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Primary hepatocellular carcinoma (PHC) is the sixth most common cancer and the third leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounts for 75%-85% of PHC. LARP3 is aberrantly expressed in multiple cancers. We found that it is significantly highly expressed in the liver cancer tissues of HCC patients, but the exact role and specific mechanism of this abnormal expression are not yet clear. In this study, through bioinformatics analysis, we concluded that LARP3 expression is associated with a poor prognosis for patients with HCC. Through cellular experiments such as gene editing and phenotypic functions, we found that LARP3 promotes the occurrence and development of HCC and inhibits apoptosis. Finally, through biological means such as RNA sequencing, flow cytometry, western blotting, and the construction of a subcutaneous tumorigenesis model in nude mice, we concluded that inhibition of HCC apoptosis by LARP3 is related to LARP3 negatively regulating ROS level and inhibiting the PI3K/c-Fos/apoptosis axis. This study will provide potential targets for the treatment of HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The practical application of AZIBs is hindered by problems such as dendrites and hydrogen evolution reactions caused by the thermodynamic instability of Zinc (Zn) metal. Modification of the Zn surface through interface engineering can effectively solve the above problems. Here, sulfonate‐derivatized graphene–boronene nanosheets (G&B‐S) composite interfacial layer is prepared to modulate the Zn plating/stripping and mitigates the side reactions with electrolyte through a simple and green electroplating method. Thanks to the electronegativity of the sulfonate groups, the G&B‐S interface promotes a dendrite‐free deposition behavior through a fast desolvation process and a uniform interfacial electric field mitigating the tip effect. Theoretical calculations and QCM‐D experiments confirmed the fast dynamic mechanism and excellent mechanical properties of the G&B‐S interfacial layer. By coupling the dynamics‐mechanics action, the G&B‐S@Zn symmetric battery is cycled for a long‐term of 1900 h at a high current density of 5 mA cm−2, with a low overpotential of ≈30 mV. Furthermore, when coupled with the LMO cathode, the LMO//G&B‐S@Zn cell also exhibits excellent performance, indicating the durability of the G&B‐S@Zn anode. Accordingly, this novel multifunctional interfacial layer offers a promising approach to significantly enhance the electrochemical performance of AZIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heterostructures with interfacial effects have exhibited great potential for improving the electrochemical kinetics of electrode materials. However, the application of heterostructures is hampered by complicated synthesis parameters and numerous single components. Herein, a multiple‐templating synthesis strategy is proposed to improve the interfacial effect of heterojunction composites, mitigate volume variation upon lithiation/de‐lithiation, and increase interfacial compatibility with poly‐oxyethylene‐based (PEO‐based) electrolytes. Benefiting from the structural and compositional superiorities, the novel NiS/SnO2/MOF (NSM) electrode achieves superior electrochemical performance with exceptional specific capacity, outstanding rate capability and ultralong cyclability. As a result of the compatibility between organic components and the porous properties of metal organic frameworks (MOFs), the NSM electrode exhibits greater interfacial compatibility with PEO‐based solid‐state electrolytes. This work not only describes a meticulous protocol for heterostructured high‐performance electrode materials, but also provides a new insight to enhance the connectivity between the interfaces of solid‐state batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Paeonia suffruticosa, known as 'Feng Dan', has been used for thousands of years in traditional Chinese medicine. In our chemical investigation on the root bark of the plant, five new phenolic dimers, namely, paeobenzofuranones A–E (1–5), were characterized. Their structures were determined using spectroscopic analysis including 1D and 2D NMR, HRESIMS, UV, and IR, as well as ECD calculations. Compounds 2, 4, and 5 showed cytotoxicity against three human cancer cell lines, with IC50 values ranging from 6.7 to 25.1 μM. Compounds 1 and 2 showed certain inhibitory activity on NO production. To the best of our knowledge, the benzofuranone dimers and their cytotoxicity of P. suffruticosa are reported for the first time in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coffee white stem borer, Xylotrechus quadripes Chevrolat (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), is a major destructive pest of Coffea arabica L. (Gentianales: Rubiaceae), widely planted in many Asian countries, including China. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) is a common method for quantitative analysis of gene transcription levels. To obtain accurate and reliable qRT-PCR results, it is necessary to select suitable reference genes to different experimental conditions for normalizing the target gene expression. However, the stability of the expression of reference genes in X. quadripes has rarely been studied. In this study, the expression stability of nine candidate reference genes were investigated under biotic and abiotic conditions for use in qRT-PCR's normalization. By integrating the results of four algorithms of NormFinder, BestKeeper, geNorm, and RefFinder, the optimal reference gene combinations in different experimental conditions were performed as follows: RPL10a and EIF3D were the optimal reference genes for developmental stage samples, EIF4E, RPL10a, and RPS27a for tissue samples, V-ATP and EF1α for the sex samples, EIF3D and V-ATP for temperature treatment, RPS27a and RPL10a for insecticide stress, and RPL10a, RPS27a, and EF1α for all the samples. This study will help to obtain the stable internal reference genes under biotic and abiotic conditions and lay the foundation for in-depth functional research of target genes or genomics on olfactory molecular mechanisms, temperature adaptability, and insecticide resistance in X. quadripes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cysteine-rich receptor-like kinases (CRKs) represent a large subfamily of receptor-like kinases and play vital roles in diverse physiological processes in regulating plant growth and development. Results: CaCRK5 transcripts were induced in pepper upon the infection of Ralstonia solanacearum and treatment with salicylic acid. The fusions between CaCRK5 and green fluorescence protein were targeted to the plasma membrane. Suppression of CaCRK5 via virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) made pepper plants significantly susceptible to R. solanacearum infection, which was accompanied with decreased expression of defense related genes CaPR1, CaSAR8.2, CaDEF1 and CaACO1. Overexpression of CaCRK5 increased resistance against R. solanacearum in Nicotiana benthamiana. Furthermore, electrophoretic mobility shift assay and chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled with quantitative real-time PCR analysis revealed that a homeodomain zipper I protein CaHDZ27 can active the expression of CaCRK5 through directly binding to its promoter. Yeast two-hybrid and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) analyses suggested that CaCRK5 heterodimerized with the homologous member CaCRK6 on the plasma membrane. Conclusions: Our data revealed that CaCRK5 played a positive role in regulating immune responses against R. solanacearum infection in pepper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF) was prepared using the cooperative effects of N,N-dipropylformamide and n-butylamine. ATN-[Zn(Im)2] is the first known example of a ZIF exhibiting a zeolitic ATN topology, which shows the flexible behavior of the framework. In addition, a known porous ZIF with a nog topology was obtained when using n-butylamine as the sole solvent, which suggests that a single organic amine can act as a template molecule for the synthesis of porous ZIFs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the optimal combination of monochromatic images derived from dual-energy CT (DECT) in calculating the stopping power ratio (SPR) of human tissues. Monochromatic CT numbers ranging from 40 keV to 140 keV (in intervals of 10 keV) for 34 standard human tissues were theoretically computed based on the NIST database. These values were then paired, resulting in 55 different dual-energy combinations for calculating the stopping power ratio (SPR). The combinations adhered to the rule of a lower energy (E low) paired with a higher X-ray energy (E high). Subsequently, each energy combination was utilized to predict the SPR of human tissues, and the accuracy of each pairing was assessed. Additionally, an analysis of the impact of uncertainty in the attenuation coefficient was conducted. When E low is ≤ 70 keV, an optimal energy combination emerges. These optimal energy combinations within the 40 keV, 50 keV, 60 keV, and 70 keV groups are 40–100 keV, 50–90 keV, 60–80 keV, and 70–80 keV, respectively, with corresponding mean absolute errors (MAE) of SPR at 0.12%, 