Search

This study aimed to determine the association between vessel wall enhancement and progression of arterial stenosis and clinical outcomes in patients with moyamoya (MMD) using high-resolution magnetic resonance (HRMR) vessel wall imaging.Consecutive participants diagnosed with MMD were prospectively recruited and underwent HRMR at baseline and during follow-up, which had an interval period of ≥ 6 months and were clinically followed up for ≤ 24 months to record the occurrence of ischemic stroke. The relationship between vessel wall enhancement and arterial stenosis progression and stroke occurrence was evaluated.HRMR vessel wall imaging was used to identify 309 stenotic lesions at the internal carotid artery (ICA) in 170 participants (mean age: 37.7 ± 11.3 years old, male: 44.1%). The baseline presence (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 3.57, 95% CI = 1.97-6.44, p0.001) and progression (aOR = 2.96, 95% CI = 1.29-6.80, p = 0.010) of vessel wall enhancement and middle cerebral artery (MCA) involvement (aOR = 4.98, 95% CI = 1.50-16.52, p = 0.009) were significantly associated with rapid progression of arterial stenosis. Furthermore, vessel wall enhancement (adjusted HR = 3.59, 95% CI = 1.33-9.70, p = 0.011) and rapid progression of arterial stenosis (adjusted HR = 4.52, 95% CI = 1.48-13.81, p = 0.008) were correlated with future stroke occurrence.The baseline presence of vessel wall enhancement was associated with rapid progression of arterial stenosis and increased risk for stroke in MMD patients. Our findings suggest that vessel wall enhancement may serve as a predictor of disease progression and poor outcomes in MMD.• The baseline presence of vessel wall enhancement was significantly associated with the rapid progression of arterial stenosis. • The baseline presence of vessel wall enhancement and rapid progression of arterial stenosis were both correlated with increased risk for future occurrence of stroke. • Our findings suggest that vessel wall enhancement may serve as a predictor of rapid progression of arterial stenosis and poor outcomes in MMD patients.

Because of the advent of discrete memristor, memristor effect in discrete map has become the important subject deserving discussion. To this end, this paper constructs a memristor-based neuron model considering magnetic induction by combining an existing map-based neuron model and a discrete memristor with absolute value nonlinear memductance. Taking the coupling strength and initial state of the memristor as variables, complex mode transition behaviors induced by the introduced memristor are disclosed using numerical methods, including spiking-bursting behaviors, mode transition behaviors, and hyperchaotic spiking behaviors. In particular, all of these behaviors are greatly dependent on the memristor initial state, resulting in the existence of extreme multistability in the memristive neuron model. Therefore, this memristive neuron model can be used to effectively imitate the magnetic induction effects when complex mode transition behaviors appear in the neuronal action potential. Besides, an FPGA-based hardware platform is developed for implementing the memristive neuron model and various spiking-bursting sequences are experimentally captured therein. The results show that when biophysical memory effect is present, the memristive neuron model can better represent the firing activities of biological neurons than the original map-based neuron model.

Radiation injury is a common side effect of nuclear and radiation accidents as well as clinical oncologic radiotherapy. The organism undergoes a series of pathological responses after irradiation, especially in the short term, accompanied by an intense inflammatory storm [1], and effective targets for intervention have not been identified [2]. In this study, we screened differential genes in gene microarray data from the GEO database and then identified the core gene Itgb1 by enrichment analysis. Subsequently, the expression of Itgb1 was knocked down by siRNA interference and was functionally blocked by RGD, a Itgb1 inhibitor. Next, the proliferation and apoptosis of irradiated cells was detected, and injury of lung tissues and hemopoietic system were also investigated. As a result, knockdown of Itgb1 protected pulmonary epithelial cells and blood cell from irradiation, and RGD remitted the irradiation-induced lung injury and hematopoietic injury. This study suggests that Itgb1 plays a key role in radiation injury and provides new ideas for the prevention and treatment of radiation therapy.

Background: Intracranial vessel wall enhancement (VWE) on high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HRMRI) is associated with the progression and poor prognosis of moyamoya disease (MMD). However, the genetic background and risk factors for VWE in MMD have not been investigated. Therefore, this study assessed potential risk factors for VWE in MMD.Methods: We evaluated MMD patients using HRMRI and traditional angiography examinations. The participants were divided into VWE group and non-VWE group based on the presence or absence of VWE on HRMRI. Logistic regression was performed to compare the risk factors for VWE in MMD. The incidence of cerebrovascular events of the different subgroups according to risk factors were compared using KaplanMeier survival and Cox regression.. STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) guidelines were followed for reporting our cohort study.Results: We included 283 MMD patients, 84 of whom had VWE on HRMRI. The VWE group had higher modified Rankin Scale scores at admission (P = 0.014) and a higher incidence of ischemia and hemorrhage (P =0.002) than did the non-VWE group. Multiple logistics regression shows risk factors for VWE included the ring finger protein 213 (RNF213) pR4810K variant (OR: 2.01 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.08 - 3.76]; P = 0.028), hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy; OR: 5.08 [95% CI, 2.34 - 11.05], P < 0.001), and smoking history (OR, 3.49 [95% CI, 1.08-11.31], P = 0.037). During the follow-up of 63.9 13.2 months (medium 65 months), 18 recurrent stroke events occurred. Cox regression showed that VWE and RNF213 pR4810K variant were risk factors for follow-up stroke. Conclusion: The RNF213 p.R4810K variant is strongly associated with VWE and poor prognosis in MMD. HHcy and smoking are independent risk factors for VWE; both are likely to induce the VWE phenomenon by affecting vascular endothelial function or causing vascular endothelial damage.

