Search

We report the first measurement of the differential cross section $d^{2}\sigma (E_{\nu})/ d\cos(\theta_{\mu}) dP_{\mu}$ for inclusive muon-neutrino charged-current scattering on argon. This measurement utilizes data from 6.4$\times10^{20}$ protons on target of exposure collected using the MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber located along the Fermilab Booster Neutrino Beam with a mean neutrino energy of approximately 0.8~GeV. The mapping from reconstructed kinematics to truth quantities, particularly from reconstructed to true neutrino energy, is validated by comparing the distribution of reconstructed hadronic energy in data to that of the model prediction in different muon scattering angle bins after conditional constraint from the muon momentum distribution in data. The success of this validation gives confidence that the missing energy in the MicroBooNE detector is well-modeled in simulation, enabling the unfolding to a triple-differential measurement over muon momentum, muon scattering angle, and neutrino energy. The unfolded measurement covers an extensive phase space, providing a wealth of information useful for future liquid argon time projection chamber experiments measuring neutrino oscillations. Comparisons against a number of commonly used model predictions are included and their performance in different parts of the available phase-space is discussed.

We present the first measurement of the cross section of Cabibbo-suppressed Λ baryon production, using data collected with the MicroBooNE detector when exposed to the neutrinos from the main injector beam at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. The data analyzed correspond to 2.2×1020 protons on target running in neutrino mode, and 4.9×1020 protons on target running in anti-neutrino mode. An automated selection is combined with hand scanning, with the former identifying five candidate Λ production events when the signal was unblinded, consistent with the GENIE prediction of 5.3±1.1 events. Several scanners were employed, selecting between three and five events, compared with a prediction from a blinded Monte Carlo simulation study of 3.7±1.0 events. Restricting the phase space to only include Λ baryons that decay above MicroBooNE’s detection thresholds, we obtain a flux averaged cross section of 2.0−1.7+2.2×10−40 cm2/Ar, where statistical and systematic uncertainties are combined.

This paper presents multiplicity measurements of charged hadrons produced in 120 GeV/$c$ proton-carbon interactions. The measurements were made using data collected at the NA61/SHINE experiment during two different data-taking periods, with increased phase space coverage in the second configuration due to the addition of new subdetectors. Particle identification via $dE/dx$ was employed to obtain double-differential production multiplicities of $\pi^+$, $\pi^-$, $p$, $\bar{p}$, $K^+$ and $K^-$. These measurements are presented as a function of laboratory momentum in intervals of laboratory polar angle covering the range from 0 to 450 mrad. They provide crucial inputs for current and future long-baseline neutrino experiments, where they are used to estimate the initial neutrino flux.

We present a measurement of $\eta$ production from neutrino interactions on argon with the MicroBooNE detector. The modeling of resonant neutrino interactions on argon is a critical aspect of the neutrino oscillation physics program being carried out by the DUNE and Short Baseline Neutrino programs. $\eta$ production in neutrino interactions provides a powerful new probe of resonant interactions, complementary to pion channels, and is particularly suited to the study of higher-order resonances beyond the $\Delta(1232)$. We measure a flux-integrated cross section for neutrino-induced $\eta$ production on argon of $3.22 \pm 0.84 \; \textrm{(stat.)} \pm 0.86 \; \textrm{(syst.)}$ $10^{-41}{\textrm{cm}}^{2}$/nucleon. By demonstrating the successful reconstruction of the two photons resulting from $\eta$ production, this analysis enables a novel calibration technique for electromagnetic showers in GeV accelerator neutrino experiments.

The critical point of dense, strongly interacting matter is searched for at the CERN SPS in Ar+Sc collisions at 150$A$ GeV/$c$. The dependence of second-order scaled factorial moments of proton multiplicity distribution on the number of subdivisions of transverse momentum space is measured. The intermittency analysis is performed using both transverse momentum and cumulative transverse momentum. For the first time, statistically independent data sets are used for each subdivision number. The obtained results do not indicate any statistically significant intermittency pattern. An upper limit on the fraction of critical proton pairs and the power of the correlation function is obtained based on a comparison with the Power-law Model developed for this purpose. The critical point of dense, strongly interacting matter is searched for at the CERN SPS in ${}^{40}$Ar + ${}^{45}$Sc collisions at 150A GeV/c. The dependence of second-order scaled factorial moments of proton multiplicity distribution on the number of subdivisions of transverse momentum space is measured. The intermittency analysis is performed using both transverse momentum and cumulative transverse momentum. For the first time, statistically independent data sets are used for each subdivision number. The obtained results do not indicate any statistically significant intermittency pattern. An upper limit on the fraction of critical proton pairs and the power of the correlation function is obtained based on a comparison with the Power-law Model developed for this purpose.

We report the first measurement of π0 production in neutral current (NC) interactions on argon with average neutrino energy of ≲1 GeV. We use data from the MicroBooNE detector’s 85 metric tons active volume liquid argon time projection chamber situated in Fermilab’s Booster Neutrino Beam and exposed to 5.89×1020 protons on target for this measurement. Measurements of NC π0 events are reported for two exclusive event topologies without charged pions. Those include a topology with two photons from the decay of the π0 and one proton and a topology with two photons and zero protons. Flux-averaged cross sections for each exclusive topology and for their semi-inclusive combination are extracted (efficiency correcting for two-plus proton final states), and the results are compared to predictions from the genie, neut, and nuwro neutrino event generators. We measure cross sections of 1.243±0.185(syst)±0.076(stat), 0.444±0.098±0.047, and 0.624±0.131±0.075 [10−38 cm2/Ar] for the semi-inclusive NCπ0, exclusive NCπ0+1p, and exclusive NCπ0+0p processes, respectively.

This document was prepared by the MicroBooNE Collaboration using the resources of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), a U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, HEP User Facility. Fermilab is managed by Fermi Research Alliance, LLC (FRA), acting under Contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11359. MicroBooNE is supported by the following: the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Offices of High Energy Physics and Nuclear Physics; the U.S. National Science Foundation; the Swiss National Science Foundation; the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), part of the United Kingdom Research and Innovation; the Royal Society (United Kingdom); and the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Future Leaders Fellowship. Additional support for the laser calibration system and cosmic ray tagger was provided by the Albert Einstein Center for Fundamental Physics, Bern, Switzerland. We also acknowledge the contributions of technical and scientific staff to the design, construction, and operation of the MicroBooNE detector as well as the contributions of past collaborators to the development of MicroBooNE analyses, without whom this Letter would not have been possible. For the purpose of open access, the authors have applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) public copyright license to any author accepted manuscript version arising from this submission., We present a search for eV-scale sterile neutrino oscillations in the MicroBooNE liquid argon detector, simultaneously considering all possible appearance and disappearance effects within the 3+1 active-to-sterile neutrino oscillation framework. We analyze the neutrino candidate events for the recent measurements of charged-current νe and νμ interactions in the MicroBooNE detector, using data corresponding to an exposure of 6.37×1020 protons on target from the Fermilab booster neutrino beam. We observe no evidence of light sterile neutrino oscillations and derive exclusion contours at the 95% confidence level in the plane of the mass-squared splitting Δm241 and the sterile neutrino mixing angles θμe and θee, excluding part of the parameter space allowed by experimental anomalies. Cancellation of νe appearance and νe disappearance effects due to the full 3+1 treatment of the analysis leads to a degeneracy when determining the oscillation parameters, which is discussed in this Letter and will be addressed by future analyses., Fermi Research Alliance, LLC DE-AC02-07CH11359, High Energy Physics and Nuclear Physics, United Kingdom Research and Innovation, National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, UK Research and Innovation, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Royal Society, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung

We report measurements of radon daughters in liquid argon within the MicroBooNE time projection chamber (LArTPC). The presence of radon in MicroBooNE's 85 metric tons of active liquid argon bulk is probed with newly developed charge-based low-energy reconstruction tools and analysis techniques to detect correlated $^{214}$Bi-$^{214}$Po radioactive decays. Special datasets taken during periods of active radon doping enable new demonstrations of the calorimetric capabilities of single-phase neutrino LArTPCs for $\beta$ and $\alpha$ particles with electron-equivalent energies ranging from 0.1 to 3.0 MeV. By applying $^{214}$Bi-$^{214}$Po detection algorithms to beam-external physics data recorded over a 46-day period, no statistically significant presence of radon is detected, corresponding to a limit of $

This paper presents multiplicity measurements of charged hadrons produced in 120 GeV/$c$ proton-carbon interactions. The measurements were made using data collected at the NA61/SHINE experiment during two different data-taking periods, with increased phase space coverage in the second configuration due to the addition of new subdetectors. Particle identification via $dE/dx$ was employed to obtain double-differential production multiplicities of $π^+$, $π^-$, $p$, $\bar{p}$, $K^+$ and $K^-$. These measurements are presented as a function of laboratory momentum in intervals of laboratory polar angle covering the range from 0 to 450 mrad. They provide crucial inputs for current and future long-baseline neutrino experiments, where they are used to estimate the initial neutrino flux.