0.11%, 0.12%, and 0.15%, respectively. The impact of attenuation coefficient uncertainty on these findings is minimal; even with a 1–2% uncertainty, the maximum change in MAE for SPR error is only 0.04%. Dual-energy CT utilizing energy pairs within the low energy range (40–70 keV) exhibits greater advantages in predicting the stopping power ratio of human tissues. In our investigation, the four energy combinations—40-100 keV, 50–90 keV, 60–80 keV, and 70-80 keV—demonstrated the highest accuracy in predicting SPR. • Reconstructed monochromatic CT numbers of materials using NIST database. • There is optimal energy combination when predicting the proton range by DECT. • 40–100 keV, 50–90 keV, 60–80 keV and 70–80 keV have the best SPR prediction accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eight new ent -kaurane diterpene fatty acid esters, namely caffarolides A–H ( 1 – 8 ), were isolated from green beans of Coffea arabica . Their chemical structures were confirmed by extensive spectroscopic analysis including 1D, 2D NMR (HSQC, HMBC, 1 H– 1 H COSY, and ROESY), HRMS, IR and CD spectra and by GC-FID analysis. Interestingly, the diterpene moiety of these new compounds first occurred in genus Coffea . All the isolates were evaluated for platelet aggregation activity in vitro . As the results, caffarolides C, D and F ( 3 , 4 and 6 ) showed induction effect for platelet aggregation and the possible structure-activity relationships have been discussed briefly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Longitudinal hemodynamic assessment of intracranial aneurysms (IAs) with endovascular treatment is essential for clinical decision making. We proposed a hemodynamic simulation method to explore the hemodynamic characteristics of a certain growth process of IA with virtual Silk stent implantation. Eight growth point models of IA were created by applying a bidirectional linear growing algorithm on patient 3D rotational angiography images. Simulated experiments showed that the WSS and velocity were significantly decreased with virtual Silk stent implantation at all growth points considered. The simulations revealed the flow pattern and WSS characteristics of IA growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been reported to involve in diverse biological processes, including tumor immunity. Since lncRNAs are expressed with high cell-type specificity, investigation of lncRNAs at the single-cell level will unveil the cell-type-specific functions of lncRNAs. However, at the single-cell level, a systematic pan-cancer analysis of lncRNA functions in tumor immune microenvironments (TIMEs) remains lacking. Here, we performed pan-cancer single-cell profiling of lncRNA functions in TIMEs and developed a tool, scLNC, tailored for lncRNA functional characterization at the single-cell level. scLNC enabled the comparison of lncRNA function from the levels of lncRNA-mRNA pairs, lncRNA regulatory unit activity and unit function in a cell-type-specific manner. Applying scLNC, our analysis depicted the cross-tumor and tumor-specific lncRNA regulatory profiles in the T cell subtypes and revealed the new regulatory units that lncRNAs established in tumor-infiltrating T cells, particularly in the tumor-enriched T cells. We further characterized the activity and functional alternations of lncRNAs through their regulatory units. Overall, our findings suggested that lncRNAs played an important role in the regulation of cytokine production, cell activation and migration in tumor-enriched T cells and further in immunotherapy. • Developed a tool, scLNC, specifically designed for the lncRNA regulatory network at the single-cell level. • Pan-cancer analysis of lncRNA functions in tumor-infiltrating T cells at the single-cell level. • LncRNAs established new regulatory units in tumor-infiltrating T cells, particularly in the tumor-enriched T cells. • Unveiled the activity and functional alternations of lncRNAs through their regulatory units in tumor-infiltrating T cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Self-expandable metallic stents (SEMSs) can be used to treat esophageal stricture after circumferential endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD), but its efficacy and placement timing remain to be determined. In this study, the treatment time and number of dilatations were compared between the SEMS placement group and the balloon dilatation (BD) group to clarify the efficacy and placement time of SEMSs in the treatment of esophageal stricture after circumferential esophageal ESD. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study. Patients with esophageal stricture after circumferential ESD between January 2015 and January 2020 were included. Data on the patients' demographic characteristics, esophageal lesion-related factors, esophageal stricture occurrence, and measures taken to treat the stricture were collected. The primary outcome was the treatment time, and the secondary outcome was the number of dilatations. Results: The total number of dilatations was 30 in the SEMS group and 106 in the BD group. The average number of dilatations in the SEMS group (1.76 ± 1.64) was significantly lower than that in the BD group (4.42 ± 5.32) (P = 0.016). Among the patients who underwent SEMS placement first had a shorter treatment time (average 119 days) than those who underwent BD first (average 245 days) (P = 0.041), and the average number of dilatations inpatients who underwent SEMS placement first (0.71 ± 1.07) was significantly lower than that in the patients who underwent BD first (2.5 ± 1.54). Conclusion: SEMSs were more efficient in the treatment of esophageal stricture in a cohort of patients after circumferential esophageal ESD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A series of ZIF-302 derivatives with adjustable cage sizes have been synthesized by adjusting the ratio between the small-sized mIm and large-sized mbIm links. • The butanol and acetone separation performance of ZIF-302 derivatives showed opposite and complementary selectivity toward butanol and acetone. • ZIF-302-S2 with small ellipsoidal cages exhibited the very unusual adsorption of short-chain acetone from long-chain butanol based on length exclusion separation. Most adsorbents have been developed for the separation of fermentation-derived butanol/acetone mixtures based on a thermodynamic mechanism. Butanol (8.4 Å × 5.5 Å) and acetone (6.4 Å × 5.8 Å) have similar molecular diameters, but different chain lengths. Thus, the objective of this work was to prepare and screen adsorbents for the separation of acetone/butanol mixtures based on a length exclusion mechanism. A number of ZIF-302 derivatives with adjustable cage sizes have been synthesized by adjusting the ratio between the small-sized mIm and large-sized mbIm links. The butanol and acetone separation performance of ZIF-302 derivatives was evaluated using static adsorption and dynamic column adsorption, which showed opposite selectivity. The ZIF-302-S4 adsorbent with large cages (9.6 Å × 6.6 Å) preferentially adsorbed long-chain butanol over short-chain acetone based on thermodynamic separation. By gradually increasing the proportion of the large-sized ligand in the ZIF-302 framework, the long axis size of the ellipsoidal cage was precisely adjusted and the corresponding ZIF-302-S2 adsorbent with small cages (6.5 Å × 6.6 Å) operated in an opposite way and preferentially adsorbed short-chain acetone over long-chain butanol based on length exclusion separation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT We demonstrate a semi-analytical parameter extraction method to characterize high-speed and high-photocurrent InP-based uni-traveling-carrier photodiodes with dipole-doped structure. The accuracy of proposed method has been validated with good agreements between the measured and simulated results of reflection coefficients and frequency responses in a wide frequency range up to 40 GHz. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 58:2156-2162, 2016 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To provide comprehensive data on the diagnosis and treatment of autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) patients in China. Design: A systematic review. Methods: All clinical studies concerning AIP from China published between January 2006 and June 2014 were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed. Results: A total of 26 original articles involving 706 AIP patients were included with an estimated proportion of type 2 AIP as 4.7%. In the 706 AIP patients, the range of mean/median age was 48.6–67.0 years old and the male to female ratio was 4.47:1. The common presentations included obstructive jaundice (pooled rate: 63.4%, 95%CI: 55.4%–71.0%) and abdominal symptoms (pooled rate: 62.3%, 95%CI: 52.4%–71.7%). Biliary involvement was the most common extrapancreatic manifestations, especially the lower part of the common bile duct (pooled rate: 62.3%, 95%CI: 49.9%–73.9%). According to the imaging examinations, 53.8% and 41.6% patients were classified into focal-type and diffuse-type, respectively. Notably, upstream pancreatic duct dilatation was found in parts of patients (pooled rate: 13.8%, 95%CI: 6.6%–23.1%). The levels of serum IgG4 were elevated in most patients (pooled rate: 86.0%, 95%CI: 74.2%–94.6%). Nearly three tenths AIP patients received surgery (pooled rate: 29.7%, 95%CI: 18.1%–42.8%) due to mimicked malignancy. Steroid treatment was given to 78.4% patients (95%CI: 65.3%–89.1%) with a pooled remission rate of 96.2% (95%CI: 94.0%–97.9%). The pooled relapse rate was 13.8% (95%CI: 7.2%–22.0%) with the mean follow-up time ranging from 12 to 45 months. Conclusion: Type 1 is the predominant type of Chinese AIP patients and the clinical features, diagnostic modalities and therapeutic regimen were similar with those in other countries. Knowledge of AIP should be more widespread to avoid unnecessary surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Methods Results Conclusions To evaluate the effects of endoscopic radiofrequency ablation (RFA) on proton pump inhibitor (PPI)‐dependent gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in a Chinese population, and to explore the factors associated with favorable efficacy.A multicenter, single‐armed prospective cohort study was conducted. PPI‐dependent GERD patients were enrolled and underwent RFA. The primary outcome was improvement of GERD health‐related quality of life (GERD‐HRQL). Secondary outcomes were symptom improvement, satisfaction, PPI use, and the indicators of 24‐h pH‐impedance monitoring. A nomogram to predict complete remission was constructed.In total, 66 patients were included. The GERD‐HRQL score was significantly reduced at the 3 month (mean difference, 14.7 [12.6–16.9]), 6 month (mean difference, 15.9 [13.8–18.1]), 12 month (mean difference, 16.7 [14.4–18.9]), 24 month (mean difference, 18.4 [16.2–20.1]), 36 month (mean difference, 18.2 [16.3–20.4]), and 48 month follow‐up (mean difference, 16.1 [14.2–18.3]), all P < 0.001. The esophageal and extra‐esophageal symptom scores were all significantly decreased. The proportion of satisfaction and no PPI use were significantly higher. With regard to the indicators of 24‐h pH‐impedance monitoring, acid exposure time (AET), and DeMeester score, but not lower esophageal sphincter (LES) pressure, decreased significantly at the 12 month follow‐up. A nomogram based on age, body mass index (BMI), baseline AET, and LES pressure was then constructed and showed good discrimination in the prediction of complete remission following RFA.This study demonstrated that RFA improved life quality as well as symptoms in PPI‐dependent GERD patients in a Chinese population. Younger age, higher BMI, lower baseline AET, and higher baseline LES pressure indicate favorable efficacy of RFA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diaphania caesalis (Walker) is an important boring insect mainly distributed in subtropical and tropical areas and attacked tropical woody grain crops, such as starchy plants of Artocarpus. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) is a powerful approach for investigating target genes expression profiles at the transcriptional level. However, the identification and selection of internal reference genes, which is often overlooked, is the most vital step before the analysis of target gene expression by qRT-PCR. So far, the reliable internal reference genes under a certain condition of D. caesalis have not been investigated. Therefore, this study evaluated the expression stability of eight candidate reference genes including ACT, β-TUB, GAPDH, G6PDH, RPS3a, RPL13a, EF1α, and EIF4A in different developmental stages, tissues and sexes using geNorm, NormFinder and BestKeeper algorithms. To verify the stability of the recommended internal reference genes, the expression levels of Dcae OBP5 were analyzed under different treatment conditions. The results indicated that ACT, RPL13a, β-TUB, RPS3a, and EF1α were identified as the most stable reference genes for further studies on target gene expression involving different developmental stages of D. caesalis. And ACT and EIF4A were recommended as stable reference genes for different tissues. Furthermore, ACT, EF1α, and RPS3a were ranked as the best reference genes in different sexes based on three algorithms. Our research represents the critical first step to normalize qRT-PCR data and ensure the accuracy of expression of target genes involved in phylogenetic and physiological mechanism at the transcriptional level in D. caesalia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Helopeltis theivora Waterhouse is a predominant sucking pest in many tropic economic crops, such as tea, cocoa and coffee. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) is one of the most powerful tools to analyze the gene expression level and investigate the mechanism of insect physiology at transcriptional level. Gene expression studies utilizing qRT-PCR have been applied to numerous insects so far. However, no universal reference genes could be used for H. theivora. To obtain accurate and reliable normalized data in H. theivora, twelve candidate reference genes were examined under different tissues, developmental stages and sexes by using geNorm, NormFinder, BestKeeper, Delta Ct and RefFinder algorithms, respectively. The results revealed that the ideal reference genes differed across the treatments, and the consensus rankings generated from stability values provided by these programs suggested a combination of two genes for normalization. To be specific, RPS3A and Actin were the best suitable reference genes for tissues, RPL13A and GAPDH were suitable for developmental stages, EF1α and RPL13A were suitable for sexes, and RPL13A and RPS3A were suitable for all samples. This study represents the first systematic analysis of reference genes for qRT-PCR experiments in H. theivora, and the results can provide a credible normalization for qRT-PCR data, facilitating transcript profiling studies of functional genes in this insect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High temperature stress (HTS) is a serious threat to plant growth and development and to crop production in the context of global warming, and plant response to HTS is largely regulated at the transcriptional level by the actions of various transcription factors (TFs). However, whether and how homeodomain-leucine zipper (HD-Zip) TFs are involved in thermotolerance are unclear. Herein, we functionally characterized a pepper (Capsicum annuum) HD-Zip I TF CaHDZ15. CaHDZ15 expression was upregulated by HTS and abscisic acid in basal thermotolerance via loss- and gain-of-function assays by virus-induced gene silencing in pepper and overexpression in Nicotiana benthamiana plants. CaHDZ15 acted positively in pepper basal thermotolerance by directly targeting and activating HEAT SHOCK FACTORA6a (HSFA6a), which further activated CaHSFA2. In addition, CaHDZ15 interacted with HEAT SHOCK PROTEIN 70-2 (CaHsp70-2) and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase1 (CaGAPC1), both of which positively affected pepper thermotolerance. CaHsp70-2 and CaGAPC1 promoted CaHDZ15 binding to the promoter of CaHSFA6a, thus enhancing its transcription. Furthermore, CaHDZ15 and CaGAPC1 were protected from 26S proteasome-mediated degradation by CaHsp70-2 via physical interaction. These results collectively indicate that CaHDZ15, modulated by the interacting partners CaGAPC1 and CaHsp70-2, promotes basal thermotolerance by directly activating the transcript of CaHSFA6a. Thus, a molecular linkage is established among CaHsp70-2, CaGAPC1, and CaHDZ15 to transcriptionally modulate CaHSFA6a in pepper thermotolerance. The transcription factor CaHDZ15, modulated by cytoplasmic glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase1 and heat shock protein 70–2, promotes pepper thermotolerance by activating HEAT SHOCK FACTORA6a. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Early diagnosis of gastric cancer is difficult in China due to the lack of a valid method for endoscopic screening. Early gastric cancer, especially flat gastric cancer, lacks specific endoscopic features. Many cases appear to be similar to ordinary gastritis cases under normal white light endoscopy, which can lead to misdiagnosis. Aims: In order to find a new method to improve detection rate of early gastric cancer in China, we designed a trial to validate linked color imaging (LCI) for screening of early gastric cancer in a high-risk population, as compared to white light imaging (WLI). Method: Subjects were randomly allocated to either the LCI + WLI or WLI group and then subjected to gastroscopy and all endoscopies were made after special preparation. All endoscopists had knowledge of this experiment. The main indicator was the rate of detection of gastric neoplastic lesions. The difference in the detection rate between the two groups is reported. Results: The detection rate was 4.31% in the WLI group and 8.01% in the LCI + WLI group. This is a difference of 3.70% with a P value < 0.001 and an OR (95% CI) of 1.934 (1.362, 2.746). The lower limit of the 95% CI was greater than 0, and the superiority margin was 1%. Conclusion: The detection rate of gastric neoplastic lesions was higher in the LCI + WLI group than in the WLI group, LCI might be an effective method for screening early gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei (Ferrari) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is a major destructive insect pest of coffee, which impacts the coffee crops negatively. As a draft genome has been completed for this insect, most molecular studies on gene transcriptional levels under different experimental conditions will be conducted using real-time reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reactions (RT-qPCR). However, the lack of suitable internal reference genes will affect the accuracy of RT-qPCR results. In this study, the expression stability of nine candidate reference genes was evaluated under different developmental stages, temperature stress, and Beauveria bassiana infection. Data analyses were completed by four commonly used programs, BestKeeper, NormFinder, geNorm, and RefFinder. The result showed that RPL3 and EF1α combination were recommended as the most stable reference genes for developmental stages. EF1α and RPS3a combination were the top two stable reference genes for B. bassiana infection. RPS3a and RPL3 combination performed as the optimal reference genes both in temperature stress and all samples. Our results should provide a good foundation for the expression profile analyses of target genes in the future, especially for molecular studies on insect genetic development, temperature adaptability, and immune mechanism to entomogenous fungi in H. hampei. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Endoscopic transmural drainage has been recognized as the first‐line treatment for pancreatic fluid collection (PFC). Currently, three different types of stents have been extensively applied, including double pigtail plastic stent (PS), fully covered self‐expanding metal stent (FCSEMS), and novel lumen‐apposing metal stent (LAMS). Nonetheless, limited data are available about the comparison among them in terms of their clinical outcomes and safety for endoscopic ultrasound‐guided drainage of PFC. Methods: The current retrospective study was carried on 160 PFC patients undergoing endoscopic ultrasound‐guided drainage from 2010 to 2018 at a single tertiary care center. Patients were divided into three groups based on different drainage ways: drainage using PS, FCSEMS, or LAMS. Results: A total of 160 PFC patients (104 male and 56 female) were analyzed in this retrospective study, including 62 patients drained with PS, 28 with FCSEMS, and 70 with LAMS. Typically, the technical success (93.5% vs 96.4% vs 94.3%, P = 1.000) and treatment success rates (84.6% vs 85.2% vs 89.2%, P = 0.763) were similar between PS, FCSEMS, and LAMS. With regard to major adverse events, four patients (FCSEMS: n = 2 and LAMS: n = 2) with pseudoaneurysms developed severe bleeding; among them, 75% (3/4) of patients were observed within 2 weeks after intervention, and two patients in LAMS group died. Conclusions: There are no significant differences in the clinical outcomes of PFC patients treated with PS, FCSEMS, or LAMS. Nonetheless, severe (or even fatal) bleeding may occur at the early stage after metal stent placement, which should be paid particular attention to. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deficient apoptosis of activated T cells can result in immunological disorders. Molecules associated with energy and metabolisms are suggested to be involved in pathogenesis of immune diseases, but remain uninvestigated. In the present study we reported that glibenclamide exerted a new pharmacological effect on inflammatory responses by selectively triggering apoptosis of activated T cells. Glibenclamide demonstrated an inhibition on activated T lymphocytes, whereas showed no toxicity in the naive cells. This effect was mainly related with its ability to facilitate apoptosis in activated T cells with an up-regulation of cleaved-caspases and cleaved-PARP. Glibenclamide enhanced Fas expression and suppressed the expression of antiapoptotic cellular FLICE-inhibitory protein. The underlying mechanism of glibenclamide was not associated with its classical inhibitory effect on ATP-sensitive potassium channels, but due to a unique suppression on the phosphorylation of 5′ adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase, which was augmented during T cell activation. An in vivo experiment further demonstrated that glibenclamide ameliorated T-cell-mediated contact hypersensitivity in mice. Altogether, these results suggest that AMPK inhibition by glibenclamide can regulate the survival and death of T lymphocytes and be beneficial for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress has emerged as a vital contributor to dysregulated glucose homeostasis, and impaired function of sarco-endoplasmic reticulum Ca 2+ -ATPase 2b (SERCA2b) is one of the central mechanisms underlying ER stress. In this study, we reported that SERCA2b upregulation contributed to the amelioration of ER stress and insulin resistance by a small natural compound jaceosidin. In a model of differentiated C2C12 myotubes, jaceosidin-triggered SERCA2b upregulation enhanced insulin sensitivity and decreased ER stress. Moreover, the activity of Ca 2+ -ATPase in thapsigargin-treated myotubes was also augmented by jaceosidin. Furthermore, jaceosidin significantly suppressed blood glucose levels, improved glucose tolerance and lowered body weight, but did not alter food intake in insulin-resistant obese mice. In addition, this compound markedly reduced lipid accumulation, suppressed the expression of lipogenic genes in liver and ameliorated liver injury. The ameliorative effects of jaceosidin were due to its ability to reduce ER stress via increasing the expression of SERCA2b in the muscles of obese mice. Taken together, jaceosidin could improve ER stress and attenuate insulin resistance via SERCA2b upregulation in mice skeletal muscles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manual image segmentation consumes time. An automatic and accurate method to segment multimodal brain tumors using context information rich three-dimensional medical images that can be used for clinical treatment decisions and surgical planning is required. However, it is a challenge to use deep learning to achieve accurate segmentation of medical images due to the diversity of tumors and the complex boundary interactions between sub-regions while limited computing resources hinder the construction of efficient neural networks. We propose a feature fusion module based on a hierarchical decoupling convolution network and an attention mechanism to improve the performance of network segmentation. We replaced the skip connections of U-shaped networks with a feature fusion module to solve the category imbalance problem, thus contributing to the segmentation of more complicated medical images. We introduced a global attention mechanism to further integrate the features learned by the encoder and explore the context information. The proposed method was evaluated for enhance tumor, whole tumor, and tumor core, achieving Dice similarity coefficient metrics of 0.775, 0.900, and 0.827, respectively, on the BraTS 2019 dataset and 0.800, 0.902, and 0.841, respectively on the BraTS 2018 dataset. The results show that our proposed method is inherently general and is a powerful tool for brain tumor image studies. Our code is available at: https://github.com/WSake/Feature-interaction-network-based-on-Hierarchical-Decoupled-Convolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aberrant proliferation of fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) significantly contributes to excessive synovial hyperplasia and joint deformity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It has been observed that the membrane iron transporter protein, ferroportin (FPN), is commonly downregulated in tumor cells, while its overexpression can inhibit tumor cell proliferation. However, limited studies have investigated the role of iron in the pathogenesis of RA. In this study, we examined the functional relevance of FPN in RA. The expression of FPN in RA tissue specimens and primary cells was assessed using western blotting and RT-PCR. An adjuvant-induced arthritis (AIA) rat model was established to further validate the expression level of FPN. Phenotypic analysis of FLS cell proliferation was performed via CCK-8, clonogenic formation, and cell scratch assays. The involvement of membrane iron transporter proteins was analyzed through RNAseq and reactive oxygen species (ROS) detection. The results demonstrated decreased expression of FPN in the synovial tissue of RA patients compared to the normal group. Overexpression of FPN can inhibit RA-FLS proliferation and migration by suppressing the PI3K/AKT pathway, and this effect is associated with the elevation of ROS levels. Our findings suggest that the downregulation of FPN may contribute to the pathogenesis of RA, indicating a potential role of iron dysregulation in this disease, and FPN regulates the proliferation and migration of FLS by promoting the levels of ROS in FLS as well as suppressing the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. These results suggest that FPN could be a potential target for alleviating joint damage in RA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

