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Background/Objectives: Cardiovascular diseases are the primary cause of global morbidity and mortality, with cardiovascular health (CVH) remaining well below the ideal level and showing minimal improvement in the U.S. population over recent years. Bisphenol A (BPA), a pervasive environmental contaminant, has emerged as a potential contributor to adverse cardiovascular outcomes. This cross-sectional study delves into the impact of BPA exposure on achieving optimal CVH, as assessed by the Life's Essential 8 metric, among U.S. adults. Methods: Analyzing data from 6635 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) collected between 2005 and 2016, BPA exposure was quantified through urinary BPA levels, while optimal CVH was defined using the American Heart Association's Life's Essential 8 criteria, scoring between 80 and 100. Multivariable logistic regression and propensity score matching were employed to evaluate the association between BPA exposure and CVH. Results: This study reveals that individuals in the highest tertile of urinary BPA levels were 27% less likely to attain optimal CVH compared with those in the lowest tertile (OR, 0.73; 95% CI: 0.59-0.92). This negative association persisted across diverse demographics, including age, sex, and race, mirrored in the link between urinary BPA levels and health factor scores. Conclusions: The findings underscore the potential benefits of reducing BPA exposure in enhancing the prevalence of optimal CVH and mitigating the burden of cardiovascular disease. Given the widespread use of BPA, ongoing monitoring of BPA's impact on CVH is essential. Further studies are necessary to elucidate the long-term and causative connections between BPA and CVH. These insights contribute to understanding the complex interplay between environmental factors and CVH outcomes, informing targeted interventions to mitigate cardiovascular disease risk within the population.

Background: The process of the globally aging population has been accelerating, leading to an increasing social burden. As people age, the musculoskeletal system will gradually go through a series of degenerative and loss of function and eventually develop age-related musculoskeletal diseases, like sarcopenia, osteoporosis, and osteoarthritis. On the other hand, several studies have shown that polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) possess various important physiological functions on the health of muscles, bones, and joints. Objective: This narrative review paper provides a summary of the literature about the effects and mechanisms of PUFAs on age-related musculoskeletal diseases for the prevention and management of these diseases. Methods: Web of Science, PubMed, Science Direct, and Scopus databases have been searched to select the relevant literature on epidemiological, cellular, and animal experiments and clinical evidence in recent decades with keywords "polyunsaturated fatty acids", "PUFAs", "omega-3", "omega-6", "musculoskeletal diseases", "sarcopenia", "osteoporosis", "osteoarthritis", and so on. Results: PUFAs could prevent and treat age-related musculoskeletal diseases (sarcopenia, osteoporosis, and osteoarthritis) by reducing oxidative stress and inflammation and controlling the growth, differentiation, apoptosis, and autophagy of cells. This review paper provides comprehensive evidence of PUFAs on age-related musculoskeletal diseases, which will be helpful for exploitation into functional foods and drugs for their prevention and treatment. Conclusions: PUFAs could play an important role in the prevention and treatment of sarcopenia, osteoporosis, and osteoarthritis.

Background: Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a severe microvascular complication of diabetes mellitus that can lead to end-stage renal disease. Colquhounia root tablet (CRT) has shown therapeutic potential in treating DKD, but its efficacy and underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated., Methods: A randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted on 61 DKD patients. The treatment group received CRT in addition to standard therapy, while the control group received standard therapy alone. Treatment efficacy and adverse events were evaluated after 3 months. Additionally, in vitro experiments using human renal tubular epithelial cells (HK-2) were performed to investigate the effect of CRT on high glucose (HG)-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the involvement of the PTEN/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway., Results: CRT treatment significantly improved proteinuria and increased the effective treatment rate in DKD patients compared to the control group, with no significant difference in adverse events. Moreover, CRT reversed HG-induced EMT in HK-2 cells, as evidenced by the downregulation of α-SMA and upregulation of E-cadherin at both mRNA and protein levels. Mechanistically, CRT increased PTEN expression and inhibited the PI3K/AKT pathway, similar to the effects of the PI3K inhibitor LY29400. The combination of CRT and LY29400 further enhanced PTEN mRNA expression under HG conditions., Conclusion: CRT effectively improves proteinuria in DKD patients and ameliorates HG-induced EMT in HK-2 cells. The underlying mechanism may involve the upregulation of PTEN and subsequent inhibition of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. These findings provide new insights into the therapeutic potential of CRT for DKD treatment., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Ma, Zhang, Du, Shi, Liu, Qin, Chen and Guo.)

Background: Copper and zinc are involved in the development of multiple malignancies; yet, epidemiological evidence on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is limited. This study aimed to investigate the association between dietary intake and serum levels of copper and zinc with the risk of HCC., Methods: A total of 434 case-control pairs matched for sex and age (±1 year) were included in this study. Cases with newly diagnosed HCC were from the Guangdong Liver Cancer Cohort (GLCC) study, and healthy controls were from the Guangzhou Nutrition and Health Study (GNHS). A semi-quantitative 79-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was used to assess habitual dietary intakes of copper and zinc. Serum levels of copper and zinc were measured by using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The copper (Cu)/ zinc (Zn) ratio was computed by dividing copper levels by zinc levels. Conditional logistic regression models were performed to calculate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for per 1 standard deviation increase (per-SD increase) in copper and zinc levels., Results: Higher dietary intake (OR per-SD increase = 0.65, 95% CI: 0.44, 0.96, Ptrend = 0.029) and serum levels of zinc (OR per-SD increase = 0.11, 95% CI: 0.04, 0.30, Ptrend <0.001) were both associated with a lower risk of HCC. Subgroup analyses showed that the inverse association was only pronounced in men but not in women ( Pinteraction = 0.041 for dietary zinc intake and 0.010 for serum zinc levels). Serum copper levels (OR per-SD increase = 2.05, 95% CI: 1.39, 3.03, Ptrend = 0.020) and serum Cu/Zn ratio (OR per-SD increase = 6.53, 95% CI: 2.52, 16.92, Ptrend <0.001) were positively associated with HCC risk, while dietary copper intake and dietary Cu/Zn ratio were not associated with HCC risk., Conclusion: Zinc may be a protective factor for HCC, especially among men, but the effects of copper on HCC risk are not clear., (Copyright © 2024 The Chinese Medical Association, produced by Wolters Kluwer, Inc. under the CC-BY-NC-ND license.)

