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Apoptosis and autophagy have been shown to act cooperatively and antagonistically in self-elimination process. On the one side, apoptosis and autophagy can act as partners to induce cell death in a coordinated or cooperative manner; on the flip side, autophagy acts as an antagonist to block apoptotic cell death by promoting cell survival. Our previous research indicated that trillin could induce apoptosis of PLC/PRF/5 cells, but the effects of trillin on autophagy as well as its functional relationship to apoptosis have not been elucidated. Here, the running study aims to investigate the function and molecular mechanism of trillin on autophagy with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. The objective of this study is to investigate the molecular mechanism of trillin on autophagy in HCC cells. Protein levels of autophagy markers beclin1, LC3B, and p62 were detected by western blotting. 6-Hydroxyflavone and stattic were used to test the role of trillin regulation of autophagy via serine threonine kinase (AKT)/extracellular-regulated protein kinases (ERK) 1/2/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) signaling pathway. Flow cytometry was used to detect caspase 3 activity and apoptosis in PLC/PRF/5 cells treated with trillin for 24 h with or without rapamycin, stattic, and 6-hydroxyflavone. The protein level of autophagy marker beclin1 was decreased, whilst the protein level of p62 was significantly increased by trillin treatment, indicating trillin treatment led to inhibition of autophagy in HCC cells. Trillin treatment could reduce the protein levels of p-AKT and p-ERK1/2, but enhance the protein levels of mTOR and p-mTOR, suggesting that trillin could inhibit AKT/ERK rather than mTOR. The AKT/ERK activator 6-hydroxyflavone could reverse the loss of AKT and ERK1/2 phosphorylation induced by trillin, implying that trillin impairs autophagy through activated mTOR rather than AKT/ERK. STAT3 and p-STAT3 were significantly upregulated by the trillin treatment with an increase in dose from 0 to 50 μM, suggesting that autophagy inhibition is mediated by trillin via activation of STAT3 signaling. The STAT3 inhibitor stattic significantly reversed the increased STAT3 phosphorylation at tyrosine 705 induced by trillin. The mTOR signaling inhibitor rapamycin reversed the trillin-induced mTOR phosphorylation enhancement but exerted no effects on total mTOR levels, suggesting trillin treatment led to inhibition of autophagy in HCC cells through activating mTOR/STAT3 pathway. Furthermore, caspase 3 activities and the total rate of apoptosis were increased by trillin treatment, which was reversed by rapamycin, stattic, and 6-hydroxyflavone, proving that trillin promotes apoptosis via activation of mTOR/STAT3 signaling. Trillin induced autophagy inhibition and promoted apoptosis in PLC/PRF/5 cells via the activation of mTOR/STAT3 signaling. Trillin has the potential to be a viable therapeutic option for HCC treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Idiopathic congenital nystagmus (ICN) manifests as involuntary and periodic eye movements. To identify the genetic defect associated with X-linked ICN, Whole Exome Sequencing (WES) was conducted in two affected families. We identified two frameshift mutations in FRMD7, c.1492dupT/p.(Y498Lfs*15) and c.1616delG/p.(R539Kfs*2). Plasmids harboring the mutated genes and qPCR analysis revealed mRNA stability, evading degradation via the NMD pathway, and corroborated truncated protein production via Western-blot analysis. Notably, both truncated proteins were degraded through the proteasomal (ubiquitination) pathway, suggesting potential therapeutic avenues targeting this pathway for similar mutations. Moreover, we conducted a comprehensive analysis, summarizing 140 mutations within the FRMD7 gene. Our findings highlight the FERM and FA structural domains as mutation-prone regions. Interestingly, exons 9 and 12 are the most mutated regions, but 90% (28/31) mutations in exon 9 are missense while 84% (21/25) mutations in exon 12 are frameshift. A predominant occurrence of shift code mutations was observed in exons 11 and 12, possibly associated with the localization of premature termination codons (PTCs), leading to the generation of deleterious truncated proteins. Additionally, our conjecture suggests that the loss of FRMD7 protein function might not solely drive pathology; rather, the emergence of aberrant protein function could be pivotal in nystagmus etiology. We propose a dependence of FRMD7 protein normal function primarily on its anterior domain. Future investigations are warranted to validate this hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetic nephropathy is a major complication of diabetes mellitus and is related to dysfunction of renal cells. Hederagenin is a triterpenoid saponin from some Chinese herbs with anti‐inflammatory and anti‐diabetic activities. However, its role in diabetic nephropathy progression is still obscure. This study aimed to explore the effects of hederagenin on renal cell dysfunction in vitro. Human renal mesangial cells (HRMCs) and human renal proximal tubular epithelial cells (HRPTEpiCs) were cultured under high glucose (HG) conditions to mimic diabetic nephropathy‐like injury. Cell proliferation was evaluated by CCK‐8. mRNA and protein levels were determined by qRT‐PCR and western blotting, respectively. The secretion levels of fibrosis‐related biomarkers were analyzed by ELISA. Results showed that hederagenin reduced HG‐induced proliferation increase in HRMCs and HRPTEpiCs. Hederagenin attenuated HG‐induced increase in mRNA and protein expression of NLRP3, ASC, and IL‐1β. Hederagenin also suppressed HG‐induced increase in mRNA and secretion levels of FN, Col. IV, PAI‐1, and TGF‐β1. NLRP3 inhibitor MCC950 attenuated HG‐induced fibrosis of renal cells, and its activator nigericin reversed the suppressive effect of hederagenin on HG‐induced fibrosis. Bioinformatics analysis predicted cathepsin B (CTSB) as a target of hederagenin to modulate NOD‐like receptor (NLR) pathway. Hederagenin decreased CTSB level, and CTSB overexpression reversed the suppressive effect of hederagenin on HG‐induced NLRP3 inflammasome activation and fibrosis in HRMCs and HRPTEpiCs. In conclusion, hederagenin attenuates HG‐induced fibrosis of renal cells by inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome activation via reducing CTSB expression, indicating a therapeutic potential of hederagenin in diabetic nephropathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bearings are important components of rotating machinery and transmission systems, and are often damaged by wear, overload and shocks. Due to the low resolution of traditional time-frequency analysis for the diagnosis of bearing faults, a synchrosqueezed wavelet transform (SSWT) is proposed to improve the resolution. An improved convolutional neural network fault diagnosis model is proposed in this paper, and a Bayesian optimisation method is applied to automatically adjust the structure and hyperparameters of the model to improve the accuracy of bearing fault diagnosis. Experimental results from the accelerated life testing of bearings show that the proposed method is able to accurately identify various types of bearing fault and the different status of these faults under complex running conditions, while achieving very good generalisation ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: