. Similar to clinical patients, PDX models responded differentially to the standard-of-care treatment, including chemo-, targeted- and immuno-therapeutics. Conclusions: Our established PDX models of NSCLC faithfully reproduced the molecular, histopathological, and therapeutic characteristics, as well as the corresponding tumor heterogeneities, which provides a clinically relevant platform for drug screening, biomarker discovery, and translational research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generative adversarial networks have been extensively studied in recent years and powered a wide range of applications, ranging from image generation, image-to-image translation, to text-to-image generation, and visual recognition. These methods typically model the mapping from latent space to image with single or multiple generators. However, they have obvious drawbacks: (i) ignoring the multi-modal structure of images, and (ii) lacking model interpretability. Importantly, the existing methods mostly assume one or more generators can cover all image modes even if we do not know the structure of data. Thus, mode dropping and collapse often take place along with GANs training. Despite the importance of exploring the data structure in generation, it has been almost unexplored. In this work, aiming at generating multi-modal images and interpreting model explicitly, we explore the theory on how to integrate GANs with data structure prior, and propose latent Dirichlet allocation based generative adversarial networks (LDAGAN). This framework is extended to combine with a variety of state-of-the-art single-generator GANs and achieves improved performance. Extensive experiments on synthetic and real datasets demonstrate the efficacy of LDAGAN for multi-modal image generation. An implementation of LDAGAN is available at https://github.com/Sumching/LDAGAN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dimethyl sulfone (DMSN) was easily prepared through efficient oxidation of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and used as a strong and green solvent for organic reactions. A mixture of HNO3/NaOCl was used as an oxidizing agent for efficient oxidation of DMSO to DMSN. The effect of DMSN was evaluated for copper-catalyzed coupling reactions. It is worth noting that DMSN could play the role of a ligand for copper ions. A general survey was accomplished for various types of C–C cross-coupling reactions catalyzed by CuI in DMSN in the absence of any ligand. Moderate to good yields were achieved for Sonogashira, Heck, and Suzuki cross-coupling reactions. Finally, DMSN was recovered and reused for several consecutive runs without any loss of its activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the planting characteristics of hemp in southern hilly regions, a two-wheeled walking hemp harvester suitable for harvesting hemp in southern hilly regions is studied and designed. The harvester mainly consists of a header frame, single-moving cutter, cutter mechanical transmission, stalk lifter and reel, stalk divider, stalk horizontal conveyor, wheeled chassis, motor, gearbox, etc. To improve the cutting performance of the two-wheeled walking hemp harvester, response surface tests of three levels are conducted for three factors influencing the operation quality, including the cutting speed, blade length, and forward speed, on the constructed hemp cutting test bench. Moreover, test results are analyzed with the response surface method, and multi-objective optimization is carried out for the regression mathematical model with Design-Expert software. Results show that when the cutting speed is 1.2 m/s, the blade length is 120 mm, forward speed is 0.6 m/s, the cutting efficiency is 38.92 stalks/s, the cutting power is 776.37 W and the failure rate is 6.24%. Trial production of sample machine and field trial are finished according to the optimized parameters and structural design scheme, and the test results reveal that the cutting rate can reach 92.5%, the rate of transmission can reach 86.7%, the productivity is 0.18 hm2/h, and all performance indexes can meet the design requirements. This research can provide references for resolving the mechanical harvesting of hemp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The super-enhancers (SEs) of lineage-specific genes in B cells are off-target sites of somatic hypermutation. However, the inability to detect sufficient numbers of mutations in normal human B cells has precluded the generation of a high-resolution mutational landscape of SEs. Here we captured and sequenced 12 B cell SEs at single-nucleotide resolution from 10 healthy individuals across diverse ethnicities. We detected a total of approximately 9,000 subclonal mutations (allele frequencies <0.1%); of these, approximately 8,000 are present in the BCL6 SE alone. Within the BCL6 SE, we identified 3 regions of clustered mutations in which the mutation frequency is ∼7 × 10−4. Mutational spectra show a predominance of C > T/G > A and A > G/T > C substitutions, consistent with the activities of activation-induced-cytidine deaminase (AID) and the A-T mutator, DNA polymerase η, respectively, in mutagenesis in normal B cells. Analyses of mutational signatures further corroborate the participation of these factors in this process. Single base substitution signatures SBS85, SBS37, and SBS39 were found in the BCL6 SE. While SBS85 is a denoted signature of AID in lymphoid cells, the etiologies of SBS37 and SBS39 are unknown. Our analysis suggests the contribution of error-prone DNA polymerases to the latter signatures. The high-resolution mutation landscape has enabled accurate profiling of subclonal mutations in B cell SEs in normal individuals. By virtue of the fact that subclonal SE mutations are clonally expanded in B cell lymphomas, our studies also offer the potential for early detection of neoplastic alterations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This clinical trial was conducted to assess the lipid-lowering activity of oat noodles by replacing partial staple food (wheat or rice noodle) in normal and mildly hypercholesterolemic subjects. Totally 84 healthy and mild hypercholesterolemic subjects were recruited and divided into 2 groups as experimental (oat noodles) and placebo (wheat noodles) and instructed to consume 100 g of oat noodles or wheat noodles (replacing one or two meals/ day) for 10 weeks and followed by 2 weeks of follow up (without noodle consumption). Various anthropometric measurements and biochemical analysis were carried out during initial (baseline), 2nd, 6th, 10th and 12th week (follow-up). Consumption of oat noodles by replacing staple food for 10 weeks significantly reduced (**p < 0.01) the levels of total cholesterol (TC; 17.46%) and low-density lipoprotein LDL-c (19.03%) in both healthy and mildly hypercholesterolemic subjects. However, the hypocholesterolemic effect is significantly higher in mildly hypercholesterolemic subjects as compared with normal subjects. A pronounced decline (*p < 0.05) in the levels of various cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) markers including TC/HDL and LDL/HDL ratios and blood pressure (SBP; 11.09% and DBP; 7.48%) were observed in oat noodles supplemented subjects as equivalence with the placebo group. The partial replacement of staple food with oat noodle could considerably improve the health status of all subjects especially in hypercholesterolemic subjects and thus lower the risk of CVDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aluminum-based drinking water treatment residuals (DWTR) were encapsulated by alginate to develop a pelletized media (DWTR-CA