Aims: Evidence is limited regarding the long-term impact of dietary iron intake on the development of hypertension. We investigated the association between dietary intakes of total, nonheme, and heme iron and hypertension risk in a large prospective cohort of Chinese populations over 26 years., Methods: A total of 16,122 adults (7810 men and 8312 women) who participated in the China Health and Nutrition Survey (1989-2015) were included. Dietary intake was repeatedly assessed by combining three consecutive 24‑h individual dietary recalls with household food inventory weighing at each survey round. Incident hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90 mmHg, diagnosis by physicians, or current use of anti-hypertensive drugs., Results: During a median follow‑up of 11.1 years, 2863 men and 2532 women developed hypertension. After adjustment for non-dietary and dietary factors, a lower risk of hypertension was found in men and women with higher intakes of total, nonheme, or heme iron. The adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the highest vs. lowest quartiles were 0.76 (0.67, 0.87) in men and 0.85 (0.74, 0.97) in women for total iron intake, 0.77 (0.67, 0.87) in men and 0.85 (0.74, 0.98) in women for nonheme iron intake, and 0.73 (0.62, 0.87) in men and 0.69 (0.58, 0.82) in women for heme iron intake. Dose-response analyses further revealed a U-shaped association of total and nonheme iron intake and an L-shaped association of heme iron intake with hypertension risk in both men and women (all P for non-linearity < 0.001)., Conclusions: Our findings emphasize the importance of maintaining moderate iron intake in the prevention of hypertension. Both insufficient and excess intake of iron might increase the risk of hypertension., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany.)

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine or non-face-to-face medicine has increased significantly. In practice, various types of medical images are essential to achieve effective telemedicine. Medical image encryption algorithms play an irreplaceable role in the fast and secure transmission and storage of these medical images. However, most of the existing medical image encryption algorithms are full encryption algorithms, which are inefficient and time-consuming, so they are not suitable for emergency medical scenarios. To improve the efficiency of encryption, a small number of works have focused on partial or selective encryption algorithms for medical images, in which different levels of encryption strategies were adopted for different information content regions of medical images. However, these encryption algorithms have inadequate security more or less. In this paper, based on the Logistic map, we designed an improved variable dimension map. Then, an encryption algorithm for medical images was proposed based on it. This algorithm has two modes: (1) full encryption mode and (2) semi-full encryption mode, which can better adapt to different medical scenarios, respectively. In full encryption mode, all pixels of medical images are encrypted by using the confusion-diffusion structure. In semi-full encryption mode, the region of interest of medical images is extracted. The confusion was first adopted to encrypt the region of interest, and then, the diffusion was adopted to encrypt the entire image. In addition, no matter which encryption mode is used, the algorithm provides the function of medical image integrity verification. The proposed algorithm was simulated and analyzed to evaluate its effectiveness. The results show that in semi-full encryption mode, the algorithm has good security performance and lower time consumption; while in full encryption mode, the algorithm has better security performance and is acceptable in time., (© 2023. International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering.)

As an attempt to solve the mixed results between leader feedback quality and employee job performance, this study proposes that employees' expected feedback quality plays a key role in how employees react to leader feedback. Specifically, drawing on needs-supplies fit and social exchange theory, we posit that congruence between expected feedback quality and delivered feedback quality positively relates to employee task performance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) through leader-member exchange (LMX). Further, we posit that learning goal orientation may strengthen the positive effect of congruence between expected feedback quality and delivered feedback quality on LMX. Multi-wave data collected from 226 employees from China showed that congruence between expected feedback quality and delivered feedback quality improves LMX and in turn benefits task performance and OCB. Moreover, learning goal orientation intensifies the indirect effect of congruence between expected feedback quality and delivered feedback quality on task performance and OCB through LMX. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Qi, Liu and Liu.)

Modern medical examinations have produced a large number of medical images. It is a great challenge to transmit and store them quickly and securely. Existing solutions mainly use medical image encryption algorithms, but these encryption algorithms, which were developed for ordinary images, are time-consuming and must cope with insufficient security considerations when encrypting medical images. Compared with ordinary images, medical images can be divided into the region of interest and the region of background. In this paper, based on this characteristic, a plain-image correlative semi-selective medical image encryption algorithm using the enhanced two dimensional Logistic map was proposed. First, the region of interest of a plain medical image is permuted at the pixel level, then for the whole medical image, substitution is performed pixel by pixel. An ideal compromise between encryption speed and security can be achieved by full-encrypting the region of interest and semi-encrypting the region of background. Several main types of medical images and some normal images were selected as the samples for simulation, and main image cryptanalysis methods were used to analyze the results. The results showed that the cipher-images have a good visual quality, high information entropy, low correlation between adjacent pixels, as well as uniformly distribute histogram. The algorithm is sensitive to the initial key and plain-image, and has a large keyspace and low time complexity. The time complexity is lower when compared with the current medical image full encryption algorithm, and the security performance is better when compared with the current medical image selective encryption algorithm., Competing Interests: DeclarationsNo conflicts of interest, all medical image samples are obtained from open sources and do not involve the patient’s privacy., (© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2022, Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.)