No fully validated risk-stratification strategies have been established in China where colonoscopies resources are limited. We aimed to develop and validate a fecal immunochemical test (FIT)-based risk-stratification model for colorectal neoplasia (CN); 10,164 individuals were recruited from 175 centers nationwide and were randomly allocated to the derivation (n = 6776) or validation cohort (n = 3388). Multivariate logistic analyses were performed to develop the National Colorectal Polyp Care (NCPC) score, which formed the risk-stratification model along with FIT. The NCPC score was developed from eight independent predicting factors and divided into three levels: low risk (LR 0–14), intermediate risk (IR 15–17), and high risk (HR 18–28). Individuals with IR or HR of NCPC score or FIT+ were classified as increased-risk individuals in the risk-stratification model and were recommended for colonoscopy. The IR/HR of NCPC score showed a higher prevalence of CNs (21.8%/32.8% vs. 11.0%, P < 0.001) and ACNs (4.3%/9.2% vs. 2.0%, P < 0.001) than LR, which was also confirmed in the validation cohort. Similar relative risks and predictive performances were demonstrated between non-specific gastrointestinal symptoms (NSGS) and asymptomatic cohort. The risk-stratification model identified 73.5% CN, 82.6% ACN, and 93.6% CRC when guiding 52.7% individuals to receive colonoscopy and identified 55.8% early-onset ACNs and 72.7% early-onset CRCs with only 25.6% young individuals receiving colonoscopy. The risk-stratification model showed a good risk-stratification ability for CN and early-onset CRCs in Chinese population, including individuals with NSGS and young age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent researches have shown that the texture descriptor local tri‐directional patterns (LTriDP) performs well in many recognition tasks. However, LTriDP cannot effectively describe the structure of palm lines, which results in poor palmprint recognition. To overcome this issue, this work proposes a modified version of LTriDP, called line feature local tri‐directional patterns (LFLTriDP), which takes into account the texture features of the palmprint. First, since palmprints contain rich lines, the line features of palmprint images, including orientation and magnitude, are extracted. The line features are more robust to variations compared to the original grayscale values. Then, the directional features are encoded as tri‐directional patterns. The tri‐directional patterns reflect the direction changes in the local area. Finally, the LFLTriDP features are constructed by the tri‐directional patterns, orientation and magnitude features. The LFLTriDP features effectively describe the structure of palm lines. Considering that most palm lines are curved, we use the concavity as supplementary information. The concavity of each pixel is obtained using the Banana filter and all pixels are grouped into two categories. The LFLTriDP features are refined to generate two feature vectors by the concavity to enhance the discriminability. The matching scores of the two feature vectors are weighted differently in the matching stage to reduce intra‐class distance and increase inter‐class distance. Experiments on PolyU, PolyU Multi‐spectral, Tongji, CASIA and IITD palmprint databases show that LFLTriDP achieves promising recognition performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Azadirachtin as a kind of botanical insecticide has been widely used in pest control. We previously reported that azadirachtin could induce apoptosis of Spodoptera litura cultured cell line Sl-1, which involves in the up-regulation of P53 protein. However, the detailed mechanism of azadirachtin-induced apoptosis is not clearly understood in insect cultured cells. The aim of the present study was to address the involvement of lysosome and lysosomal protease in azadirachtin-induced apoptosis in Sf9 cells. The result confirmed that azadirachtin indeed inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis. The lysosomes were divided into different types as time-dependent manner, which suggested that changes of lysosomes were necessarily physiological processes in azadirachtin-induced apoptosis in Sf9 cells. Interestingly, we noticed that azadirachtin could trigger lysosomal membrane permeabilization and cathepsin L releasing to cytosol. Z-FF-FMK (a cathepsin L inhibitor), but not CA-074me (a cathepsin B inhibitor), could effectively hinder the apoptosis induced by azadirachtin in Sf9 cells. Meanwhile, the activity of caspase-3 could also be inactivated by the inhibition of cathepsin L enzymatic activity induced by Z-FF-FMK. Taken together, our findings suggest that azadirachtin could induce apoptosis in Sf9 cells in a lysosomal pathway, and cathepsin L plays a pro-apoptosis role in this process through releasing to cytosol and activating caspase-3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metallic lithium is considered to be the potential anode for high energy density rechargeable Li batteries. Yet the growth of lithium dendrites impedes the industrial production of lithium metal batteries. Herein, we fabricate a dendrite-suppressed composite Li metal anode via introducing Ag particles as lithiophilic layer on the 3D copper foam (Cu-Ag). The Li ion prefers deposit on the surface of Cu-Ag foam, which is beneficial to the better adsorption of the Cu-Ag hierarchical heterojunction structure by the first-principles calculations. The heterojunction structure can further reduce the nucleation overpotential and surface current density of the composite Cu-Ag-Li anode to realize the homogeneous Li distribution for stable Li deposited/stripped. Thus, the Cu-Ag-Li composite electrode (CAL) presents better electrochemical performance in the symmetric battery and excellent rate performance in the full cell with a greatly enhanced capacity retention of 83% after 500 cycles. This strategy presents a general approach to suppress the growth of lithium dendrites and regulate the volume changes for long-life span lithium metal batteries. An advanced lithiophilic Ag particle decorates on the surface of Cu foam by a facile chemical displacement reaction, which can possess a high reversible capacity retention and long-term cycles. [Display omitted] • An advanced lithiophilic Ag particles decorate Cu foam by a facile chemical displacement reaction. • The Cu-Ag heterojunction structure benefits to a uniform lithium nucleation and deposition in the confined space. • The composite Li electrode can cycle without dendrite growth or volume change. • The composite Li can match LiFePO 4 cathodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Inflammation has been considered to be central to the onset, progression, and outcome of infectious diseases, especially as one of the hallmarks of cancer. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), such as miRNAs and lncRNAs, have emerged as vital regulators in control of immune and inflammatory processes, and also play important roles in the inflammatory disease and immunotherapy. Results: In this study, we presented a database ncRI, which documented experimentally verified ncRNAs in inflammatory diseases, from published articles. Each entry contained the detailed information about ncRNA name, inflammatory diseases, mechanism, experimental techniques (e.g., microarray, RNA-seq, qRT-PCR), experimental samples (cell line and/or tissue), expression patterns of ncRNA (up-regulated or down-regulated), reference information (PubMed ID, year of publication, title of paper) and so on. Collectively, ncRI recorded 11,166 entries that include 1976 miRNAs, 1377 lncRNAs and 107 other ncRNAs across 3 species (human, mouse, and rat) from more than 2000 articles. All these data are free for users to search, browse and download. Conclusion: In summary, the presented database ncRI provides a relatively comprehensive credible repository about ncRNAs and their roles in inflammatory diseases, and will be helpful for research on immunotherapy. The ncRI is now freely available to all users at . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drug repositioning has become a prevailing tactic as this strategy is efficient, economical and low risk for drug discovery. Meanwhile, recent studies have confirmed that small-molecule drugs can modulate the expression of disease-related miRNAs, which indicates that miRNAs are promising therapeutic targets for complex diseases. In this study, we put forward and verified the hypothesis that drugs with similar miRNA profiles may share similar therapeutic properties. Furthermore, a comprehensive drug–drug interaction network was constructed based on curated drug-miRNA associations. Through random network comparison, topological structure analysis and network module extraction, we found that the closely linked drugs in the network tend to treat the same diseases. Additionally, the curated drug–disease relationships (from the CTD) and random walk with restarts algorithm were utilized on the drug–drug interaction network to identify the potential drugs for a given disease. Both internal validation (leave-one-out cross-validation) and external validation (independent drug–disease data set from the ChEMBL) demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Finally, by integrating drug-miRNA and miRNA-disease information, we also explain the modes of action of drugs in the view of miRNA regulation. In summary, our work could determine novel and credible drug indications and