Through an evolution from an emerging marketing narrative to a geographical fact around the globe, smart city is increasingly understood as a city’s effort to make itself smart. There seems no single city in the world to be commonly recognized as a real smart city yet, albeit many cities have already tried hard in this missionary commitment. Yet some common features can still be seen and identified, particularly from the urban governance perspective. This article explores the practice of smart city construction in China through a lens of governance by observing the interactive involvement of key stakeholders in the process. By taking three cities (Hangzhou, Wuhan, and Shanghai) in China as study cases, a conceptual framework is established in which three sets of actors, i.e., ICT-related enterprises, government, and civil society, and, accordingly, three types of approaches, i.e., ICT-led, planning-led, and place-making-and-community-oriented, are identified. It is found that the evolution of smart city construction rather follows a nonlinear trajectory and is very dependent on whether or not the primary actors and related stakeholders can form an affirmative acting power in triggering the city’s implementation. In other words, there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to smart city construction. Each city may have its specialization in smartness based on awareness of and respecting its unique existing setting. The empirical study also shows that smart city construction tends to be converged in recognition that the core of smart city is not the smartness of technology but the smartness of all institutions and people enabled to utilize smart tools properly and efficiently in pursuit of people’s well-being, institutional capacity building, and better spatial arrangement towards a sustainable, resilient, and inclusive city in and for the future. From a geographical perspective, that is how to build a smart urban space to make the city a better place to not just accommodate but facilitate and meet people’s increasing demand for a better life in their living places.

In a solid-state spin system, we experimentally demonstrate a protocol for quantum-state population transfer with an improved efficiency compared to traditional stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP). Using the ground-state triplet of the nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond, we show that the required evolution time for high-fidelity state transfer can be reduced by almost one order of magnitude. Furthermore, we establish an improved robustness against frequency detuning caused by magnetic noise as compared to STIRAP. These results provide a powerful tool for coherent spin manipulation in the context of quantum sensing and quantum computation., 8 pages, 6 figures

Damage of Intestinal Stem Cells (ISCs) is the main cause of radiation induced-intestinal injury (RIII). Recently, hypoxia Inducible factor (HIF) was verified to be critical for promoting proliferation of ISCs, which suggested a protective role of HIF in the RIII. Thus, we investigated the effect of FG-4592, a novel up-regulator of HIF, on the protection of RIII. With/without FG-4592 treatment, the abdomen of mice was radiated, and intestinal injury was assessed. Especially, by intestinal organoid culture, the multiplication capacity and differentiation features of ISCs were detected. As a result, FG-4592, a novel up-regulator of HIF could remit RIII and promote regeneration and differentiation of ISCs after radiation, which were depended on HIF-2 rather than HIF-1.

Background Acquired radio-resistance and the undesired normal tissue radiation injuries seriously discount the therapeutic effect of lung cancer radiotherapy. In this study, we aimed to explore the role and potential mechanism of polydatin in simultaneously decreasing radioresistance and radiation injuries. Methods The tumor-bearing model of nude mice was used to investigate the tumor inhibition of polydatin on lung cancer and its effect on radiosensitivity, and the effect of polydatin on B cell infiltration in cancerous tissue was investigated. In addition, we performed systemic radiotherapy on BABL/C mice and evaluated the protective effect of polydatin on radiation injury by the Kaplan–Meier survival curve. Moreover, the regulation of polydatin on proliferation and apoptosis of A549 cells was also investigated in vitro. Results In this study, it is first found that polydatin inhibits the growth and promotes the radiosensitivity of lung cancer while reducing the radiation damage of the healthy tissue. Further, it is evidenced that the major mechanism relies on its regulation on body’s immune function, and in particular, the inhibition of radiation-induced B cell infiltration in tumor tissue. Conclusion These findings show that in addition to tumor inhibition, polydatin also promotes the sensitivity and reduces the adverse reactions of radiotherapy, making itself a promising candidate for boosting lung cancer radiotherapy efficacy.

Quantum sensing is considered to be one of the most promising subfields of quantum information to deliver practical quantum advantages in real-world applications. However, its impressive capabilities, including high sensitivity, are often hindered by the limited quantum resources available. Here, we incorporate the expected information gain (EIG) and techniques such as accelerated computation into Bayesian experimental design (BED) in order to use quantum resources more efficiently. A simulated nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond is used to demonstrate real-time operation of the BED. Instead of heuristics, the EIG is used to choose optimal control parameters in real-time. Moreover, combining the BED with accelerated computation and asynchronous operations, we find that up to a tenfold speed-up in absolute time cost can be achieved in sensing multiple surrounding C13 nuclear spins. Our work explores the possibilities of applying the EIG to BED-based quantum-sensing tasks and provides techniques useful to integrate BED into more generalized quantum sensing systems.

