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Automated diagnostic systems can enhance the accuracy and efficiency of pathological diagnoses, nuclear segmentation plays a crucial role in computer-aided diagnosis systems for histopathology. However, achieving accurate nuclear segmentation is challenging due to the complex background tissue structures and significant variations in cell morphology and size in pathological images. In this study, we have proposed a U-Net based deep learning model, called MA-Net(Multifunctional Aggregation Network), to accurately segmenting nuclei from H&E stained images. In contrast to previous studies that focused on improving a single module of the network, we applied feature fusion modules, attention gate units, and atrous spatial pyramid pooling to the encoder and decoder, skip connections, and bottleneck of U-Net, respectively, to enhance the network's performance in nuclear segmentation. The dice coefficient loss was used during model training to enhance the network's ability to segment small objects. We applied the proposed MA-Net to multiple public datasets, and comprehensive results showed that this method outperforms the original U-Net method and other state-of-the-art methods in nuclei segmentation tasks. The source code of our work can be found in https://github.com/LinaZhaoAIGroup/MA-Net.

The field of orthopedics has long struggled with the challenge of repairing and regenerating bone defects, which involves a complex process of osteogenesis requiring coordinated interactions among different types of cells. The crucial role of endothelial cells and osteoblasts in bone vascularization and osteogenesis underscores the importance of their intimate interaction. However, efforts to bioengineer bone tissue have been impeded by the difficulty in establishing proper angiogenesis and osteogenesis in tissue structures. This study presents a novel approach to bone tissue engineering, involving a three-dimensional composite hydrogel scaffold composed of sodium alginate microspheres encapsulated in type I collagen. Using this scaffold, a three-dimensional indirect co-culture system was established for osteoblasts and endothelial cells to evaluate the osteogenic differentiation potential of osteoblasts. Results demonstrate that the non-contact co-culture system of endothelial cells and osteoblasts constructed by the composite hydrogel scaffold loaded with microspheres holds promise for bone tissue engineering. The innovative concept of an indirect co-culture system presents exciting prospects for conducting intercellular communication studies and offers a valuable in vitro tissue platform to investigate tissue regeneration.

Automated diagnostic systems can enhance the accuracy and efficiency of pathological diagnoses, nuclear segmentation plays a crucial role in computer-aided diagnosis systems for histopathology. However, achieving accurate nuclear segmentation is challenging due to the complex background tissue structures and significant variations in cell morphology and size in pathological images. In this study, we have proposed a U-Net based deep learning model, called MA-Net(Multifunctional Aggregation Network), to accurately segmenting nuclei from H&E stained images. In contrast to previous studies that focused on improving a single module of the network, we applied feature fusion modules, attention gate units, and atrous spatial pyramid pooling to the encoder and decoder, skip connections, and bottleneck of U-Net, respectively, to enhance the network's performance in nuclear segmentation. The dice coefficient loss was used during model training to enhance the network's ability to segment small objects. We applied the proposed MA-Net to multiple public datasets, and comprehensive results showed that this method outperforms the original U-Net method and other state-of-the-art methods in nuclei segmentation tasks. The source code of our work can be found in https://github.com/LinaZhaoAIGroup/MA-Net. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wind power systems are a promising form of energy supply. At present, most of the studies focuses on the performance of individual components such as wind rotors or generators, and the overall output effect of wind power system is determined by the characteristics of wind rotor and generator and their combined characteristics. However, the evaluation of the overall output characteristics of the system is rarely considered. In order to investigate the overall output of the system quickly, a performance matching method of wind rotor and generator based on energy transfer is proposed in this paper. Based on the series operating characteristics of the wind power system model, the energy transformation process of the wind rotor, generator and the whole system are unified described by energy transfer. On the premise that the performance of wind rotor and generator is known, the transfer function model of each component is established, and on this basis, the transfer function model of the overall system is obtained. Then, the overall output effect of the system is analyzed and evaluated by this system transfer function model. The performance of the model is analyzed and compared by using a vertical axis wind power system coupling test bench and MATLAB/Simulink software. The results show that the error between the system output based on the theoretical model and the wind tunnel test is less than 6.5%, and the trend of the simulation and the test curve of the system output is consistent. Therefore, this method can be used to quickly predict the overall output performance of the wind turbine and generator on the premise that the performance of each component is known, without the need to connect each component to a wind power system for testing.

There are an increasing number of manufacturing service resources appeared on the cloud manufacturing (CMfg) service platform recently, which leads to a serious information overloading problem to the enterprises that need these resources. To tackle this problem, a graph neural network-based recommendation method for CMfg service resources is proposed, which effectively overcomes some limitations of the traditional recommendation methods. Specifically, we first use different similarity calculation methods (e.g., Cosine similarity, Pearson correlation coefficient, etc.) to calculate the similarities between different resources based on the feature information of CMfg service resources. A resource graph dataset is accordingly established. A graph neural network is then used to perform representation learning of nodes in these graphs, obtaining the vector representations of these nodes. Finally, new links that may appear in a graph are predicted by performing dot product calculations on these nodes' vector representations. And these links can be used to recommend suitable resources. Experiments mainly show that (i) the proposed method obtains better link prediction accuracy compared with that of other link prediction algorithms; (ii) when the network density used for training is relatively high, the predictive performance of the proposed method is improved significantly. Our method can shed light on how to choose suitable CMfg service resources from the CMfg service platform.

Strength is a crucial performance indicator for evaluating the durability of pervious concrete (PC). However, there are few models for estimating the remaining strength of in-service PC in sulfate and dry-wet cycle circumstances. Even though there are already direct detection methods for strength, nondestructive testing methods are still worth additional research. This paper aims to give a calculation model for the residual strength of PC under corrosion conditions based on ultrasonic methods, which is economical and convenient for engineering applications. The apparent morphological, compressive strength, and ultrasonic velocity of PC against sulfate and dry-wet cycle attack were examined. The results highlight that the primary cause of the macroscopic mechanical deterioration is the worsening in interface strength. Furthermore, the compressive strength and ultrasonic wave velocity of PC followed the same trends during sulfate and dry-wet cycles, increasing first and subsequently decreasing. Additionally, using the curve-fitting approach, an empirical model of strength deterioration based on ultrasonic velocity was developed and validated utilizing experimental data, demonstrating that the proposed model could more accurately define the strength progression. The results can provide an effective calculation method for monitoring the residual strength of PC pavement engineering in a corrosive environment.

Zero dynamics have crucial effect on system analysis and controller design. In the control analysis process, system performance is influenced by the unstable zero dynamics, greatly. This study concerns with the properties of limiting zero dynamics when the signal of controlled continuous-time systems was reconstructed by forward triangle sample-and-hold (FTSH). FTSH is a newly sample and hold method in the signal reconstruction area. However, more theoretical details about the limiting zero dynamics of the resulting discrete-time systems need to be revealed. Firstly, the framework for the limiting zero dynamics in the situation of sufficiently small or large sample period is introduced. Furthermore, this study provides the stable conditions of limiting zeros in the two different sampling situations. The results indicate that one can select a suitable variable parameter value of FTSH to replace the sampling zeros of discrete-time system locate inside the stable region. This paper also reveals the truth that FTSH has the outstanding advantage compared with the BTSH using theoretical analysis method. Finally, example simulations verify the effectiveness of the results in this study.