Based on the global serious flood disasters data during 1980 to 2020 from the emergency events database (EM-DAT), we calculated flood disaster index (FDI) in each administrative region. Based on FDI and the relevant hydrological and meteorological data, terrain data, vegetation data and economic data, the random forest (RF) algorithm was applied to establish flood risk model to assess the global flood risk on grid scale. RF models were constructed at global and climatic zoning scales, respectively. The accuracy evaluation results showed that compared with the global model, the R2 of the partition model increased by 12%, and the RMSE and MAE decreased by 33% and 21%, respectively. The model results could capture more than 70% of the historical flood events and more than 90% of the effected population and death toll in EM-DAT. The assessment results showed that the areas with middle-high risk of global flood serious disasters covered 43.79% of the Earth’s land surface which were located mainly in south, east and southeast Asia. The low risk areas are mainly located in the sparsely populated area above 60°N, the desert area in northern Africa and the plateau in western Australia. The results of factor importance showed that rainfall, economic conditions, topography and surface water and soil conditions are vital factors for the serious flood disasters in each climatic zone model, and topography is the dominant factor in cold climatic zone.

We have investigated the exciton fine structure in atomically thin WSe2 -based van der Waals heterostructures where the density of optical modes at the location of the semiconductor monolayer can be tuned. The energy splitting $\Delta$ between the bright and dark exciton has been measured by photoluminescence spectroscopy. We demonstrate that $\Delta$ can be tuned by a few meV, as a result of a significant Lamb shift of the optically active exciton which arises from emission and absorption of virtual photons triggered by the vacuum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field. We also measured strong variations of the bright exciton radiative linewidth, as a result of the Purcell effect. All these experimental results illustrate the strong sensitivity of the excitons to local vacuum field. We found a very good agreement with a model that demonstrates the equivalence, for our system, of a classical electrodynamical transfer matrix formalism and quantum-electrodynamical approach. The bright-dark splitting control demonstrated here should apply to any semiconductor structures.

This paper reports measurements of two-pion Bose-Einstein (HBT) correlations in Be+Be collisions at a beam momentum of 150$A\,\mbox{GeV}/\textit{c}$ by the $\mbox{NA61/SHINE}$ experiment at the CERN SPS accelerator. The obtained momentum space correlation functions can be well described by a L\'evy distributed source model. The transverse mass dependence of the L\'evy source parameters is presented, and their possible theoretical interpretations are discussed. The results show that the L\'evy exponent $\alpha$ is approximately constant as a function of $m_{\rm{T}}$ , and far from both the Gaussian case of $\alpha = 2$ or the conjectured value at the critical endpoint, $\alpha = 0.5$. The radius scale parameter $R$ shows a slight decrease in $m_{\rm{T}}$, which can be explained as a signature of transverse flow. Finally, an approximately constant trend of the intercept parameter $\lambda$ as a function of $m_{\rm{T}}$ was observed, different from measurement results at RHIC.

MicroBooNE is a neutrino experiment located in the Booster Neutrino Beamline (BNB) at Fermilab, which collected data from 2015 to 2021. MicroBooNE's liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) is accompanied by a photon detection system consisting of 32 photomultiplier tubes used to measure the argon scintillation light and determine the timing of neutrino interactions. Analysis techniques combining light signals and reconstructed tracks are applied to achieve a neutrino interaction time resolution of $\mathcal{O}(1\,\text{ns})$. The result obtained allows MicroBooNE to access the ns neutrino pulse structure of the BNB for the first time. The timing resolution achieved will enable significant enhancement of cosmic background rejection for all neutrino analyses. Furthermore, the ns timing resolution opens new avenues to search for long-lived-particles such as heavy neutral leptons in MicroBooNE, as well as in future large LArTPC experiments, namely the SBN program and DUNE.

The critical point of dense, strongly interacting matter is searched for at the CERN SPS in ${}^{40}$Ar + ${}^{45}$Sc collisions at 150A GeV/c. The dependence of second-order scaled factorial moments of proton multiplicity distribution on the number of subdivisions of transverse momentum space is measured. The intermittency analysis is performed using both transverse momentum and cumulative transverse momentum. For the first time, statistically independent data sets are used for each subdivision number. The obtained results do not indicate any statistically significant intermittency pattern. An upper limit on the fraction of critical proton pairs and the power of the correlation function is obtained based on a comparison with the Power-law Model developed for this purpose., Comment: 28 pages, 14 figures

We present a measurement of $η$ production from neutrino interactions on argon with the MicroBooNE detector. The modeling of resonant neutrino interactions on argon is a critical aspect of the neutrino oscillation physics program being carried out by the DUNE and Short Baseline Neutrino programs. $η$ production in neutrino interactions provides a powerful new probe of resonant interactions, complementary to pion channels, and is particularly suited to the study of higher-order resonances beyond the $Δ(1232)$. We measure a flux-integrated cross section for neutrino-induced $η$ production on argon of $3.22 \pm 0.84 \; \textrm{(stat.)} \pm 0.86 \; \textrm{(syst.)}$ $10^{-41}{\textrm{cm}}^{2}$/nucleon. By demonstrating the successful reconstruction of the two photons resulting from $η$ production, this analysis enables a novel calibration technique for electromagnetic showers in GeV accelerator neutrino experiments.

Tianyu Liu,1,* Wenju Chang,1,2,* Hao Wang,3,* Qi Lin,1,2,* Ye Wei,1,2 Wentao Tang,1 Yu Liu,1 Yijiao Chen,1 Zhengchuan Niu,1 Yudong Jiang,1 Li Ren,1,2 Jianmin Xu1,2 1Colorectal Cancer Center, Department of General Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 2Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Colorectal Cancer Minimally Invasive Technology, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Thoracic Surgery; Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Jianmin Xu; Li RenColorectal Cancer Center, Department of General Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, 180 Fenglin Road, Shanghai, 200032, People’s Republic of ChinaTel/Fax +86-21-64041990Email xujmin@aliyun.com; ren.li@zs-hospital.sh.cnPurpose: This study aimed to evaluate the role of anatomical resection (AR) in lung metastasectomy (LM) of colorectal cancer (CRC) and to investigate clinically relevant prognostic factors.Patients and Methods: The medical records of 350 consecutive patients who underwent LM of CRC from 2011 to 2019 were reviewed. The patients were designated into AR group (lobectomy and segmentectomy), and non-anatomical resection (NAR) group (wedge resection), respectively. Kaplan–Meier method was used to analyze disease-free survival (DFS), pulmonary-specific disease-free survival (PDFS) and overall survival (OS). Cox proportional hazards regression model was performed to analyze the factors associated with DFS, PDFS and OS.Results: A total of 92 (31.2%) patients were enrolled in AR group and 203 (68.8%) in non-anatomical resection (NAR) group. AR significantly improved the 3-year DFS (64.1% vs 46.8%, HR 0.587, 95% CI 0.397– 0.867, P = 0.007) and PDFS (75.0% vs 60.1%, HR 0.565, 95% CI 0.356– 0.899, P = 0.016) compared with NAR. However, the extent of resection did not significantly impact the 3-year OS (AR 92.4% vs NAR 85.7%, HR 0.511, 95% CI 0.224– 1.165, P = 0.110). In multivariate analysis, AR was identified as a protective factor for DFS (HR 0.576, 95% CI 0.356– 0.934, P = 0.025) and PDFS (HR 0.631, 95% CI 0.409– 0.973, P = 0.037). Preoperative abnormal CA19-9 was identified as the only prognostic factor for OS.Conclusion: AR was superior to NAR for DFS and PDFS after LM from CRC.Keywords: pulmonary metastasis, lobectomy, wedge resection, prognosis

We present the first measurement of the cross section of Cabibbo-suppressed $\Lambda$ baryon production, using data collected with the MicroBooNE detector when exposed to the neutrinos from the Main Injector beam at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. The data analyzed correspond to $2.2 \times 10^{20}$ protons on target of neutrino mode running and $4.9 \times 10^{20}$ protons on target of anti-neutrino mode running. An automated selection is combined with hand scanning, with the former identifying five candidate $\Lambda$ production events when the signal was unblinded, consistent with the GENIE prediction of $5.3 \pm 1.1$ events. Several scanners were employed, selecting between three and five events, compared with a prediction from a blinded Monte Carlo simulation study of $3.7 \pm 1.0$ events. Restricting the phase space to only include $\Lambda$ baryons that decay above MicroBooNE's detection thresholds, we obtain a flux averaged cross section of $2.0^{+2.2}_{-1.7} \times 10^{-40}$ cm$^2/$Ar, where statistical and systematic uncertainties are combined.