Background: Developmental ontogeny of neonatal thrombopoiesis retains characteristics that are distinct from adults although molecular mechanisms remain unestablished., Methods: We applied multiparameter quantitative platelet responses with integrated ribosome profiling/transcriptomic studies to better define gene/pathway perturbations regulating the neonatal-to-adult transition. A bioinformatics pipeline was developed to identify stable, neonatal-restricted platelet biomarkers for clinical application., Results: Cord blood (CB) platelets retained the capacity for linear agonist-receptor coupling linked to phosphatidylserine (PS) exposure and α-granule release, although a restricted block in cross-agonist activation pathways was evident. Functional immaturity of synergistic signaling pathways was due to younger ontogenetic age and singular underdevelopment of the protein secretory gene network, with reciprocal expansion of developmental pathways (E2F, G2M checkpoint, c-Myc) important for megakaryocytopoiesis. Genetic perturbations regulating vesicle transport and fusion (TOM1L1, VAMP3, SNAP23, and DNM1L) and PS exposure and procoagulant activity (CLCN3) were the most significant, providing a molecular explanation for globally attenuated responses. Integrated transcriptomic and ribosomal footprints identified highly abundant (ribosome-protected) DEFA3 (encoding human defensin neutrophil peptide 3) and HBG1 as stable biomarkers of neonatal thrombopoiesis. Studies comparing CB- or adult-derived megakaryocytopoiesis confirmed inducible and abundant DEFA3 antigenic expression in CB megakaryocytes, ~3.5-fold greater than in leukocytes (the most abundant source in humans). An initial feasibility cohort of at-risk pregnancies manifested by maternal/fetal hemorrhage (chimerism) were applied for detection and validation of platelet HBG1 and DEFA3 as neonatal thrombopoiesis markers, most consistent for HBG1, which displayed gestational age-dependent expression., Conclusions: These studies establish an ontogenetically divergent stage of neonatal thrombopoiesis, and provide initial feasibility studies to track disordered fetal-to-adult megakaryocytopoiesis in vivo., (© 2022 International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis.)

Purpose: Epidemiologic evidence regarding the role of dietary vitamin A in the development of diabetes is limited and inconsistent. This study was to explore the association between vitamin A intake and diabetes risk in Chinese adults., Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted among 17 111 adults (8537 men and 8577 women) who participated in the China Health and Nutrition Survey between 1989 and 2015. Dietary intakes were assessed by 3 consecutive 24-hour dietary recalls combined with a household food inventory. Diabetes was determined by self-reported diagnosis, diabetes medication use, or additional criterion in 2009 of fasting blood glucose or hemoglobin A1c. We analyzed the association of vitamin A intake (total, β-carotene, retinol) with diabetes risk using Cox proportional hazards models., Results: A total of 519 men and 531 women developed diabetes during a median of 11 years of follow-up. Higher dietary total vitamin A intakes were associated with a lower risk of diabetes in both men (quintile 5 [Q5] vs Q1: hazard ratio [HR] = 0.69, 95% CI, 0.49-0.97, P-trend = 0.079) and women (Q5 vs Q1: HR = 0.63; 95% CI, 0.45-0.89; P-trend = 0.039). An inverse relation with diabetes risk was observed for dietary intakes of β-carotene (Q5 vs Q1: HR = 0.71; 95% CI, 0.52-0.97) and retinol (Q5 vs Q1: HR = 0.58; 95% CI, 0.39-0.85) among men, but not women. Dose-response analyses showed the association of dietary intakes of total vitamin A, β-carotene, and retinol with diabetes risk in men was L-shaped (P-nonlinearity = 0.043), reverse J-shaped (P-nonlinearity = 0.001), and linear, respectively., Conclusion: Our findings suggest that adequate intake of vitamin A may help protecting against diabetes, especially for men., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Endocrine Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Inflammatory stimuli have divergent effects on peripheral platelet counts, although the mechanisms of thrombocytopenic and thrombocytotic responses remain poorly understood. A candidate gene approach targeting 326 polymorphic genes enriched in thrombopoietic and cytokine signaling pathways was applied to identify single nucleotide variants (SNVs) implicated in enhanced platelet responses in cohorts with reactive thrombocytosis (RT) or essential (myeloproliferative neoplasm [MPN]) thrombocytosis (ET). Cytokine profiles incorporating a 15-member subset, pathway topology, and functional interactive networks were distinct between ET and RT, consistent with distinct regulatory pathways of exaggerated thrombopoiesis. Genetic studies using aggregate (ET + RT) or ET-restricted cohorts identified associations with 2 IFNA16 (interferon-α16) SNVs, and the ET associations were validated in a second independent cohort (P = .0002). Odds ratio of the combined ET cohort (n = 105) was 4.92, restricted to the JAK2V617F-negative subset (odds ratio, 5.01). ET substratification analysis by variant IFNA16 exhibited a statistically significant increase in IFN-α16 levels (P = .002) among 16 quantifiable cytokines. Recombinantly expressed variant IFN-α16 encompassing 3 linked non-synonymous SNVs (E65H95P133) retained comparable antiviral and pSTAT signaling profiles as native IFN-α16 (V65D95A133) or IFN-α2, although both native and variant IFN-α16 showed stage-restricted differences (compared with IFN-α2) of IFN-regulated genes in CD34+-stimulated megakaryocytes. These data implicate IFNA16 (IFN-α16 gene product) as a putative susceptibility locus (driver) within the broader disrupted cytokine network evident in MPNs, and they provide a framework for dissecting functional interactive networks regulating stress or MPN thrombopoiesis., (© 2022 by The American Society of Hematology. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), permitting only noncommercial, nonderivative use with attribution. All other rights reserved.)