Objective: Circular RNA SLC26A4 (circSLC26A4) functions as an oncogene in the initiation and progression of cervical cancer (CC). However, the clinical role of plasma exosomal circSLC26A4 in CC is poorly known. This study aims to develop an accurate diagnostic method based on circulating exosomal circSLC26A4. Methods: In this study, exosomal circSLC26A4 derived from CC cell lines (CaSki, SiHa, and HeLa) and human cervical epithelial cells (HcerEpic) was measured and compared using quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Additionally, 56 volunteers, including 18 CC patients, 18 cervical high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) patients, and 20 healthy volunteers, were enrolled. qRT-PCR was also performed to measure the plasma exosomal circSLC26A4 levels in all participants. Results: The exosomal circSLC26A4 expression level derived from CC cells was significantly elevated compared to it derived from HcerEpic cells. Plasma exosomal circSLC26A4 levels in CC patients were significantly higher than in healthy women and HSIL patients (P < 0.05). In addition, high plasma exosomal circSLC26A4 expression was positively associated with lymph node metastasis and FIGO stage (all P < 0.05). However, no significant correlation was found between plasma exosomal circSLC26A4 expression and age, intravascular cancerous embolus, and perineural invasion (P > 0.05). Conclusions: The high exosomal circSLC26A4 expression is closely related to the occurrence of CC. Plasma exosomal circSLC26A4 can be used as a diagnostic marker for CC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The association between the systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) and the serum soluble-Klotho concentration (pg/ml) in osteoarthritis (OA) patients is unknown. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the SII and serum soluble-Klotho levels in OA patients. Methods: All study data were obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database (n = 1852 OA patients; age range = 40–79 years). The SII and serum Klotho measurement data are from the NHANES mobile examination centre. The SII values were divided into quartiles (Q1-4: 0.02–3.36, 3.36–4.78, 4.79–6.70, and 6.70–41.75). A multivariate linear regression model was constructed to evaluate the association between the SII and serum Klotho levels in OA patients; interaction tests were conducted to test the stability of the statistical results. Results: Multivariate linear regression revealed a negative linear relationship between the SII and serum Klotho concentration in OA patients (β = -6.05; 95% CI: -9.72, -2.39). Compared to Q1, Q4 was associated with lower serum Klotho concentrations (β = -59.93; 95% CI: -96.57, -23.28). Compared with that of Q1, the β value of Q2-Q4 showed a downwards trend as the SII increased (Ptrend <0.001). The stratified analysis results indicated that the SII had a greater sensitivity in predicting serum Klotho concentrations in OA patients aged 60–79 years (Pinteraction = 0.028). Conclusions: There was a significant negative linear correlation between the SII and serum Klotho concentration in OA patients. The SII can serve as a predictive indicator of serum Klotho concentrations in OA patients. Klotho may be a potential anti-inflammatory drug for OA treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of mother-infant separation (i.e., weaning) on the physiology, psychology and nutrition of mammalian infants have attracted much attention. Forest musk deer (FMD) is a first-class protected species in China and listed endangered in the IUCN Red List. The captive breeding population is not only an important source for restocking of wild resources, but also a necessary way to supply the market with legal musk. So far, there is no scientific basis for the appropriate separation time of FMD females and their infants. Therefore, we used metagenome sequencing and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays to study changes in the fecal cortisol concentration, as well as the intestinal microbiome composition and function of females and fawns at three different separation times, i.e., after 80 days, 90 days and 100 days. The results showed that the increment of the cortisol concentration in female FMD increased with increasing lactation time. The increment of cortisol concentration in infant FMD was highest in the 80 days weaning group, but there was no significant difference between the 90 days and the 100 days separation time. Based on the annotation results of COG, KEGG and CAZy databases, the abundance of different functions annotated by the intestinal microbiome of mothers and fawns of the 90 days weaning group changed slightly after separation. Based on the above results, the separation of mother and infant FMD is recommended after 90 days, i.e., the separation time that triggered the lowest rate of weaning stress and that supported a relatively stable gastro-intestinal physiology.

In the field of object detection, domain adaptation is one of popular solution to align the distribution between the real scene (target domain) and the training scene (source domain) by adversarial training. However, only global features are applied to the Domain Adaptive Faster R-CNN (DA Faster R-CNN) method. The lack of local features reduces the performance of domain adaptation. Therefore, a novel method for domain adaptive detection called Skip-Layer Network with Optimization (SLNO) method is proposed in this paper. Three improvements are presented in SLNO. Firstly, different level convolutional features are fused by a multi-level features fusion component for domain classifier. Secondly, a multi-layer domain adaptation component is developed to align the image-level and the instance-level distributions simultaneously. Among this component, domain classifiers are used in both image-level and instance-level distributions through the skip layer. Thirdly, the cuckoo search (CS) optimization method is applied to search for the best coefficient of SLNO. As a result, the capability of domain alignment is strengthened. The Cityscapes, Foggy Cityscapes, SIM10K, KITTI data sets are applied to test our proposed novel approach. Consequently, excellent results are achieved by our proposed methods against state-of-the-art object detection methods. The results demonstrate our improvements are effective on domain adaptation detection.

The field of orthopedics has long struggled with the challenge of repairing and regenerating bone defects, which involves a complex process of osteogenesis requiring coordinated interactions among different types of cells. The crucial role of endothelial cells and osteoblasts in bone vascularization and osteogenesis underscores the importance of their intimate interaction. However, efforts to bioengineer bone tissue have been impeded by the difficulty in establishing proper angiogenesis and osteogenesis in tissue structures. This study presents a novel approach to bone tissue engineering, involving a three-dimensional composite hydrogel scaffold composed of sodium alginate microspheres encapsulated in type I collagen. Using this scaffold, a three-dimensional indirect co-culture system was established for osteoblasts and endothelial cells to evaluate the osteogenic differentiation potential of osteoblasts. Results demonstrate that the non-contact co-culture system of endothelial cells and osteoblasts constructed by the composite hydrogel scaffold loaded with microspheres holds promise for bone tissue engineering. The innovative concept of an indirect co-culture system presents exciting prospects for conducting intercellular communication studies and offers a valuable in vitro tissue platform to investigate tissue regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization leads to dramatic changes in habitat quality, which significantly affects population health. Research on the coupling coordination relationship between new urbanization and health production efficiency is conducive to improving residents' well-being and urban sustainable development. In this article, we adopted the super-efficient SBM model and entropy value method separately to evaluate the spatiotemporal variation characteristics of health production efficiency and new urbanization in China. Then, we used the coupling coordination degree model to investigate the interactive coercing relationship between new urbanization and health production efficiency. Finally, the panel Tobit model is used to analyze the factors influencing the coupled coordination of the two systems. The results showed that the new urbanization levels of 31 provinces in China have all steadily increased from 2003 to 2018. Health production efficiency exhibited a fluctuating but increasing trend, and its regional differences are gradually narrowing. Health production efficiency and new urbanization have developed in a more coordinated direction, with a spatial pattern of "high in the southeast and low in the northwest." Meanwhile, the relative development characteristics between the two systems have constantly changed, from the new urbanization lagged type to the two systems synchronized type and the health production efficiency lagged type. Population density, economic development level, government financial investment, and government health investment positively impact the coupling coordination degree of the two systems. In comparison, individual health investment harms the harmonization of the two systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HER2 amplification greatly contributes to the tumorigenesis of multiple cancers. Intronic miR-4728-5p is transcribed along with its host gene HER2. However, little is known about the role of miR-4728-5p in cancer. This study aims to elucidate the potential role of miR-4728-5p and the underlying mechanism in breast cancer. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that higher expression of HER2 led to worse survival outcomes in breast cancer patients. The TCGA dataset revealed that compared to normal breast tissues, HER2 and miR-4728-5p levels were significantly upregulated in breast cancer tissues with a positive correlation. In functional assays, miR-4728-5p was confirmed to promote the proliferation and migration in breast cancer cell BT474. EBP1 was identified as a direct target of miR-4728-5p via bioinformatics and luciferase reporter assays. miR-4728-5p was further demonstrated to increase HER2 expression and promote cell proliferation and migration by directly inhibiting EBP1 in breast cancer. Taken together, the HER2-intronic miR-4728-5p/EBP1/HER2 feedback loop plays an important role in promoting breast cancer cell proliferation and migration. Our study provides novel insights for targeted therapies of breast cancer.