Yue Zhang, Lianping Ren, Jinyuan Sun, Fengfeng Han, Xuejun Guo Department of Respiratory Medicine, Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200092, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Xuejun GuoDepartment of Respiratory Medicine, Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 1665 Kong Jiang Road, Shanghai, 200092, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86-21-25078999-7373Email guoxuejun@xinhuamed.com.cnBackground: This study aimed to reveal the correlation between serum soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) and prognosis in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD).Methods: A total of 315 patients diagnosed with AECOPD between December 2017 and June 2020 were enrolled. The patients were divided into the good and adverse groups based on the outcomes. An adverse outcome in COPD exacerbation was defined by the presence of at least one of the following: (1) death from a respiratory cause during hospitalisation or within 1 month of follow-up; (2) intensive care unit admission; (3) invasive or non-invasive mechanical ventilation; and (4) COPD-related emergency visit or readmission within 1 month of follow-up. A good outcome was considered as the absence of all the aforementioned issues. The patients underwent lung function (spirometry) assessment, and clinical and inflammatory profiles were collected. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify the correlation between serum sIL-2R concentration and other variables related to adverse outcomes of AECOPD. The receiver operating characteristic curve was used to show the predictive ability of sIL-2R for adverse outcomes of AECOPD.Results: We enrolled 315 patients, of whom 161 and 154 had good and adverse outcomes, respectively. We demonstrated that patients with adverse outcomes of AECOPD had a higher concentration of serum sIL-2R than patients with good outcomes (p < 0.001). The increased serum sIL-2R was positively associated with mMRC scores (p < 0.001), GLOD grades (p < 0.001), frequent exacerbation (p < 0.001), and smoking (p < 0.001) in patients with AECOPD and negatively correlated with pulmonary function (p < 0.001). An elevated sIL-2R level was a predictor for the risk of adverse outcomes in AECOPD with a cut-off value of 860 U/mL.Conclusion: Increased serum sIL-2R concentration correlated with the risk of the adverse outcomes in AECOPD, indicating that it can be a predictive factor contributing to the diagnosis and assessment of adverse outcomes in patients with AECOPD.Keywords: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, acute exacerbation, soluble interleukin-2 receptor, predictive factor

Shujing Huang,1,&ast; Hongyan Sun,2,&ast; Jia Yu,3 Hongfei Shi,2 Liyun Ren,3 Yan He,3 Mingzhi Zhang,3 Hao Peng,3,4 Heng Guo1 1Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Shihezi University, Shihezi, People’s Republic of China; 2Center for Disease Prevention and Control of Tianning District, Changzhou, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, People’s Republic of China; 4Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Preventive and Translational Medicine for Geriatric Diseases, Suzhou, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Heng GuoDepartment of Public Health, School of Medicine, Shihezi University, North 2nd Road, Shihezi, 832000, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 993 205 7153Email shzuguoheng@foxmail.comHao PengDepartment of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Medical College of Soochow University, 199 Renai Road, Industrial Park, Suzhou, 215123, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 512 6588 0078Fax +86 512 6588 0052Email penghao@suda.edu.cnPurpose: Sleep duration was associated with large artery atherosclerosis, but its association with atherosclerosis in lower extremity arteries was not well studied. Together with sleep, physical activity constitutes main component of our daily life and influences sleep. Here, we aimed to examine the independent and joint associations of sleep duration and physical activity with peripheral artery disease (PAD) in Chinese adults.Patients and Methods: In Tianning cohort, night-time sleep duration and physical activity were assessed by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire, respectively, for 5130 participants (51.0± 15.6 years, 58.7% female). PAD was defined as ankle-brachial index (ABI) < 0.9. General linear, and logistic regression models were used to assess the associations of sleep duration and physical activity with PAD. The biological interaction between sleep duration and physical activity on PAD was examined using additive model.Results: Compared to participants sleeping 6– 8.9 h, those sleeping ≥ 9 h had a 0.02 lower ABI (β=− 0.02, P=0.007) and 38% higher odds of PAD (OR=1.38, P=0.035). Compared to physically active participants sleeping 6– 8.9 h, among ≥ 9 h group, physically inactive individuals had significantly increased odds of PAD (OR=2.40, P< 0.001), whereas physically active individuals did not (OR=1.15, P=0.472). On additive scale, attributable proportion due to interaction (0.40, 95% CI: 0.07, 0.73) indicated a significant interaction between sleep duration and physical activity on PAD.Conclusion: Being physically active may attenuate the detrimental association between prolonged sleep duration and PAD. Moreover, we found a significant interaction between prolonged sleep duration and physical inactivity in the prevalence of PAD.Keywords: lower extremity disease, Tianning cohort, sleep duration, joint association, physical activity

EOS is a technology demonstrator, designed to explore the capabilities of hybrid event detection technology, leveraging both Cherenkov and scintillation light simultaneously. With a fiducial mass of four tons, EOS is designed to operate in a high-precision regime, with sufficient size to utilize time-of-flight information for full event reconstruction, flexibility to demonstrate a range of cutting edge technologies, and simplicity of design to facilitate potential future deployment at alternative sites. Results from EOS can inform the design of future neutrino detectors for both fundamental physics and nonproliferation applications.

Acknowledgments We gratefully acknowledge the discussions, feedback, and encouragement of Hugh Lippincott and Stephen Pordes throughout the course of the planning, execution, and analysis of our data. This documentwas prepared by the MicroBooNE collaboration using the resources of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), a U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, HEP User Facility. Fermilab is managed by Fermi Research Alliance, LLC (FRA), acting under Contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11359. MicroBooNE is supported by the following: the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Offices of High Energy Physics and Nuclear Physics; the U.S. National Science Foundation; the Swiss National Science Foundation; the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), part of the United Kingdom Research and Innovation; the Royal Society (United Kingdom); and The European Union’s Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. Additional support for the laser calibration system and cosmic ray tagger was provided by the Albert Einstein Center for Fundamental Physics, Bern, Switzerland. We also acknowledge the contributions of technical and scientific staff to the design, construction, and operation of the MicroBooNE detector as well as the contributions of past collaborators to the development of MicroBooNE analyses, without whom this work would not have been possible., he MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) maintains a high level of liquid argon purity through the use of a filtration system that removes electronegative contaminants in continuously-circulated liquid, recondensed boil off, and externally supplied argon gas. We use the MicroBooNE LArTPC to reconstruct MeV-scale radiological decays. Using this technique we measure the liquid argon filtration system's efficacy at removing radon. This is studied by placing a 500 kBq 222Rn source upstream of the filters and searching for a time-dependent increase in the number of radiological decays in the LArTPC. In the context of two models for radon mitigation via a liquid argon filtration system, a slowing mechanism and a trapping mechanism, MicroBooNE data supports a radon reduction factor of greater than 97% or 99.999%, respectively. Furthermore, a radiological survey of the filters found that the copper-based filter material was the primary medium that removed the 222Rn. This is the first observation of radon mitigation in liquid argon with a large-scale copper-based filter and could offer a radon mitigation solution for future large LArTPCs., Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, HEP User Facility, Fermi Research Alliance, LLC (FRA), acting under Contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11359, Offices of High Energy Physics and Nuclear Physics, U.S. National Science Foundation, Swiss National Science Foundation, Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), United Kingdom Research and Innovation, Royal Society (United Kingdom), European Union’s Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, Albert Einstein Center for Fundamental Physics

In this paper we present the first measurements of an exclusive electron neutrino cross section with the MicroBooNE experiment using data from the Booster neutrino beamline at Fermilab. These measurements are made for a selection of charged-current electron neutrinos without final-state pions. Differential cross sections are extracted in energy and angle with respect to the beam for the electron and the leading proton. The differential cross section as a function of proton energy is measured using events with protons both above and below the visibility threshold. This is done by including a separate selection of electron neutrino events without reconstructed proton candidates in addition to those with proton candidates. Results are compared to the predictions from several modern generators, and we find the data agrees well with these models. The data shows best agreement, as quantified by the p-value, with the generators that predict a lower overall cross section, such as GENIE v3 and NuWro.

Mycolicibacterium phocaicum RL-HY01, a marine bacterial strain with the capability to degrade phthalic acid esters (PAEs), was isolated from Zhanjiang Bay, China. Here, the complete genome sequence of strain RL-HY01 was presented. The genome of strain RL-HY01 contains one circular chromosome of 6,064,759 bp with a G + C content of 66.93 mol%. The genome contains 5681 predicted protein-encoding genes, 57 tRNA genes, and 6 rRNA genes. Genes and gene clusters potentially involved in the metabolism of PAEs were further identified. The genome Mycolicibacterium phocaicum RL-HY01 will be helpful for advancing our understanding of the fate of PAEs in marine ecosystem.