The belongingness literature has largely examined the antecedents of non-teleworkers' sense of belongingness, but little attention has been paid to what job-related factors could affect teleworkers' sense of belongingness. Grounded in organizational support theory, our research focuses on why feedback quality from the direct leader brings sense of belongingness and considers how conscientiousness of teleworkers shapes this effect. Based on data from 329 participants obtained at three different time points from one technology service organization in China, our results indicated that teleworkers' perceived organizational support serves as an essential mediator of the positive relationship between feedback quality from the direct leader and sense of belongingness. Additionally, the teleworkers' conscientiousness strengthened the positive direct effect of feedback quality on perceived organizational support and the indirect effect on sense of belongingness. The moderating role of conscientiousness in strengthening the link between feedback quality and perceived organizational support was significant for high levels of conscientiousness and not significant for low levels. Finally, we discussed theoretical and practical implications., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Liu, Xu, Yuan, Liu and Tian.)

Previous studies have explored associations between betaine and diabetes, but few have considered the effects of genes on them. We aimed to examine associations between serum betaine, methyl-metabolizing genetic polymorphisms and the risk of type 2 diabetes in Chinese adults. This prospective study comprised 1565 subjects aged 40-75 without type 2 diabetes at baseline. Serum betaine was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Genotyping of methyl-metabolizing genes was detected by Illumina ASA-750K arrays. Cox proportional hazards model was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). During a median of 8.9 years of follow-up, 213 participants developed type 2 diabetes. Compared with participants in the lowest quartile of serum betaine, those in the highest quartile had lower risk of type 2 diabetes, adjusted HRs (95%CIs) was 0.46 (0.31, 0.69). For methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase ( MTHFR ) G1793A (rs2274976) and MTHFR A1298C (rs1801131), participants carrying 1793GA + AA and 1298AC + CC had lower risk of type 2 diabetes. Interactions of serum betaine and genotype of MTHFR G1793A and MTHFR A1298C could be found influencing type 2 diabetes risk. Our findings indicate that higher serum betaine, mutations of MTHFR G1793A and A1298C, as well as the joint effects of them, are associated with lower risk of type 2 diabetes.

Negative feedback plays an important role in employee performance improvement, yet little research has specifically examined the motivational factor that drives employees to seek negative feedback. Drawing from the regulatory mode theory, we propose that assessment orientation could increase negative feedback-seeking by triggering individual self-criticism and participative leadership could enhance this effect. Results from a two-wave lagged survey study obtained from 216 Chinese employees suggested that assessment orientation is positively correlated with negative feedback-seeking via the mediating role of self-criticism. Moreover, the positive effect of assessment orientation on self-criticism and the positive indirect effect of assessment orientation on negative feedback-seeking via self-criticism are both stronger when participative leadership is higher. These results enrich the literature on feedback-seeking and regulatory mode and are useful for increasing employee negative feedback-seeking behavior in the organization., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Liu, Yuan, Qian, Ellenberg and Kruglanski.)

AR technology, also known as AR or virtual reality, refers to a technology that combines and allows interaction of the virtual world on the display system with the real world through the position and angle of the camera video and image analysis technology. This technology is different from VR technology, and its characteristics can be easily explained as follows: when using AR technology, the user's eyes can see not only the real world but also the virtual world derived from the computer through things in the real world. At present, AR has been widely used in education, engineering, entertainment, and medical fields. In order to provide better perioperative care and bring patients a good nursing experience, this article mainly introduces the perioperative care of vascular decompression in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia by augmented reality medical technology, in order to provide better care for patients with trigeminal neuralgia. This article proposes the perioperative nursing research method of vascular decompression for the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia under AR medical technology, including an overview of trigeminal neuralgia, perioperative related research, and AR medical technology algorithms, and designs related experiments to study whether AR medical technology can bring good news to nursing. Experimental results show that 96% of patients believe that with the enhancement of realistic medical technology, perioperative vascular decompression care for trigeminal neuralgia can help them recover faster and can be gradually popularized., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Zhaoyan Liu et al.)

Genetic pathways regulating hematopoietic lineage commitment at critical stages of development remain incompletely characterized.  To better delineate genetic sources of variability regulating cellular speciation during steady-state hematopoiesis, we applied a factorial single-cell latent variable model (f-scLVM) to decompose single-cell transcriptome heterogeneity into interpretable biological factors (refined pathway annotations or gene sets without annotation) dynamically regulating cell fate.  Hematopoietic single cell transcriptomic raw sequencing data extracted from 1,920 hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) derived from 12-week-old female mice were used for data analysis and model development. These single cell RNA sequencing data were subsequently analyzed using the factorial single-cell latent variable model (f-scLVM), with their heterogeneity decomposed into interpretable biological factors. The top biological factors underlying the basal hematopoiesis were subsequently identified for the aggregate, and lineage-restricted (myeloid, megakaryocyte, erythroid) progenitor cells. For a subset of factors, data were independently verified experimentally in a companion research paper [1]. These data facilitate the identification of novel subpopulations and adjust gene sets to discover new marker genes and hidden confounding factors driving basal hematopoiesis., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships which have or could be perceived to have influenced the work reported in this article., (© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc.)