Rattus tanezumi is a common domestic rat and host of the bubonic plague pathogen in China and Southeast Asia (SEA). The origin, genetic differentiation and dispersal of R. tanezumi have received increasing attention from researchers. The population genetics of R. tanezumi based on its mitochondrial cytochrome b gene have been studied to explain the origin, relationships and dispersal of populations. In this study, we captured a total of 229 rats; morphological and molecular biological identification cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) confirmed 131 R. tanezumi individuals collected from 6 provincial areas, and their Cytb gene sequences were analyzed. The results showed that the population in Mohan (MH), Yunnan, had the highest genetic diversity, while that in Ningde (ND), Fujian, had the lowest. Tajima's D statistic for all populations was negative and nonsignificant, indicating the possible expansion of R. tanezumi populations. Low gene flow occurred between the Zhangmu (ZM) R. tanezumi population and other populations, and the genetic differentiation among them was high. Furthermore, our analyses revealed the ZM lineage was the oldest lineage among the groups and diverged ~1.06 Mya, followed by the Luoyang (LY) lineages (~0.51 Mya) and Yunnan lineage (~0.33 Mya). In southeastern Yunnan, the Jinshuihe (JSH) and MH populations were more closely related to the populations in southeastern China (Fuzhou (FZ), ND, Quanzhou (QZ), Nanchang (NC)) and inland areas (Chongqing (CQ), LY) than to those in other areas of Yunnan (Jiegao (JG) and Qingshuihe (QSH)), indicating that R. tanezumi may have spread from southeastern Yunnan to the interior of China. In summary, R. tanezumi may have originated in ZM and adjacent areas, spread to Yunnan, and then spread from the southeast of Yunnan inland or directly eastward from ZM to inland China.

With the construction and development of ultra-high voltage (UHV) power grids, large-scale, long-distance power transmission has become common. A failure of the connecting line between the sending-end power grid and the receiving-end power grid will cause a large-scale power shortage and a frequency drop in the receiving-end power grid, which can result in the frequency collapse. Presently, under-frequency load shedding (UFLS) is adopted for solving the frequency control problem in emergency under-frequency conditions, which can easily cause large load losses. In this context, a frequency coordination optimal control strategy is proposed, which combines the mode transition of pumped storage units with UFLS to deal with emergency under-frequency problems. First, a mathematical model of the frequency dynamic response is established, which combines the mode transition of pumped storage units with UFLS based on a single-machine equivalent model. Then, an optimal model of the minimal area of the power system’s operation frequency trajectory is introduced, yielding the optimal frequency trajectory, and is used for obtaining the action frequency of the joint control strategy. A simulated annealing algorithm based on the perturbation analysis is proposed for solving the optimal model, and the optimal action frequency is obtained that satisfies the transient frequency offset safety constraint of the power system. Thus, the joint optimal control of the mode transition of the pumped storage units and UFLS is realized. Finally, the EPRI-36 bus system and China’s actual power grid are considered, for demonstrating the efficiency of the proposed strategy.

Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPT-PCR) is commonly used to analyze gene expression, however, the accuracy of the normalized results is affected by the expression stability of reference genes. Holotrichia oblita (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) causes serious damage to crops. Reliable reference genes in H. oblita are needed for qRT-PCR analysis. Therefore, we evaluated 13 reference genes under biotic and abiotic conditions. RefFinder provided a comprehensive stability ranking, and geNorm suggested the optimal number of reference genes for normalization. RPL13a and RPL18 were the most suitable reference genes for developmental stages, tissues, and temperature treatments; RPL13a and RPS3 were the most suitable for pesticide and photoperiod treatments; RPS18 and RPL18 were the most suitable for the two sexes. We validated the normalized results using odorant-binding protein genes as target genes in different tissues. Compared with the selected suitable reference genes, the expression of OBP1 in antennae, abdomen, and wings, and OBP2 in antennae and wings were overestimated due to the instability of ACTb. These results identified several reliable reference genes in H. oblita for normalization, and are valuable for future molecular studies.

Wind power systems are a promising form of energy supply. At present, most of the studies focuses on the performance of individual components such as wind rotors or generators, and the overall output effect of wind power system is determined by the characteristics of wind rotor and generator and their combined characteristics. However, the evaluation of the overall output characteristics of the system is rarely considered. In order to investigate the overall output of the system quickly, a performance matching method of wind rotor and generator based on energy transfer is proposed in this paper. Based on the series operating characteristics of the wind power system model, the energy transformation process of the wind rotor, generator and the whole system are unified described by energy transfer. On the premise that the performance of wind rotor and generator is known, the transfer function model of each component is established, and on this basis, the transfer function model of the overall system is obtained. Then, the overall output effect of the system is analyzed and evaluated by this system transfer function model. The performance of the model is analyzed and compared by using a vertical axis wind power system coupling test bench and MATLAB/Simulink software. The results show that the error between the system output based on the theoretical model and the wind tunnel test is less than 6.5%, and the trend of the simulation and the test curve of the system output is consistent. Therefore, this method can be used to quickly predict the overall output performance of the wind turbine and generator on the premise that the performance of each component is known, without the need to connect each component to a wind power system for testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expression of FosB gene in striatum is essential in addiction establishment. Activated glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) induce FosB gene expression in response to stressor. Therefore, elevation of FosB expression in striatum serves as one mechanism by which stress increases risk for addiction. In this study, adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were used to investigate whether chronic stress result in histone modifications at FosB gene promoter in striatum and how these histone modifications affect FosB expression and the establishment of addiction behavior after administration of drugs of abuse. Animals were randomly assigned to three groups: Electric foot shock (EFS) group received 7-day EFS to induce chronic stress; electric foot shock plus mifepristone (EFS + Mif) group were injected with mifepristone, a nonspecific GRs antagonist, before EFS; control group did not receive any EFS. All groups then received 2-day conditioned place preference (CPP) training with morphine (5 mg/kg body weight) to test vulnerability to drug addiction. Before and after morphine administration, FosB mRNA in striatum was quantified by real-time RT-PCR. Levels of histone H3/H4 acetylation and histone H3K4 dimethylation at FosB promoter in striatum after morphine administration were measured by using chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) plus real-time PCR. EFS group had stronger place preference to morphine and had significantly higher level of FosB mRNA in striatum than the other two groups. H3K4 dimethylation was 2.6-fold higher in EFS group than control group, while no statistical difference in H3/H4 acetylation. Mifepristone administration before EFS decreased histone H3K4 dimethylation and FosB mRNA in striatum, and also diminished morphine-induced conditioned place preference. Altogether, increased level of H3K4 dimethylation at FosB promoter in striatum is partially dependent on the activation of GR and responsible for the elevated level of morphine-induced FosB mRNA in chronic stressed animals.