offer novel insights and valuable perspectives for drug repositioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Although carbon‐ion therapy is becoming increasingly attractive to the treatment of tumors, details about the ionization pattern formed by therapeutic carbon‐ion beam in tissue have not been fully investigated. In this work, systematic calculations for the nanodosimetric quantities and relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of a clinically relevant carbon‐ion beam were studied for the first time. Methods: The method combining both track structure and condensed history Monte Carlo (MC) simulations was adopted to calculate the nanodosimetric quantities. Fragments and energy spectra at different positions of the radiation field of a clinically relevant carbon‐ion pencil beam were generated by means of MC simulations in water. Nanodosimetric quantities such as mean ionization cluster size (M1), the first moment of conditional cluster size (M1C2), cumulative probability (F2), and conditional cumulative probability (F3C2) at these positions were then acquired based on the spectra and the pre‐calculated nanodosimetric database created by track structure MC simulations. What's more, a novel approach to calculate RBE based on the said nanodosimetric quantities was introduced. The RBE calculations were then conducted for the carbon‐ion beam at different water‐equivalent depths. Results: Lateral distributions at various water‐equivalent depths of both the nanodosimetric quantities and RBE values were obtained. The values of M1, M1C2, F2, and F3C2 were 1.49, 2.67, 0.30, and 0.38 at the plateau at the beam central axis and maximized at 2.79, 5.69, 0.47, and 0.68 at the depths around the Bragg peak, respectively. At a given depth, M1 and F2 decreased laterally with increasing the distance to the beam central axis while M1C2 and F3C2 remained nearly unchanged at first and then decreased except for M1C2 at the rising edge of the Bragg peak. The calculated RBE values were 1.07 at the plateau and 3.13 around the Bragg peak. Good agreement between the calculated RBE values and experimental data was obtained. Conclusions: Different nanodosimetric quantities feature the track structure of therapeutic carbon‐ion beam in different manners. Detailed ionization patterns generated by carbon‐ion beam could be characterized by nanodosimetric quantities. Moreover the combined method adopted in this work to calculate nanodosimetric quantities is not only valid but also convenient. Nanodosimetric quantities are significantly helpful for the RBE calculations in carbon‐ion therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the influence of magnetic fields on the microdosimetry of carbon‐ion beams and the scaling effect of tissue equivalent proportional counter (TEPC) defined as the change of energy deposition in a TEPC from that in a microscopic scale region of interest due to the presence of a magnetic field in combination with the TEPC larger physical dimensions. Methods: Geant4‐based Monte Carlo simulations were conducted to calculate the microdosimetric quantities for carbon‐ion beams with different initial energies (10–290 MeV/u) under magnetic fields of various strengths (0.5–3 T). The calculations were performed for a 1 μm spherical volume made of tissue, and for spherical TEPCs of 1 and 10 mm in diameter. Then, values of dose‐averaged lineal energy (yD) were acquired for the different scenarios to analyze the effect of magnetic fields on the microdosimetry of carbon‐ion beams and the scaling effect of TEPC. Results: The yD values and lineal energy spectra in the 1 μm spherical tissue volume for the scenarios without magnetic field and with magnetic fields of different strengths and directions remained nearly the same for the various energy carbon‐ion beams. However, compared with those of the 1 μm spherical tissue volume, an increase of of yD values and an obvious shift of the lineal energy spectra for the TEPCs of 1 and 10 mm in diameter under magnetic fields were found. Conclusions: The application of magnetic fields under 3 T has no significant influence on the microdosimetric results of carbon‐ion beams. However, there is definitely a scaling effect when using TEPC for microdosimetric study, which alters the reading of TEPC in the presence of magnetic fields. Novel methods to correct the reading of TEPC or scaling effect‐resistant microdosimetric measurement detectors are urgently needed to perform experimental microdosimetric studies under magnetic fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a large vapor chamber antigravity flat plate heat pipe (FPHP) for laptop cooling is proposed. Effects of heat source positions on temperature uniformity of the FPHP are studied experimentally. The temperature uniformity of the large vapor chamber antigravity FPHP is analyzed on the conditions of different heat source positions (six positions), different heat power inputs of 20 W, 30 W, 40 W, 50 W and different liquid filling ratios of 35%, 45%, 55%. The experimental results show that the standard deviation and the maximum temperature difference at the best filling rate 45% are lower than those of other filling rates, and the standard deviations are 1.2 ∘ C – 3 ∘ C , and the maximum temperature differences are 6.3 ∘ C – 9.6 ∘ C , which can meet the cooling requirement of the laptop. The best effective heat transport length in the FPHP is 0.094 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • A computational approach was developed to identify dysregulated lncRNA-involved FFLs in breast cancer subtypes. • We investigated the common and specific FFLs in breast cancer subtypes. • We identified the survival-associated FFLs and the potential drugs for breast cancer subtypes. Abstract Previous studies have demonstrated that transcription factor-miRNA-gene feed-forward loops (FFLs) played important roles in tumorigenesis. However, the lncRNA-involved FFLs have not been explored very well. Understanding the characteristics of lncRNA-involved FFLs in breast cancer subtypes may be a key question with clinical implications. In this study, we firstly constructed an integrated background regulatory network. Then, based on mRNA, miRNA, and lncRNA differential expression, we identified 147, 140, 284, 1031 dysregulated FFLs for luminal A, luminal B, HER2+ and basal-like subtype of breast cancer, respectively. Importantly, the known breast cancer-associated lncRNAs and miRNAs were enriched in the identified dysregulated FFLs. Through merging the dysregulated FFLs, we constructed the regulatory sub-network for each subtype. We found that all sub-networks were enriched in the well-known cancer-related pathways, such as ce ll cycle , pathways in cancer. Next, we also identified potential prognostic FFLs for subtypes of breast cancer, such as the hsa-miR-182-5p_JUN_XIST in basal-like subtype. Finally, we also discussed the potential application of inferring the candidate drugs for breast cancer treatment through modulating the lncRNA expression in the dysregulated FFLs. Collectively, this study elucidated the roles of lncRNA-involved FFLs in breast cancer subtypes, which could contribute to understanding breast cancer pathogenesis and improving the treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autophagy is a complex cellular digestion process involving multiple regulators. Compared to post-translational autophagy regulators, limited information is now available about transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulators such as transcription factors (TFs) and non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). In this study, we proposed a computational method to infer novel autophagy-associated TFs, micro RNAs (miRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) based on TFs and ncRNAs coordinated regulatory (TNCR) network. First, we constructed a comprehensive TNCR network, including 155 TFs, 681 miRNAs and 1332 lncRNAs. Next, we gathered the known autophagy-associated factors, including TFs, miRNAs and lncRNAs, from public data resources. Then, the random walk with restart (RWR) algorithm was conducted on the TNCR network by using the known autophagy-associated factors as seeds and novel autophagy regulators were finally prioritized. Leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) produced an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.889. In addition, functional analysis of the top 100 ranked regulators, including 55 TFs, 26 miRNAs and 19 lncRNAs, demonstrated that these regulators were significantly enriched in cell death related functions and had significant semantic similarity with autophagy-related Gene Ontology (GO) terms. Finally, extensive literature surveys demonstrated the credibility of the predicted autophagy regulators. In total, we presented a computational method to infer credible autophagy regulators of transcriptional factors and non-coding RNAs, which would improve the understanding of processes of autophagy and cell death and provide potential pharmacological targets to autophagy-related diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pathway enrichment analysis has been widely used to identify cancer risk pathways, and contributes to elucidating the mechanism of tumorigenesis. However, most of the existing approaches use the outdated pathway information and neglect the complex gene interactions in pathway. Here, we first reviewed the existing widely used pathway enrichment analysis approaches briefly, and then, we proposed a novel topology-based pathway enrichment analysis (TPEA) method, which integrated topological properties and global upstream/downstream positions of genes in pathways. We compared TPEA with four widely used pathway enrichment analysis tools, including database for annotation, visualization and integrated discovery (DAVID), gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), centrality-based pathway enrichment (CePa) and signaling pathway impact analysis (SPIA), through analyzing six gene expression profiles of three tumor types (colorectal cancer, thyroid cancer and endometrial cancer). As a result, we identified several well-known cancer risk pathways that could not be obtained by the existing tools, and the results of TPEA were more stable than that of the other tools in analyzing different data sets of the same cancer. Ultimately, we developed an R package to implement TPEA, which could online update KEGG pathway information and is available at the Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN): https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/TPEA/. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MR technique is prevalent for doctor to diagnose and assess glioblastomas which are the most lethal form of brain tumors. Although Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) has been applied in automatic brain tumor segmentation and is proved useful and efficient, traditional one-pathway CNN architecture with convolutional layers and max pooling layers has limited receptive fields representing the local context information. Such mindset in traditional CNN may dismiss useful global context information. In this paper, we design a two-pathway model with average and max pooling layers in different paths. Besides, 1 × 1 kernels are followed input layers to add the non-linearity dimensions of input data. Finally, we combine the CNN architecture with fully connected CRF(FCRF) as a mixture model to introduce the global context information to optimize prediction results. Our experiments proved that the mixture model improved segmentation and labeling accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the effect of equivalent uniform dose (EUD)-based optimization on radiotherapy planning for left-sided breast cancer after mastectomy. Twelve patients treated with left-sided breast cancer using volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) were retrospectively enrolled in this study. Four plans were generated for each patient. Plan A was optimized based on only physical parameters. EUD with α > 0 to organ at risk (OARs) was added in Plan B on the basis of Plan A; EUD with α < 0 to planning tumor volume (PTV) was added in Plan C on the basis of Plan A; EUD constraints were added for both OARs and PTV in Plan D. The quality of plans was evaluated in terms of V x (volume percent of PTV or OARs received xGy dose), D x (dose received by volume above x% of PTV or OARs), conformity index (CI), mean dose (D mean), maximum dose (D max) and minimum dose (D min). For PTV: Plan A vs. Plan B, the difference of D 2 and CI was statistically significant (P < 0.05); Plan A vs. Plan C, the differences in D 98 , D mean and HI were statistically significant (P < 0.05); Plan A vs. Plan D, differences in D 2 , D mean and HI were statistically significant (P < 0.05). For OARs: Plan A vs. Plan B, and Plan A vs. Plan D, the differences in V 5 , V 10 , V 20 , V 30 , D mean of the left lung and V 10 , V 20 , V 30 , D mean of the heart were statistically significant (P < 0.05), the differences in D mean of the thyroid and contralateral breast and the D 2 and D max of spinal cord and spinal cord planning risk volume (PRV) were statistically significant (P < 0.05); Plan A vs. Plan C, only the difference in D max of spinal cord was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Compared with DV condition, the dosimetric data with EUD-based optimization for OARs and PTV confer advantages in terms of the mean dose region of the left lung, heart, thyroid and contralateral (right) breast and the maximum dose of the spinal cord, and the improvement of the conformity and homogeneity of the target. • VMAT plans shows advantage in radiotherapy for left-sided breast cancer. • EUD-based VMAT optimization for left-sided breast cancer was studied firstly. • EUD optimization remedies the defects of DV function. • Results show conformity and homogeneity of target were promoted by using EUD. • OARs were protected based on the EUD optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ferrous sulfide produced by rust sulfuration in crude oil tank can cause accidents such as fire and explosion when exposed to air. It is quite difficult to determine the specific location of the sulfur corrosion products in crude oil tanks as well as to acquire for laboratory testing. Thus, ferrous sulfide with high spontaneous combustion activity is a good alternative for continuing the research of sulfur corrosion products. In this study, pyrophoric active ferrous sulfide sample was synthesized in laboratory. The synthetic sample was studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) combined with energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) and thermal analysis (TA), respectively. The tests indicated that the synthetic sample was amorphous flocculent agglomerate and the atomic ratio of Fe and S was 1:1 approximately, and the oxidative product was mainly Fe 2 O 3 . Non-isothermal calorimetric experiments were conducted with different heating rates. The reaction atmosphere was hypoxic with a 5:95% oxygen:nitrogen gas mix. Apparent activation energy was estimated based on iso-conversional methods. It would benefit for safety on petrochemical industries such as monitoring and early warning of fire and explosion of oil tanks caused by ferrous sulfide with the obtained parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional constipation (FC) is a common functional gastrointestinal disorder (FGID) with a higher prevalence in clinical practice. The primary brain regions involved in emotional arousal regulation, somatic, sensory and motor control processing have been identified with neuroimaging in FGID. It remains unclear how these factors interact to influence the baseline brain activity of patients with FC. In the current study, we combined resting-state fMRI (RS-fMRI) with Granger causality analysis (GCA) to investigate the causal interactions of the brain areas in 14 patients with FC and in 26 healthy controls (HC). Our data showed significant differences in baseline brain activities in a number of major brain regions implicated in emotional process modulation (i.e. dorsal anterior cingulate cortex–dACC, anterior insula–aINS, orbitofrontal cortex–OFC, hippocampus–HIPP), somatic and sensory processing, and motor control (i.e., supplementary motor area–SMA, precentral gyrus–PreCen) ( P < 0.05, FDR correction). The GCA results revealed stronger effective connectivity from the OFC and dACC, which are regions involved with emotional regulation, propel limbic regions at the aINS and HIPP to induce abnormal emotional processing regulating visceral responses; and weaker effective connectivity from the SMA and PreCen, which are regions involved with somatic, sensory and motor control, propel the aINS and HIPP, suggesting abnormalities of sensory and behavioral responses. Such information of basal level functional abnormalities expands our current understanding of neural mechanisms underlying functional constipation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive, degenerative and almost irreversible disease. There is hardly an effective cure for lung damage due to pulmonary fibrosis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of obaculactone in an already-assessed model of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis induced by bleomycin administration. Mice were subjected to intratracheal instillation of bleomycin, and obaculactone was given orally after bleomycin instillation daily for 23 days. Treatment with obaculactone ameliorated body weight loss, lung histopathology abnormalities and pulmonary collagen deposition, with a decrease of the inflammatory cell number and the cytokine level in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Moreover, obaculactone inhibited the expression of icam1 , vcam1 , inos and cox2 , and attenuated oxidative stress in bleomycin-treated lungs. Importantly, the production of collagen I and α-SMA in lung tissues as well as the levels of TGF-β1, ALK5, p-Smad2 and p-Smad3 in lung homogenates was also reduced after obaculactone treatment. Finally, the TGF-β1-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition via Smad-dependent and Smad-independent pathways was reversed by obaculactone. Collectively, these data suggest that obaculactone may be a promising drug candidate for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: Energy loss (EL) was regarded to be one of the key parameters in predicting the rupture risk of IA. In this paper, we took varied aspect ratio (AR) as a scaling law to create a series of longitudinal models to investigate the longitudinal changes of flow pattern and EL as the AR varies, in order to explore the relationship between the longitudinal characteristic EL parameters with aneurysm rupture risk.Methods: Seven original intracranial aneurysms (IA) models with similar locations were reconstructed from patient 3D rotational angiography (3DRA) images. Based on these models, a series of scaling aneurysm models with different ARs were created with our proposed scaling algorithms. Fluid-solid interaction (FSI) simulations were performed on every model to obtain hemodynamics flow pattern and EL.Results: With AR increasing, flow pattern became more complex, with vortices appearing gradually in the aneurysms (AR > 1.5). Furthermore, the velocity significantly decreased in aneurysms with high ARs (>1.5). Meanwhile, the aneurysm EL increased with increasing AR. Once AR exceeded 1.5, EL changed drastically.Conclusion: EL was a potential parameter predicting future rupture of unruptured aneurysms. If the EL during the growth of the unruptured aneurysms increased sharply, we strongly recommend an intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