Yu Wei, Jiayao Fu, Wenjing Wu, Pengfei Ma, Le Ren, Zimei Yi, Junhua Wu Department of Prosthodontics, School and Hospital of Stomatology, Tongji University and Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Tooth Restoration and Regeneration, Shanghai, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Junhua WuDepartment of Prosthodontics, School and Hospital of Stomatology, Tongji University and Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Tooth Restoration and Regeneration, Shanghai, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 21-66313729Email wujunhua_sh@tongji.edu.cnPurpose: Emerging evidence has indicated that oxidative stress (OS) contributes to periodontitis. Periodontal ligament cells (PDLCs) are important for the regeneration of periodontal tissue. Quercetin, which is extracted from fruits and vegetables, has strong antioxidant capabilities. However, whether and how quercetin affects oxidative damage in PDLCs during periodontitis remains unknown. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of quercetin on oxidative damage in PDLCs and alveolar bone loss in periodontitis and underlying mechanisms.Materials and Methods: The tissue block culture method was used to extract human PDLCs (hPDLCs). First, a cell counting kit 8 (CCK-8) assay was used to identify the optimal concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and quercetin. Subsequently, a 2,7-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) probe, RT-qPCR, Western blotting and other methods were used to explore the effects of quercetin on OS in hPDLCs and the underlying mechanism. Finally, quercetin was administered to mice with periodontitis through gavage, and the effect of quercetin on the level of OS and alveolar bone resorption in these mice was observed by immunofluorescence, microcomputed tomography (micro-CT), hematoxylin and eosin staining (H&E) staining and so on.Results: Quercetin at 5 μM strongly activated NF-E2–related factor 2 (NRF2) signaling, alleviated oxidative damage and enhanced the antioxidant capacity of hPDLCs. In addition, quercetin reduced cellular senescence and protected the osteogenic ability of hPDLCs. Finally, quercetin activated NRF2 signaling in the periodontal ligaments, reduced the OS level of mice with periodontitis, and slowed the absorption of alveolar bone in vivo.Conclusion: Quercetin can increase the antioxidant capacity of PDLCs and reduce OS damage by activating the NRF2 signaling pathway, which alleviates alveolar bone loss in periodontitis.Keywords: periodontitis, periodontal ligament cells, oxidative stress, cellular senescence and quercetin

Xiaolin Wu,1,2 Yingjuan Liu,2 Lin Zhu,2 Yue Wang,2 Yuqian Ren,2 Baohe Cheng,3 Leiming Ren,4 Keli Ge,2 Hongyun Li1 1Department of Neurology, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong, 266003, People’s Republic of China; 2Institute of Integrative Medicine, School of Basic Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong, 266021, People’s Republic of China; 3Shandong Haoyun Guoji Stem Cells Hospital, Jinan, Shandong, 250001, People’s Republic of China; 4Institute of Chinese Integrative Medicine, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, 050017, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Hongyun LiDepartment of Neurology, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, No. 16, Jiangsu Road, Shinan District, Qingdao, Shandong, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail 18661808653@163.comKeli GeInstitute of Integrative Medicine, School of Basic Medicine, Qingdao University, No. 38, Dengzhou Road, Shibei District, Qingdao, Shandong, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail ntfadu@163.comIntroduction: Vascular dementia (VaD), one of the brain injuries, is difficult to be cured, so it is important to take active neuroprotective treatment after its occurrence. Many studies have shown that apoptosis serves an important role in VaD occurrence; therefore, inhibition of apoptosis may contribute to the recovery of neurological function after VaD occurrence. Cerebroprotein hydrolysate-I (CH-I), a neuropeptide preparation which consists of several amino acids and small molecular peptides as the main active constituent, is extracted using a method similar to cerebrolysin (CBL) which has neuroprotective and neurotrophic effects.Methods: In the present study, a VaD model which was constructed using bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (BCCAO) in Kunming mice was applied to examine the neuroprotective effects of CH-I.Results: The results show that CH-I treatment could attenuate the decrease of learning and memory ability, cell apoptosis in the hippocampal CA1 region and inhibit the activation of caspase-3 and caspase-9 in VaD mice. Furthermore, CH-I treatment could also upregulate Bcl-2 protein levels and activate PI3K and Akt.Discussion: We speculate that CH-I may induce a neuroprotective effect activating PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in VaD mice.Keywords: vascular dementia, cerebroprotein hydrolysate-I, apoptosis, PI3K/Akt

Yuqian Ren,1 Xiaoqing Ma,1 Tingting Wang,1 Baohe Cheng,2 Leiming Ren,3 Zehua Dong,4 Hongling Liu5 1Institute of Cerebrovascular Disease, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266003, People’s Republic of China; 2Shandong Haoyun International Hospital of Stem Cells, Jinan, Shandong, 250001, People’s Republic of China; 3Institute of Chinese Integrative Medicine, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, 050017, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Intensive Care Unit, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266003, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Pharmacy, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266003, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Zehua Dong; Hongling Liu Tel +86-139 63958230; +86-18661808612Email gonewithwind18@163.com; lhl3798@126.comObjective: To investigate the neuroprotective effect and mechanism of cerebroprotein hydrolysate-I (CH-I) on cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats.Methods: A total of 100 adult healthy male SD rats were randomly divided into a sham group, model group, CH-I treated group, and cerebrolysin (CBL) positive group, consisting of 20 rats in each group. The middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion (MCAO/R) model of rats was built by inserting a suture into the left external carotid artery (ECA) through the internal carotid artery (ICA). Treatment was performed by intraperitoneal injection of CH-I (20 mg/kg). The neurobehavioral function of rats was evaluated by modified neurological severity scores (mNSS). TTC staining was used to detect the cerebral infarction volume (CIV) of rats. The morphological and structural changes of nerve cells were observed by HE staining and the neuronal apoptosis was counted by TUNEL assay. Immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis was used to detect BDNF and pMEK1/2 expressions. The expressions of BDNF, pMEK1/2, pERK1/2, and pCREB were determined with Western blotting.Results: After treatment with CH-I, the mNSS and CIV of rats were improved (P< 0.05). And the CH-I can reduce the degeneration and apoptosis of nerve cells in rats (P< 0.01). Western blotting showed that the expressions of pMEK1/2, pERK1/2, and pCREB in rats were increased, while the expression of BDNF was decreased after modeling (P< 0.05). After treatment, the expressions of pMEK1/2, pERK1/2, and pCREB in the CH-I group were decreased (P< 0.05), while the expression of BDNF was significantly increased (P< 0.05) compared with the model group. IHC showed that the expression of BDNF and pMEK1/2 was consistent with Western blotting.Conclusion: It is suggested that the CH-I might play a neuroprotective role by inhibiting the expression of MEK-ERK-CREB and enhancing the expression of BDNF after cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury, thus improving the neurobehavioral function of MCAO/R rats.Keywords: cerebroprotein hydrolysate-I, cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury, apoptosis, MAPK/ERK1/2 signaling pathway, rats

Yingyi Zhang,1 Libin Ren,1 Min Ren,2 Hua Yang,1 Kunmeng Li,1 Hongliang Cong,1 Zhigang Guo3 1Department of Cardiology, Tianjin Chest Hospital, Tianjin, 300222, People’s Republic of China; 2Tianjin Cardiovascular Institute, Tianjin, 300222, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Cardiac Surgery, Tianjin Chest Hospital, Tianjin, 300222, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Hongliang CongDepartment of Cardiology, Tianjin Chest Hospital, No. 261 of Taierzhuang South Road, Jinnan District, Tianjin, 300222, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 13702102871Email chlcong@163.comZhigang GuoDepartment of Cardiac Surgery, Tianjin Chest Hospital, No. 261 of Taierzhuang South Road, Jinnan District, Tianjin, 300222, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 13821002900Email zgguohosp@163.comObjective: This study aims to investigate the correlation between triglyceride–glucose index (TyG) and the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).Methods: A total of 102,061 permanent residents of Tianjin, China, aged 35– 75 years were surveyed. A questionnaire, physical examination, and blood tests for biochemical markers were conducted for all subjects. The risk of CVD was judged based on the results, identifying the population with a high risk of CVD. TyG was calculated for all subjects who were then grouped into TyG quartiles. The correlation between TyG and the detection rate of subjects with a high risk of CVD was analyzed using the chi-square test and Pearson’s correlation analysis. The cut-off points and the magnitude of the predictive effect of TyG in determining a high risk of CVD were identified by calculating the TyG through analysis of the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve.Results: The surveyed population consisted of 39,598 males (38.8%) and 62,463 females (61.2%). The average age was 55.84 ± 10.27 years. A statistically significant difference in the incidence of a high CVD risk between subjects in the four groups divided by the TyG levels was identified (p < 0.01). Pearson’s correlation analysis showed that TyG was correlated with all risk factors for CVD (p < 0.01). The maximum Youden’s J statistic for determining the high risk of CVD was found at a TyG of 9.04 (specificity 0.575, sensitivity 0.754). The area under the ROC curve was 0.780 (confidence interval [CI]: 0.777, 0.783, p < 0.01).Conclusion: TyG index is closely related to the aggregation of cardiovascular risk factors and is correlated with the judgment results of the screening population’s high risk of CVD, suggesting that more attention should be paid to the identification and control of multiple risk factors in the population with significantly elevated TyG.Keywords: triglyceride–glucose index, cardiovascular disease, risk, insulin resistance