To identify recyclable garbage via the garbage classification is an effective countermeasure for protecting the environment. An automatic classification system supported by image recognition technologies is able to significantly reduce huge human labors of recycling tasks. However, performing the real‐time and accurate garbage detection is not a trivial task. In this article, we present an edge‐cloud framework equipped with deep learning model for recyclable garbage detection. Specifically, we propose to use the deep convolutional neural network for garbage images classification, and thus design the collaborative mechanism between edge devices and the cloud server. As a result, we design and develop a novel recyclable garbage detection system, where scanning garbage images and thus detecting recyclable ones can be completed in real‐time. We validate the performances of the proposed recyclable garbage detection system on 1000 real‐life household garbage images. Experimental results show the overall accuracy of our system reaches nearly 90%, and the time for detection is less than 500 ms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional organic amines exhibit inferior desorption performance and high regeneration energy consumption. The implementation of solid acid catalysts presents an efficacious approach to mitigate regeneration energy consumption. Thus, investigating high-performance solid acid catalysts holds paramount importance for the advancement and implementation of carbon capture technology. This study synthesized two Lewis acid catalysts via an ultrasonic-assisted precipitation method. A comparative analysis of the catalytic desorption properties was conducted, encompassing these two Lewis acid catalysts and three precursor catalysts. The results demonstrated that the CeO2-γ-Al2O3 catalyst demonstrated superior catalytic desorption performance. Within the desorption temperature range of 90 to 110 °C, the average desorption rate of BZA-AEP catalyzed by the CeO2-γ-Al2O3 catalyst was 87 to 354% greater compared to the desorption rate in the absence of the catalyst, and the desorption temperature can be reduced by approximately 10 °C. A comprehensive analysis of the catalytic desorption mechanism of the CeO2-γ-Al2O3 catalyst was conducted, and indicated that the synergistic effect of CeO2-γ-Al2O3 conferred a potent catalytic influence throughout the entire desorption process, spanning from the rich solution to the lean solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Toldt's fascia has always been described as a fusion fascia formed by two layers of visceral peritoneum when the mesentery attaches to the posterior abdominal wall. However, there is still no consensus about the mesentery and its surrounding fascia based on the current anatomic theories. This study aimed to determine the anatomical structures of the abdomen and provide a correct surgical plane for mesenteric‐based surgery. Surgical videos of 121 patients who underwent laparoscopic operations of the digestive tract were reviewed to identify and compare the anatomical structures of the mesentery and associated fascia. Twenty‐one postoperative specimens were stained with hematoxylin and eosin to indicate the histological appearance of the mesentery and its surrounding fascia. Furthermore, dynamic models had been established to explain the formation mechanism of the associated histological structures in different regions during the progression of mesenteric attachment. The fasciae surrounding the mesentery, including the submesothelial connective tissue, the subserosal connective tissue, Toldt's fascia, and "angel hair," have the same histological characteristic to extraperitoneal fascia. The general anatomical structure of the abdomen can be divided into three layers (abdominal wall, urogenital system, and digestive system) and two interlayers (transversalis fascia and extraperitoneal fascia). The extraperitoneal fascia surrounds the entire digestive system and is the natural layer separating adjacent structures from each other. Typical histological structures in the regions of posterior attachment include the fascia propria of the mesentery, mesofascial plane, extraperitoneal fascia, retrofascial plane, and anterior renal fascia. The urogenital system is surrounded by similar histological structures. There is no fusion fascia in the abdomen due to retreat of the visceral peritoneum, and all of the fasciae surrounding the mesentery are extraperitoneal fascia. This study demonstrates that the typical histological structures in the regions of attachment and mesofascial plane are the correct anatomic interface for mesenteric‐based surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the synergistic removal effect of various schemes based on demisters on boiler flue gas dust on a pilot-scale experimental bench. The results show that the dust removal efficiency is 28.43–51.30% when demisters are put into operation alone; the larger the inlet dust concentration of demisters is, the higher the dust removal efficiency will be; but it still cannot reach the 10 mg/Nm3 ultra-low emission standard. The dust removal efficiency is 93.13% when wet electro-static precipitator and demisters are put into operation simultaneously. Furthermore, the outlet dust concentration is lower than 5 mg/Nm3, and the dust removal efficiency of the demisters themselves increases to 67.28%, which has shown a significant improvement compared with operation alone. The dust removal efficiency is 70.98–78.37% when the water-washing layer and demisters are put into operation simultaneously. Moreover, the outlet dust concentration reaches the standard of 10 mg/Nm3 when the liquid–gas ratio (L/G) is more than 3.5. This research shows that when the inlet dust concentration is ≤ 35 mg/Nm3, the method of "water-washing layer + demisters" can be used as an equivalent alternative to the wet electro-static precipitator when L/G ≥ 3.5, which has reference value for reducing the construction cost of ultra-low emission reformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To find suitable absorbents for ship-based carbon capture, the absorption and desorption properties of four mixed aqueous amines based on BZA were investigated, and the results indicated that BZA-AEP had the best absorption and desorption performance. Then, the absorption and desorption properties of different mole ratios of BZA-AEP were tested. The results showed that the average CO2 absorption rate had the highest value at the mole ratio of BZA to AEP of three. The average CO2 desorption rate had the maximum value at the mole ratio of BZA to AEP of one. Three fitted models of the absorption and desorption performance of BZA-AEP based on the test data were obtained. The p-values of all three models were less than 0.0001. Considering the performance and material cost, the BZA-AEP mole ratio of 1.5 is more appropriate for ship carbon capture. Compared with MEA, the average CO2 absorption rate increased by 48%, the CO2 desorption capacity increased by 120%, and the average CO2 desorption rate increased by 161%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of e-commerce economy is closely related to the progress of computer technology, which provides an effective data basis for the development of e-commerce economy. Support vector machines are not only used to analyze and solve the second-class classification problems but also can analyze and solve the first-class classification