To comparatively study the size of and variation in the 'brain-haematoma' pressure gradient for different surgical methods for hypertensive intracerebral haemorrhage (HICH) and analyse the gradient's influence on surgical procedures and effects of the haemorrhage. Seventy-two patients with HICH treated from 1/2019 to 12/2019 were randomly divided into two groups, namely, the keyhole endoscopy and large trauma craniotomy groups, according to different operative methods. Intraoperative changes in intracranial pressure (ICP) were monitored to calculate intraoperative alterations in the 'brain-haematoma' pressure gradient. Intraoperative characteristics (operative time, bleeding volume, volume of blood transfusion, and haematoma clearance rate) and postoperative characteristics (oedema, postoperative activities of daily living (ADL) scores, mortality rate and rebleeding rate) were compared between the two groups. In the keyhole endoscopy group, ICP decreased slowly; the 'brain-haematoma' pressure gradient was large, averaging 251.1 ± 20.6 mmH 2 O, and slowly decreased. The mean operative time was 83.6 ± 4.3 min, the mean bleeding volume was 181.2 ± 13.6 ml, no blood transfusions were given, the average postoperative haematoma clearance rate was 95.6%, the rate of severe oedema was 10.9%, and the average postoperative ADL score was 85.2%. In the large trauma craniotomy group, ICP rapidly decreased after craniotomy. When the haematoma was removed, the 'brain-haematoma' pressure gradient was small, averaging 132.3 ± 10.5 mmH2O, and slowly decreased. The mean operative time was 232 ± 26.1 min, the mean bleeding volume was 412.6 ± 35.2 ml, the average volume of blood transfusion was 281.3 ± 13.6 ml, and the average postoperative haematoma clearance rate was 82.3%; moreover, the rate of severe oedema was 72.1%, and the average postoperative ADL score was 39.0%. These differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Neither the death rate (P > 0.05, 2.7% VS 2.8%) nor rebleeding rate (P > 0.05, 2.7% VS 2.8%) showed any obvious changes. The magnitude and variation in the 'brain-haematoma' pressure gradient for different surgical methods significantly influence surgical procedures and effects of HICH. During keyhole endoscopy surgery, this gradient was relatively large and slowly decreased; the haematoma was therefore easier to remove. Advantages of this approach include a high haematoma clearance rate, decreased bleeding volume, decreased operative time, reduced trauma, decreased postoperative brain oedema and improved postoperative recovery of neurological function.Chinese Clinical Trial Register: ChiCTR1900020655 registration in 12/01/02,019 registration in 28/02/02,020 Number: NCOMMS-20-08,091.

Cytoprotective mechanisms of heme oxygenases function by derivatizing heme to generate carbon monoxide, ferrous iron, and isomeric biliverdins, followed by rapid NAD(P)H-dependent biliverdin reduction to the antioxidant bilirubin using two non-overlapping biliverdin reductases that display biliverdin isomer-restricted redox activity. Although cytoprotective functions of heme oxygenases are widely recognized, concomitant effects of downstream biliverdin reductases remain incomplete. A computational model predicated on murine hematopoietic single-cell transcriptomic data identified Blvrb as a biological driver linked to the tumor necrosis factor stress pathway as a predominant source of variation defining hematopoietic cell heterogeneity. In vivo studies using Blvrb-deficient mice established the dispensable role of Blvrb in steady-state hematopoiesis, although model validation using aged Blvrb-deficient mice established an important cytoprotective function in stress hematopoiesis with dichotomous megakaryocyte-biased hematopoietic recovery. Defective stress erythropoiesis was evident in Blvrb -/- spleens and in bone marrow erythroid development, occurring in conjunction with defective lipid peroxidation as a marker of oxidant mishandling. Cell autonomous effects on megakaryocyte lineage bias were documented using multipotential progenitor assays. These data provide the first physiological function of murine Blvrb in a non-redundant pathway of stress cytoprotection. Divergent effects on erythroid/megakaryocyte lineage speciation impute a novel redox-regulated mechanism for lineage partitioning., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This paper presents an innovative retrieval method that translate the CALIOP land surface laser pulse returns into the surface bidirectional reflectance. To better analyze the surface returns, the CALIOP receiver impulse response and the downlinked samples' distribution at 30 m resolution are discussed. The saturated laser pulse returns from snow and ice surfaces are recovered based on surface tail information. The retrieved snow surface bidirectional reflectance is compared with reflectance from both CALIOP cloud cover regions and MODIS BRDF/Albedo model parameters. Besides the surface bidirectional reflectance, the column top-of-atmosphere bidirectional reflectance is calculated from the CALIOP lidar background data. It is compared with bidirectional reflectance from WFC radiance measurements. The retrieved CALIOP surface bidirectional reflectance and column top-of-atmosphere bidirectional reflectance results provide unique information to complement existing MODIS standard data products and would have valuable applications for modellers.

To investigate the effect of microRNA (miR)-155 on colon cancer chemoresistance to cisplatine and its mechanism. Reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to measure the levels of miR-155 and forkhead box O3 (FOXO3) in colon cancer specimens and cell lines. Overexpression of miR-155 and miR-155 inhibitor were transfected into colon cancer cell lines to investigate its role of chemoresistance to cisplatin in colon cancer. MTS assays were used to analyse cell viability in vitro . In vivo tumor formation assays were performed in C57BL/6 wild type and miR-155 knockout mice (miR-155-/-). A luciferase reporter assay was used to measure the translation of FOXO3. Additionally, the expression of FOXO3 was detected by western blot analysis. It was identified that miR-155 was markedly upregulated in colon cancer tissue and cell lines. Overexpression of miR-155 enhanced colon cancer cell chemoresistance to cisplatin in vitro and tumorigenesis in vivo . In addition, overexpression of miR-155 was associated with decreased levels of FOXO3, primarily through inhibiting the expression of FOXO3 to increase colon cancer resistanec to cisplatin. The present study demonstrated that miR-155 increased colon cancer drug resistance and decreased FOXO3 expression in vivo and in vitro . This may provide a novel method for the treatment of drug-resistant colon cancer.