beads) for phosphorus (P) adsorption. The beads were successfully manufactured to uniform size and shape requirements. The effects of DWTR powder concentration and particle size, and bead mean size on P adsorption, were investigated. The DWTR was found to be an important component in the beads for P adsorption, while the calcium alginate shell contributed little for P adsorption. The maximum P adsorption capacity of the DWTR-CA bead was 19.42 mg P/g wet beads, corresponding to a bead diameter of 3.1 ± 0.2 mm and DWTR concentration of 2% (1% weight/volume (W/V)), mg/mL). The adsorption data fit well with the intra-particle diffusion model and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, while both the Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms described the adsorption process well. Furthermore, the study on the effect of pH on P adsorption showed that acidic conditions resulted in a better P adsorption and the DWTR-CA beads have the function of pH neutralization. The findings of this study show that the DWTR-CA beads are a promising adsorbent/substrate for P removal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is desirable to consider the molecular design and crystal configuration in the research of energetic materials. We discovered an interesting layer stacking crystal configuration, which is different from previous 2D-plane layer stacking, and termed it as "3D-cube layer stacking". This new configuration, resulting from the unusual U-shaped molecular structures and vast H-bonding interactions, breaks through the limitations of the planar molecular structures in 2D-plane layer stacking. Compound 4, which features such characteristics, exhibits excellent energetic performance (D: 9043 m s-1; P: 35.6 GPa) and acceptable sensitivities (IS: 16 J; FS: 180 N). These positive results indicate that 3D-cube layer stacking may open new avenues for the design of energetic materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi can increase the tolerance of host plants to drought, whereas the intrinsic mechanisms are not still fully elucidated. Flavonoids are a kind of antioxidants to scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS), whereas whether and how flavonoids are involved in increased drought tolerance of host plants by AM fungi is not known. Here, Funneliformis mosseae , was inoculated into potted trifoliate orange seedlings, which were subjected to adequate water and water stress conditions. The AM effect on plant growth, concentrations of flavonoid substances and total flavonoids, and activities and expression levels of enzymes related to flavonoids synthesis (clnnamate 4-dydroxylate (C4H), phenylalanine ammonialyase (PAL), chalcone isomerase (CHI), and 4-coumaroyl-CoA ligase (4CL)) in roots was analyzed, along with changes in scavenging activity of ROS by root flavonoid extracts. Compared with non-AM control, F. mosseae inoculation distinctly improved plant growth performance and increased phenylalanine, glycitin, luteolin-7- O -glucoside, and total flavonoid concentrations, coupled with the decrease in p -coumaric acid, regardless of soil water regimes. Activities of C4H, CHI, 4CL, and PAL and expression levels of PtPAL1 and Pt4CL were induced by F. mosseae inoculation under water stress. AM plants exhibited higher scavenging activity of hydroxyl radical and superoxide (O 2 •−) by root flavonoid extracts under water stress, along with lower levels of O 2 •− and hydrogen peroxide and the degree of membrane lipid peroxidation, compared with non-AM plants. It is concluded that AM fungi accelerated flavonoids synthesis of trifoliate orange for mitigating oxidative damage under water stress. • AMF increased phenylalanine, glycitin, luteolin-7- O -glucoside, and total flavonoid concentrations, regardless of soil moisture regimes. • C4H, CHI, 4CL, and PAL activities and PtPAL1 and Pt4CL expressions were induced by AMF under water stress. • AMF plants exhibited higher scavenging activity of ROS by root flavonoid extracts under water stress. • AM fungi accelerated flavonoids synthesis for mitigating oxidative damage under water stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trans-fatty acid consumption has been reported as a risk factor for metabolic disorders and targeted organ damages. Nonetheless, little is known about the roles and mechanisms of trans-fatty acids in obesity, insulin resistance (IR) and hepatic steatosis. Adult C57BL/6 male mice were fed with four different diets for 20 weeks: normal diet (ND), high fat diet (HFD), low trans-fatty acids diet (LTD) and high trans-fatty acid diet (HTD). The diet-induced metabolic disorders were assessed by evaluating body weight, glucose tolerance test, hepatic steatosis and plasma lipid profiles post 20-week diet. Histological (H&E, Oil-Red-O) staining and western blot analysis were employed to assess liver steatosis and potential signaling pathways. After 20-weeks of diet, the body weights of the four groups were 29.61 ± 1.89 g (ND), 39.04 ± 4.27 g (HFD), 34.09 ± 2.62 g (LTD) and 43.78 ± 4.27 g (HTD) (p < 0.05), respectively. HFD intake significantly impaired glucose tolerance, which was impaired further in the mice consuming the HTD diet. The effect was further exacerbated by HTD diet. Moreover, the HTD group exhibited significantly more severe liver steatosis compared with HFD group possibly through regulating adipose triglyceride lipase. The group consuming the HTD also exhibited significantly reduced levels of IRS1, phosphor-PKC and phosphor-AKT. These results support our hypothesis that consumption of a diet high in trans-fatty acids induces higher rates of obesity, IR and hepatic steatosis in male C57BL/6 mice, possibly by suppressing the IRS1dependent pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the design and fabrication of a high-frequency wide-range frequency synthesizer based on a phase locked loop (PLL), varactorless LC -type voltage-controlled oscillator, and push–push frequency doubler. In addition, a high-speed programmable divider using multiphase selection is employed for channel switching. The proposed circuits were fabricated in a standard 90-nm CMOS process with a chip area of 0.8 mm×1.1 mm. The PLL dissipated 60 mW when the supply was 1.2 V. The measured phase noise of the frequency synthesizer at a frequency of 17.64 GHz and offset of 1 MHz was −97 dBc/Hz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structural configuration, fluorescence spectra and pollutants sense of complexes 1-3 were investigated, and the corresponding mechanism was proposed. [Display omitted] Three bisligand-coordinated two-dimensional or one-dimensional cadmium-based luminescent coordinated polymers, namely, [Cd 3 (BTC) 2 (DTP)(H 2 O) 6 ]·(H 2 O) 2.5 (1) (BTC = benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylic acid and DTP = 3,5-di(1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)pyridine); [Cd 2 (IPA) 2 (DTP)(H 2 O) 4 ]·(H 2 O) 3 (DMF) 2 (2) (IPA = iso phthalic acid and DMF = dimethylformamide); and [Cd 4 (DFDA) 4 (DTP) 2 (H 2 O) 8 ]·(H 2 O) 17 (3) (DFDA = 2,5-dihydrofuran-2,5-dicarboxylic acid), were constructed by solvothermal synthesis. The obtained MOFs were characterized by employment of single crystal X-ray diffraction, powder XRD analysis, elemental analysis, IR, TGA and luminescence analysis. Fluorescence sensing experiments show that complexes 1–3 are effective and selective in sensing MnO 4 −, Fe3+ and Cr 2 O 7 2−. For the analysis of antibiotics and pesticides, complex 1 exhibited the highest quenching rates for norfloxacin (NOR) and nitenpyram (NTP). For complexes 2–3, cefixime (CFX) and metamitron (MMT) caused the most obvious fluorescence quenching of all of the tested antibiotics and pesticides, respectively. During the sensing processes, both the inner filter effect (IFE) and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) play a key role in fluorescence quenching for all three complexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the variable-order generalized time fractional Oldroyd-B fluid model, use the reduced order method and the L2-1σ method to establish the differential format with second-order accuracy, prove the stability and convergence of the format, and give numerical examples to illustrate the effectiveness of the differential format. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A mass was detected in the middle lobe of the right lung of a 58-year-old female. The patient did not present any symptoms and was a nonsmoker. Diagnostic evaluation revealed squamous metaplasia in the middle lobe of the right lung. During surgery, a tumor was identified, which was diagnosed as a lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma (LELC). LELCs have been mainly reported in the Asian population and are associated with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBVs), while they are not associated with smoking. Squamous metaplasia, which is the basis of squamous cell carcinoma, differs from LELC in the therapeutic methods used and the prognostic evaluation. Squamous metaplasia requires regular follow-up in out-patient clinics, while pulmonary LELC is treated by surgery and chemotherapy. Therefore, distinguishing between LELCs and other nonmalignant or premalignant conditions is essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motor neuron disease (MND) is occasionally aggravated by chronic infection. A misdiagnosed case of tuberculosis with MND is illustrated in a 45-year-old woman who underwent successful VATS wedge excision, which is presented herein. MND in an adult is a rare clinical entity. In order to facilitate the preoperative diagnosis and avoid the misdiagnosis of this disease, more etiological factors need to be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nucleotide excision repair (NER) excises bulky DNA lesions induced by mutagens and carcinogens. The repair process includes recognition of DNA damage, excision of a short patch of nucleotides containing the damaged base, re-synthesis of a new DNA strand and ligation of the nicks to restore the sequence integrity. Mutation or aberrant transcription of NER genes reduces repair efficiency and results in the accumulation of mutations that is associated with the development of cancer. Here we present a rapid, sensitive and quantitative assay to measure NER activity in human cells, which we term the Oligonucleotide Retrieval Assay (ORA). We used oligonucleotide constructs containing the UV-damaged adduct, cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer (CPD), to transfect human cells, and retrieved the oligonucleotides for quantification of the repaired, CPD-free DNA by real-time quantitative PCR. We demonstrate that ORA can quantify the extent of NER in diverse cell types, including immortalized, primary and stem-like cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) of the lung is a rare malignant neoplasm. We aimed to investigate clinicopathological features, therapies, and prognoses of eight MEC cases. Methods Eight patients underwent surgical treatment for pulmonary MEC between 2005 and 2012 at the Thoracic Surgical Department of West China Hospital, Sichuan, China. The clinical data, radiological manifestation, treatment strategy, pathological findings, and prognoses of all patients were analyzed retrospectively. Results Among the eight cases (four males and four females), the age of patients ranged from 35 to 71 years (mean age 50.67 years). Two tumors were located in the upper lobes and three masses were located in the lower lobes. The other three lumps were located in the left main bronchus, middle segmental bronchus of the right lobe, and trachea, respectively. The characteristics of the tumors were consistent with low grade MEC (n = 6) and high grade MEC (n = 2). All of the patients were sent for oncological evaluations, and three patients with N1 or N2 disease received chemotherapy. One of the patients died from brain metastasis at 15 months. Seven of the eight patients were alive at the time of evaluation. The median survival time was 40 (range 8 to 88) months. Conclusion Mucoepidermoid tumors have to be treated by radical surgery with lymph node sampling and dissection. Patients with low grade tumors can be expected to be cured following complete resection. Careful histological typing plays a key role in prediction of late results, and further studies are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our previous study of a Chinese family with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) suggested that A1180V of the cardiac sodium channel gene (SCN5A) was associated with the disease within this family. According to data deposited in dbSNP, however, A1180V has been found in some small samples of the Asian population. In this study, we followed up the affected pedigree and expanded the investigation of the prevalence of A1180V in 460 unrelated healthy Han Chinese. Besides, we searched and analyzed it in other database as well. During the follow-up period, 1 A1180V carrier's condition deteriorated alot, and another 4 carriers progressed to DCM or atrioventricular block (AVB).We also found that the A1180V was absent among the 460 individuals (0%, 0/460), and the carrier frequency of A1180V among Chinese was about 0.51% obtained from the 1000 genome project. In conclusion, our finding suggests that A1180V is a potential risk factor for DCM, and it is extremely rare among Healthy Han Chinese [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Distinguishing between multiple primary lung cancers and metastatic tumors is often difficult when the tumor histology is same. Since genomic instability is a common feature of cancer, we hypothesized that independently arising neoplasms in an individual patient would exhibit measurable genomic variation, enabling discrimination of tumor lineage and relatedness. The feasibility of analyzing genomic instability expression profiles to distinguish multiple primary lung cancers from metastatic tumors was evaluated.Methods: This study enrolled 13 patients, with multiple primary lung cancers demonstrating with the histology, who underwent surgery between April 2003 and December 2012 at the Department of the Thoracic Surgery at West China Hospital in Sichuan province of China and 10 patients who were diagnosed as metastasis disease during the same period for comparison purposes. Genomic DNA from lung cancers from individual patients was analyzed by six microsatellites (D2S1363, D6S1056, D7S1824, D10S1239, D15S822, and D22S689) with PCR to identify discordant allelic variation. The experiments were approved by the West China Hospital Ethics committee (No.2013 (33)) and all patients agreed to participate in the study and signed an informed consent form.Results: All of the 10 patients with distant metastasis showed a consistent consequence that we called "unique trend" between primary tumor and distant metastasis. The "trend" is representive in this study, which means that all alleles corresponding to six microsatellite markers were detected in DNA from primary tumors but were reduced or not observed in DNA from metastatic tumors. In the group of synchronous lung tumor with different histological types, the result showed a "contradictory trend". Some alleles were detected in DNA from primary tumors but were reduced