Unless the targeted mesh is developable, metric distortion is inevitable during the process of surface mesh parameterization, thus one important objective of all involved parametric studies is to reduce the metric distortion. In order to further reduce area and angle distortion, a novel method of boundary-free mesh parameterization is presented in the paper. Firstly, the initial boundary-fixed conformal parameterization from 3D surface mesh patch to a plane is performed in the method. Then, based on the initial parameterization, the iterations of boundary-free quasi-harmonic parameterization are developed, where the tensor field is updated in each iterative step and the principal curvature direction is utilized to terminate the iteration. The solution of the novel method is convenient to calculate since it involves a series of linear systems. In our novel parameterization method, lower metric distortion and considerable efficiency have been obtained in experiments.

The DEP1 (dense and erect panicle 1) gene, which corresponds to the erect panicle architecture, shows a pleiotropic effect in increasing grain yield and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in rice. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether the carbon-nitrogen metabolic balance changes as the dep1 allele enhances nitrogen uptake and assimilation. In this study, we generated transgenic Akitakomati plants by overexpressing dep1 and analyzed the carbon-nitrogen metabolic status, gene expression profiles, and grain yield and quality. Under either low or high nitrogen growth conditions, the carbon-nitrogen metabolic balance of dep1-overexpressed lines was broken in stem sheaths and leaves but not in grains; the dep1-overexpressed plants showed higher expressions of glutamine synthetase (GS) and glutamate synthase (GOGAT) genes than the wildtype, along with increased total nitrogen and soluble protein content in the straw at maturity. However, the ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RUBISCO) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) genes were downregulated in dep1-overexpressed plants, leading to a decreased carbohydrate content and carbon/nitrogen ratio. Although the unbalanced carbon-nitrogen metabolism decreased the grain-filling rate, grain setting percentage, 1000 grain weight, and grain quality in dep1-overexpressed lines, it led to increased grain numbers per panicle and consequently increased grain yield. Our results suggest that an unbalanced carbon-nitrogen metabolic status is a major limiting factor for further improving grain yield and quality in erect panicle varieties.

OBJECTIVE:The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in adults with overweight and obesity. METHODS:Twenty-two articles were included by searching six databases, the total number of subjects was 620 in these articles. Outcomes were synthesised using a random-effects meta-analysis of the Standardized mean difference (SMD) in CVD risk factors. RESULTS:HIIT and MICT resulted in statistically significant reductions in Weight, BMI, fat%, total cholesterol(TC), and improvement in VO2max. Compared with MICT, subgroup of durations of HIIT training interval ≥2 min can significantly increase VO2max (SMD = 0.444, 95% CI:0.037~0.851,P = 0.032), subgroup of energy expenditure of HIIT equal to MICT can significantly increase VO2max (SMD = 0.399, 95% CI:0.106~0.692,P = 0.008). CONCLUSIONS:HIIT appears to provide similar benefits to MICT for improving body composition, VO2maxand TC, but HIIT spent less time than MICT by 9.7 min on one session. HIIT is superior to MICT in improving cardiopulmonary fitness when durations of HIIT training interval ≥2 min or energy expenditure of HIIT same as MICT. PROSPERO ID: CRD42016045835.

BackgroundVitamin D may play a role in skeletal muscle because of the discovery of VDR in skeletal muscle. However, vitamin D deficiency is a global problem, including athletes. Studies examining the effect of vitamin D supplementation on muscle function in athletes have inconsistent results. Therefore, we aimed to quantitatively summarize the evidence for the effect of vitamin D supplementation on skeletal muscle strength and explosive power of athletes using a meta-analysis.MethodsPubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science were searched for studies to identify randomized controlled trials or controlled trials meeting the inclusion criteria. By a meta-analysis, effect sizes (standardized mean differences, SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) was calculated to compare reported outcomes across studies, I2 index was used to assessing heterogeneity, and heterogeneity factors were identified by regression analysis. The potential publication and sensitivity analyses were also assessed.ResultsEight RCTs involving 284 athletes were included. The protocols used to evaluate the muscle strength of athletes were inconsistent across the included studies, and muscle explosive power was assessed via vertical jump tests. The results indicated that vitamin D supplementation had no impact on overall muscle strength outcomes (SMD 0.05, 95% CI: -0.39 to 0.48, p = 0.84). In subgroup analysis, vitamin D supplementation had an effect on lower-limb muscle strength (SMD 0.55, 95% CI:0.12 to 0.98, p = 0.01) but not upper-limb muscle strength (SMD -0.19, 95% CI:-0.73 to 0.36, p = 0.50) or muscle explosive power (SMD 0.05, 95% CI:-0.24 to 0.34, p = 0.73). Vitamin D supplementation was more effective for athletes trained indoors (SMD 0.48, 95% CI:0.06 to 0.90, p = 0.02).ConclusionsVitamin D supplementation positively affected lower limb muscle strength in athletes, but not upper limb muscle strength or muscle power. Different muscle groups and functions may respond differently to vitamin D supplementation. Additional studies should focus on determining the appropriate vitamin D supplementation methods and optimal serum 25(OH)D levels for athletes.RegistrationThe protocol for our study is registered in the international prospective register of systematic reviews (PROSPERO registration number CRD42016045872).

There are an increasing number of manufacturing service resources appeared on the cloud manufacturing (CMfg) service platform recently, which leads to a serious information overloading problem to the enterprises that need these resources. To tackle this problem, a graph neural network-based recommendation method for CMfg service resources is proposed, which effectively overcomes some limitations of the traditional recommendation methods. Specifically, we first use different similarity calculation methods (e.g., Cosine similarity, Pearson correlation coefficient, etc.) to calculate the similarities between different resources based on the feature information of CMfg service resources. A resource graph dataset is accordingly established. A graph neural network is then used to perform representation learning of nodes in these graphs, obtaining the vector representations of these nodes. Finally, new links that may appear in a graph are predicted by performing dot product calculations on these nodes' vector representations. And these links can be used to recommend suitable resources. Experiments mainly show that (i) the proposed method obtains better link prediction accuracy compared with that of other link prediction algorithms; (ii) when the network density used for training is relatively high, the predictive performance of the proposed method is improved significantly. Our method can shed light on how to choose suitable CMfg service resources from the CMfg service platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the neonatal period, the ability to generate immune effector and memory responses to vaccines or pathogens is often questioned. This study was undertaken to obtain a global view of the natural differences in the expression of immune genes early in life. Our hypothesis was that transcriptome analyses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of foals (on day 1 and day 42 after birth) and adult horses would show differential gene expression profiles that characterize natural immune processes. Gene ontology enrichment analysis provided assessment of biological processes affected by age, and a list of 897 genes with ≥2 fold higher (p

Traffic congestion in freeway network is a prevalent transportation problem and leads to a strong degradation of freeway network facilities. This paper proposes a new coordinated optimization approach for freeway network, aiming to relieve the traffic congestion in freeway network equipped with the coordinated traffic controllers. The challenge is how to solve the problem between the traffic control goals of each path and those of the network. In this paper, the bi-level programming theory is used to address this problem. More exactly, in the path level, the optimal control model is designed to relieve congestion in each path of the test network. Furthermore, in the network level, the optimal model considers the traffic equilibrium and cost optimization. The efficiency of the proposed approach is tested on a well-known traffic network calibrated by the field test data of freeway network. The results show that the proposed approach has positive effects in balancing traffic load and improving the service level of freeway networks.