No known data are available regarding the occurrence of fipronil (FP) in indoor dust in China, despite the fact that it is an emerging insecticide that is used extensively. In this study, FP and its derivatives (FPs), including fipronil sulfone (FP-SFO), fipronil sulfide, fipronil desulfinyl, and fipronil amide, were determined in indoor dust samples (n = 436) collected from three different cities in China between 2016 and 2019, namely Shenzhen (February and September 2019), Wuhan (October 2016, October 2018, and August 2019), and Taiyuan (October 2016), located in south, central, and north China, respectively. FP and FP-SFO were the major target analytes detected in all dust samples, accounting for approximately 68.6–90.1% of the cumulative concentration of FPs (ΣFPs). The ΣFPs values for the dust samples ranged from not detected (ND) to 33.6 μg/g (median ± median absolute deviation [MAD]: 7.12 ± 6.44 ng/g), with a detection frequency of 95.6%. The median value of the ΣFPs of the dust samples collected from Shenzhen (22.6 ± 15.6 ng/g) was higher than that found in the dust samples collected in Taiyuan 2016 (1.87 ± 1.65 ng/g) and Wuhan (6.43 ± 5.62 ng/g). Significantly higher ΣFPs were observed in the dust samples collected in urban areas than in the rural areas of Taiyuan and Wuhan. Furthermore, an increasing trend of FP (from 2016 to 2018) in the rural areas of Wuhan, and a seasonal variation (summer > autumn) in FP, FP-SFO, and ΣFPs in the dust samples from urban areas of Wuhan were observed. The estimated daily intake of FPs via dust ingestion for people in Shenzhen was approximately 12 times higher than in Taiyuan based on the samples analyzed. This is the first study to describe the occurrence and spatiotemporal variations of FPs in indoor dust in China. Unlabelled Image • FP and FP-SFO were the most frequently detected target FPs. • Higher FPs contamination was observed in urban areas and cities with higher humidity. • An increasing trend of FPs was observed in rural Wuhan from 2016 to 2018. • Higher FPs levels were found in the summer than in the autumn. • The first study to describe the occurrence of FPs in the indoor dust from China [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is still a considerable challenge for spinel Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 to achieve high tap density while retaining excellent power capability. Herein, a compact and mesopore-oriented holey-graphene framework (HGF) caging nano-Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 particles (Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 /HGF) is synthesized by capillary shrink effect. In the capillary drying process, nano-Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 particles prevent the absolute aggregation of graphene sheets, remaining mesopore-oriented porosity for rapid Li+ diffusion. After precisely adjusting the porous structure, Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 /HGF composite successfully achieves a balance between tap density and porosity. Furthermore, the in-plane nanopores of holey-graphene sheets provide channels for Li+ diffusion, obviously weakening the Li+ diffusion resistances of compact composite. The resultant Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 /HGF composite combines a high tap density of 1.1 g cm−3 and a moderate mesopore-oriented porosity with BET specific area of 152 m2 g−1, delivering volumetric-specific capacities of 161, 142, 120, 103 mA h cm−3 at 0.035, 1.75, 7 and 14 A g−1, respectively. Even as current density reaches 17.5 A g−1, the as-prepared Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 /HGF composite still displays a capacity of 98 mA h cm−3, showing excellent ultrahigh-rate performance. After 1000 cycles at 7A g−1, the capacity of dense Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 /HGF composite remains 84%, demonstrating high cycle stability. Image 1 • A balance between high tap density and mesopore-oriented structure. • Decreasing Li+ diffusion resistance due to holey-graphene sheets. • Excellent power capability and high cycle stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neonicotinoid insecticides (NNIs) are a relatively new class of insecticides, and carbendazim (CBDZ) is a representative antifungal biocide. The occurrence of them in indoor dust was not documented in China. In this study, 336 indoor dust samples were collected from 3 cities, including Taiyuan (October 2016), Wuhan (October 2016 and 2018), and Shenzhen (February 2019), located in North, Central, and South China, for determination of the residues of six NNIs, two of their metabolites, and CBDZ. Acetamiprid (ACE), imidacloprid (IMI), and CBDZ were found to be the major target analytes in dust samples from all selected cities with detection frequencies of 98.8%, 99.7%, and 95.2%, respectively. At least one target NNI was detected for all of the dust samples, with the median concentration of 25.8 ng/g for the imidacloprid-equivalent total neonicotinoids (IMI eq : generated by the relative potency factor method), and the median for CBDZ was 35.8 ng/g. Higher levels of several NNIs and CBDZ were found in urban areas of Taiyuan and Wuhan than those in rural areas. A significant increase of the NNI residues was observed in dust of Wuhan from 2016 to 2018 (while not significant for CBDZ). Finally, the estimated daily intake (EDI) of IMI eq and CBDZ for infants and toddlers were higher than that found in other age groups through dust ingestion, which indicated that infants and toddlers may be susceptible to current residue of NNIs and CBDZ in indoor dust, and dust ingestion of NNIs might be <1% of that reported for dietary intakes in China. This is the first study to report the residue levels of NNIs and CBDZ in dust samples from indoor environment in China. Unlabelled Image • IMI and ACE were the most frequently detected target NNIs. • DNT, THCP, DM-ACE and 5-OH-IMI were firstly reported in indoor dust. • An increasing trend of NNIs was observed in Wuhan from 2016 to 2018. • The highest concentrations of IMI eq and CBDZ were found in Wuhan in 2018 and Shenzhen, respectively. • This is the first study about NNIs and CBDZ in indoor dust from China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circular RNA (circRNA), a kind of special endogenous RNA, has been shown to be implicated in crucial biological processes of multiple cancers as a gene regulator. However, the functional roles of circRNAs in breast cancer (BC) remain to be poorly explored, and relatively incomplete knowledge of circRNAs handles the identification and prediction of BC-related circRNAs. Towards this end, we developed a systematic approach to identify circRNA modules in the BC context through integrating circRNA, mRNA, miRNA, and pathway data based on a non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) algorithm. Thirteen circRNA modules were uncovered by our approach, containing 4164 nodes (80 circRNAs, 2703 genes, 63 miRNAs and 1318 pathways) and 67,959 edges in total. GO (Gene Ontology) function screening identified nine circRNA functional modules with 44 circRNAs. Within them, 31 circRNAs in eight modules having direct relationships with known BC-related genes, miRNAs or disease-related pathways were selected as BC candidate circRNAs. Functional enrichment results showed that they were closely related with BC-associated pathways, such as 'KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) PATHWAYS IN CANCER', 'REACTOME IMMUNE SYSTEM' and 'KEGG MAPK SIGNALING PATHWAY', 'KEGG P53 SIGNALING PATHWAY' or 'KEGG WNT SIGNALING PATHWAY', and could sever as potential circRNA biomarkers in BC. Comparison results showed that our approach could identify more BC-related functional circRNA modules in performance. In summary, we proposed a novel systematic approach dependent on the known disease information of mRNA, miRNA and pathway to identify BC-related circRNA modules, which could help identify BC-related circRNAs and benefits treatment and prognosis for BC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]