or not observed in DNA from metastatic tumors and other alleles corresponding to six microsatellite markers were detected in DNA from metastatic tumors but were reduced or not observed in DNA from primary tumors. In the third group (synchronous lung tumor with same histological types), 2 of 8 patients showed "unique trend" and the others showed "contradictory trend".Conclusions: With polymorphic microsatellite markers, the "unique trend" that represents metastasis cancers and the "contradictory trend" that represents primary multiple tumors are useful in the diagnosis between tumors found at the same time in the pulmonary even diagnosed with the histopathological evaluation from a single patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present an effective and efficient framework to minimize clock latency range (CLR), which is a crucial objective measuring the process variability of the high-performance clock network. An enhanced deferred-merge embedding algorithm is proposed to handle the skew and slew constraints simultaneously. Besides, instead of using traditional buffering methods that consider only capacitance loading, we adopt slew-constrained buffering for more accurate results. To explore the variation effect with different combinations of buffers and wires in terms of CLR, we design an experiment to examine it and propose an effective buffer and wire sizing scheme. In addition, obstacle avoidance handling is included in our framework. Experimental results show that our framework achieves the best results in terms of CLR compared with any other team in the 2009 ACM ISPD clock network synthesis contest and four state-of-the-art works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Introduction and hypothesis  This study was designed to detect whether nanobacteria (NB) reside in urine and bladder tissue samples of patients with interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome (IC/PBS) and whether antibiotic therapy targeting these organisms is effective in reducing NB levels and IC/PBS symptoms. Methods  Twenty-seven IC/PBS patients underwent cystoscopy. Bladder biopsies and urine samples were obtained and cultured for NB, which were identified by indirect immunofluorescent staining and transmission electron microscopy. Results  Eleven bladder samples showed growth of microbes that were identified to be similar to NB. Homologous study of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene suggested that the NB could be the pathogen. For enrolled 11 patients, NB levels decreased dramatically after tetracycline treatment, and they reported significant reduction in the severity of IC/PBS symptoms. Conclusions  A high prevalence of NB was observed in female IC/PBS, and anti-NB treatment effectively improved the symptoms, which suggest that NB may cause some cases of IC/PBS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visible light-induced photocatalytic degradation of environmental pollutants with improved Ti02 has attracted much attention in pollution control and management The degradation of nucleic acids is of great significance for biological contaminants such as viruses. In the present work, visible light-induced plasmid DNA damage catalyzed by a CdSe/ZnS-photosensitized nano Ti02 film (QDs-Ti02 film) was investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and agarose gel electrophoresis. Illuminated by visible light, the supercoiled pUC18 DNA could be damaged into nicked-circle and linear conformations by the QDs-Ti02 film. The percentage of different conformations of damaged DNA changed with illumination time. A statistical rule for calculating the quantity of supercoiled DNA has been established to evaluate the photocatalytic activity of the QDs-Ti02 film based on AFM results. Visible light-induced plasmid DNA damage catalyzed by the QDs-Ti02 film is characteristic of zero-order kinetics and the rate constant (k) is 3.5 × 10-11 M.s-1. Given an illumination time, the quantity of damaged supercoiled DNA catalyzed by the QDs-Ti02 film is constant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the body of literature pertaining to the study of micro, context-specific behavior on the Web is growing, there lacks a global, macro analysis as to the behavioral dimensions of Web users' online activities. In an attempt to fill in the gap, this study proposes a three-dimensional, cubic typology for the characterization of Web users' online information behavior. We discuss a set of hypotheses concerning the relationships among these dimensions as well as those between these dimensions and related behavioral aspects. Online panel data consisting of month-long clickstreams of 2,022 Web users obtained from InsightXplore, Taiwan are made available for the empirical validation of the hypotheses. We found that a Web user's width (i.e., number of categories of Web sites explored), length (i.e., number of sites visited per category), and depth (i.e., number of pages downloaded per site) of online information behavior are highly correlated. Furthermore, these three dimensions of the behavioral “cube” are positively associated with speed of navigation, but negatively associated with the Web users' explicit online information search propensity and the degree of relatedness among the sites they visited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses how Web users differ in their online information behavioural patterns from the angle of their behavioural concentration. From the empirical findings, an obvious behavioural pattern emerges that distinguishes heavy users from light users. Web users who visited more sites and made more page-views from these sites are more likely to concentrate most of their online activities on a small set of core, anchoring Web sites. On the contrary, light Web users who visited a limited number of sites and downloaded fewer web pages are found to distribute their online activities more equally among the small scope of sites visited.

A luminescent compound Ag4(cy)4(bpy) (1, cy = isocyanurato, bpy = 4,4'-bipyridine) was solvothermal synthesized; it features an unusual polycatenated 3-connected bilayer motif which is further stabilized by argentophilic interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ING4 gene is a candidate tumor suppressor gene that functions in cell proliferation, contact inhibition, and angiogenesis. We identified three novel splice variants of ING4 with differing activities in controlling cell proliferation, cell spreading, and cell migration. ING4̱v1 (the longest splice variant), originally identified as ING4, encodes an intact nuclear localization signal (NLS), whereas the other three splice variants (ING4̱v2, ING4̱v3, and ING4̱v4) lack the full NLS, resulting in increased cytoplasmic localization of these proteins. We found that one of the three ING4 variants, ING4̱v2, is expressed at the same level as the original ING4 (ING4̱v1), suggesting that ING4 variants may have significant biological functions. Growth suppressive effects of the variants that have a partial NLS (ING4̱v2 and ING4̱v4) were attenuated by a weaker effect of the variants on p21WAF1 promoter activation. ING4̱v4 lost cell spreading and migration suppressive effects; on the other hand, ING4̱v2 retained a cell migration suppressive effect but lost a cell spreading suppressive effect. Therefore, ING4̱v2, which localized primarily into cytoplasm, might have an important role in the regulation of cell migration. We also found that ING4̱v4 played dominant-negative roles in the induction of p21WAF1 promoter activation and in the suppression of cell motility by ING4̱v1. In addition, ING4 variants had different