Strength is a crucial performance indicator for evaluating the durability of pervious concrete (PC). However, there are few models for estimating the remaining strength of in-service PC in sulfate and dry-wet cycle circumstances. Even though there are already direct detection methods for strength, nondestructive testing methods are still worth additional research. This paper aims to give a calculation model for the residual strength of PC under corrosion conditions based on ultrasonic methods, which is economical and convenient for engineering applications. The apparent morphological, compressive strength, and ultrasonic velocity of PC against sulfate and dry-wet cycle attack were examined. The results highlight that the primary cause of the macroscopic mechanical deterioration is the worsening in interface strength. Furthermore, the compressive strength and ultrasonic wave velocity of PC followed the same trends during sulfate and dry-wet cycles, increasing first and subsequently decreasing. Additionally, using the curve-fitting approach, an empirical model of strength deterioration based on ultrasonic velocity was developed and validated utilizing experimental data, demonstrating that the proposed model could more accurately define the strength progression. The results can provide an effective calculation method for monitoring the residual strength of PC pavement engineering in a corrosive environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous data mining models have been proposed to construct computer-aided medical expert systems. Bayesian network classifiers (BNCs) are more distinct and understandable than other models. To graphically describe the dependency relationships among clinical variables for thyroid disease diagnosis and ensure the rationality of the diagnosis results, the proposed k-dependence causal forest (KCF) model generates a series of submodels in the framework of maximum spanning tree (MST) and demonstrates stronger dependence representation. Friedman test on 12 UCI datasets shows that KCF has classification accuracy advantage over the other state-of-the-art BNCs, such as Naive Bayes, tree augmented Naive Bayes, and k-dependence Bayesian classifier. Our extensive experimental comparison on 4 medical datasets also proves the feasibility and effectiveness of KCF in terms of sensitivity and specificity.

Gastric intestinal metaplasia (GIM) is a precancerous lesion of the stomach. The detection of GIM using conventional white-light endoscopy (WLE) is difficult. In this study, we determined whether acetic acid-enhanced narrow band imaging (AA-NBI) improves the detection of GIM. A consecutive cohort of 132 individuals aged 40 years or older was subjected to upper gastrointestinal endoscopy using WLE, NBI and AA-NBI. The ability of the three methods to diagnose GIM in patients was compared. Histological assessment (per-patient and per-biopsy) was used for the accuracy assessment. Sixty-six (50.0%) out of the 132 individuals examined were found to have GIM, of which 44 (66.7%) were diagnosed correctly by NBI (sensitivity 66.7% and specificity 68.2%) and 58 (87.9%) were correctly identified by AA-NBI (sensitivity 87.9% and specificity 68.2%), as compared to only 22 (33.3%) by WLE (sensitivity 33.3% and specificity 28.8%). Therefore, the sensitivity of AA-NBI in the diagnosis of GIM was significantly higher than NBI (p

The correspondence of a stack of planar contours in ICT (industrial computed tomography)-based reverse engineering, a key step in surface reconstruction, is difficult when the contours or topology of the object are complex. Given the regularity of industrial parts and similarity of the inter-layer contours, a specialized shape-based inter-layer contours correspondence method for ICT-based reverse engineering was presented to solve the above problem based on the vectorized contours. In this paper, the vectorized contours extracted from the slices consist of three graphical primitives: circles, arcs and segments. First, the correspondence of the inter-layer primitives is conducted based on the characteristics of the primitives. Second, based on the corresponded primitives, the inter-layer contours correspond with each other using the proximity rules and exhaustive search. The proposed method can make full use of the shape information to handle industrial parts with complex structures. The feasibility and superiority of this method have been demonstrated via the related experiments. This method can play an instructive role in practice and provide a reference for the related research.

Postnatal human cardiomyocyte proliferation declines rapidly with age, which has been suggested to be correlated with increases in oxidative DNA damage in mice and plays an important role in regulating cardiomyocyte proliferation. However, the relationship between oxidative DNA damage and age in humans is unclear.Sixty right ventricular outflow myocardial tissue specimens were obtained from ventricular septal defect infant patients during routine congenital cardiac surgery. These specimens were divided into three groups based on age: group A (age 0-6 months), group B (age, 7-12 months), and group C (>12 months). Each tissue specimen was subjected to DNA extraction, RNA extraction, and immunofluorescence.Immunofluorescence and qRT-PCR analysis revealed that DNA damage markers-mitochondrial DNA copy number, oxoguanine 8, and phosphorylated ataxia telangiectasia mutated-were highest in Group B. However immunofluorescence and qRT-PCR demonstrated that two cell proliferation markers, Ki67 and cyclin D2, were decreased with age. In addition, wheat germ agglutinin-staining indicated that the average size of cardiomyocytes increased with age.Oxidative DNA damage of cardiomyocytes was not correlated positively with age in human beings. Oxidative DNA damage is unable to fully explain the reduced proliferation of human cardiomyocytes.

Breast cancer is recognized as a major public health problem in developing countries; however, there is very little evidence of behavioral factors associated with breast cancer risk. This study was conducted to identify lifestyles as risk factors for breast cancer among Central African women. A case-control study was conducted with 174 cases confirmed histologically by the pathology unit of the National Laboratory and 348 age-matched controls. Data collection tools included a questionnaire with interviews and medical records of patients. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 20. Odd ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were obtained by unconditional logistic regression. In total, 522 women were studied with a mean age of 45.8 (SD = 13.4) years. By unconditional logistic regression model, women with breast cancer were more likely to have attained illiterate and elementary education level [11.23 (95% CI, 4.65-27.14) and 2.40 (95% CI, 1.15-4.99)], married [2.09 (95% CI, 1.18-3.71)], positive family history [2.31 (95% CI, 1.36-3.91)], radiation exposure [8.21 (95% CI, 5.04-13.38)], consumption charcuterie [10.82 (95% CI, 2.39-48.90)], fresh fish consumption [4.26 (95% CI, 1.56-11.65)], groundnut consumption [6.46 (95% CI, 2.57-16.27)], soybean consumption [16.74 (95% CI, 8.03-39.84)], alcohol [2.53 (95% CI, 1.39-4.60)], habit of keeping money in bras[3.57 (95% CI, 2.24-5.69)], overweight [5.36 (95% CI, 4.46-24.57)] and obesity [3.11(95% CI, 2.39-20.42)]. However, decreased risk of breast cancer was associated with being employed [0.32 (95% CI, 0.19-0.56)], urban residence [0.16 (95% CI, 0.07-0.37)], groundnut oil consumption [0.05 (95% CI, 0.02-0.14)], wine consumption [0.16 (95% CI, 0.09-0.26)], non habit of keeping cell phone in bras [0.56 (95% CI, 0.35-0.89)] and physical activity [0.71(95% CI, 0.14-0.84)]. The study showed that little or no education, marriage, positive family history of cancer, radiation exposure, charcuterie, fresh fish, groundnut, soybean, alcohol, habit of keeping money in bras, overweight and obesity were associated with breast cancer risk among Central African women living in Bangui. Women living in Bangui should be more cautious on the behavioral risk associated with breast cancer.