Data products from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) on board Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) were recently updated following the implementation of new (version 4) calibration algorithms for all of the level 1 attenuated backscatter measurements. In this work we present the motivation for and the implementation of the version 4 nighttime 532 nm parallel channel calibration. The nighttime 532 nm calibration is the most fundamental calibration of CALIOP data, since all of CALIOP's other radiometric calibration procedures - i.e., the 532 nm daytime calibration and the 1064 nm calibrations during both nighttime and daytime - depend either directly or indirectly on the 532 nm nighttime calibration. The accuracy of the 532 nm nighttime calibration has been significantly improved by raising the molecular normalization altitude from 30-34 km to 36-39 km to substantially reduce stratospheric aerosol contamination. Due to the greatly reduced molecular number density and consequently reduced signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at these higher altitudes, the signal is now averaged over a larger number of samples using data from multiple adjacent granules. As well, an enhanced strategy for filtering the radiation-induced noise from high energy particles was adopted. Further, the meteorological model used in the earlier versions has been replaced by the improved MERRA-2 model. An aerosol scattering ratio of 1.01 ± 0.01 is now explicitly used for the calibration altitude. These modifications lead to globally revised calibration coefficients which are, on average, 2-3% lower than in previous data releases. Further, the new calibration procedure is shown to eliminate biases at high altitudes that were present in earlier versions and consequently leads to an improved representation of stratospheric aerosols. Validation results using airborne lidar measurements are also presented. Biases relative to collocated measurements acquired by the Langley Research Center (LaRC) airborne high spectral resolution lidar (HSRL) are reduced from 3.6% ± 2.2% in the version 3 data set to 1.6% ± 2.4 % in the version 4 release.

The Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) version 4.10 (V4) level 2 aerosol data products, released in November 2016, include substantial improvements to the aerosol subtyping and lidar ratio selection algorithms. These improvements are described along with resulting changes in aerosol optical depth (AOD). The most fundamental change in V4 level 2 aerosol products is a new algorithm to identify aerosol subtypes in the stratosphere. Four aerosol subtypes are introduced for the stratospheric aerosols: polar stratospheric aerosol (PSA), volcanic ash, sulfate/other, and smoke. The tropospheric aerosol subtyping algorithm was also improved by adding the following enhancements: (1) all aerosol subtypes are now allowed over polar regions, whereas the version 3 (V3) algorithm allowed only clean continental and polluted continental aerosols; (2) a new "dusty marine" aerosol subtype is introduced, representing mixtures of dust and marine aerosols near the ocean surface; and (3) the "polluted continental" and "smoke" subtypes have been renamed "polluted continental/smoke" and "elevated smoke", respectively. V4 also revises the lidar ratios for clean marine, dust, clean continental, and elevated smoke subtypes. As a consequence of the V4 updates, the mean 532 nm AOD retrieved by CALIOP has increased by 0.044 (0.036) or 52 % (40 %) for nighttime (daytime). Lidar ratio revisions are the most influential factor for AOD changes from V3 to V4, especially for cloud-free skies. Preliminary validation studies show that the AOD discrepancies between CALIOP and AERONET/MODIS (ocean) are reduced in V4 compared to V3.

The CALIOP data processing scheme only retrieves extinction profiles in those portions of the return signal where cloud or aerosol layers have been identified by the CALIOP layer detection scheme. In this study we use two years of CALIOP and MODIS data to quantify the aerosol optical depth of undetected weakly backscattering layers. Aerosol extinction and column-averaged lidar ratio is retrieved from CALIOP Level 1B (Version 4) profile using MODIS AOD as a constraint over oceans from March 2013 to February 2015. To quantify the undetected layer AOD (ULA), an unconstrained retrieval is applied globally using a lidar ratio of 28.75 sr estimated from constrained retrievals during the daytime over the ocean. We find a global mean ULA of 0.031 ± 0.052. There is no significant difference in ULA between land and ocean. However, the fraction of undetected aerosol layers rises considerably during daytime, when the large amount of solar background noise lowers the signal to noise ratio (SNR). For this reason, there is a difference in ULA between day (0.036 ± 0.066) and night (0.025 ± 0.021). ULA is larger in the northern hemisphere and relatively larger at high latitudes. Large ULA for the Polar Regions is strongly related to the cases where the CALIOP Level 2 Product reports zero AOD. This study provides an estimate of the complement of AOD that is not detected by lidar, and bounds the CALIOP AOD uncertainty to provide corrections for science studies that employ the CALIOP Level 2 AOD.

The eco-friendly synthesis and application of Fe nanoparticles (Fe NPs) with higher activity and stability has aroused wide attention in the field of pollutant remediation. In this work, 15 plants extracts were selected for the plant-mediated synthesis of Fe NPs. The as-synthesized particles' morphology and structure were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The contents of four main active biomolecules in the 15 extracts were determined, and comparative studies were further carried out to clarify the key component closely related to the reducing capacity. The results demonstrate that polyphenol is the leading ingredient involved in the biosynthesis of Fe NPs. Then Fe products synthesized by three extracts with distinct content of polyphenol were employed to remove Cr (VI) in the aqueous solution, indicating that the activity of the Fe NPs for Cr (VI) removal is consistent with the reducing capacity of the extracts. Furthermore, the Fe NPs synthesized by S. jambos（L.） Alston extract (SJA-Fe NPs) showed significant removal capacity of Cr(VI) with 698.6 mg Cr(VI) per g of iron., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A low-cost and facile route has been developed for the synthesis of monodisperse CuPd nanoparticles with tunable composition. (Scanning transmission electron microscopy-energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy) STEM-EDX results verified the structure of the alloy for the obtained nanoparticles. These CuPd nanoparticles supported on carbon were active catalysts for hydrogen generation from the methanolysis of ammonia borane (AB) at room temperature, and their activities were closely related with the compositions. Cu48Pd52 NPs exhibited the highest activity among the tested catalysts. Moreover, their activity can be further improved by thermal annealing at 300 °C under nitrogen flow, with a very high total turnover frequency value of 53.2 min(-1). The reusability test indicated that the Cu48Pd52/C catalyst retains 86% of its initial activity and 100% conversion after 8 cycles. The catalyst, which features lost cost and high efficiency, may help move forward the practical application of AB as a sustainable hydrogen storage material.