binding affinities to two cytoplasmic proteins, protein-tyrosine phosphatase, receptor type, f polypeptide (PTPRF), interacting protein (liprin), α1, and G3BP2a. Understanding the functions of the four splice variants may aid in defining their roles in human carcinogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The oxidation behavior of 316 stainless steel (SS) annealed in air containing 0.1atm water vapor at temperatures ranging from 800 to 1030°C was investigated. A kinetic study of the oxidation was made by employing thermal-gravimetric analysis (TGA). The morphology, composition and structure of the scale were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The experimental results showed that significant breakaway oxidation occurred, resulting in substantial weight increase, as the steel was annealed in moist air at temperatures above 950°C. The scaling behavior of 316 SS in wet air at 1030°C could be divided into two stages based on the alteration of the oxidation rate. In each stage, the scale on 316 SS exhibited a different structure and morphology. The complex process of the formation of scale in wet air was discussed and proposed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Importance: Epidemiological evidences regarding the association between whole grain intake and the risk of new-onset hypertension are still controversial.We aimed to investigate the relationship between whole grain intake and new-onset hypertension and examine possible effect modifiers in the general population.A total of 10,973 participants without hypertension from the China Health and Nutrition Survey were enrolled, with follow-up beginning in 1997 and ending in 2015. Whole grain intake was assessed by 3 consecutive 24-h dietary recalls combined with a household food inventory. Multivariable hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression model after adjusting for potential risk factors.During a median follow-up of 7.0 years, 3,733 participants developed new-onset hypertension. The adjusted HRs (95% CIs) were as follows: for quartile 2 (HR: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.47–0.57), quartile 3 (HR: 0.46; 95% CI: 0.42–0.51), and quartile 4 (HR: 0.35; 95% CI: 0.31–0.38), compared with quartile 1. Different types of whole grain types, including wheat (adjusted HR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.32–0.39), maize (adjusted HR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.42–0.59), and millet (adjusted HR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.30–0.48), showed significant associations with a reduced risk of hypertension. The association between whole grain intake and new-onset hypertension was stronger in individuals with older age (P for interaction < 0.001) and higher BMI (P for interaction < 0.001).Higher consumption of whole grains was significantly associated with a lower risk of new-onset hypertension. This study provides further evidence supporting the importance of increasing whole grain intake for hypertension prevention among Chinese adults.Objective: Epidemiological evidences regarding the association between whole grain intake and the risk of new-onset hypertension are still controversial.We aimed to investigate the relationship between whole grain intake and new-onset hypertension and examine possible effect modifiers in the general population.A total of 10,973 participants without hypertension from the China Health and Nutrition Survey were enrolled, with follow-up beginning in 1997 and ending in 2015. Whole grain intake was assessed by 3 consecutive 24-h dietary recalls combined with a household food inventory. Multivariable hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression model after adjusting for potential risk factors.During a median follow-up of 7.0 years, 3,733 participants developed new-onset hypertension. The adjusted HRs (95% CIs) were as follows: for quartile 2 (HR: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.47–0.57), quartile 3 (HR: 0.46; 95% CI: 0.42–0.51), and quartile 4 (HR: 0.35; 95% CI: 0.31–0.38), compared with quartile 1. Different types of whole grain types, including wheat (adjusted HR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.32–0.39), maize (adjusted HR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.42–0.59), and millet (adjusted HR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.30–0.48), showed significant associations with a reduced risk of hypertension. The association between whole grain intake and new-onset hypertension was stronger in individuals with older age (P for interaction < 0.001) and higher BMI (P for interaction < 0.001).Higher consumption of whole grains was significantly associated with a lower risk of new-onset hypertension. This study provides further evidence supporting the importance of increasing whole grain intake for hypertension prevention among Chinese adults.Methods: Epidemiological evidences regarding the association between whole grain intake and the risk of new-onset hypertension are still controversial.We aimed to investigate the relationship between whole grain intake and new-onset hypertension and examine possible effect modifiers in the general population.A total of 10,973 participants without hypertension from the China Health and Nutrition Survey were enrolled, with follow-up beginning in 1997 and ending in 2015. Whole grain intake was assessed by 3 consecutive 24-h dietary recalls combined with a household food inventory. Multivariable hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression model after adjusting for potential risk factors.During a median follow-up of 7.0 years, 3,733 participants developed new-onset hypertension. The adjusted HRs (95% CIs) were as follows: for quartile 2 (HR: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.47–0.57), quartile 3 (HR: 0.46; 95% CI: 0.42–0.51), and quartile 4 (HR: 0.35; 95% CI: 0.31–0.38), compared with quartile 1. Different types of whole grain types, including wheat (adjusted HR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.32–0.39), maize (adjusted HR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.42–0.59), and millet (adjusted HR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.30–0.48), showed significant associations with a reduced risk of hypertension. The association between whole grain intake and new-onset hypertension was stronger in individuals with older age (P for interaction < 0.001) and higher BMI (P for interaction < 0.001).Higher consumption of whole grains was significantly associated with a lower risk of new-onset hypertension. This study provides further evidence supporting the importance of increasing whole grain intake for hypertension prevention among Chinese adults.Results: Epidemiological evidences regarding the association between whole grain intake and the risk of new-onset hypertension are still controversial.We aimed to investigate the relationship between whole grain intake and new-onset hypertension and examine possible effect modifiers in the general population.A total of 10,973 participants without hypertension from the China Health and Nutrition Survey were enrolled, with follow-up beginning in 1997 and ending in 2015. Whole grain intake was assessed by 3 consecutive 24-h dietary recalls combined with a household food inventory. Multivariable hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression model after adjusting for potential risk factors.During a median follow-up of 7.0 years, 3,733 participants developed new-onset hypertension. The adjusted HRs (95% CIs) were as follows: for quartile 2 (HR: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.47–0.57), quartile 