Radioactive immunoassay (RIA) is a traditional serum hormone assay method, but the application of the method in reproductive studies is limited by the associated radioactivity. The aim of present study was to evaluate the reliability of RIA and to compare its canine serum progesterone concentration determination accuracy to that of the electric chemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLI). In vivo matured oocytes were utilized for canine somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), and serum progesterone levels were assessed to accurately determine ovulation and oocyte maturation. Canine serum progesterone concentrations during both proestrus and estrus were analyzed by RIA and ECLI to determine the ovulation day. Although both methods detected similar progesterone levels before ovulation, the mean progesterone concentration determined using ECLI was significantly higher than of RIA three days before ovulation. Following ovulation, oocytes were collected by surgery, and a lower percentage of mature oocytes were observed using ECLI (39%) as compared to RIA (67%) if 4-8ng/ml of progesterone were used for determination of ovulation. A high percentage of mature oocytes was observed using ECLI when 6-15 ng/mL of progesterone was used for ovulation determination. To determine whether ECLI could be used for canine cloning, six canines were selected as oocyte donors, and two puppies were obtained after SCNT and embryo transfer. In conclusion, compared to the traditional RIA method, the ECLI method is a safe and reliable method for canine cloning.

Zero dynamics have crucial effect on system analysis and controller design. In the control analysis process, system performance is influenced by the unstable zero dynamics, greatly. This study concerns with the properties of limiting zero dynamics when the signal of controlled continuous-time systems was reconstructed by forward triangle sample-and-hold (FTSH). FTSH is a newly sample and hold method in the signal reconstruction area. However, more theoretical details about the limiting zero dynamics of the resulting discrete-time systems need to be revealed. Firstly, the framework for the limiting zero dynamics in the situation of sufficiently small or large sample period is introduced. Furthermore, this study provides the stable conditions of limiting zeros in the two different sampling situations. The results indicate that one can select a suitable variable parameter value of FTSH to replace the sampling zeros of discrete-time system locate inside the stable region. This paper also reveals the truth that FTSH has the outstanding advantage compared with the BTSH using theoretical analysis method. Finally, example simulations verify the effectiveness of the results in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and objectiveGenetic factors including TNF-β have been considered as important components in the aetiology of migraine. Many studies have investigated the association between TNF-β 252A>G polymorphism and migraine risk, with debatable results. This study was designed to examine whether the TNF-β 252A>G polymorphism confers genetic susceptibility to migraine in diverse populations.MethodStudies eligible for this meta-analysis were searched in the PubMed, Embase, and CNKI by using the keywords "tumor necrosis factor", "TNF", "252A>G", "rs909253", "polymorphism", "polymorphisms", "variant", "SNP", combined with "migraine" or "migraine with aura (MA)" or "migraine without aura (MO)". Pooled ORs and 95% CI were appropriately calculated using the fixed-effect model.ResultsWe finally included a total of seven studies, providing 5 557 migraineurs and 20 543 unrelated healthy controls. Meta-analysis results showed no statistical evidence of a significant association between TNF-β 252A>G polymorphism and overall migraine risk. Stratified analyses by type of migraine and gender revealed similar results. Interestingly, an OR with 95% CI representing an increased migraine risk was indicated in Asians under the recessive model (GG vs. AG + AA: OR, 1.38; 95%CI, 1.04-1.84; P for heterogeneity, 0.665).ConclusionsOur findings appear to support the hypothesis that genetic variability of 252A>G polymorphism in TNF region may modulate risk of migraine in the population of Asian ancestry.

The study objective was to retrospectively analyze the metabolic variables derived from 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) as predictors of progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in advanced lung adenocarcinoma stratified by epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation status. A total of 176 patients (91, EGFR mutation; 85, wild-type EGFR) who underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT before treatment were enrolled. The main 18F-FDG PET/CT-derived variables: primary tumor maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmaxT), primary tumor total lesion glycolysis (TLGT), the maximum SUVmax of all selected lesions in whole body determined using the Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors (RECIST) 1.1 criteria (SUVmaxWBR), and whole-body total TLG determined using the RECIST 1.1 criteria (TLGWBR) were measured. Survival analysis regarding TLGWBR, and other factors in advanced lung adenocarcinoma patients stratified using EGFR mutation status, were evaluated. The results indicated that high TLGWBR (≥259.85), EGFR wild-type, and high serum LDH were independent predictors of worse PFS and OS in all patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma. Among patients with wild-type EGFR, only TLGWBR retained significance as an independent predictor of both PFS and OS. Among patients with the EGFR mutation, high serum LDH level was an independent predictor of worse PFS and OS, and high TLGWBR (≥259.85) was an independent predictor of worse PFS but not worse OS. In conclusion, TLGWBR is a promising parameter for prognostic stratification of patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma and EGFR status; however, it cannot be used to further stratify the risk of worse OS for patients with the EGFR mutation. Further prospective studies are needed to validate our findings.

Virtually all studies of plant-herbivore-natural enemy interactions focus on plant quality as the major constraint on development and survival. However, for many gregarious feeding insect herbivores that feed on small or ephemeral plants, the quantity of resources is much more limiting, yet this area has received virtually no attention. Here, in both lab and semi-field experiments using tents containing variably sized clusters of food plants, we studied the effects of periodic food deprivation in a tri-trophic system where quantitative constraints are profoundly important on insect performance. The large cabbage white Pieris brassicae, is a specialist herbivore of relatively small wild brassicaceous plants that grow in variable densities, with black mustard (Brassica nigra) being one of the most important. Larvae of P. brassicae are in turn attacked by a specialist endoparasitoid wasp, Cotesia glomerata. Increasing the length of food deprivation of newly molted final instar caterpillars significantly decreased herbivore and parasitoid survival and biomass, but shortened their development time. Moreover, the ability of caterpillars to recover when provided with food again was correlated with the length of the food deprivation period. In outdoor tents with natural vegetation, we created conditions similar to those faced by P. brassicae in nature by manipulating plant density. Low densities of B. nigra lead to potential starvation of P. brassicae broods and their parasitoids, replicating nutritional conditions of the lab experiments. The ability of both unparasitized and parasitized caterpillars to find corner plants was similar but decreased with central plant density. Survival of both the herbivore and parasitoid increased with plant density and was higher for unparasitized than for parasitized caterpillars. Our results, in comparison with previous studies, reveal that quantitative constraints are far more important that qualitative constraints on the performance of gregarious insect herbivores and their gregarious parasitoids in nature.

The aims of this study are to identify the most important predictors of total diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes and estimate the mean change in the predicted probability among aged 45+ adults in China. We used baseline data collected from 2011 wave of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) (n = 9,513). First, we estimated the prevalence of diagnosed, measured, total diagnosed, and undiagnosed diabetes. Second, we used probit models to determine whether individual attributes, socioeconomic characteristics and behavioral health factors, including smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity, central obesity, are associated with total diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes. We also consider other factors, including contact with medical system, hypertension and urban/rural settings. Third, we estimated average marginal effects of variables in probit models. Among Chinese people aged 45+, the prevalence of diagnosed, measured, total diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes were 5.8% (95%CI, 5.3%-6.3%), 14.7% (95%CI, 14.0%-15.4%), 17.0% (95%CI, 16.3%-17.7%), 11.3% (95%CI, 10.6%-12.0%), respectively. The probability of total diagnosed diabetes is 3.3% (95% CI, 1.2%-5.3%) and 10.2% (95% CI, 7.0%-13.5%) higher for overweight and obesity than normal BMI, 5.0% (95% CI, 3.0%-7.1%) higher for central obesity than normal waist circumference, 5.4% (95% CI, 3.7%-7.0%) higher for hypertensive than normotensive and 1.8% (95% CI, 0.8%- 2.7%) higher in urban areas than in rural areas, respectively. The probability of undiagnosed diabetes is 2.7% (95% CI, 1.2%-4.2%) and 7.2% (95% CI, 4.7%-9.6%) higher for overweight and obesity than normal BMI, 2.6% (95% CI, 0.9%-4.4%) higher for central obesity than normal waist circumference and 2.6% (95% CI, 1.2%-4.0%) higher for hypertensive than normotensive, respectively, and -1.5% (95% CI, -2.5% to -0.5%) lower for individuals who were in contact with the medical system. Greater focus on prevention of diabetes is necessary for obesity, central obesity, hypertensive and in urban areas for middle-aged and older in China.