problems. The rise of the e-commerce economy is not only conducive to increasing people's income but also conducive to the realization of income increase in some economically backward areas and the improvement of various infrastructures, thus breaking the characteristics of inconvenient transportation in some areas and promoting the development of regional economy. Therefore, this study introduces the concept of Internet of Things and robust support vector machine technology, which are more advanced in computer technology, into the e-commerce system to optimize the existing e-commerce platform and knowledge mode. From the regression results of the fixed effect model, the e-commerce economy will have a certain positive impact on the regional economic gap, although the magnitude of the impact is not large. From the overidentification test and the regression results of the dynamic panel, the sign of the variable regression coefficient has been relatively stable, which means that the dynamic panel model described in this study not only does not have the problem of overidentification but also has stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The plasma-catalytic oxidation of soot was studied over zeolite-supported vanadium catalysts, while four types of zeolites (MCM-41, mordenite, USY and 5A) were used as catalyst supports. The soot oxidation rate followed the order of V/MCM-41 > V/mordenite > V/USY > V/5A, while 100% soot oxidation was achieved at 54th min of reaction over V/MCM-41 and V/mordenite. The CO2 selectivity of the process follows the opposite order of oxidation rate over the V/M catalyst. A wide range of catalyst characterizations including N2 adsorption–desorption, XRD, XPS, H2-TPR and O2-TPD were performed to obtain insights regarding the reaction mechanisms of soot oxidation in plasma-catalytic systems. The redox properties were recognized to be crucial for the soot oxidation process. The effects of discharge power, gas flow rate and reaction temperature on soot oxidation were also investigated. The results showed that higher discharge power, higher gas flow rate and lower reaction temperature were beneficial for soot oxidation rate. However, these factors would impose a negative effect on CO2 selectivity. The proposed "plasma-catalysis" method possessed the unique advantages of quick response, mild operation conditions and system compactness. The method could be potentially applied for the regeneration of diesel particulate filters (DPF) at low temperatures and contribute to the the emission control of diesel engines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a prevalent intracranial brain tumor associated with a high rate of recurrence and treatment difficulty. The prediction of novel molecular biomarkers through bioinformatics analysis may provide new clues into early detection and eventual treatment of GBM. Here, we used data from the GTEx and TCGA databases to identify 1923 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). GO and KEGG analyses indicated that DEGs were significantly enriched in immune response and coronavirus disease-COVID-19 pathways. Survival analyses revealed a significant correlation between high expression of C1R, CCL2, and TNFRSF1A in the coronavirus disease-COVID-19 pathway and the poor survival in GBM patients. Cell experiments indicated that the mRNA expression levels of C1R, CCL2, and TNFRSF1A in GBM cells were very high. Immune infiltration analysis revealed a significant difference in the proportion of immune cells in tumor and normal tissue, and the expression levels of C1R, CCL2, and TNFRSF1A were associated with immune cell infiltration of GBM. Additionally, the protein-protein interaction networks of C1R, CCL2, and TNFRSF1A involved a total of 65 nodes and 615 edges. These results suggest that C1R, CCL2, and TNFRSF1A may be used as molecular biomarkers of prognosis and immune infiltration in GBM patients in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the effect of pore structure for VOx/M (M=KIT‐6, SBA‐15 and SiO2) catalysts on plasma‐catalytic soot oxidation was investigated. The combination of VOx/KIT‐6 and plasma shows the highest soot oxidation rate, followed by VOx/SBA‐15‐packed and VOx/SiO2‐packed plasma reactor. The soot oxidation rate of 97.4 % and the energy efficiency of 0.95 g kWh−1 can be achieved in plasma‐catalytic soot oxidation over VOx/KIT‐6 at 30th min and 20 W. The catalysts were characterized by N2 adsorption‐desorption, X‐ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), hydrogen temperature‐programmed reduction (H2‐TPR) and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results illustrated that VOx/KIT‐6 and VOx/SBA‐15 had large specific surface areas and good dispersion of vanadium species. The H2‐TPR and XPS results confirmed that VOx/KIT‐6 had stronger reducibility and higher relative content of Oads/(Oads+Olatt) than those of VOx/SBA‐15 and VOx/SiO2. The good performance of soot oxidation in the plasma‐catalytic systems over VOx/KIT‐6 could be attributed to 1) the well‐developed 3D mesoporous structure, which facilitated the transportation of radicals and active species, and 2) improved redox properties of VOx/KIT‐6, since more active sites and surface adsorbed oxygen species on the catalyst surfaces could contribute to soot oxidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of Cu‐based spinel‐type complex oxides (CuB2O4, B=Fe, Mn, Co and Cr) was synthesized via sol‐gel method for soot combustion. The soot combustion was accelerated in the presence of all prepared CuB2O4 catalysts compared to that without catalyst. The CuCo2O4 catalyst exhibited the best catalytic activity, with the soot combustion temperatures T10, T50 and T90 of 480 °C, 539 °C and 569 °C, respectively. XRD patterns showed that the catalysts were mainly in spinel phase. The H2‐TPR, XPS and O2‐TPD characterizations revealed that the interactions between cobalt and copper led to higher content of the Cu+ species, better redox properties and abundant adsorbed oxygen species than the other three catalysts, which contributed to soot combustion. In addition, the catalytic activity of the CuCo2O4 catalysts on soot combustion were facilitated in the presence of NO, while water vapor inhibited the catalytic activity. Besides, the cycle tests clarified that CuCo2O4 catalyst exhibited good stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve the filtration efficiency of submicron dust by dual-layer granular bed filters, filtration experiments for micro-silica powder were conducted for removing particles smaller than 1 μm that account for more than 96% (by volume) using a dual-layer granular bed filter with an external electric field. Electrostatic enhancement methods, including dust pre-charging, application of an electric field to the lower filter layer, and that to both the upper and lower filter layers, were examined. Results showed that the average filtration efficiency of a dual-layer granular bed filter for micro-silica powder without electric field was 76.52%, the average outlet dust concentration was 263.53 mg/m3, and the filtration cycle time was 73 min. With pre-charged dust, the average outlet dust concentration dropped to 82.51 mg/m3. A decrease in the thickness of the lower filter layer from 45 to 25 mm with electric field reduced the pressure drop from 2570 to 1770 Pa. Meanwhile, the application of an electric field to the lower/upper filter layer reduced the average outlet dust concentration to 