3 (HR: 0.46; 95% CI: 0.42–0.51), and quartile 4 (HR: 0.35; 95% CI: 0.31–0.38), compared with quartile 1. Different types of whole grain types, including wheat (adjusted HR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.32–0.39), maize (adjusted HR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.42–0.59), and millet (adjusted HR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.30–0.48), showed significant associations with a reduced risk of hypertension. The association between whole grain intake and new-onset hypertension was stronger in individuals with older age (P for interaction < 0.001) and higher BMI (P for interaction < 0.001).Higher consumption of whole grains was significantly associated with a lower risk of new-onset hypertension. This study provides further evidence supporting the importance of increasing whole grain intake for hypertension prevention among Chinese adults.Conclusion: Epidemiological evidences regarding the association between whole grain intake and the risk of new-onset hypertension are still controversial.We aimed to investigate the relationship between whole grain intake and new-onset hypertension and examine possible effect modifiers in the general population.A total of 10,973 participants without hypertension from the China Health and Nutrition Survey were enrolled, with follow-up beginning in 1997 and ending in 2015. Whole grain intake was assessed by 3 consecutive 24-h dietary recalls combined with a household food inventory. Multivariable hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression model after adjusting for potential risk factors.During a median follow-up of 7.0 years, 3,733 participants developed new-onset hypertension. The adjusted HRs (95% CIs) were as follows: for quartile 2 (HR: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.47–0.57), quartile 3 (HR: 0.46; 95% CI: 0.42–0.51), and quartile 4 (HR: 0.35; 95% CI: 0.31–0.38), compared with quartile 1. Different types of whole grain types, including wheat (adjusted HR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.32–0.39), maize (adjusted HR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.42–0.59), and millet (adjusted HR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.30–0.48), showed significant associations with a reduced risk of hypertension. The association between whole grain intake and new-onset hypertension was stronger in individuals with older age (P for interaction < 0.001) and higher BMI (P for interaction < 0.001).Higher consumption of whole grains was significantly associated with a lower risk of new-onset hypertension. This study provides further evidence supporting the importance of increasing whole grain intake for hypertension prevention among Chinese adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The effect of molten salt treatment on the modification of scale properties of annealed 410 SS and subsequent descaling behavior in sulfuric acid was investigated. The experimental results showed that the scale formed on annealed 410 SS was mainly composed of (Cr, Fe)3O4 and Cr2O3. After molten salt treatment, only Fe3O4, was found remained on the surface. Potential decay was noticed during pickling in sulfuric acid, which was associated with the scale removing process. Furthermore, the activation time (τ) required for complete descaling decreased with increasing concentration and temperature of sulfuric acid. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Performance and availability of molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFC) stack are greatly dependent on its operating temperature. Control of the operating temperature within a specified range and reduction of its temperature fluctuation are highly desirable. The models of MCFC stack existing are too complicated to be suitable for design of a controller because of its lack of clear input–output relations. In this paper, according to the demands of control design, a quantitative relations model of control-oriented MCFC between the temperatures of the stack and flowrates of the input gases is developed, based on conservation laws. It is an affine nonlinear model with multi-input and multi-output, the flowrates of fuel and oxidant gases as the manipulated vector and the temperatures of MCFC electrode–electrolyte plates, separator plates as the controlled vector. The modelling and simulation procedures are given in detail. The simulation tests reveal that the model developed is accurate and it is suitable to be used as a model in designing a controller of MCFC stack. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper exploits a wavelet-based scheme to inspect the surface defects and basic dimensions of 0805 Multi-layer Ceramic Chip capacitors (MLCC) using machine vision. The image of a passive component is initially processed to show only two solder plates (terminations). Then, the covariance matrix eigenvector for each boundary point generates the 1D θ-p representation to describe the angle variations at the boundaries of each termination. The 1D θ-p representation is further decomposed directly by a one-dimensional wavelet transform (1D WT). Since a single corner (an intersection of two boundary edges) and the jag corners (the surface defects) are local deviations on termination boundaries, their locations are represented as intensive and have a highly fluctuated wavelet energy at the 1st detail scale. Concerning a 0805 MLCC type of passive component, the surface defects and single corners on termination boundaries can be captured by appropriate thresholds (e.g., in wavelet energy). The basic dimensions of a passive component are simply the direct distance between located single corners. Real 0805 MLCCs are testing samples to evaluate the performance of the proposed approach. Experimental results show that the proposed method achieves a precise identification of the surface defects and measurements for basic dimensions. The proposed approach is invariant with respect to the orientation, easy to implement and free from a primitive-matching process. Therefore, it is especially suitable for various types of passive components that are similar to the 0805 MLCC in small-batch production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent crystallographic studies reveal loops in human AP endonuclease 1 (APE1) that interact with the major and minor grooves of DNA containing apurinic/ apyrimidinic (AP) sites. These loops are postulated to stabilize the DNA helix and the flipped out AP residue. The loop α8 interacts with the major groove on the 3' side of the AP site. To determine the essentiality of the amino acids that constitute the α8 loop, we created a mutant library containing random nucleotides at codons 222-229 that, in wild-type APE1, specify the sequence NPKGNKKN. Upon expression of the library (2 × 10[sup 6] different clones) in Escherichia coli and multiple rounds of selection with the alkylating agent methylmethane sulfonate (MMS), we obtained ∼2 × 10[sup 5] active mutants that complemented the MMS sensitivity of AP endonuclease-deficient E. coli. DNA sequencing showed that active mutants tolerated amino acid substitutions at all eight randomized positions. Basic and uncharged polar amino acids together comprised the majority of substitutions, reflecting the positively charged, polar character of the wild-type loop. Asn-222, Asn-226, and Asn-229 exhibited the least mutability, consistent with x-ray data showing that each asparagine contacts a DNA phosphate. Substitutions at residues 226-229, located nearer to the AP site, that reduced basicity or hydrogen bonding potential, increased K[sub m] 2- to 6-fold and decreased