Water undergoes structural change as it interfaces with hydrophilic surfaces, including the many hydrophilic surfaces within the cell. This interfacial water has become known as "Exclusion Zone (EZ) water" or "fourth-phase water" [1].We tested the hypothesis that anesthetics diminish the amount of EZ water, and that this change may correlate with functional changes in anesthesia. By using the local anesthetics Lidocaine and Bupivacaine as well as a general inhalational anesthetic, Isoflurane, we tracked the EZ size as these anesthetics were introduced.All three anesthetics diminished EZ size in a concentration-dependent manner at concentrations of 0.18 mM and greater for Bupivacaine, 0.85 mM and greater for Lidocaine, and 0.2% for Isoflurane. At extremely low (micromolar) concentrations, however, all three anesthetics increased EZ size.The sharp increase of EZ size associated with micromolar anesthetic concentrations follows a similar pattern to induction of general anesthesia, from the excitation stage (Stage II) to the depression and overdose stages of surgical anesthesia (Stages III and IV). The results are consistent with the hypothesis that anesthetics may act on water, a fundamental organizational component common to all cells.

By using entropy and local neighborhood information, we present in this study a robust adaptive Gaussian regularizing Chan-Vese (CV) model to segment the myocardium from magnetic resonance images with intensity inhomogeneity. By utilizing the circular Hough transformation (CHT) our model is able to detect epicardial and endocardial contours of the left ventricle (LV) as circles automatically, and the circles are used as the initialization. In the cost functional of our model, the interior and exterior energies are weighted by the entropy to improve the robustness of the evolving curve. Local neighborhood information is used to evolve the level set function to reduce the impact of the heterogeneity inside the regions and to improve the segmentation accuracy. An adaptive window is utilized to reduce the sensitivity to initialization. The Gaussian kernel is used to regularize the level set function, which can not only ensure the smoothness and stability of the level set function, but also eliminate the traditional Euclidean length term and re-initialization. Extensive validation of the proposed method on patient data demonstrates its superior performance over other state-of-the-art methods.

Genotyping by sequencing (GBS) provides opportunities to generate high-resolution genetic maps at a low genotyping cost, but for highly heterozygous species, missing data and heterozygote undercalling complicate the creation of GBS genetic maps. To overcome these issues, we developed a publicly available, modular approach called HetMappS, which functions independently of parental genotypes and corrects for genotyping errors associated with heterozygosity. For linkage group formation, HetMappS includes both a reference-guided synteny pipeline and a reference-independent de novo pipeline. The de novo pipeline can be utilized for under-characterized or high diversity families that lack an appropriate reference. We applied both HetMappS pipelines in five half-sib F1 families involving genetically diverse Vitis spp. Starting with at least 116,466 putative SNPs per family, the HetMappS pipelines identified 10,440 to 17,267 phased pseudo-testcross (Pt) markers and generated high-confidence maps. Pt marker density exceeded crossover resolution in all cases; up to 5,560 non-redundant markers were used to generate parental maps ranging from 1,047 cM to 1,696 cM. The number of markers used was strongly correlated with family size in both de novo and synteny maps (r = 0.92 and 0.91, respectively). Comparisons between allele and tag frequencies suggested that many markers were in tandem repeats and mapped as single loci, while markers in regions of more than two repeats were removed during map curation. Both pipelines generated similar genetic maps, and genetic order was strongly correlated with the reference genome physical order in all cases. Independently created genetic maps from shared parents exhibited nearly identical results. Flower sex was mapped in three families and correctly localized to the known sex locus in all cases. The HetMappS pipeline could have wide application for genetic mapping in highly heterozygous species, and its modularity provides opportunities to adapt portions of the pipeline to other family types, genotyping technologies or applications.

The aim of the present study was to examine whether hypoxia preconditioning could improve therapeutic effects of adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells (AMSCs) for diabetes induced erectile dysfunction (DED). AMSCs were pretreated with normoxia (20% O2, N-AMSCs) or sub-lethal hypoxia (1% O2, H-AMSCs). The hypoxia exposure up-regulated the expression of several angiogenesis and neuroprotection related cytokines in AMSCs, including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptor FIK-1, angiotensin (Ang-1), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), stromal derived factor-1 (SDF-1) and its CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4). DED rats were induced via intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (60 mg/kg) and were randomly divided into three groups-Saline group: intracavernous injection with phosphate buffer saline; N-AMSCs group: N-AMSCs injection; H-AMSCs group: H-AMSCs injection. Ten rats without any treatment were used as normal control. Four weeks after injection, the mean arterial pressure (MAP) and intracavernosal pressure (ICP) were measured. The contents of endothelial, smooth muscle, dorsal nerve in cavernoursal tissue were assessed. Compared with N-AMSCs and saline, intracavernosum injection of H-AMSCs significantly raised ICP and ICP/MAP (p

Extramedullary hematopoiesis has been shown to contribute to the pathogenesis of a variety of diseases including cardiovascular diseases. In this process, the spleen is seeded with mobilized bone marrow cells that augment its hematopoietic ability. It is unclear whether these immigrant cells that are produced/reprogrammed in spleen are similar or different from those found in the bone marrow. To begin to understand this, we investigated the relative potency of adult splenocytes per se to repopulate bone marrow of lethally-irradiated mice and its functional consequences in atherosclerosis. The splenocytes were harvested from GFP donor mice and transplanted into myeloablated wild type recipient mice without the inclusion of any bone marrow helper cells. We found that adult splenocytes repopulated bone marrow of myeloablated mice and the transplanted cells differentiated into a full repertoire of myeloid cell lineages. The level of monocytes/macrophages in the bone marrow of recipient mice was dependent on the cell origin, i.e., the donor splenocytes gave rise to significantly more monocytes/macrophages than the donor bone marrow cells. This occurred despite a significantly lower number of hematopoietic stem cells being present in the donor splenocytes when compared with donor bone marrow cells. Atherosclerosis studies revealed that donor splenocytes displayed a similar level of atherogenic and atheroprotective activities to those of donor bone marrow cells. Cell culture studies showed that the phenotype of macrophages derived from spleen is different from those of bone marrow. Together, these results demonstrate that splenocytes can seed bone marrow of myeloablated mice and modulate atherosclerosis. In addition, our study shows the potential of splenocytes for therapeutic interventions in inflammatory disease.