Objective: To assess the effects of soybean isoflavone on reproductive development in SD rats., Methods: Forty 4 week-old SD rats (20 males and 20 females) were randomly divided into a control group and a soy isoflavone (SI) group according to their body mass, and were fed with normal diet or normal diet added with soy isoflavone (100 mg/kg BW), respectively. The body weight, daily food intake, estrous cycle, fertility index, pregnant index, gestation length, number of pups, blood hormone level, the weight of reproduction organ and the quality of sperm of the parental generation and the sex ratio, anogenital distance, vagina opening time, prepuce separation time of F1 generation were recorded. The data were analyzed by two independent t test, and the data of pups in each litter were analyzed as a unit., Results: Compared with the control group, the body weight and food utilization of male and female rats in SI group were lower before copulation (P < 0.05). The total number of sperm of parental males was higher (P < 0.05). Serum luteinizing hormone (LH) level of parental male was lower (P < 0.05), serum luteinizing hormone (LH), prolactin (PRL) and progesterone (P) of parental female were lower in SI group (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences of other indices such as estrous cycle, mating index, fertility index between two groups., Conclusion: SI has certain effect on the bodyweight of parental males, food utilization of females, and the total number of sperm and the level of some hormones.

Anemia is a common nutritional problem, and it has a remarkably high prevalence rate in Southeast Asia. In this study, children from 6 to 36 months were investigated to determine (1) the prevalence of anemia and (2) risk factors associated with anemia. Convenience sampling was used to select three villages in three different regions in Burma. Hemoglobin and anthropometric indicators were measured for 872 children. Logistic regression analyses were used to determine factors associated with anemia. The overall prevalence of anemia was 72.6%, with 40.0% having severe anemia. Predictors of anemia are a young age (P < 0.001), mother with anemia (P < 0.001), height-for-age Z score < -2 (P = 0.017), low family income (P < 0.001), mothers without primary education (P = 0.007), drinking unboiled water (P = 0.029), and fever in the last 3 months (P = 0.001). There is a high prevalence of anemia in children, and their nutritional status is quite poor. To control anemia, humanitarians and governments should launch comprehensive interventions.

Objective: To identify the effects of infant formula on the reproductive development of Spraque-Dawley rats., Methods: A two-generation reproductive test was carried out. Forty 4 week-old SD rats were divided into two groups randomly by body weight and maintained on diet containing a kind of infant formula or an adjusted basal feeds. The body weight, dietary intake, hormone level, function of reproductive organs, and the development status of the P generation rats and F1 generation rats were measured., Results: No significant growth-promoting effect was observed in the infant formula group; and no impairment on reproductive organ development or development status in the P generation and F1 generation rats was caused by the infant formula. The body weight at the 14th day of gestation and at the 0th and 4th day of lactation in infant formula group was significantly lower than that in control group (P < 0.05). The level of prolactin was significantly lower in the infant formula group. The AGD of F2a female rats was significantly shorter in the infant formula group., Conclusion: There was few effect of the infant formula on the reproductive development of SD rats, further study is required to determine the effects of infant formula on the body weight change during gestation period and lactation period, AGD and prolactin level.

Objective: Observe the influence of whole fat milk and high-dose soy isoflavones (SI, 1 g/kg) on reproductive development to assess the safety of milk., Methods: Sixty Spraque-Dawley rats (30 male and 30 female) were randomly separated into milk group, S1 group and control group (10 male and female each) according to body weight and were fed with milk, the diet with 1 g/kg SI and basic diet, respectively. Intervention measures were implemented from 11 weeks before mating to sexual maturity of F1. Parental weight, morphology, reproductive capacity, reproductive organ function, the level of hormones of parental rats and the development status of the first filial generation rats were examined. ANOVA were used to assess differences in groups with SPSS 13.0 statistical software; P < 0.05 were considered statistically significant., Results: The birth weight of F1 offspring in milk group was significantly increased (P < 0.05). The level of luteinizing hormone (LH) of male rats and progesterone (P) of female rats in milk group were lower than those of control group (P < 0.05). SI group vs control group significantly decreased P and PRL in female rats of the P generation (P < 0.05). And The level of FSH in male rats of the P generation was lower than that of control group (P < 0.05). There was no significant differences on the other indices such as estrous cycle, mating index, fertility index, pregnant index, gestation length, Number of pups, sex ratio, anogenital distance, vaginal opening (VO), preputial separation (PPS) in milk group and SI group, compared with control group., Conclusion: Milk did not show significant influence on the reproductive development ability in the one-generation reproduction study. Further study is required to determine whether milk have adverse effects on reproductive health for F2-generation.

This letter describes a lidar retrieval technique that uses the transmittance ratio as a constraint to determine an average lidar ratio as well as extinction and backscatter coefficients of transparent cirrus clouds. The cloud transmittance ratio is directly obtained from two adjacent elastic lidar backscatter signals. The technique can be applied to cirrus measurements where neither the molecular scattering dominant signals above and below the cloud layer are found nor cloudfree reference profiles are available. The technique has been tested with simulated lidar signals and applied to backscatter lidar measurements at Hampton University, Hampton, Virginia.

We are demonstrating on a few cases the capability of CALIPSO to retrieve the 532 nm lidar ratio over the ocean when CloudSat surface scattering cross section is used as a constraint. We are presenting the algorithm used and comparisons with the column lidar ratio retrieved by the NASA airborne high spectral resolution lidar. For the three cases presented here, the agreement is fairly good. The average CALIPSO 532 nm column lidar ratio bias is 13.7% relative to HSRL, and the relative standard deviation is 13.6%. Considering the natural variability of aerosol microphysical properties, this level of accuracy is significant since the lidar ratio is a good indicator of aerosol types. We are discussing dependencies of the accuracy of retrieved aerosol lidar ratio on atmospheric aerosol homogeneity, lidar signal to noise ratio, and errors in the optical depth retrievals. We are obtaining the best result (bias 7% and standard deviation around 6%) for a nighttime case with a relatively constant lidar ratio (in the vertical) indicative of homogeneous aerosol type.