AP site binding; substitutions at residues 222225 exhibited lesser effects. This initial mutational analysis of the α8 loop supports and extends the conclusion of crystallographic studies that the loop is important for binding of AP·DNA and AP site incision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The montmorillonites (MMTs), layered, smectite-type silicates, were premodified by two different methods prior to the polymer melt intercalation. In one case MMTs were modified with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), and termed as organomontmorillonites (OMMTs); in the other case MMTs were modified by nylon, and the products were called modified montmorillonites (MMMTs). The effects of CTAB and nylon on the MMTs were investigated by using TG and WAXD. The results show that interlayer spacings of CTAB and nylon modified MMTs are larger than that of sodium MMTs. Then, polyamide 66 (PA 66)/MMT nanocomposites were obtained through the method of melt intercalation of polymers. The nanocomposites were characterized by WAXD, TEM and Molau experiments. The results indicate that the MMTs disperse homogeneously in the PA 66 matrix. The mechanical properties of nanocomposites, such as tensile properties and flexural properties, were also measured and show a tendency to increase with increase of MMT content and reach the maximum values at 5phr MMT content. The heat distortion temperature (HDT) of the nanocomposites (7 phr) is about 32 K higher than that of pure PA 66. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel methodology for optimum sizing of a hybrid energy (HE) system is presented in this paper to supply the driving force of a locomotive. The HE system includes a lithium-ion battery along with a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel-cell. The idea behind this paper is to minimize the HE system's total cost under the PEM fuel-cell state of charge (SoC) constraint and capacity constraint of the battery. The minimization in this study is performed by an improved version of the Locust Swarm (LS) optimization algorithm (ILS). The algorithm uses oppositional learning and chaos mechanism to resolve the premature convergence and speed of the algorithm along with escaping from the local optimum point. The results of the final case study have been done for analyzing the locomotive speed demand, the average power demand, and the locomotive slant. A comparison of the outcomes of the suggested ILS algorithm with the standard LS algorithm and Particle swarm optimizer (PSO) from the literature and the results showed that in a maximum slope (2%), the total cost of the HE system for the suggested ILS algorithm, the basic LS algorithm, and the PSO algorithm are 3.8 × 10 6 $, 4.43 × 10 6 $, and 4.86 × 10 6 $, respectively which indicated that the achieved overall expense for the suggested ILS gives the best amount and the results are carried out to verify the superiority of the proposed method in solving a challenging real-world problem. • Optimum sizing of a hybrid energy (HE) system in a locomotive is proposed. • The HE system includes a battery along with a PEMFC. • The idea is to minimize the total cost of HE system. • A comparison has been performed to verify the superiority of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nano-engineered mesenchymal stem cells (nano-MSCs) are promising targeted drug delivery platforms for treating solid tumors. MSCs engineered with paclitaxel (PTX) loaded poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) nanoparticles (NPs) are efficacious in treating lung and ovarian tumors in mouse models. The quantitative description of pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of nano-MSCs is crucial for optimizing their therapeutic efficacy and clinical translatability. However, successful translation of nano-MSCs is challenging due to their complex composition and physiological mechanisms regulating their pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic relationship (PK–PD). Therefore, in this study, a mechanism-based preclinical PK–PD model was developed to characterize the PK–PD relationship of nano-MSCs in orthotopic A549 human lung tumors in SCID Beige mice. The developed model leveraged literature information on diffusivity and permeability of PTX and PLGA NPs, PTX release from PLGA NPs, exocytosis of NPs from MSCs as well as PK and PD profiles of nano-MSCs from previous in vitro and in vivo studies. The developed PK–PD model closely captured the reported tumor growth in animals receiving no treatment, PTX solution, PTX-PLGA NPs and nano-MSCs. Model simulations suggest that increasing the dosage of nano-MSCs and/or reducing the rate of PTX-PLGA NPs exocytosis from MSCs could result in improved anti-tumor efficacy in preclinical settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empty-vehicle travel time plays an important role in the design and control of automated guided vehicle systems (AGVSs). However, many analytical models of these systems assume the amount of empty-vehicle travel time is the same as the loadedvehicle travel time. This paper examines empty-vehicle travel time in AGVSs with low traffic intensity. The model uses a discrete time Markov chain based on vehicle location and represents dispatching rules in the one-step transition matrix. The model can be used to compute moments and cumulative probabilities for the empty-vehicle travel time. Coupled with the loaded-vehicle travel time and the loading/unloading time, similar results can be obtained for the time to service a load request. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the small models and compact structures, small harvesters have also caused problems such as poor threshing separation performance and large loss rates. In order to solve unstable cleaning effects of small harvesters when they facing different working conditions, this study selected rice plants in hilly areas for the experiment. Tensile breaking force of different parts of mature rice was tested, which revealed the fracture mechanism of each part under the combined force. Inertial threshing method was used to simulate artificial plate bin and design three kinds of non-circular pulley variable speed transmission threshing mechanism. With the help of transient inertia force, threshing force was compensated. This paper tested the harvesting performance of the variable speed threshing device with the help of the harvest performance test. Results show when facing the small rice planting area, the T/2 variable speed threshing device has better cleaning performance, and also the harvest loss rate of T/4 variable speed threshing device is the lowest. Compared with the constant speed threshing device, the impurity content rate of the variable speed threshing device is increased by 0.64% to 8.76%; the loss rate is reduced by 0.45% to 1.79%, which provides a basis for the optimization design of small combine harvester in hilly areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulmonary aspergillosis (PA), a pulmonary fungal infection caused by Aspergillus spp., is a concern for immunocompromised populations. Despite substantial research efforts, conventional treatments of PA using antifungal agents are associated with limitations such as excessive systemic exposure, serious side effects and limited availability of the therapeutics in the lungs for an adequate duration. To overcome the limitations associated with the conventional regimens, pulmonary delivery of antifungal agents has become a focal point of research because of the superiority of local and targeted drug delivery. Dry powder inhalers and nebulized formulations