25.98 mg/m3. Increasing the initial face velocity from 0.25 to 0.45 m/s increased the average outlet dust concentration from 25.98 to 30.27 mg/m3 and increased the pressure drop from 2570 to 3500 Pa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hemagglutinin (HA) surface glycoprotein is triggered by endosomal low pH to cause membrane fusion during influenza A virus (IAV) entry yet must remain sufficiently stable to avoid premature activation during virion transit between cells and hosts. HA activation pH and/or virion inactivation pH values less than pH 5.6 are thought to be required for IAV airborne transmissibility and human pandemic potential. To enable higher-throughput screening of emerging IAV strains for "humanized" stability, we developed a luciferase reporter assay that measures the threshold pH at which IAVs are inactivated. The reporter assay yielded results similar to TCID50 assay yet required one-fourth the time and one-tenth the virus. For four A/TN/09 (H1N1) HA mutants and 73 IAVs of varying subtype, virion inactivation pH was compared to HA activation pH and the rate of inactivation during 55°C heating. HA stability values correlated highly with virion acid and thermal stability values for isogenic viruses containing HA point mutations. HA stability also correlated with virion acid stability for human isolates but did not correlate with thermal stability at 55°C, raising doubt in the use of supraphysiological heating assays. Some animal isolates had virion inactivation pH values lower than HA activation pH, suggesting factors beyond HA stability can modulate virion stability. The coupling of HA activation pH and virion inactivation pH, and at a value below 5.6, was associated with human adaptation. This suggests that both virologic properties should be considered in risk assessment algorithms for pandemic potential. Author summary: Many influenza viruses circulate among wild aquatic birds, sporadically infecting domestic animals and humans. Avian influenza viruses need to "humanize" several properties before efficiently replicating in mammals and transmitting between humans. To triage emerging zoonotic viruses for pandemic likelihood and pathogenic impact in humans, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) use risk assessment algorithms that consider viral properties, human population attributes, and non-human virus ecology. While receptor-binding specificity of the HA protein is the only molecular property explicitly considered, recent studies have shown the HA protein needs to become stabilized to enable human adaptation and airborne transmission in ferret experimental models. In this work, we developed a high-throughput assay to measure the HA stability of surveillance isolates by monitoring the pH at which these viruses become inactivated. Our results showed HA activation pH and virion inactivation pH are similar for human viruses but differ in some animal viruses. Knowing that these two values, previously considered equivalent, can differ substantially will spur researchers to determine the relative importance of each for humanizing emerging influenza viruses so that pre-pandemic preparations can better target viruses of greatest risk to humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese horse bean-chili-paste (CHCP) is a very popular semi-solid condiment with centuries of history in southwestern China. The consumption and international trade have ascended sharply in the past few years; CHCP industry, however, is facing the challenges of modernization and standardization for the product quality and safety. In the current review, an overview of the traditional fermentation procedures and characteristics, together with the present research progress on flavor chemistry, microbial diversity and succession, and mycotoxin detection and control methods of CHCP is presented. Furthermore, application techniques and requirements for future study needs and industrial improvement are proposed. Here, the detailed and systematic review could lay a foundation for conferring enhanced organoleptic attributes, improving food safety, and also achieving intelligent production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Nowadays, researchers are leveraging the mRNA-based vaccine technology used to develop personalized immunotherapy for cancer. However, its application against glioma is still in its infancy. In this study, the applicable candidates were excavated for mRNA vaccine treatment in the perspective of immune regulation, and suitable glioma recipients with corresponding immune subtypes were further investigated. Methods: The RNA-seq data and clinical information of 702 and 325 patients were recruited from TCGA and CGGA, separately. The genetic alteration profile was visualized and compared by cBioPortal. Then, we explored prognostic outcomes and immune correlations of the selected antigens to validate their clinical relevance. The prognostic index was measured via GEPIA2, and infiltration of antigen-presenting cells (APCs) was calculated and visualized by TIMER. Based on immune-related gene expression, immune subtypes of glioma were identified using consensus clustering analysis. Moreover, the immune landscape was visualized by graph learning-based dimensionality reduction analysis. Results: Four glioma antigens, namely ANXA5, FKBP10, MSN, and PYGL, associated with superior prognoses and infiltration of APCs were selected. Three immune subtypes IS1–IS3 were identified, which fundamentally differed in molecular, cellular, and clinical signatures. Patients in subtypes IS2 and IS3 carried immunologically cold phenotypes, whereas those in IS1 carried immunologically hot phenotype. Particularly, patients in subtypes IS3 and IS2 demonstrated better outcomes than that in IS1. Expression profiles of immune checkpoints and immunogenic cell death (ICD) modulators showed a difference among IS1–IS3 tumors. Ultimately, the immune landscape of glioma elucidated considerable heterogeneity not only between individual patients but also within the same immune subtype. Conclusions: ANXA5, FKBP10, MSN, and PYGL are identified as potential antigens for anti-glioma mRNA vaccine production, specifically for patients in immune subtypes 2 and 3. In summary, this study may shed new light on the promising approaches of immunotherapy, such as devising mRNA vaccination tailored to applicable glioma recipients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of filtration velocity on the filtration efficiency of a dual-layer granular bed 400°C was studied. The results showed that the bed filtration efficiency decreased from 99.87% to 99.85% as the average filtration velocity increased from 0.20 to 0.35 m/s. The effects of the filtration velocity on the efficiency of the upper and lower filtration layers were different. For the upper filtering layer, a higher filtration velocity resulted in decreased filtration efficiency, whereas the grade filtration efficiency increased with an increase in the particle size at the beginning of the test. However, toward the end of the test, it first decreased and then increased, with the critical point appearing at 0.23 μm. For the lower filtering layer, increasing the filtration velocity resulted in higher filtration efficiency. The grade filtration efficiency curve was V-shaped, with the critical points moving from 1.52, 1.45, and 1.32 μm at the beginning of the test to 1.63, 1.54, and 1.37 μm at the end of the test, respectively. In