Background Radiotherapy is an important treatment for lung cancer, mainly by triggering DNA double-strand breaks to induce cell death. Blocking DNA damage repair can increase the radiosensitivity of tumor cells. Recent studies have identified long noncoding RNAs as key regulators in DNA damage repair. The lncRNA ANRIL was previously shown to be involved in homologous recombination (HR) repair, but its specific mechanism has not been fully elucidated. Methods The downstream interacting miRNAs of ANRIL were predicted according to miRanda software. Fluorescence quantitative PCR was used to detect the expression levels of ANRIL and candidate miRNAs. Clone formation experiment and cell viability assays detect cell viability after ionizing radiation. Apoptosis assay was used to detect the apoptosis of cells after 8 h of ionizing radiation. Western blot analysis and immunofluorescence assays verified the protein expression levels of the downstream target molecule PARP1 of miR-7-5p and key molecules in the HR pathway. Fluorescent reporter gene experiments were used to verify the interaction between ANRIL and miR-7-5p and between miR-7-5p and PARP1. Results Bioinformatics analysis and qPCR validation suggested that miR-7-5p might be a downstream molecule of ANRIL. The expression of miR-7-5p was up-regulated after knockdown of ANRIL, and the expression of miR-7-5p was down-regulated after overexpression of ANRIL. Meanwhile, there was a negative correlation between ANRIL and miR-7-5p expression changes before and after ionizing radiation. The luciferase reporter gene assay confirmed the existence of ANRIL binding site with miR-7-5p, and found that transfection of miR-7-5p inhibitor can reduce the radiation sensitivity of ANRIL-KD cells. A downstream target molecule of miR-7-5p related to HR repair, PARP1, was screened through website prediction. Subsequently, it was confirmed by Western blot and luciferase reporter assays that miR-7-5p could down-regulate the expression of PARP1, and there was a miR-7-5p binding site on the 3'UTR of PARP1 mRNA. This suggests that ANRIL may act as a competitive endogenous RNA to bind miR-7-5p and upregulate the expression of PARP1. Western blot and immunofluorescence staining were used to detect the expression changes of HR repair factors in ANRIL-KD cells after ionizing radiation, and it was found that knockdown of ANRIL can inhibit the expression of PARP1, BRCA1 and Rad51, hinder radiation-induced HR repair, and eventually result in resensitizing ANRIL-KD cells to ionizing radiation. Conclusions Our findings provide evidence that ANRIL targets the miR-7-5p/PARP1 axis to exert its regulatory effect on HR repair, suggesting that altering ANRIL expression may be a promising strategy to overcome radiation resistance.

Background Hematopoiesis have been proved that it could be changed in the patients with advanced cancer. In this study, we investigated the changes of HSCs differentiation in advanced tumor-bearing mice. Methods The tumor-bearing mice model was established by subcutaneously inoculating with xenografts of B16-F10 mouse melanoma cells into the right back of male wild-type C57BL/6 mice. Hematopoietic stem cells and multi-lineage differentiation were evaluated using blood routine, HE-staining, flow cytometry assay and HSCs culture technology. Results The mice model exhibited hematopoietic suppression, marked by a severe anemia, and the multi-lineage differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells was disturbed. Especially, the differentiation of megakaryocyte and erythrocyte were blocked, while myeloid cell and lymphoid cell differentiation was encouraged in advanced tumor-bearing mice. Conclusion In this study we showed that the differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells was disturbed in advanced tumor-bearing mice, which provided new knowledge about cancer cachexia related hematopoietic abnormality.

Surpassing the standard quantum limit and even reaching the Heisenberg limit using quantum entanglement, represents the Holy Grail of quantum metrology. However, quantum entanglement is a valuable resource that does not come without a price. The exceptional time overhead for the preparation of large-scale entangled states raises disconcerting concerns about whether the Heisenberg limit is fundamentally achievable. Here we find a universal speed limit set by the Lieb-Robinson light cone for the quantum Fisher information growth to characterize the metrological potential of quantum resource states during their preparation. Our main result establishes a strong precision limit of quantum metrology accounting for the complexity of many-body quantum resource state preparation and reveals a fundamental constraint for reaching the Heisenberg limit in a generic many-body lattice system with bounded one-site energy. It enables us to identify the essential features of quantum many-body systems that are crucial for achieving the quantum advantage of quantum metrology, and brings an interesting connection between many-body quantum dynamics and quantum metrology., 7 pages, 3 figures + supplementary information (14 pages)

NV centers are among the most promising platforms in the field of quantum sensing. Magnetometry based on NV centers, especially, has achieved concrete development in areas of biomedicine and medical diagnostics. Improving the sensitivity of NV center sensors under wide inhomogeneous broadening and fieldamplitude drift is a crucial issue of continuous concern that relies on the coherent control of NV centers with high average fidelity. Quantum optimal control (QOC) methods provide access to this target; nevertheless, the high time consumption of current methods due to the large number of needful sample points as well as the complexity of the parameter space has hindered their usability. In this paper, we propose the Bayesian estimation phase-modulated (B-PM) method to tackle this problem. In the case of the state transforming of an NV center ensemble, the B-PM method reduced the time consumption by more than 90% compared with the conventional standard Fourier basis (SFB) method while increasing the average fidelity from 0.894 to 0.905. In the AC magnetometry scenario, the optimized control pulse obtained with the B-PM method achieved an eight-fold extension of coherence time T2 compared with the rectangular π pulse. Similar application can be made in other sensing situations. As a general algorithm, the B-PM method can be further extended to the open- and closed-loop optimization of complex systems based on a variety of quantum platforms.