of antifungal agents have been developed and evaluated for their capability to effectively deliver antifungal agents to the lungs. Moreover, progress in nanotechnology and the utilization of nanocarriers in the development of pulmonary delivery formulations has allowed further augmentation of treatment capability and efficiency. Thus, the following review provides an insight into the advantages and therapeutic potential of the utilization of nanocarriers in pulmonary delivery of antifungal agents for the treatment of PA. In addition, discussions on formulation aspects and safety concerns together with the clinical and regulatory aspects of the formulations are presented, which suggest the possibility and desirability of utilization of nanocarriers in the treatment of PA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of antibiotic resistance has led to suboptimal treatment outcomes for Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP). Exploring naturally occurring drug components that are both effective against MPP and non-toxic may be a promising choice. This study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effect of andrographolide nanoparticles on pneumonia caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection. Andrographolide alginate-poloxamer nanoparticles (AND-ALG-POL/NPs) were obtained by wet medium grinding, and the characterization and in vitro release of the prepared andrographolide nanoparticles were examined by high performance liquid chromatography, particle size analyzer, zeta potential meter and transmission electron microscopy. The cytotoxicity and anti-inflammatory effects of AND-ALG-POL/NPs were evaluated in vitro by MP-infected lung epithelial cells BEAS-2B. Symptoms of pneumonia, total cell count, total protein content and inflammatory factor levels in BALF were assessed by MP-induced pneumonia in BALB/c mice treated with AND-ALG-POL/NPs, and histopathological studies were performed on lung tissues from experimental animals. The results showed that the prepared AND-ALG-POL/NPs were homogeneous spherical with a diameter of 180 ± 23 nm, a zeta potential of (−14.4 ± 2.1) mV, an average encapsulation rate of 87.74 ± 0.87 %, and an average drug loading of 13.17 ± 0.54 %. AND-ALG-POL/NPs were capable of slow release in vitro and showed significant inhibitory ability against MP (P < 0.001). However, AND-ALG-POL/NPs were not cytotoxic to normal cells and alleviated MP infection-induced apoptosis and elevated inflammatory factors. In the in vivo experiments, AND-ALG-POL/NPs alleviated the symptoms of pneumonia in MPP mice, reduced the abnormally elevated total cell count, total protein content and inflammatory factor levels in BALF, and alleviated lung tissue edema, inflammatory cell infiltration and apoptosis (P < 0.001). Meanwhile, the therapeutic effects of AND-ALG-POL/NPs on MPP were similar to those of azithromycin (AZM) and higher than those of andrographolide (AND) free monotherapy (P < 0.001). In summary, the prepared AND-ALG-POL/NPs can effectively inhibit MPP in vitro and in vivo , and the effect is similar to that of AZM. Therefore, AND- ALG - POL/NPs have the potential to replace AZM as a potential drug for the treatment of MPP. [Display omitted] • Andrographolide nanoparticles promote sustained release of Andrographolide. • Andrographolide nanoparticles exhibit superior efficacy compared to free Andrographolide. • Andrographolide nanoparticles can serve as an alternative to azithromycin for treating Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are widely prescribed for gastroesophageal reflux disease and peptic ulcer disease. However, the association between the regular PPIs use and the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes remains unclear. We aimed to determine whether regular proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) use is associated with an altered incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the general population. This prospective cohort study included 459,207 participants (mean [SD] age, 56.2 [8.1] years) from the UK Biobank study without prevalent CVD who enrolled between 2006 and 2010 and were followed until 2018. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for incident CVD and its components (coronary heart disease [CHD], stroke, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and venous thromboembolism) were obtained using Cox proportional hazards models with adjustment for potential confounding factors, including demographic factors, lifestyle behaviors, prevalent comorbidities, and clinical indicators for PPIs use. During the follow-up period, we recorded 26,346 incident CVD events (including 13,749 CHD events, 4144 stroke events, 5812 atrial fibrillation events, 1159 heart failure events, and 4206 venous thromboembolism events). The fully adjusted HRs (and 95% CIs) associated with PPIs users compared to nonusers were 1.44 (95% CI 1.39–1.50) for incident CVD, 1.65 (95% CI 1.57–1.74) for CHD, 1.21 (95% CI 1.09–1.33) for stroke, 1.17 (95% CI 1.08–1.28) for atrial fibrillation, 1.61 (95% CI 1.37–1.89) for heart failure, and 1.36 (95% CI 1.24–1.50) for venous thromboembolism. Regular PPIs use was associated with higher risk of CVD outcomes. Clinicians should therefore exercise caution when prescribing PPIs. • (1) Regular PPIs use was significantly associated with higher risk of cardiovascular outcomes, including the incidence of CVD, CHD, stroke, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and venous thromboembolism. • (2) The adverse associations of PPIs use with incident CVD appeared to be somewhat stronger among participants <60 years old. (3) The present study substantially expands the knowledge about the associations between the regular PPIs use and cardiovascular outcomes in the general population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extra-abdominal desmoid tumor is a rare soft tissue tumor that is histologically benign, but may behave aggressively. This case report specifically describes the clinical, radiographic, and pathologic features of 27 year-old female who experienced a post-surgical recurrence of fibromatosis of the chest wall over a two-year period of time secondary to previous inadequate excision. The fibromatosis was found to be involving the lower-inner quadrant of her right breast and causing worsening pain. A surgical management strategy was successfully undertaken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A tactile position sensing system based on the sensing of acoustic waves and analyzing with artificial intelligence is proposed. The system comprises a thin steel plate with multiple piezoelectric transducers attached to the underside, to excite and detect Lamb waves (or plate waves). A data acquisition and control system synchronizes the wave excitation and detection and records the transducer signals. When the steel plate is touched by a finger, the waveform signals are perturbed by wave absorption and diffraction effects, and the corresponding changes in the output signal waveforms are sent to a convolutional neural network (CNN) model to predict the x- and y-coordinates of the finger contact position on the sensing surface. The CNN model is trained by using the experimental waveform data collected using an artificial finger carried by a three-axis motorized stage. The trained model is then used in a series of tactile sensing experiments performed using a human finger. The experimental results show that the proposed touch sensing system has an accuracy of more than 95%, a spatial resolution of 1 × 1 cm2, and a response time of 60 ms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]