addition, the dust concentration at the outlet was maintained below 18 mg/m3. The dual-layer granular beds maintained efficient and reliable performance at high temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: As one of the most prevalent and malignant brain cancers, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) presents a poor prognosis and the molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. Consequently, molecular research, including various biomarkers, is essential to exploit the occurrence and development of glioma. Methods: Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was used to construct gene co-expression modules and networks based on the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) glioblastoma specimens. Then, protein–protein interaction (PPI) and gene ontology (GO) analyses were performed to mine hub genes. RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry were employed to examine the expression level of GRPR, CXCL5, and CXCL11 in glioma patients. Results: We confirmed two gene modules by protein–protein interaction networks. Functional enrichment analysis was performed to identify the significance of gene modules. Prognostic biomarkers GRPR, CXCL5, and CXCL11 related to the survival time of GBM samples were mined in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset. qRT-PCR revealed that GRPR, CXCL5, and CXCL11 led to a significant increase in GBM sample compared to control. Conclusion: In this study, we developed and confirmed three mRNA signatures (GRPR, CXCL5, and CXCL11) for evaluating overall survival in GBM patients. Our research assists in existing understanding of GBM diagnosis and prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of the logistics industry, the demand of customer become higher and higher. The timeliness of distribution becomes one of the important factors that directly affect the profit and customer satisfaction of the enterprise. If the distribution route is planned rationally, the cost can be greatly reduced and the customer satisfaction can be improved. Aiming at the routing problem of A company's vehicle distribution link, we establish mathematical models based on theory and practice. According to the characteristics of the model, genetic algorithm is selected as the algorithm of path optimization. At the same time, we simulate the actual situation of a company, and use genetic algorithm to plan the calculus. By contrast, the genetic algorithm suitable for solving complex optimization problems, the practicability of genetic algorithm in this design is highlighted. It solves the problem of unreasonable transportation of A company, so as to get faster efficiency and lower cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the adaptability of a proposed cascade‐scrubbing technology used for ocean ships, ASPEN PLUS desulfurization simulations for a packing scrubber of a 10 000‐kW large‐scale marine diesel engine were performed to uncover effects of the scrubber's configurational parameters (i.e., scrubber diameter, spherical packing diameter, and packing thickness) and meanwhile confirm the selected parameters' availability. Desulfurization was evaluated not only under the once‐through open‐loop model with varying above scrubber's configurational parameters plus operational seawater temperature and scrubbing section's inlet gas temperature but also under the seawater/lye cascade‐scrubbing model for confirming its availability and superiority in saving both the seawater and lye consumption. Desulfurization exhibits increase, decrease, and slight increase trends with the packing thickness, packing diameter, and scrubber diameter, respectively. However, the packing‐layer pressure drop increases with the packing thickness and decreases initially but then varies little with the left two parameters. Any increase in these temperatures weakens desulfurization. A comprehensive consideration of multiple factors suggests that the selected packing diameter of 50 mm, total packing thickness of 3.5 m, and scrubber diameter of 2.8 m are reasonable and adaptable to the scrubber, which can comply with the required strict desulfurization standard by using the low‐alkalinity seawater (1.42 mmol/L) to scrub the high‐sulfur gas (fuel‐sulfur content of 3.5%) with a moderate liquid/gas ratio of about 6.5 L/Nm3. Under the same gas and seawater conditions, the seawater/lye cascade‐scrubbing model achieves about 38% and 90% reduction respectively in the seawater and alkali consumption as comparing with the once‐through open‐loop and closed‐loop models, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at perfecting the proposed three-stage cascade-scrubbing desulfurization technology, ASPEN PLUS simulations of seawater/seawater cascade-scrubbing desulfurization for an exhaust gas scrubber designed for a 10-MW large-scale marine diesel engine were performed to fix a reasonable desulfurization share for the main scrubbing section. Accordingly, three typical desulfurization share setups of 80%, 85%, and 90% were compared under various operational conditions by varying the fuel-sulfur content, liquid/gas ratio, and seawater alkalinity. In complying with the desulfurization requirements of emission control areas, 85% was obtained as the optimal desulfurization share among the three setups. Again, under the selected 85% setup, the cascade-scrubbing desulfurization was numerically compared with the conventional once-through open-loop solution, so as to confirm the seawater-saving advantage of the cascade-scrubbing desulfurization technology used for the exhaust gas of large-scale marine diesels. At relatively higher sulfur content above 3.5%, the open-loop solution solely achieved the desulfurization requirements of non-emission control areas by using higher liquid/gas ratio levels of 6.5–8.0 L/Nm3, while fully failed to meet the much stricter requirements of emission control areas except the lowest 1.5% fuel-sulfur conditions. On the contrary, the cascade-scrubbing solution could meet the requirements of emission control areas under various fuel-sulfur content conditions and reduced the liquid/gas ratio by about 45%, in comparison to the open-loop solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemotherapeutic and radiation therapy have emerged as two most important treatment strategies to treat cancer in clinical practice; however, to improve anticancer efficacy, combination chemotherapy still remains challenge. Dichloroacetate (DCA) could produce significant cytotoxic effects in certain tumor cells through its distinct mechanism. Radiation therapy with fast neutrons (FNT) has high relative biolgical effectiveness compared to other radiotherapeutics. Herein, we reported the combination chemotherapy with FNT for effective tumor growth inhibition with the assistance of a multilayered nanofiber loading DCA and DCA derivatives. We first synthesized a biodegradable polylysine to condense DCA with negative charge, or to conjugate DCA by condensing synthesis, to obtain Ion-DCA and Co-DCA, respectively. DCA, Ion-DCA or Co-DCA was then loaded into fibers to form multilayer drug-loaded mats. Upon adhesion on the surface of subcutaneous and orthotopic liver tumors, the multilayer drug-loaded mats realized a controllable release of DCA, which reversed the Warburg effect and inhibited cancer cell proliferation. Meantime, irradiation of fast neutrons could seriously damage DNA structure. Combination of the controllable release of DCA