As a special territory type, the farming–pastoral ecotone is facing challenges surrounding path creation and high-quality and sustainable development. Counties are not only an important spatial unit to promote high-quality development, but also an important part of the modernization of the national governance system. County-level development is the critical driving force of sustainable development and the breakthrough of governance modernization in the farming-pastoral ecotone. First, this study systematically reviews the progress of the farming–pastoral ecotone and high-quality development. Then, this study adopts the “Driving Forces-Pressure-State-Impact-Responses” (DPSIR) model and entropy method to construct an analysis framework. Third, taking Kulun county as a typical case, this study diagnoses the state of high-quality county-level development in the farming–pastoral ecotone. Finally, a governance mechanism of “idea-space-industry-people’s livelihood-governance” has been proposed. This study provides theoretical guidance for the high-quality development of the farming–pastoral ecotone and enriches the body of knowledge regarding high-quality development.

DNA double-strand breaks can seriously damage the genetic information that organisms depend on for survival and reproduction. Therefore, cells require a robust DNA damage response mechanism to repair the damaged DNA. Homologous recombination (HR) allows error-free repair, which is key to maintaining genomic integrity. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are RNA molecules that are longer than 200 nucleotides. In recent years, a number of studies have found that lncRNAs can act as regulators of gene expression and DNA damage response mechanisms, including HR repair. Moreover, they have significant effects on the occurrence, development, invasion and metastasis of tumor cells, as well as the sensitivity of tumors to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. These studies have therefore begun to expose the great potential of lncRNAs for clinical applications. In this review, we focus on the regulatory roles of lncRNAs in HR repair.

Radiation-induced intestinal injury (RIII) is a common complication after radiation therapy in patients with pelvic, abdominal, or retroperitoneal tumours. Recently, in the model of DSS (Dextran Sulfate Sodium Salt) -induced intestinal inflammatory injury, it has been found in the study that transgenic mice expressing hVDR in IEC (Intestinal Epithelial Cell) manifest highly anti-injury properties in colitis, suggesting that activated VDR in the epithelial cells of intestine may inhibit colitis by protecting the mucosal epithelial barrier. In this study, we investigated the effect of the expression and regulation of VDR on the protection of RIII, and the radiosensitivity in vitro experiments, and explored the initial mechanism of VDR in regulating radiosensitivity of IEC. As a result, we found that the expression of VDR in intestinal tissues and cells in mice can be induced by ionizing radiation. VDR agonists are able to prolong the average survival time of mice after radiation and reduce the radiation-induced intestinal injury. For lack of vitamin D, the radiosensitivity of intestinal epithelial cells in mice increased, which can be reduced by VDR activation. Ensuing VDR activation, the radiation-induced intestinal stem cells damage is decreased, and the regeneration and differentiation of intestinal stem cells is promoted as well. Finally, on the basis of sequencing analysis, we validated and found that VDR may target the HIF/PDK1 pathway to mitigate RIII. We concluded that agonism or upregulation of VDR expression attenuates radiation-induced intestinal damage in mice and promotes the repair of epithelial damage in intestinal stem cells.

As a potent target for cancer therapy, ATR mainly regulates homologous recombination (HR)-mediated DNA damage repair. Our previous study first identified that ATR binding long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) is necessary for ATR function and promotes cancer resistance. However, most important lncRNAs, as critical factors for ATR activation, are largely unknown. In the present study, scaRNA2, the most enriched ATR-binding lncRNA, was identified and well characterized. ScaRNA2 was found to be essential for HR-mediated DNA damage repair. Furthermore, scaRNA2 knockdown abrogated the mobilization of ATR and its substrates in response to DNA damage. Mechanistically, scaRNA2 was observed to be necessary for Exo1-mediated DNA end resection and bridged the MRN complex to ATR activation. Using cancer cells and a cell-derived xenograft model, we demonstrated that lentivirus-based knockdown of scaRNA2 effectively increases sensitivity to multiple kinds of chemoradiotherapy. Preclinically, knockdown of scaRNA2 improved the therapeutic effects of radiotherapy on patient-derived organoids and xenograft models. Finally, upregulation of scaRNA2 colocalized with ATR was also found in clinical patients who are resistant to radiotherapy based on tumor regression grades. In conclusion, we identified scaRNA2 as the most abundant lncRNA bound to ATR and uncovered its mechanism in bridging DNA end resection to ATR activation, which could be applied as a potent target for combined cancer treatments with chemoradiotherapy.

PurposeIn clinical work, accurately measuring the volume and the size of breast cancer is significant to develop a treatment plan. However, it is time-consuming, and inter- and intra-observer variations among radiologists exist. The purpose of this study was to assess the performance of a Res-UNet convolutional neural network based on automatic segmentation for size and volumetric measurement of mass enhancement breast cancer on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).Materials and methodsA total of 1,000 female breast cancer patients who underwent preoperative 1.5-T dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI prior to treatment were selected from January 2015 to October 2021 and randomly divided into a training cohort (n = 800) and a testing cohort (n = 200). Compared with the masks named ground truth delineated manually by radiologists, the model performance on segmentation was evaluated with dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The performance of tumor (T) stage classification was evaluated with accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity.ResultsIn the test cohort, the DSC of automatic segmentation reached 0.89. Excellent concordance (ICC > 0.95) of the maximal and minimal diameter and good concordance (ICC > 0.80) of volumetric measurement were shown between the model and the radiologists. The trained model took approximately 10–15 s to provide automatic segmentation and classified the T stage with an overall accuracy of 0.93, sensitivity of 0.94, 0.94, and 0.75, and specificity of 0.95, 0.92, and 0.99, respectively, in T1, T2, and T3.ConclusionsOur model demonstrated good performance and reliability for automatic segmentation for size and volumetric measurement of breast cancer, which can be time-saving and effective in clinical decision-making.