Yu Liu,1,2,* Wenju Chang,1– 3,* Wentao Tang,1– 3,* Ye Wei,1– 3 Tianyu Liu,1,2 Yijiao Chen,1,2 Meiling Ji,1– 3 Fei Liang,4 Li Ren,1– 3 Jianmin Xu1– 3 1Colorectal Cancer Center, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of General Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 3Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Colorectal Cancer Minimally Invasive, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Biostatistics, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Jianmin XuDepartment of General Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 13501984869Email xujmin@aliyun.comBackground: Rectal gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are rare digestive tumors. The treatment methods of rectal GISTs are diverse, while no standardized treatment was recommended. The aim of this study was to report the treatment mode of rectal GISTs in our center.Methods: Patients with pathologically confirmed rectal GISTs who received neoadjuvant therapy and surgical resection were retrospectively collected. Perioperative complications and long-term prognosis were evaluated.Results: From January 2010 to December 2019, 36 patients were pathologically diagnosed with primary rectal GISTs. After excluding patients who were treated with surgery or imatinib alone, 21 patients received neoadjuvant therapy and surgery was enrolled. During neoadjuvant treatment, tumors shrank significantly (6.53cm to 4.68cm, p< 0.001) without toxicities over grade 2. The total postoperative complication rate was 42.9% (all grade). R0 resection was achieved in 76.2% patients. Transanal resection had advantages on anus preservation and postoperative recovery. No patients died during the follow-up period, 4 patients relapsed and the relapse-free survival was 81.0%.Conclusion: The combination of neoadjuvant therapy and surgical resection was a safe and effective treatment for rectal gastrointestinal stromal tumors.Keywords: rectal gastrointestinal stromal tumors, GISTs, neoadjuvant therapy, surgical resection

Soil salinization has been recognized as one of the main factors causing the decrease of cultivated land area and global plant productivity. Application of salt tolerant plants and improvement of plant salt tolerance are recognized as the major routes for saline soil restoration and utilization. Sea rice 86 (SR86) is known as a rice cultivar capable of growing in saline soil. Genome sequencing and transcriptome analysis of SR86 have been conducted to explore its salt tolerance mechanisms while the contribution of rhizobacteria is underexplored. In the present study, we examined the rhizosphere bacterial diversity and soil metabolome of SR86 seedlings under different salinity to understand their contribution to plant salt tolerance. We found that salt stress could significantly change rhizobacterial diversity and rhizosphere metabolites. Keystone taxa were identified via co-occurrence analysis and the correlation analysis between keystone taxa and rhizosphere metabolites indicated lipids and their derivatives might play an important role in plant salt tolerance. Further, four plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), capable of promoting the salt tolerance of SR86, were isolated and characterized. These findings might provide novel insights into the mechanisms of plant salt tolerance mediated by plant-microbe interaction, and promote the isolation and application of PGPR in the restoration and utilization of saline soil.

We present a measurement of the νe-interaction rate in the MicroBooNE detector that addresses the observed MiniBooNE anomalous low-energy excess (LEE). The approach taken isolates neutrino interactions consistent with the kinematics of charged-current quasielastic (CCQE) events. The topology of such signal events has a final state with one electron, one proton, and zero mesons (1e1p). Multiple novel techniques are employed to identify a 1e1p final state, including particle identification that use two methods of Deep-Learning-based image identification and event isolation using a boosted decision-tree ensemble trained to recognize two-body scattering kinematics. This analysis selects 25 νe-candidate events in the reconstructed neutrino energy range of 200–1200 MeV, while 29.0±1.9(sys)±5.4(stat) are predicted when using νμ CCQE interactions as a constraint. We use a simplified model to translate the MiniBooNE LEE observation into a prediction for a νe signal in MicroBooNE. A Δχ2 test statistic, based on the combined Neyman–Pearson χ2 formalism, is used to define frequentist confidence intervals for the LEE signal strength. Using this technique, in the case of no LEE signal, we expect this analysis to exclude a normalization factor of 0.75 (0.98) times the median MiniBooNE LEE signal strength at 90% (2σ) confidence level, while the MicroBooNE data yield an exclusion of 0.25 (0.38) times the median MiniBooNE LEE signal strength at 90% (2σ) confidence level.

We report a search for an anomalous excess of inclusive charged-current (CC) νe interactions using the Wire-Cell event reconstruction package in the MicroBooNE experiment, which is motivated by the previous observation of a low-energy excess (LEE) of electromagnetic events from the MiniBooNE experiment. With a single liquid argon time projection chamber detector, the measurements of νμ CC interactions as well as π0 interactions are used to constrain signal and background predictions of νe CC interactions. A data set collected from February 2016 to July 2018 corresponding to an exposure of 6.369×1020 protons on target from the Booster Neutrino Beam at FNAL is analyzed. With x representing an overall normalization factor and referred to as the LEE strength parameter, we select 56 fully contained νe CC candidates while expecting 69.6±8.0 (stat.) ±5.0 (sys.) and 103.8±9.0 (stat.) ±7.4 (sys.) candidates after constraints for the absence (eLEEx=0) of the median signal strength derived from the MiniBooNE observation and the presence (eLEEx=1) of that signal strength, respectively. Under a nested hypothesis test using both rate and shape information in all available channels, the best-fit x is determined to be 0 (eLEEx=0) with a 95.5% confidence level upper limit of x at 0.502. Under a simple-vs-simple hypotheses test, the eLEEx=1 hypothesis is rejected at 3.75σ, while the eLEEx=0 hypothesis is shown to be consistent with the observation at 0.45σ. In the context of the eLEE model, the estimated 68.3% confidence interval of the νe CC hypothesis to explain the LEE observed in the MiniBooNE experiment is disfavored at a significance level of more than 2.6σ (3.0σ) considering MiniBooNE’s full (statistical) uncertainties.

This article presents a measurement of νe interactions without pions in the final state using the MicroBooNE experiment and an investigation into the excess of low-energy electromagnetic events observed by the MiniBooNE Collaboration. The measurement is performed in exclusive channels with (1eNp0π) and without (1e0p0π) visible final-state protons using 6.86×1020 protons on target of data collected from the Booster Neutrino Beam at Fermilab. Events are reconstructed with the Pandora pattern recognition toolkit and selected using additional topological information from the MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber. Using a goodness-of-fit test, the data are found to be consistent with the predicted number of events with nominal flux and interaction models with a p value of 0.098 in the two channels combined. A model based on the low-energy excess observed in MiniBooNE is introduced to quantify the strength of a possible νe excess. The analysis suggests that, if an excess is present, it is not consistent with a scaling of the νe contribution to the flux as predicted by the signal model used in the analysis. Combined, the 1eNp0π and 1e0p0π channels do not give a conclusive indication about the tested model, but separately, they both disfavor the low-energy excess model at >90% C.L. The observation in the most sensitive 1eNp0π channel is below the prediction and consistent with no excess. In the less sensitive 1e0p0π channel, the observation at low energy is above the prediction, while overall there is agreement over the full energy spectrum.

Longbing Ren,1,2 Yan Gao,3 Yuting Jiang,3 Gege Wang,1,2 Qi Li,1,2 Yijun Gu,1,2 Han Yu,1,2 Jue Li,1,2 Lijuan Zhang1,2 1Shanghai East Hospital, Key Laboratory of Arrhythmias, Ministry of Education, Tongji University School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200120, People’s Republic of China; 2Institute of Clinical Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Medicine, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200092, People’s Republic of China; 3Community Health Service Center of Anting Town Affiliated to Tongji University School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 201805, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Jue Li; Lijuan Zhang Email jueli@tongji.edu.cn; zhangxiaoyi@tongji.edu.cnBackground and Aim: Any single discrete blood pressure (BP) measurement is not enough to estimate adverse cardiovascular events. We aim to comprehensively investigate the association between BP indicators and stroke.Methods: An observational cohort study was conducted among 2888 Shanghai community-aged residents from 2014 to 2018, and a nested case-control study was designed to identify the association between BP indicators and stroke. In total 415 cases of stroke detected during the study period were selected as the case group and 415 non-stroke subjects, matched with factors of age and gender, were randomly selected from the cohort as control group.Results: Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that systolic blood pressure (SBP) (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.02, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02– 1.03), pulse pressure (PP) (AOR 1.03, 95% CI 1.02– 1.04), mean arterial pressure (MAP) (AOR1.02, 95% CI 1.01– 1.04) and pulse pressure index (PPI) (AOR 25.68, 95% CI 3.19– 206.90) increased the risk of stroke, respectively. After fitting both BP indicators and covariates, isolated abnormal SBP (AOR 2.55, 95% CI 1.74– 3.72) or PP ≥ 50 mmHg (AOR 1.66, 95% CI 1.08– 2.56) independently increased risk of stroke.Conclusion: Besides SBP, PP and multiple factors, assessment should be taken into account comprehensively for stroke prevention and management.Keywords: blood pressure; BP, stroke, nested case-control study, primary care