and FNT resulted in synergistic cell apoptosis in vitro, and the tumor inhibition in vivo. This study thus provides a new approach to integrate chemotherapy and FNT with the assistance of biocompatible nanofiber for synergistic tumor therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to reveal the residual distribution pattern and obtain a wide range of high-accurate vertical movement field, we systematically analyzed the joint geodetic adjustment with vertical rate parameters (denoted as joint adjustment) issues based on the simulated and actual multi-source vertical data. First of all, 1000 sets of simulated leveling data containing rand noise were constructed and processed. The corresponding adjustment results show that network shape and observation interval are two main factors affecting the reliability of the vertical rates. Particularly, vertical rates of the small loops, internal points and loops with longer intervals are prior to those of large loops, edge points and loops with short intervals, respectively. Subsequently, we developed a Helmert adjustment program, which can jointly process leveling data and space geodetic data. Compared with the single leveling data adjustment (SLDA), the joint adjustment results of leveling data and 500 geodetic observations (including 2–4 mm/yr errors) demonstrate that the Helmert adjustment can reduce the residual distribution range by roughly 46%. Finally, both SLDA and Helmert methods are applied to actual survey data in eastern China. We find that the error of the latter approach is decreased by about 48% compared with the former. In summary, the Helmert adjustment method can significantly improve the reliability and accuracy of vertical movement in large area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Both thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulins immunoassay (TSI IA) and thyrotrophin receptor antibody immunoassay (TRAb IA) are commonly used for the diagnosis of Graves' disease (GD). The aim of the present study was to compare the clinical diagnostic performance of these two methods. Methods: Sera were obtained from 1103 subjects presenting a variety of clinical conditions from three centers: 100 subjects with untreated GD, 200 with treated GD, 62 with autoimmune thyroid disease(AIT), 216 with other thyroid diseases (OTHER-T), 214 with non-thyroid autoimmune diseases (NTAD), 191 with other diseases (OD), and 120 healthy subjects (HS). Both TSI and TRAb IAs were performed for all 1013 serum samples. Bioassay was performed for 86 samples whose TSI results were inconsistent the TRAb assay results. Results: Comparing untreated GD patients with the control groups (AIT, NTAD, OTHER-T, OD, and HS) resulted in an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.992 for the TSI IA and 0.989 for the TRAb IA with no statistically significant difference observed between these AUC values (P = 0.2733). The best TSI CDP (clinical decision point) value was 0.42 IU/L. The differences in sensitivity (100% vs. 95%, P = 0.7991) and specificity (97.1% vs. 97.6%, P = 0.9426) between the TSI and TRAb IA were not statistically significant. TSI IA had a higher agreement with the TSI bioassay than TRAb IA. Conclusion: The clinical diagnostic performance of the TSI IA for diagnosing Graves' disease was very similar to that of the TRAb IA. TSI IA can be used to diagnose GD in the Chinese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing low‐cost and highly active electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is urgently desired. We fabricated a mesoporous FeP self‐supported electrode (meso‐FeP/CC) through a facile and mild sol‐gel method. The mesoporous FeP self‐supported electrode displays superior HER electrocatalytic activity, requiring low overpotentials of 57 and 84 mV to drive 10 mA cm−2 in acidic and alkaline electrolyte, respectively. Meanwhile, the as‐prepared electrode exhibits fast kinetics with a small Tafel slope (acidic media: 42 mV dec−1 and alkaline media: 60 mV dec−1). The excellent catalytic performance of the electrode benefits from mesoporous framework with a large surface area (74.1 m2 g−1) and highly conductive self‐supported structure. The former endows the catalyst with a large active‐site density (3.5×1018 site per mg) and substantial accessible mesopores, and the latter accelerates reaction kinetics. This work offers a new avenue for rational designing high‐efficiency FeP HER electrocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on consensus analysis of fractional‐order singular multi‐agent systems (FOSMASs) with uncertainties under fixed topology. The definition of admissible consensus or robust admissible consensus of FOSMASs is proposed and the communication network topology is assumed to be an undirected or a directed graph. Through a coordinate transformation, the admissible consensus of FOSMASs is converted into two parts, one is regularity and impulse‐free of single fractional‐order singular (FOS) linear system, another one is admissibility of multiple FOS linear systems. The consensus conditions are expressed by linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) via SVD technique. Some simulation examples are given to show how to solve LMIs to get the control gain. The simulation results display that the states of the FOSMAS can achieve consensus by using the solved control gain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), belongs to autosomal dominant genetic disorder, which affects multiple organ systems in the body, including the skin, brain, lungs, kidneys, liver, and eyes. Mutations in TSC1 or TSC2 was proved to be associated with these conditions. Methods: Gene‐panel Sequence of NGS was used to detect the mutation in a Chinese family. The research further investigates whether aberrant splicing and nonsense‐mediated mRNA degradation (NMD) could serve as a mechanism cause by TSC1 mutation. MINI‐Gene assay apply by pcMINI‐TSC1wt/mut plasmids delivered in HeLa and 293T cell lines. Recombinant plasmids expressing wild‐type and mutant‐type EGFP‐TSC1 were constructed and transiently transfected into human embryonic kidney cells 293T by lipofectamine. Real‐time PCR and Western Blot were performed to analyze the expression of mRNAs and proteins of EGFP‐TSC1 and NMD factor UPF1. Results: The gene test verified a novel heterozygous TSC1 frameshift mutation (TSC1 c.1550_1551del) in the proband and her mother. From MINI‐Gene assay, the agarose gel showed that both the mutant and wild‐type mRNA possess two main bands, indicating two splicing modes, named band A and B, respectively. The mutation c.1550_1551del has not produced new splicing site, but there is a selective splicing in varying degree significantly after mutation. On the contrary, function validation assay showed that cells transfected with the mutant TSC1 plasmids expressed significantly lower TSC1 in mRNAs and proteins levels, compared with the wild‐type TSC1 plasmid transfection. A translation inhibitor cycloheximide and small interfering RNA of UPF1 (siRNA‐UPF1) increased mRNA or protein expression of TSC1 significantly in cells transfected with the mutant plasmids. Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that the novel TSC1 frameshift mutation (TSC1 c.1550_1551del) trigger aberrant splicing and NMD simultaneously, causing decrease of hamartin, then, leading to tuberous sclerosis complex formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trillin is a constituent of total Trillium Tschonoskii Maxim (TTM), which is extracted from TTM and displayed anti-tumor effect in many tumor cell lines. However, the anti-tumor mechanism of trillin is still unclear. This study demonstrated that trillin could dramatically inhibit hepatoma carcinoma cell proliferation, induce apoptosis and decrease migration and invasion through suppressing phosphorylated STAT3 translocated to nucleus. Trillin could down-regulate Bcl-2 and Survivin, up-regulate cleaved PRAP, leading to dramatically apoptosis; trillin could also down-regulate MMP1, MMP2, MucI and VEGF, which displayed an inhibition effect on hepatocellular tumor cells invasion and development. The results of this study indicated the potential utility of trillin as a STAT3 inhibitor for the treatment of cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies have demonstrated that thioredoxin‐interacting protein (TXNIP) expression of peripheral blood leucocytes is increased in coronary artery disease (CAD). However, the molecular mechanism of this phenomenon remained unclear. DNA methylation plays important roles in the regulation of gene expression. Therefore, we speculated there might be a close association between the expression of TXNIP and methylation. In this study, we found that compared with controls, DNA methylation at cg19693031 was decreased in CAD, while mRNA expressions of TXNIP and inflammatory factors, NLRP3, IL‐1β, IL‐18, were increased. Methylation at cg19693031 was negatively associated with TXNIP expression in the cohort, THP‐1 and macrophages/foam cells. Furthermore, Transwell assay and co‐cultured adhesion assay were performed to investigate functions of TXNIP on the migration of THP‐1 or the adhesion of THP‐1 on the surface of endothelial cells, respectively. Notably, overexpressed TXNIP promoted the migration and adhesion of THP‐1 cells and expressions of NLRP3, IL‐18 and IL‐1β. Oppositely, knock‐down TXNIP inhibited the migration and adhesion of THP‐1 and expressions of NLRP3, IL‐18. In conclusion, increased TXNIP expression, related to cg19693031 demethylation orientates monocytes towards an inflammatory status through the NLRP3 inflammasome pathway involved in the development of CAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To solve the issues of serious wear, blockage, and poisoning of the catalyst in the denitration process of industrial furnaces such as glass furnaces and cement kiln, it was proposed to integrate the high-temperature dual-layer granular bed filter and the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) reactor into a device to realize the denitration of the SCR catalyst in a dust-free state. In the device, the upper part was a dual-layer granular bed filter and the lower part was a V2O5-WO3/TiO2 honeycomb ceramic catalyst. In the self-built dust removal and denitration integrated test equipment with an inner diameter of 100 mm, the effects of flue gas temperature, flue gas flow rate, nitric oxide (NO) concentration, and catalyst height on the denitration efficiency of the catalyst were investigated by orthogonal testing under dust-free conditions. The results show that the flue gas flow rate had the greatest influence on the denitration efficiency of the catalyst. With an increase in flue gas flow rate, the denitration efficiency first increased and then decreased. When the flue gas flow rate was 0.3 m/s, the denitration efficiency reached a maximum. The denitration test was carried out using flue gas with a dust concentration of 15 g/m3. The results show that the denitration efficiency continued to decrease with the deposition of dust on the catalyst surface (from an initial value of 96.51 to 80.59% at the 140th min), and the pressure drop correspondingly increased from 100 to 630 Pa. Additional integration testing of dust removal and denitration showed that the average dust removal efficiency of the integrated device for dust removal and denitration using a dual-layer granular bed filter could reach 99.84%, and the average denitration efficiency could reach 95.07%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to meet the new demand for high-quality practical talents in industrial transformation and upgrading, strengthen the construction of practical teaching platform in higher vocational colleges and combine industrial control technology with computer software technology, an intelligent water conservancy experimental platform is designed, which is based on the actual water conservancy drainage station project. This platform takes PLC as the core of field control, adopts the mode of decentralized control and unified management, uses browser and mobile phone APP as the remote terminal service software, and finally realizes the data acquisition and monitoring control of drainage pumping station. Through this platform, students can understand the Internet + industrial control better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dialog state tracking (DST) is the key component of goal-driven Spoken Dialog Systems. Almost all existing dialog state trackers are unable to handle unknown slot values. The continuous emergence of unknown slot values in dialogs is inevitable. If unknown slot values cannot be accurately detected and distinguished, the dialog states cannot be correctly updated in real time. This paper proposes a hierarchical dialog state tracking framework to model the dialog state tracking with unknown slot values. Three levels are included in the framework. Unknown slot values are identified at the first-level by a two-layer cascaded neural network as well as known slot values. Distributions for unknown and known slot values are updated separately in the second level and integrated in the third level. Experimental results on DSTC and WOZ2.0 datasets show that the proposed framework achieves good performance. Especially, the detection and distinction of unknown slot values greatly improve the final performance of dialog state tracking, illustrating the effectiveness of our proposed framework for addressing the problem of unknown slot values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Thyroid hormone levels are essential for diagnosing and monitoring thyroid diseases. However, their reference intervals (RIs) in elderly Chinese individuals remain unclear. We aimed to identify factors affecting thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free triiodothyronine (FT3), and free thyroxine (FT4) levels using clinical "big data" to establish hormone level RIs for elderly Chinese individuals. Methods: We examined 6781, 6772, and 6524 subjects aged ≥65 years who underwent FT3, FT4, and TSH tests, respectively, at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital between September 1, 2013, and August 31, 2016. Hormones were measured using an automated immunoassay analyzer (ADVIA Centaur XP). RIs were established using the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute document C28-A3 guidelines. Results: The median TSH was significantly higher in women than in men; the opposite was true for median FT3 and FT4 levels. No differences were observed in TSH or FT4 by age in either sex or overall; FT3 levels significantly decreased with age. Seasonal differences were observed in TSH and FT3 levels but not FT4 levels; the median TSH was the highest in winter and lowest in summer, whereas the median FT3 was the lowest in summer (albeit not significantly). RIs for TSH were 0.53–5.24 and 0.335–5.73 mIU/L for men and women, respectively; those for FT3 