Objective To retrospectively analyze CT and MR imaging features of the brain in patients with hydrogen sulfide poisoning based on clinical symptom grading and to investigate their correlations with clinical symptoms and patients’ prognosis. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed of CT and MR imaging data of the brain in 40 patients with hydrogen sulfide poisoning in our hospital. There were four main imaging manifestations. Patients were clinically graded according to the central nervous system symptom scores of the Poisoning Severity Score (PSS) and staged according to the gas inhalation time segment. Based on clinical symptom grading, the frequencies and proportions of four imaging signs that occurred in each group were counted, their development trends were analyzed, and the correlations of imaging features with clinical grading and prognosis were calculated. Results Forty patients were divided into minor, moderate and severe clinical grades and classified into four stages. In patients with minor and moderate clinical grading, only one patient suffered from generalized brain edema at stage 1, with a good prognosis. Patients with severe clinical grade showed the highest probability of presenting with the four imaging signs. The imaging signs were correlated with the severe clinical grade and a poor prognosis (P = 0.000, R = 0.828; P = 0.000, R = 0.858). Conclusion In patients with the severe clinical grade, generalized brain edema and symmetrical hypodensity/abnormal signals in the bilateral basal ganglia and around the lateral ventricles were the main findings and were shown to persist. The presence of imaging signs can assist in the clinically effective evaluation of clinical symptom grade.

Background and purpose3D pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (3D pCASL) is commonly used to measure arterial cerebral blood flow (CBF). The aim of this study was to assess the clinical feasibility and accuracy of 3D pCASL in comparison with dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) perfusion imaging in moyamoya disease (MMD).Materials and methodsA total of 174 MMD patients underwent 3D pCASL and DSC-MRI for evaluating cerebral blood perfusion. 3D-pCASL with two single post-labeling delay (PLD) times (1,500 and 2,500 ms) was used to measure CBF. The values of DSC-CBF and ASL-CBF were calculated for major arterial territories including the anterior, middle, and posterior cerebral arteries as well as the areas based on the Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS) template. The correlation between DSC-CBF and ASL-CBF was analyzed. The consistency and accuracy between the two methods in assessing the cerebral ischemic state before and after surgery were analyzed.ResultsThe correlation between ASL (2,500 ms) and DSC-MRI was slightly better than the correlation between ASL (1,500 ms) and DSC-MRI in major vascular territories before revascularization. Significant correlations were observed between ASL (2,500 ms) and DSC-MRI and between ASL (1,500 ms) and DSC-MRI in major vascular territories after revascularization. For 44 surgically treated patients, the scores of ASPECTS for CBF on the operated side were significantly different before and after revascularization (p < 0.05) and showed good consistency on all the examination methods. A comparison of the scores of ASPECTS of the three parameters before and after revascularization showed that there was no statistical difference between them (p > 0.05).ConclusionCompared to DSC-MRI, 3D pCASL can assess the cerebral blood perfusion in MMD before and after revascularization effectively. 3D pCASL showed the feasibility and clinical utility value in patients with MMD.

A marriage between dockless bike-sharing systems and rail transit presents new opportunities for sustainable transportation in Chinese cities. However, how to promote the bicycle–metro integration mode remains largely unstudied. This paper designs a public–private partnership program to promote bicycle–metro integration. We consider the cooperation between bike-sharing companies and rail transit companies to improve both services and attract long-distance travelers to choose the bicycle–metro integration mode, with government subsidies. To analyze the proportion of each population participating in this public–private partnership program, we establish an evolutionary game model considering bike-sharing companies, rail transit companies, and long-distance travelers, and obtain eight scenarios of equilibriums and corresponding stable conditions. To prove the evolutionary game analysis, we construct a system dynamics simulation model and confirm that the public–private partnership project can be achieved in reality. We discuss key parameters that affect the final stable state through sensitivity analysis. The results demonstrate that by reasonably adjusting the values of parameters, each equilibrium can be changed into an optimal evolutionary stable strategy. This study can provide useful policy implications and operational recommendations for government agencies, bike-sharing companies, and transit authorities to promote bicycle–metro integration.

This study aimed to investigate the enhancement characteristics of vessel wall in patients with moyamoya disease (MMD) using 3D high-resolution magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and their relationship with initial and recurrent intracranial hemorrhage. Consecutive patients with MMD were retrospectively analyzed and classified as intracranial hemorrhagic and non-hemorrhagic groups according to the CT or MR images. The clinical features and vessel wall characteristics were compared between the two groups. Logistic regression was performed to relate the vessel wall characteristics to the initial hemorrhage in MMD patients. Patients in hemorrhagic group were followed up after surgery to evaluate the relationship between vessel wall characteristics and recurrent hemorrhage. A total of 507 MMD patients including 79 hemorrhagic and 428 non-hemorrhagic MMD patients were recruited in the study. We found that hemorrhagic group had more patients with vessel wall enhancements (40.5% vs. 25.7%, p = 0.009) and more eccentric enhanced lesions (17.7% vs. 6.5%, p = 0.001) compared to those in non-hemorrhage group and vessel wall enhancements were independently associated with ipsilateral initial hemorrhage after adjusted for clinical factors (OR = 1.99, CI 1.20–3.28, p = 0.007). Furthermore, three recurrent intracranial hemorrhagic episodes in the present study were all observed in MMD patients with vessel wall enhancement during the long-term follow-up after surgery. Wall enhancement of intracranial vessels was significantly associated with intracranial hemorrhage in MMD patients. Our findings suggest that vessel wall enhancement may serve as a marker of intracranial hemorrhage.