Suqing Sun, Peng Wang, Lijie Ren, Hongli Wang, Yanli Zhan, Shimin Shan Department of Anesthesia, Tianjin Fifth Central Hospital, Tianjin, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Shimin Shan Department of Anesthesia, Tianjin Fifth Central Hospital, 41 Zhejiang Road, Binhai New Area, Tianjin, 300000, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 22-6566666Email shanshimin72@126.comPurpose: To explore the effect of SEV on colon cancer cells through circ-PI4KA.Methods: The RNA level of circular RNA_0062389, microRNA-331-3p and LIM and SH3 protein 1 was determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Protein expression was detected by Western blot. Cell proliferation was investigated by 3-(4,5)-dimethylthiahiazo (-z-y1)-3,5-di-phenytetrazoliumromide, cell colony formation and 5-ethynyl-29-deoxyuridine assays. Cell apoptosis was demonstrated using Annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate/propidium iodide double staining assay. Cell migration and invasion were detected by transwell assay. The target relationship between miR-331-3p and circ-PI4KA or LASP1 was predicted by starBase v2.0 online database, and identified by a dual-luciferase reporter assay. The effects between SEV treatment and circ-PI4KA knockdown on tumor formation were presented by in vivo tumor formation assay.Results: Circ-PI4KA and LASP1 expressions were dramatically upregulated, while miR-331-3p was downregulated in colon cancer tissues and cells, respectively. SEV exposure significantly decreased the expression of circ-PI4KA and LASP1, but increased miR-331-3p expression. SEV inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion, and induced cell apoptosis by regulating circ-PI4KA. Furthermore, circ-PI4KA interacted with miR-331-3p, and miR-331-3p interacted with LASP1. SEV inhibited tumor growth by controlling circ-PI4KA in vivo.Conclusion: Circ-PI4KA attenuated SEV-treated colon cancer cell malignancy by upregulating LASP1 through binding to miR-331-3p, which provided a new mechanism for studying surgery-mediated therapy of colon cancer.Keywords: colon cancer, SEV, circ-PI4KA, miR-331-3p, LASP1

Qian Wei, Ze Li, Honglei Feng, Li Ren Department of Laboratory, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin’s Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin, 300060, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Li RenDepartment of Laboratory, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, West Huan-Hu Road, Ti Yuan Bei, Hexi District, Tianjin, 300060, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail lirentj@163.comBackground: Pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the worst prognoses amongst all malignant diseases. It is therefore of great significance to identify biomarkers with predictive clinical value for the prognosis and recurrence of PC.Methods: In our study, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) were used to detect the expression of Exo-EphA2 in the serum of PC patients and controls. Kaplan–Meier curve and Cox regression analyses were used to evaluate the prognostic value of Exo-EphA2 expression in patients with primary and recurrent PC.Results: The level of serum Exo-EphA2 was significantly higher in the PC group when compared to that of the control group. High expression of Exo-EphA2 in PC was associated with shorter overall survival (OS) and proved to be a significant negative prognostic factor in the multivariate analysis (HR = 1.04, 95% CI: 1.00– 1.09, P < 0.001). Additionally, we found that the level of serum Exo-EphA2 in recurrent PC patients (first recurrence < 12 months) was positively correlated with the level of Exo-EphA2 at primary diagnosis. Multivariate analysis showed that a high expression of Exo-EphA2 in recurrent PC was associated with shorter recurrence-free survival (RFS) (HR = 1.41, 95% CI: 1.10– 1.70, P < 0.001).Conclusion: High expression of serum Exo-EphA2 represents a novel biomarker for a poor prognosis in PC patients.Keywords: pancreatic cancer, exosome, EphA2, prognosis

Hang Zhao,1 Yong Tang,1 Chong Zheng,2 Luping Ren,1,* Guangyao Song1,* 1Endocrinology Department, Hebei General Hospital, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, 050051, People’s Republic of China; 2Pediatric Orthopaedics, Shijiazhuang the Third Hospital, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, 050011, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Luping Ren; Guangyao Song 348, Heping West Road, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, 050051, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +8631185988975; +8631185988556Email renluping1122@163.com; sguangyao2@163.comPurpose: This study aimed to examine whether 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) levels (an indicator of vitamin D status) are independently associated with insulin resistance (IR) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).Patients and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. Participants with T2DM were recruited from the Department of Endocrinology in Hebei General Hospital according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data on basic characteristics and blood parameters were collected. We used the IR index (20/[fasting C-peptide × fasting plasma glucose]) to evaluate IR. Potential confounding factors were selected from comparisons among different IR index groups of quartiles and were adjusted in different models.Results: We included 172 subjects (121 men and 51 women) whose mean age was 53.2± 10.6 years. Body mass index (BMI), DM course, insulin use, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), fasting blood glucose, fasting C-peptide, triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1), and albumin were differed among different IR-index groups (all P value < 0.05). In models 1 and 2, no or some confounding factors were adjusted for, and we found that there was no relationship between 25OHD and the IR index. In model 3, when all confounding factors (DM course, insulin use, BMI, HbA1c, TG, HDL-C, ApoA1, albumin and other bone turnover markers) were adjusted for, the IR index was increased by 5.6% when 25OHD levels increased by 1 ng/mL (odds ratio: 1.056; 95% confidence interval: 1.009, 1.105).Conclusion: Vitamin D is independently associated with IR in patients with T2DM.Keywords: diabetes mellitus, type 2, vitamin D, insulin resistance

Jia Yu,1,* Hongyan Sun,2,* Jinhua Zhu,3,* Xintong Wei,1 Hongfei Shi,2 Bin Shen,3 Liyun Ren,1 Yan He,1 Rongyan Zhang,3 Mingzhi Zhang,1 Hao Peng1,4 1Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2Center for Disease Prevention and Control of Tianning District, Changzhou, People’s Republic of China; 3Center for Disease Prevention and Control of Wujiang District, Suzhou, People’s Republic of China; 4Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Preventive and Translational Medicine for Geriatric Diseases, Soochow University, Suzhou, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Hao PengDepartment of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Medical College of Soochow University, 199 Renai Road, Industrial Park, Suzhou, 215123, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 512 6588 0078Fax +86 512 6588 0052Email penghao@suda.edu.cnObjective: The relationship between obesity and hyperuricemia has been demonstrated by many studies. However, whether or to what extent metabolic condition influents the association between obesity and hyperuricemia was not clear. Here, we aimed to examine the association between obese-metabolic phenotype and hyperuricemia in a large sample of Chinese adults.Methods: According to BMI and metabolic syndrome, obese-metabolic phenotype was defined as metabolically unhealthy obesity (MUO), metabolically healthy obesity (MHO), metabolically unhealthy non-obesity (MUNO) and metabolically healthy non-obesity (MHNO)in the Tianning cohort (N=5072). We conducted a cross-sectional analysis between obese-metabolic phenotype and hyperuricemia, followed by a Mendelian Randomization analysis using GWAS summary data to confirm the causality between uric acid and BMI.Results: The average level of serum UA showed 41.87-higher μmol/L in participants with MHO (β=41.87, P< 0.001) and 63.18-higher μmol/L in participants with MUO (β=63.18, P< 0.001), compared to those with MHNO. Compared to participants with MHNO, those with MUO had the highest likelihood to have hyperuricemia (OR=4.56, P< 0.001), followed by those with MHO (OR=3.32, P< 0.001). Mendelian randomization analysis indicated that uric acid was more likely to be a consequence of BMI (β=0.059, P=6.54× 10− 154).Conclusion: MUO, in comparison with MHO, was significantly associated with hyperuricemia in Chinese adults.Keywords: metabolic syndrome, obesity, serum uric acid, hyperuricemia

Simultaneous removal of nitrogen, phosphate and emerging pollutants are critical for safe reuse of wastewater, but research in this field is limited. In the present study, a novel aerobic denitrifying phosphate-accumulating bacterial strain RL-GZ01 was found to be able to utilize phthalic acid esters (PAEs) as carbon resource for cell growth. Based on 16S rRNA gene analysis, physiological and biochemical characterization, and genome-based average nucleotide identity calculation, RL-GZ01 was identified as Rhodococcus pyridinivorans. Strain RL-GZ01 showed high DEHP degradation in alkaline conditions and good tolerance of salinity and organic solvents. The degradation of DEHP by RL-GZ01 fitted well with a modified Gompertz model (R2 = 0.9985). Metabolic intermediates of DEHP were identified via UHPLC-MS/MS analysis and the catabolic pathway was proposed thereafter. Genes and gene clusters contributed to the utilization of DEHP were analyzed through genomic analysis. Analysis of KEGG nitrogen metabolism pathway indicated that nitrate and nitrite were further transformed into ammonium which was further used for the biosynthesis of L-glutamine and L-glutamate. Strain RL-GZ01 was further identified as a denitrifying phosphate accumulating organism which can accumulate phosphate by generating polyphosphate. Finally, strain RL-GZ01 was applied to municipal wastewater treatment for simultaneous removal of nitrogen, phosphate and DEHP. The removal percentages of DEHP (5 mg/L), TN (71.2 mg/L), NH4+-N (70.9 mg/L), PO43−-P (10.89 mg/L) and COD (622.4 mg/L) by strain RL-GZ01 were 89.94 %, 64.45 %, 64.94 %, 76.30 % and 63.23 % within 84 h, respectively. These demonstrated the capability of strain RL-GZ01 for the biological treatment of wastewater containing PAEs.