were 3.76–5.71, 3.60–5.42, and 3.36–5.27 pmol/L in 64- to 74-, 75- to 84-, and 85- to 96-year-old subjects, respectively. The RI for FT4 was 11.70–20.28 pmol/L. Conclusions: RIs for TSH in elderly individuals were sex specific, whereas those for FT3 were age specific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Puerarin is an effective component that is present in high concentrations in the Pueraria lobata plant and is extensively distributed throughout nature. Puerarin possesses a number of pharmacological effects and has strong pharmacological activity with few side effects and extensive clinical applications. The aim of the present study was to explore the effects of Puerarin on the apoptosis of human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive cervical cancer cells and the underlying molecular mechanisms. MTT assay, lactate dehydrogenase activity and Annexin V/fluorescein isothiocyanate/propidium iodide analysis were used to analyze cell growth of HPV-positive HeLa cervical cancer cells treated with Puerarin. Western blotting was performed to measure protein expression in the treated cells. Puerarin significantly reduced cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in HeLa cells. In addition, it was observed that Puerarin significantly enhanced caspase-3/9 activities and significantly increased B-cell lymphoma 2-asscoiate X protein expression in HeLa cells. Puerarin suppressed phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K), phosphorylated (p)-protein kinase B (Akt) and p-mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) protein expression in HeLa cells. These results indicate that Puerarin induces apoptosis in HPV-positive HeLa cervical cancer cells via inhibiting PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. MiRNAs have been widely analyzed in the occurrence and development of many diseases, including pterygium. This study aimed to identify the key genes and miRNAs in pterygium and to explore the underlying molecular mechanisms. Methods. MiRNA expression was initially extracted and pooled by published literature. Microarray data about differentially expressed genes was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and analyzed with the R programming language. Functional and pathway enrichment analyses were performed using the database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID). The protein-protein interaction network was constructed with the STRING database. The associations between chemicals, differentially expressed miRNAs, and differentially expressed genes were predicted using the online resource. All the networks were constructed using Cytoscape. Results. We found that 35 miRNAs and 301 genes were significantly differentially expressed. Functional enrichment analysis showed that upregulated genes were significantly enriched in extracellular matrix (ECM) organization, while downregulated genes were mainly involved in cell death and apoptotic process. Finally, we concluded the chemical-gene affected network, miRNA-mRNA interacted networks, and significant pathway network. Conclusion. We identified lists of differentially expressed miRNAs and genes and their possible interaction in pterygium. The networks indicated that ECM breakdown and EMT might be two major pathophysiological mechanisms and showed the potential significance of PI3K-Akt signalling pathway. MiR-29b-3p and collagen family (COL4A1 and COL3A1) might be new treatment target in pterygium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dialog state tracking (DST) maintains and updates dialog states at each time step as the dialog progresses. It is necessary to include dialog historical information in DST. Previous word-based DST models took historical utterances as a word sequence and used n-grams in the sequence as inputs of models. It suffered from the problem of data sparseness. This paper proposes a cascaded deep neural network framework for DST. It alleviates the problem of data sparseness by making use of the hierarchical structure in dialog. The bottom layer of the cascaded framework, implemented by an Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) or a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), encodes the word sequence into a sentence embedding in each dialog turn, and the upper layer integrates the representation of each turn gradually to get the dialog state using an LSTM. The cascaded models integrate natural language understanding into DST, and the entire network is trained as a whole. The experimental results on the DSTC2 dataset indicate that the proposed models, LSTM+LSTM and CNN + LSTM, can achieve better performance than existing models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High temperature corrosion of the water wall tube in a 50 MW thermal power plant was investigated which caused several boiler accidents. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) were used to observe the cross-sectional morphology of the tube and analyze the oxide scales. Results show that the boiler water and the coal quality did not meet the requirements. High temperature corrosion of water wall tubes was attributed to the using of coal which had a higher ash content and lower received lower heating value. Higher dissolved oxygen and incrustation in the boiler water caused serious corrosion at the inner surface of water wall tube, which led to the possibility of decarburization and degradation of the steel. Suitable coal blending and stability of the thermal load were the effective means to prevent the high temperature corrosion of the tube. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantification of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations is important for the prediction of tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) efficacy in patients with non‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, clinicians lack a sensitive and convenient method to quantify EGFR mutant abundance. The present study introduces a novel method, namely amplification refractory mutation system (ARMS)‑Plus, for the quantitative analysis of EGFR exon 19 deletion (19Del), L858R and T790M mutations. Formalin‑fixed paraffin‑embedded tumor samples were collected from 77 patients with lung adenocarcinoma. DNA was extracted and analyzed for EGFR mutations using ARMS‑Plus. The performance of ARMS‑Plus was then compared with that of conventional ARMS‑polymerase chain reaction (ARMS‑PCR) and droplet digital PCR (ddPCR). The results demonstrated that the concordance rate of EGFR mutation testing between ARMS‑Plus and ddPCR was 98.7% (76/77, Kappa=0.9739). 19Del and L858R mutations were detected in 23 and 12 patients, respectively. There was a significant difference between ARMS‑Plus and ddPCR in the evaluation of 19Del mutant abundance (P=0.0002); however, not in that of L858R mutant abundance (P=0.7334). The ARMS‑Plus results in L858R mutant abundance were concordant with that of ddPCR (R2=0.8081). These results indicated that the sensitivity and specificity of ARMS‑Plus in identifying EGFR mutations were similar to that of ddPCR. For quantitative analysis, the results of ARMS‑Plus in evaluating L858R mutant abundance revealed a positive correlation with the ddPCR results. Thus, ARMS‑Plus provides an alternative method, which is reliable and cost‑effective, to quantify EGFR mutations and thereby, aid treatment decisions in patients with lung adenocarcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]