BACKGROUND Carotid vulnerable plaque is a major cause of stroke and differs between men and women. Few studies have investigated the differences in carotid plaque features between sexes in a Chinese population. PURPOSE To compare carotid atherosclerotic plaque features between men and women in a Chinese population using magnetic resonance imaging. STUDY TYPE Cross-sectional. SUBJECTS A total of 567 patients (mean age: 61.5 ± 10.1 years; 404 men) who had recent stroke or transient ischemia attack and atherosclerotic plaque in at least one carotid artery. FIELD STRENGTH A 3.0 T. SEQUENCE T1- and T2-weighted turbo spin echo, three-dimensional time-of-flight (TOF) fast field echo and magnetization-prepared rapid acquisition gradient echo sequences. ASSESSMENT Plaque characteristics including lumen area (LA), wall area (WA), total vessel area (TVA), mean wall thickness (MWT), and mean normalized wall index (NWI); presence of calcification, lipid-rich necrotic core (LRNC), intraplaque hemorrhage (IPH), and fibrous cap rupture (FCR); and percent composition area (%area) were evaluated and compared between men and women. STATISTICAL TESTS Independent-sample t test, Mann-Whitney U test, chi-square test, and multiple linear and logistic regressions. RESULTS In symptomatic arteries, men had significantly greater LA (46.2 ± 15.6 mm2 vs. 40.7 ± 12.9 mm2 , P

Rural nonfarm sector (RNFS) development is an important part of China's national “Rural Revitalization Strategy”. RNFS is also a prerequisite for prosperity in the rural economy, which is properly measured by rural resident income (RRI). Thus, China's rural economic policy should be based on the perspicuity of RNFS′ spatial agglomeration situation and the clarity of its development trend. Previous studies on RRI, however, have paid limited attention on RNFS's spatial pattern and its effects on RRI especially after the ownership reform of township and village enterprises. The present study aims to estimate the effect of RNFS on RRI by assessing the RNFS development level in different provinces and investigating their spatial characteristics from 2000 to 2013. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) the overall development of RNFS in China is rapid, but the spatial differences are expanding, the agglomeration degree is relatively low, and the composition of industrial types is higher in the eastern region than in the middle and western regions; 2) regression results show that the RNFS has a significant positive effect on RRI. On the contrary, RRI's dependence on RNFS in the middle and western regions is higher than that in the eastern region. Government departments should foster RNFS on the basis of local conditions. Guided by the long-term objective of rural revitalization, the proportion of nonagricultural employment in rural areas should be constantly increased to improve RRI.

Short-term taxi demand forecasting is of great importance to incentivize vacant cars moving from over-supply regions to over-demand regions, which can minimize the wait time for passengers and drivers. With the consideration of spatiotemporal dependences, this study proposes a multi-task deep learning (MTDL) model to predict short-term taxi demand in multi-zone level. The nonlinear Granger causality test is applied to explore the causality relationships among various traffic zones, and long short-term memory (LSTM) is used as the core neural unit to construct the framework of the multi-task deep learning model. In addition, several hyperparameter optimization methods (e.g., grid search, random search, Bayesian optimization, hyperopt) are used to tune the model. Using the taxi trip data in New York City for validation, the multi-task deep learning model considering spatiotemporal dependences (MTDL∗) is compared with the single-task deep learning model (STDL), the full-connected multi-task deep learning model (MTDL#) and other benchmark algorithms (such as LSTM, support vector machine (SVM) and k-nearest neighbors (k-NN)). The experiment results show that the proposed MTDL model is promising to predict short-term taxi demand in multi-zone level, the nonlinear Granger causality analysis is able to capture the spatiotemporal correlations among various traffic zones, and the Bayesian optimization is superior to the other three methods, which verified the feasibility and adaptability of the proposed method.

Radiation-induced lung injury (RILI) is a common serious complication and dose-limiting factor caused by radiotherapy for lung cancer. This study was to investigate radioprotective effects of grape seed proanthocyanidins (GSP) on normal lung as well as radiosensitizing effects on lung cancer. In vitro, we demonstrated radioprotective effects of GSP on normal alveolar epithelial cells (MLE-12 and BEAS/2B) and radiosensitizing effects on lung cancer cells (LLC and A549). In vivo, we confirmed these two-way effects in tumor-bearing mice. The results showed that GSP inhibited tumor growth, and played a synergistic killing effect with radiotherapy on lung cancer. Meanwhile, GSP reduced radiation damage to normal lung tissues. The two-way effects related to the differential regulation of the MAPK signaling pathway by GSP on normal lung and lung cancer. Moreover, GSP regulated secretion of cytokines IL-6 and IFN-γ and expression of p53 and Ki67 on normal lung and lung cancer. Our findings suggest that GSP is expected to be an ideal radioprotective drug for lung cancer patients who are treated with radiotherapy.