Siming Li,1,* Wentao Xu,1,* Minjun Liao,1,2,* Yuanping Zhou,2 Jun Weng,1 Liying Ren,1 Junxiong Yu,1,3 Weijia Liao,1 Zhaoquan Huang1,4 1Laboratory of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Guilin Medical University, Guilin, 541001, Guangxi, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Infectious Diseases, Hepatology Unit, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Anesthesiology, Affiliated Hospital of Guilin Medical University, Guilin, 541001, Guangxi, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Pathology, Guilin Medical University, Guilin, 541001, Guangxi, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Weijia LiaoLaboratory of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Guilin Medical University, Guilin, 541001, Guangxi, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail liaoweijia288@163.comZhaoquan HuangDepartment of Pathology, Guilin Medical University, Guilin, 541001, Guangxi, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail 191990449@qq.comBackground: Currently, there is still a lack of effective biomarkers for the recurrence monitoring and survival prognosis assessment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)-negative (≤ 20 ng/mL) after radical resection.Methods: The clinicopathological data of 606 patients (303 in the AFP-negative group and 303 in the AFP-positive group) who underwent radical resection of HCC were analyzed retrospectively.Results: The gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase to lymphocyte count ratio (GLR) of patients in the AFP-negative group was lower than that in the AFP-positive group (p < 0.001). The GLR level of the early-recurrence group was higher than that of the non-early-recurrence group (p =0.003). GLR had fair accuracy in predicting the early-recurrence of HCC patients [c-index=0.654 (95% CI=0.606– 0.702); AUC=0.681 (95% CI=0.625– 0.733)]. Univariate analysis showed that patients with tumor size < 5 cm, no microvascular invasion, single tumor, no metastasis, BCLC stage 0–A, no recurrence, and GLR ≤ 45.0 had longer disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) among AFP-negative HCC patients. In addition, multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis showed that tumor size < 5 cm (p =0.003), no recurrence (p < 0.001), and GLR < 45.0 (p < 0.001) were independent predictors of longer OS.Conclusion: GLR may be a potential indicator for early recurrence monitoring and prognosis evaluation in HCC patients with AFP-negative after radical resection.Keywords: hepatocellular carcinoma, AFP-negative, GLR, prognosis, early-recurrence

Primary challenges for current and future precision neutrino experiments using liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPCs) include understanding detector effects and quantifying the associated systematic uncertainties. This paper presents a novel technique for assessing and propagating LArTPC detector-related systematic uncertainties. The technique makes modifications to simulation waveforms based on a parameterization of observed differences in ionization signals from the TPC between data and simulation, while remaining insensitive to the details of the detector model. The modifications are then used to quantify the systematic differences in low- and high-level reconstructed quantities. This approach could be applied to future LArTPC detectors, such as those used in SBN and DUNE. Published version

We report the first measurement of $\pi^0$ production in neutral current (NC) interactions on argon with average neutrino energy of $\lesssim1$~GeV. We use data from the MicroBooNE detector's 85-tonne active volume liquid argon time projection chamber situated in Fermilab's Booster Neutrino Beam and exposed to $5.89\times10^{20}$ protons on target for this measurement. Measurements of NC $\pi^0$ events are reported for two exclusive event topologies without charged pions. Those include a topology with two photons from the decay of the $\pi^0$ and one proton and a topology with two photons and zero protons. Flux-averaged cross-sections for each exclusive topology and for their semi-inclusive combination are extracted (efficiency-correcting for two-plus proton final states), and the results are compared to predictions from the \textsc{genie}, \textsc{neut}, and \textsc{NuWro} neutrino event generators. We measure cross sections of $1.243\pm0.185$ (syst) $\pm0.076$ (stat), $0.444\pm0.098\pm0.047$, and $0.624\pm0.131\pm0.075$ $[10^{-38}\textrm{cm}^2/\textrm{Ar}]$ for the semi-inclusive NC$\pi^0$, exclusive NC$\pi^0$+1p, and exclusive NC$\pi^0$+0p processes, respectively., Comment: 16 pages, 14 figures, 2 tables

This document was prepared by the MicroBooNE Collaboration using the resources of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), a U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, HEP User Facility. Fermilab is managed by Fermi Research Alliance, LLC (FRA), acting under Contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11359. MicroBooNE is supported by the following: the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Offices of High Energy Physics and Nuclear Physics; the U.S. National Science Foundation; the Swiss National Science Foundation; the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), part of the United Kingdom Research and Innovation; the Royal Society (United Kingdom); and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions. Additional support for the laser calibration system and cosmic ray tagger was provided by the Albert Einstein Center for Fundamental Physics, Bern, Switzerland. We also acknowledge the contributions of technical and scientific staff to the design, construction, and operation of the MicroBooNE detector as well as the contributions of past collaborators to the development of MicroBooNE analyses, without whom this work would not have been possible., We report a measurement of the energy-dependent total charged-current cross section σ(Eν) for inclusive muon neutrinos scattering on argon, as well as measurements of flux-averaged differential cross sections as a function of muon energy and hadronic energy transfer (ν). Data corresponding to 5.3×1019 protons on target of exposure were collected using the MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber located in the Fermilab booster neutrino beam with a mean neutrino energy of approximately 0.8 GeV. The mapping between the true neutrino energy Eν and reconstructed neutrino energy Erecν and between the energy transfer ν and reconstructed hadronic energy Erechad are validated by comparing the data and Monte Carlo (MC) predictions. In particular, the modeling of the missing hadronic energy and its associated uncertainties are verified by a new method that compares the Erechad distributions between data and a MC prediction after constraining the reconstructed muon kinematic distributions, energy, and polar angle to those of data. The success of this validation gives confidence that the missing energy in the MicroBooNE detector is well modeled and underpins first-time measurements of both the total cross section σ(Eν) and the differential cross section dσ/dν on argon., High Energy Physics and Nuclear Physics, United Kingdom Research and Innovation, National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Royal Society, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung

We report results from a search for neutrino-induced neutral current (NC) resonant Δ ( 1232 ) baryon production followed by Δ radiative decay, with a ⟨ 0.8 ⟩ GeV neutrino beam. Data corresponding to MicroBooNE’s first three years of operations ( 6.80 × 10 20 protons on target) are used to select single-photon events with one or zero protons and without charged leptons in the final state ( 1 γ 1 p and 1γ 0 p , respectively). The background is constrained via an in situ high-purity measurement of NC π 0 events, made possible via dedicated 2γ 1 p and 2γ 0 p selections. A total of 16 and 153 events are observed for the 1γ 1 p and 1γ 0 p selections, respectively, compared to a constrained background prediction of 20.5 ± 3.65 ( syst ) and 145.1 ± 13.8 ( syst ) events. The data lead to a bound on an anomalous enhancement of the normalization of NC Δ radiative decay of less than 2.3 times the predicted nominal rate for this process at the 90% confidence level (C.L.). The measurement disfavors a candidate photon interpretation of the MiniBooNE low-energy excess as a factor of 3.18 times the nominal NC Δ radiative decay rate at the 94.8% C.L., in favor of the nominal prediction, and represents a greater than 50-fold improvement over the world’s best limit on single-photon production in NC interactions in the sub-GeV neutrino energy range.

This document was prepared by the MicroBooNE collaboration using the resources of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), a U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, HEP User Facility. Fermilab is managed by Fermi Research Alliance, LLC (FRA), acting under Contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11359. MicroBooNE is supported by the following: the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Offices of High Energy Physics and Nuclear Physics; the U.S. National Science Foundation; the Swiss National Science Foundation; the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), part of the United Kingdom Research and Innovation; the Royal Society (United Kingdom); and The European Union's Horizon 2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions. Additional support for the laser calibration system and cosmic ray tagger was provided by the Albert Einstein Center for Fundamental Physics, Bern, Switzerland. We also acknowledge the contributions of technical and scientific staff to the design, construction, and operation of the MicroBooNE detector as well as the contributions of past collaborators to the development of MicroBooNE analyses, without whom this work would not have been possible. We are grateful to the NUISANCE team for extra support for the software tools used in this study. We also thank Stephen Dolan (CERN) for his code implementing the alternate fit in NUISANCE., Obtaining a high-quality interaction model with associated uncertainties is essential for neutrino experiments studying oscillations, nuclear scattering processes, or both. As a primary input to the MicroBooNE experiment’s next generation of neutrino cross section measurements and its flagship investigation of the MiniBooNE low-energy excess, we present a new tune of the charged-current pionless (CC0π) interaction cross section via the two major contributing processes—charged-current quasielastic and multinucleon interaction models—within version 3.0.6 of the GENIE neutrino event generator. Parameters in these models are tuned to muon neutrino CC0π cross section data obtained by the T2K experiment, which provides an independent set of neutrino interactions with a neutrino flux in a similar energy range to MicroBooNE’s neutrino beam. Although the fit is to muon neutrino data, the information carries over to electron neutrino simulation because the same underlying models are used in GENIE. A number of novel fit parameters were developed for this work, and the optimal parameters were chosen from existing and new sets. We choose to fit four parameters that have not previously been constrained by theory or data. Thus, this will be called a theory-driven tune. The result is an improved match to the T2K CC0π data with more well-motivated uncertainties based on the fit., Fermi Research Alliance, LLC (FRA) DE-AC02-07CH11359, United States Department of Energy (DOE), National Science Foundation (NSF), Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), European Commission, UK Research & Innovation (UKRI), Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Royal Society of London, Albert Einstein Center for Fundamental Physics, Bern, Switzerland