We present a method to determine the geometric form factor of a ground-based lidar using simultaneous lidar measurements made from the ground and from space. The theoretical basis is described. The feasibility of the method is demonstrated by applying it to the measurement data acquired by the Cloud Aerosol Lidar Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) lidar and a ground-based lidar located at the Hampton University (37.02 degrees N, 76.34 degrees W). The geometric factors with different aerosol conditions are retrieved.

A technique that determines the aerosol extinction-to-backscatter ratio (lidar ratio) as well as extinction and backscatter coefficients from simultaneous downlooking and uplooking lidar measurements is described. The feasibility of this technique is demonstrated by applying the technique to data acquired by the cloud-aerosol lidar pathfinder satellite observation (CALIPSO) lidar measurements and ground-based lidar measurements made at Hampton University (37.02 degrees N, 76.34 degrees W).

We present observations of cirrus clouds from June 2006 to July 2007 performed by using a two-wavelength lidar located at Hampton University. For this time period, cirrus clouds were observed mostly in 7-13.5 km altitudes. Data analyses have been performed focusing on a color-ratio retrieval. In total, 86,369 samples from 1,689 profiles (1 min average and 15 m range resolution) containing cirrus clouds with attenuated backscatter ratio (ratio of attenuated total backscatter to the molecular backscatter) larger than 10 have been selected. The cirrus color ratio distribution shows a peak value at about 0.88 and a full width at half-maximum of 0.12.

Using measurements obtained by the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) satellite, relationships between layer-integrated depolarization ratio (delta) and layer-integrated attenuated backscatter (gamma) are established for moderately thick clouds of both ice and water. A new and simple form of the delta-gamma relation for spherical particles, developed from Monte Carlo simulations and suitable for both water clouds and spherical aerosol particles, is found to agree well with the observations. A high-backscatter, low-depolarization delta-gamma relationship observed for some ice clouds is shown to result primarily from horizontally oriented plates and implies a preferential lidar ratio - depolarization ratio relation in nature for ice cloud particles containing plates.

We discuss the estimation of random errors due to shot noise in backscatter lidar observations that use either photomultiplier tube (PMT) or avalanche photodiode (APD) detectors. The statistical characteristics of photodetection are reviewed, and photon count distributions of solar background signals and laser backscatter signals are examined using airborne lidar observations at 532 nm using a photon-counting mode APD. Both distributions appear to be Poisson, indicating that the arrival at the photodetector of photons for these signals is a Poisson stochastic process. For Poisson- distributed signals, a proportional, one-to-one relationship is known to exist between the mean of a distribution and its variance. Although the multiplied photocurrent no longer follows a strict Poisson distribution in analog-mode APD and PMT detectors, the proportionality still exists between the mean and the variance of the multiplied photocurrent. We make use of this relationship by introducing the noise scale factor (NSF), which quantifies the constant of proportionality that exists between the root mean square of the random noise in a measurement and the square root of the mean signal. Using the NSF to estimate random errors in lidar measurements due to shot noise provides a significant advantage over the conventional error estimation techniques, in that with the NSF, uncertainties can be reliably calculated from or for a single data sample. Methods for evaluating the NSF are presented. Algorithms to compute the NSF are developed for the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations lidar and tested using data from the Lidar In-space Technology Experiment.

An empirical relationship is derived between the multiple-scattering fraction and the linear depolarization ratio by using Monte Carlo simulations of water clouds measured by backscatter lidar. This relationship is shown to hold for clouds having a wide range of extinction coefficients, mean droplet sizes, and droplet size distribution widths. The relationship is also shown to persist for various instrument fields of view and for measurements made within broken cloud fields. The results obtained from the Monte Carlo simulations are verified by using multiple-field-of-view lidar measurements. For space-based lidars equipped to measure linear depolarization ratios, this new relationship can be used to accurately assess signal perturbations due to multiple scattering within nonprecipitating water clouds.

Extinction-to-backscatter ratio or lidar ratio is a key parameter in the issue of backscatter-lidar inversions. The lidar ratio of Asian dust was observed with a high-spectral-resolution lidar and a combined Raman elastic-backscatter lidar during the springs of 1998 and 1999. The measured values range from 42 to55 sr in most cases, with a mean of 51 sr. These values are significantly larger than those predicted by the Mie computations that incorporate measured Asian dust size distributions and a range of refractive index with a typical value of 1.55-0.005i. The enhancement of lidar ratio is mostly due to the nonsphericity of dust particles, as indicated by the T-matrix calculations for spheroid particles and a number of other theoretical studies. In addition, possible contamination of urban aerosols may also contribute somewhat in optically thin cases. Mie theory, although it can well describe spherical particle scattering, will not be sufficient to represent the scattering characteristics of irregular particles such as Asian dust, especially in directions larger than approximately 90 degrees when the size parameter is large.

Output signal electrons from photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) have neither a Gaussian nor a Poisson distribution because of changes induced by multiplication when the number of input signal photons and dark electrons is fewer than approximately 100. Therefore the assumption of a Gaussian distribution of signal electrons cannot be used in simulations for space lidar observations with PMTs, for which the number of return signal photons is normally small. A theory is introduced for analog detection with PMTs that have Poisson-distributed secondary-electron emission at each dynode stage. The theory is validated by straightforward numerical simulations. It is shown that the multiplication in PMTs is a multiply stochastic Poisson process and that the distribution of output signal electrons can be interpreted basically as Neyman type A. Analysis by the threshold method of cloud detection with a space lidar shows considerable difference between a Gaussian approximation and the exact distribution. The result indicates that the threshold level must be optimized for the exact distribution. Return signals were simulated for a proposed space lidar, and cloud detection with the threshold method was demonstrated.