The features of topological physics can manifest in a variety of physical systems in distinct ways. Periodically driven systems, with the advantage of high flexibility and controllability, provide a versatile platform to simulate many topological phenomena and may lead to novel phenomena that can not be observed in the absence of driving. Here we investigate the influence of realistic experimental noise on the realization of a two-level system under a two-frequency drive that induces topologically nontrivial band structure in the two-dimensional Floquet space. We propose a dynamical decoupling scheme that sustains the topological phase transition overcoming the influence of dephasing. Therefore, the proposal would facilitate the observation of topological frequency conversion in the solid state spin system, e.g. NV center in diamond., 9 pages, 6 figures

Since 2014, public–private partnerships (PPPs) in China have experienced an impulsive new boom with a new PPP policy that has drawn wide attention domestically and internationally. In particular, development characteristics and performance assessments of projects in the new PPP boom are a hot topic. By comparing China’s PPP development in the last several years with that in the past thirty years, we explore its rationale and performance through a critical review using the following approach: first, we identify and analyze its seven new characteristics of investment scale, spatial distribution, investment sectors, operational model, concession period, payment mechanism, and tendering period; second, we diagnose the nature and performance of the new PPP boom; third, we systematically scrutinize the rationale behind the characteristics and the possible mechanism; and last, we conclude with the argument that the new PPP boom could be well managed by the Chinese government if some prerequisites are met. We also raise some key issues inviting more comprehensive comparative studies. This study contributes to the existing literature by providing a project-data-analysis lens to better understand PPP development in China and worldwide. The implementation of this study will not only enrich global PPP knowledge, but will also be a good reference for PPP practice and trends in China and other developing countries.

Radiation protection on male testis is an important task for ionizing radiation‐related workers or people who receive radiotherapy for tumours near the testicle. In recent years, Toll‐like receptors (TLRs), especially TLR4, have been widely studied as a radiation protection target. In this study, we detected that a low‐toxicity TLR4 agonist monophosphoryl lipid A (MPLA) produced obvious radiation protection effects on mice testis. We found that MPLA effectively alleviated testis structure damage and cell apoptosis induced by ionizing radiation (IR). However, as the expression abundance differs a lot in distinct cells and tissues, MPLA seemed not to directly activate TLR4 singling pathway in mice testis. Here, we demonstrated a brand new mechanism for MPLA producing radiation protection effects on testis. We observed a significant activation of TLR4 pathway in macrophages after MPLA stimulation and identified significant changes in macrophage‐derived exosomes protein expression. We proved that after MPLA treatment, macrophage‐derived exosomes played an important role in testis radiation protection, and specially, G‐CSF and MIP‐2 in exosomes are the core molecules in this protection effect.

Food security is the primary prerequisite for achieving other Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Given that the MDG of “halving the proportion of hungers by 2015” was not realized as scheduled, it will be more pressing and challenging to reach the goal of zero hunger by 2030. So there is high urgency to find the pattern and mechanism of global food security from the perspective of spatio-temporal evolution. In this paper, based on the analysis of database by using a multi-index evaluation method and radar map area model, the global food security level for 172 countries from 2000 to 2014 were assessed; and then spatial autocorrelation analysis was conducted to depict the spatial patterns and changing characteristics of global food security; then, multi-nonlinear regression methods were employed to identify the factors affecting the food security patterns. The results show: 1) The global food security pattern can be summarized as “high-high aggregation, low-low aggregation”. The most secure countries are mainly distributed in Western Europe, North America, Oceania and parts of East Asia. The least secure countries are mainly distributed in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and West Asia, and parts of Southeast Asia. 2) Europe and sub-Saharan Africa are hot and cold spots of the global food security pattern respectively, while in non-aggregation areas, Haiti, North Korea, Tajikistan and Afghanistan have long-historical food insecurity problems. 3) The pattern of global food security is generally stable, but the internal fluctuations in the extremely insecure groups were significant. The countries with the highest food insecurity are also the countries with the most fluctuated levels of food security. 4) The annual average temperature, per capita GDP, proportion of people accessible to clean water, political stability and non-violence levels are the main factors influencing the global food security pattern. Research shows that the status of global food security has improved since the year 2000, yet there are still many challenges such as unstable global food security and acute regional food security issues. It will be difficult to understand these differences from a single factor, especially the annual average temperature and annual precipitation. The abnormal performance of the above factors indicates that appropriate natural conditions alone do not absolutely guarantee food security, while the levels of agricultural development, the purchasing power of residents, regional accessibility, as well as political and economic stability have more direct influence.

Background Severe ionizing radiation (IR)-induced intestinal injury associates with high mortality, which is a worldwide problem requiring urgent attention. In recent years, studies have found that the PHD-HIF signaling pathway may play key roles in IR-induced intestinal injury, and we found that FG-4592, the PHD inhibitor, has significant radioprotective effects on IR-induced intestinal injury. Methods In the presence or absence of FG-4592 treatment, the survival time, pathology, cell viability, cell apoptosis, and organoids of mice after irradiation were compared, and the mechanism was verified after transcriptome sequencing. The data were analyzed using SPSS ver. 19 software. Results Our results show that FG-4592 had significant radioprotective effects on the intestine. FG-4592 improved the survival of irradiated mice, inhibited the radiation damage of intestinal tissue, promoted the regeneration of intestinal crypts after IR and reduced the apoptosis of intestinal crypt cells. Through organoid experiments, it is found that FG-4592 promoted the proliferation and differentiation of intestinal stem cells (ISCs). Moreover, the results of RNA sequencing and Western blot showed that FG-4592 significantly upregulated the TLR4 signaling pathway, and FG-4592 had no radioprotection on TLR4 KO mice, suggesting that FG-4592 may play protective role against IR by targeting TLR4. Conclusion Our work proves that FG-4592 may promote the proliferation and regeneration of ISCs through the targeted regulation of the TLR4 signaling pathway and ultimately play radioprotective roles in IR-induced injury. These results enrich the molecular mechanism of FG-4592 in protecting cells from IR-induced injury and provide new methods for the radioprotection of intestine.