Nanoimprinting lithography (NIL) is a manufacturing process that can produce macroscale surface areas with nanoscale features. In this paper, this technique is used to solve three fundamental issues for the application of localized surface plasmonic resonance (LSPR) in practical clinical measurements: assay sensitivity, chip-to-chip variance, and the ability to perform assays in human serum. Using NIL, arrays of 140 nm square features were fabricated on a sensing area of 1.5 mm x 1.5 mm with low cost. The high reproducibility of NIL allowed for the use of a one-chip, one-measurement approach with 12 individually manufactured surfaces with minimal chip-to-chip variations. To better approximate a real world setting, all chips were modified with a biocompatible, multi-component monolayer and inter-chip variability was assessed by measuring a bioanalyte standard (2.5-75 ng/ml) in the presence of a complex biofluid, human serum. In this setting, nanoimprinted LSPR chips were able to provide sufficient characteristics for a 'low-tech' approach to laboratory-based bioanalyte measurement, including: 1) sufficient size to interface with a common laboratory light source and detector without the need for a microscope, 2) high sensitivity in serum with a cardiac troponin limit of detection of 0.55 ng/ml, and 3) very low variability in chip manufacturing to produce a figure of merit (FOM) of 10.5. These findings drive LSPR closer to technical comparability with ELISA-based assays while preserving the unique particularities of a LSPR based sensor, suitability for multiplexing and miniaturization, and point-of-care detections.

Tumor single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array is a common platform for investigating the cancer genomic aberration and the functionally important altered genes. Original SNP array signals are usually corrupted by noise, and need to be de-convoluted into absolute copy number profile by analytical methods. Unfortunately, in contrast with the popularity of tumor Affymetrix SNP array, the methods that are specifically designed for this platform are still limited. The complicated characteristics of noise in signals is one of the difficulties for dissecting tumor Affymetrix SNP array data, as they inevitably blur the distinction between aberrations and create an obstacle for the copy number aberration (CNA) identification.We propose a tool named TAFFYS for comprehensive analysis of tumor Affymetrix SNP array data. TAFFYS introduce a wavelet-based de-noising approach and copy number-specific signal variance model for suppressing and modelling the noise in signals. Then a hidden Markov model is employed for copy number inference. Finally, by using the absolute copy number profile, statistical significance of each aberration region is calculated in term of different aberration types, including amplification, deletion and loss of heterozygosity (LOH). The result shows that copy number specific-variance model and wavelet de-noising algorithm fits well with the Affymetrix SNP array signals, leading to more accurate estimation for diluted tumor sample (even with only 30% of cancer cells) than other existed methods. Results of examinations also demonstrate a good compatibility and extensibility for different Affymetrix SNP array platforms. Application on the 35 breast tumor samples shows that TAFFYS can automatically dissect the tumor samples and reveal statistically significant aberration regions where cancer-related genes locate.TAFFYS provide an efficient and convenient tool for identifying the copy number alteration and allelic imbalance and assessing the recurrent aberrations for the tumor Affymetrix SNP array data.

Leaves of C4 crops usually have higher radiation, water and nitrogen use efficiencies compared to the C3 species. Engineering C4 traits into C3 crops has been proposed as one of the most promising ways to repeal the biomass yield ceiling. To better understand the function of C4 photosynthesis, and to identify candidate genes that are associated with the C4 pathways, a comparative transcription network analysis was conducted on leaf developmental gradients of three C4 species including maize, green foxtail and sorghum and one C3 species, rice. By combining the methods of gene co-expression and differentially co-expression networks, we identified a total of 128 C4 specific genes. Besides the classic C4 shuttle genes, a new set of genes associated with light reaction, starch and sucrose metabolism, metabolites transportation, as well as transcription regulation, were identified as involved in C4 photosynthesis. These findings will provide important insights into the differential gene regulation between C3 and C4 species, and a good genetic resource for establishing C4 pathways in C3 crops.

Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) lesions are similar in characteristics to S lesions of the Oxford classification of IgA nephropathy (IgAN) and may predict poor prognosis. In the present study, we aimed to explore the association between plasma soluble urokinase receptor (suPAR) levels and S lesions and podocytes damage in IgAN patients.We enrolled 569 IgAN patients with follow-up data and detected plasma suPAR levels at renal biopsy by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Plasma suPAR levels in IgAN patients with or without S lesions did not differ significantly (P = 0.411). However, suPAR levels were positively correlated with proteinuria (r = 0.202, P < 0.001), and negatively correlated with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR, r = -0.236, P < 0.001). In the partial correlation to adjust for eGFR, plasma suPAR levels remained positively correlated with proteinuria (r = 0.112, P = 0.023). In a Cox proportional hazards model, higher levels of plasma suPAR were not associated with poor renal outcome. Plasma suPAR levels of IgAN and primary FSGS patients with nephrotic syndrome were not significantly different (P = 0.306). Plasma suPAR levels in patients with extensive effacement of the epithelial cell foot processes of glomerular podocytes were significantly higher than those with segmental effacement on the basis of comparable eGFR (P = 0.036).In IgAN patients, plasma suPAR levels were not associated with S lesions. However, they were positively associated with proteinuria and negatively associated with eGFR. In addition, plasma suPAR levels were positively associated with the effacement degree of the foot processes, which might partially contribute to the development of proteinuria in patients with IgAN.

In this study, we aimed to predict newly diagnosed patient responses to antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging tools to explore changes in spontaneous brain activity. We recruited 21 newly diagnosed epileptic patients, 8 drug-resistant (DR) patients, 11 well-healed (WH) patients, and 13 healthy controls. After a 12-month follow-up, 11 newly diagnosed epileptic patients who showed a poor response to AEDs were placed into the seizures uncontrolled (SUC) group, while 10 patients were enrolled in the seizure-controlled (SC) group. By calculating the amplitude of fractional low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF) of blood oxygen level-dependent signals to measure brain activity during rest, we found that the SUC patients showed increased activity in the bilateral occipital lobe, particularly in the cuneus and lingual gyrus compared with the SC group and healthy controls. Interestingly, DR patients also showed increased activity in the identical cuneus and lingual gyrus regions, which comprise Brodmann's area 17 (BA17), compared with the SUC patients; however, these abnormalities were not observed in SC and WH patients. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves indicated that the fALFF value of BA17 could differentiate SUC patients from SC patients and healthy controls with sufficient sensitivity and specificity prior to the administration of medication. Functional connectivity analysis was subsequently performed to evaluate the difference in connectivity between BA17 and other brain regions in the SUC, SC and control groups. Regions nearby the cuneus and lingual gyrus were found positive connectivity increased changes or positive connectivity changes with BA17 in the SUC patients, while remarkably negative connectivity increased changes or positive connectivity decreased changes were found in the SC patients. Additionally, default mode network (DMN) regions showed negative connectivity increased changes or negative changes with BA17 in the SUC patients. The abnormal increased in BA17 activity may be a key point that plays a substantial role in facilitating seizure onset.

Venenum Bufonis, a well-known traditional Chinese medicine, has been widely used in Asia and has gained popularity in Western countries over the last decade. Venenum Bufonis has obvious side effects that have been observed in clinical settings, but few studies have reported on its cardiotoxicity. In this work, the cardiotoxicity of Venenum Bufonis was investigated using a 11H NMR-based metabolomics approach. The 1H NMR profiles of the serum, myocardial extracts and liver extracts of specific-pathogen-free rats showed that Venenum Bufonis produced significant metabolic perturbations dose-dependently with a distinct time effect, peaking at 2 hr after dosing and attenuating gradually. Clinical chemistry, electrocardiographic recordings, and histopathological evaluation provided additional evidence of Venenum Bufonis-induced cardiac damage that complemented and supported the metabolomics findings. The combined results demonstrated that oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and energy metabolism perturbations were associated with the cardiac damage that results from Venenum Bufonis.