Human temporal bone specimens are used in experiments measuring the sound transfer of the middle ear, which is the standard method used in the development of active and passive middle ear implants. Statistical analyses of these experiments usually require that the TB samples are representative of the population of non-pathological middle ears. Specifically, this means that the specimens must be mechanically well-characterized. We present an in-depth statistical analysis of 478 data sets of middle ear transfer functions (METFs) from different laboratories. The data sets are preprocessed and various contributions to the variance of the data are evaluated. We then derive a statistical range as a reference against which individual METF measurements may be validated. The range is calculated as the two-sided 95% tolerance interval at audiological frequencies. In addition, the mean and 95% confidence interval of the mean are given as references for assessing the validity of a sample group. Finally, we provide a suggested procedure for measuring METFs using the methods described herein.

This document was prepared by the MicroBooNE collaboration using the resources of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), a U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, HEP User Facility. Fermilab is managed by Fermi Research Alliance, LLC (FRA), acting under Contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11359. MicroBooNE is supported by the following: the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Offices of High Energy Physics and Nuclear Physics; the U.S. National Science Foundation; the Swiss National Science Foundation; the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), part of the United Kingdom Research and Innovation; and The Royal Society (United Kingdom). Additional support for the laser calibration system and CR tagger was provided by the Albert Einstein Center for Fundamental Physics, Bern, Switzerland., We present the first measurement of the single-differential νe þ ν¯e charged-current inclusive cross sections on argon in electron or positron energy and in electron or positron scattering angle over the full range. Data were collected using the MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber located off axis from the Fermilab neutrinos at the main injector beam over an exposure of 2.0 × 1020 protons on target. The signal definition includes a 60 MeV threshold on the νe or ν¯e energy and a 120 MeV threshold on the electron or positron energy. The measured total and differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the GENIE, NuWro, and GiBUU neutrino generators., Fermi Research Alliance, LLC DE-AC02-07CH11359, High Energy Physics and Nuclear Physics, United Kingdom Research and Innovation, National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Royal Society, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung

Ke Wei,1 Jie Luo,1 Jun Cao,1 Lihua Peng,1 Li Ren,1 Fan Zhang2 1Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400016, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Anesthesiology, Jianyang People’s Hospital, Jianyang, Sichuan 641400, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Ke WeiDepartment of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, 1# Youyi Road, Yuzhong District, Chongqing, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 23 89011069Fax +86 23 89011062Email wk202448@hospital-cqmu.comIntroduction: Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress seems to mediate the obesity-induced susceptibility to acute lung injury (ALI). The present study was designed to evaluate the role of ER stress in adiponectin (APN)-induced lung protection in an obese rat model treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS).Methods: Four-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats fed either a normal chow diet or a high-fat diet for 12 weeks were randomly assigned to one of the following groups: lean rats, diet-induced obesity rats, lean rats with ALI, obese rats with ALI, obese rats pretreated with 4-phenylbutyric acid (4-PBA) before ALI or obese rats pretreated with APN before ALI. At 24 h after instillation of LPS into the lungs, cell counts in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were determined. Lung tissues were separated to assess the degree of inflammation, pulmonary oedema, epithelial apoptosis and the expression of ER stress marker proteins.Results: The 78-kDa glucose-regulated protein (GRP78) and C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) expression in the lung tissues of obese rats was upregulated before ALI, as well as the elevated apoptosis in epithelial cells. During ALI, the expression of ER stress marker proteins was similarly increased in both lean and obese rats, while significant downregulation of Mitofusin 2 (MFN2) was detected in obese epithelial cells. The lung tissues of obese rats showed higher concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), Interleukin 6 (IL-6) and IL-10, enhanced neutrophil counts and elevated wet/dry weight ratios. APN and 4-PBA decreased the degree of ER stress and suppressed LPS-induced lung inflammation, pulmonary oedema and epithelial apoptosis.Conclusion: APN may exert protective effects against the exacerbated lung injuries in obese rats by attenuating ER stress, which operates as a key molecular pathway in the progression of ALI.Keywords: adiponectin, endoplasmic reticulum stress, obesity, lung injury

Hang Zhao,1 Yunfeng Zhen,1 Zijing Wang,1 Licui Qi,2 Yong Li,3 Luping Ren,1,* Shuchun Chen1,* 1Endocrinology Department, Hebei General Hospital, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050051, People’s Republic of China; 2Graduate School of Hebei North University, Zhangjiakou, Hebei 07500, People’s Republic of China; 3Graduate School of North China University of Science and Technology, Caofeidian New Town, Tangshan, Hebei 063210, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Shuchun ChenEndocrinology Department, Hebei General Hospital, 348, Heping West Road, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050051, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail guang6701@sina.comLuping RenEndocrinology Department, Hebei General Hospital, 348, Heping West Road, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050051, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail renluping1122@163.comPurpose: The aims of this study were to determine the relationship between 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH) D]and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels in male and female patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).Patients and Methods: The participants were adults diagnosed with T2DM recruited from Hebei General Hospital. Patient information and information regarding blood indicators were collected. The subjects were divided into no vitamin D deficiency group [25(OH) D > 20 ng/mL]and vitamin D deficiency group [25(OH) D < 20 ng/mL], and these groups were then further subdivided into male-only or female-only subgroups. And then, the subjects were divided into male group and female group in different 25(OH) D levels.Results: HbA1c levels in the vitamin D deficiency group were significantly higher than those in the no vitamin D deficiency group for all subjects. The same was true for female patients but not for male patients. There was no difference in HbA1c levels between male and female patients with T2DM, regardless of 25(OH) D deficiency. A negative correlation existed between 25(OH) D and HbA1c in all subjects, as well as in the male-only and female-only subgroups. Vitamin D deficiency was associated with high HbA1c levels before and after adjusting for confounding factors in all participants and in the female-only subgroup, but not in the male-only subgroup.Conclusion: This study confirmed that vitamin D deficiency was related with high HbA1c levels in patients with T2DM, and this relationship differs between female and male patients.Keywords: diabetes mellitus, type 2, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, glycated hemoglobin

Qinghui Zhao1 12 23 3,* Hongming Tang1 12 23 3,* Lishu Ren4 4, Jie Wei4 4 1School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, People’s Republic of China; 2Translational Medical Center for Stem Cell Therapy & Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Shanghai East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200123, People’s Republic of China; 3Shanghai Institute of Stem Cell Research and Clinical Translation, Shanghai 200123, People’s Republic of China; 4Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Qinghui Zhao Tel +86-21-38804518Email qinghui_zhao@126.comPurpose: A bioactive and degradable scaffold of ternary composite with good biocompatibility and osteogenesis was developed for bone tissue repair.Materials and Methods: Polybutylene succinate (PS:50 wt%), magnesium phosphate (MP:40 wt%) and wheat protein (WP:10 wt%) composite (PMWC) scaffold was fabricated, and the biological performances of PMWC were evaluated both in vitro and vivo in this study.Results: PMWC scaffold possessed not only interconnected macropores (400 μm to 600 μm) but also micropores (10 μm ∼ 20 μm) on the walls of macropores. Incorporation of MP into composite improved the apatite mineralization (bioactivity) of PMWC scaffold in simulated body fluid (SBF), and addition of WP into composite further enhanced the degradability of PMWC in PBS compared with the scaffold of PS (50 wt%)/MP (50 wt%) composite (PMC) and PS alone. In addition, the PMWC scaffold containing MP and WP significantly promoted the proliferation and differentiation of mouse pre-osteoblastic cell line (MC3T3-E1) cells. Moreover, the images from synchrotron radiation microcomputed tomography (SRmCT) and histological sections of the in vivo implantation suggested that the PMWC scaffold containing MP and WP prominently improved the new bone formation and ingrowth compared with PMC and PS. Furthermore, the immunohistochemical analysis further confirmed that the PMWC scaffold obviously promoted osteogenesis and vascularization in vivo compared with PMC and PS.Conclusion: This study demonstrated that the biocompatible PMWC scaffold with improved bioactivity and degradability significantly promoted the osteogenesis and vascularization in vivo, which would have a great potential to be applied for bone tissue repair.Keywords: polybutylene succinate, composite scaffold, cytocompatibility, osteogenesis, vascularization