The heat dissipation in quantum metrology represents not only an unavoidable problem towards practical applications of quantum sensing devices but also a fundamental relationship between thermodynamics and quantum metrology. However, a general thermodynamic principle which governs the rule of energy consumption in quantum metrology, similar to Landauer's principle for heat dissipation in computations, has remained elusive. Here, we establish such a physical principle for energy consumption in order to achieve a certain level of measurement precision in quantum metrology, and show that it is intrinsically determined by the erasure of quantum Fisher information. The principle provides a powerful tool to investigate the advantage of quantum resources, not only in measurement precision but also in energy efficiency. It also serves as a bridge between thermodynamics and various fundamental physical concepts related in quantum physics and quantum information theory., Comments are welcome

Hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) is the gold standard for portal pressure in cirrhosis, but most previous studies focused on the diagnostic value of clinically significant portal hypertension (CSPH) based on the correlation between liver stiffness (LS) and HVPG in hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients and alcoholic liver. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify the diagnostic value of LS for CSPH and the correlation with HVPG in hepatitis B virus (HBV) patients.A total of 137 patients from the Fifth Medical Center of PLA General Hospital were divided into HBV group and non-HBV group according to etiology. Correlation analysis and ROC were used to analyze the correlation between LS and HVPG and the diagnostic value of CSPH.There was a good correlation between LS and HVPG in the total cohort and non-HBV cohort (r = 0.398, P 0.001; r = 0.575, P 0.001, respectively). However, the correlation between LS and HVPG was acceptable in the HBV cohort (r = 0.316, P = 0.002). When adjustment for age, MELD score, and INR, the result was still the same. Similar results were observed in the prediction for CSPH. LS showed good diagnostic value for CSPH in the total cohort and non-HBV cohort (AUC = 0.732, AUC = 0.829, respectively). However, it performed poorly in the HBV cohort (AUC = 0.689).The etiology of HBV might affect the diagnostic performance of LS for predicting CSPH.

ObjectivesWe aimed to compare the long-term outcomes and surgical benefits between moyamoya disease (MMD) and atherosclerosis-associated moyamoya vasculopathy (AS-MMV) using high-resolution MRI (HRMRI).MethodsMMV patients were retrospectively included and divided into the MMD and AS-MMV groups according to vessel wall features on HRMRI. Kaplan-Meier survival and Cox regression were performed to compare the incidence of cerebrovascular events and prognosis of encephaloduroarteriosynangiosis (EDAS) treatment between MMD and AS-MMV.ResultsOf the 1173 patients (mean age: 42.4±11.0 years; male: 51.0%) included in the study, 881 were classified into the MMD group and 292 into the AS-MMV group. During the average follow-up of 46.0±24.7 months, the incidence of cerebrovascular events in the MMD group was higher compared with that in the AS-MMV group before (13.7% vs 7.2%; HR 1.86; 95% CI 1.17 to 2.96; p=0.008) and after propensity score matching (6.1% vs 7.3%; HR 2.24; 95% CI 1.34 to 3.76; p=0.002). Additionally, patients treated with EDAS had a lower incidence of events than those not treated with EDAS, regardless of whether they were in the MMD (HR 0.65; 95% CI 0.42 to 0.97; p=0.043) or AS-MMV group (HR 0.49; 95% CI 0.51 to 0.98; p=0.048).ConclusionsPatients with MMD had a higher risk of ischaemic stroke than those with AS-MMV, and patients with both MMD and AS-MMV could benefit from EDAS. Our findings suggest that HRMRI could be used to identify those who are at a higher risk of future cerebrovascular events.

Background This study aimed to compare the characteristics of carotid plaques between patients with transient ischemic attack (TIA) and ischemic stroke using magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Methods Patients with a recent ischemic stroke or TIA who exhibited atherosclerotic plaques of carotid arteries in the symptomatic sides determined by MR vessel wall imaging were recruited. The plaque morphology and compositions including intraplaque hemorrhage (IPH), lipid-rich necrotic-core (LRNC) and calcification were compared between TIA and stroke patients. Logistic regression was performed to relate the plaque characteristics to the types of ischemic events. Results A total of 270 patients with TIA or ischemic stroke were recruited. Stroke patients had a significantly higher prevalence of diabetes (42.2% vs. 28.2%, p = 0.021), greater mean wall area (35.1 ± 10.1 mm2 vs. 32.0 ± 7.7 mm2, p = 0.004), mean wall thickness (1.3 ± 0.2 mm vs. 1.2 ± 0.2 mm, p = 0.001), maximum normalized wall index (NWI)(63.9% ± 6.0% vs. 62.2% ± 5.9%, p = 0.023) and %volume of LRNC (9.7% ± 8.2% vs. 7.4% ± 7.9%, p = 0.025) in the carotid arteries compared to those with TIA. After adjustment for clinical factors, above characteristics of carotid arteries were significantly associated with the type of ischemic events. After further adjustment for maximum NWI, this association remained statistically significant (OR, 1.41; CI, 1.01–1.96; p = 0.041). Conclusions Ischemic stroke patients had larger plaque burden and greater proportion of LRNC in carotid plaques compared to those with TIA. This study suggests that ischemic stroke patients had more vulnerable plaques compared to those with TIA.