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The aim was to evaluate the thoracic aorta in different cardiac phases to obtain the correct cardiac phase for measuring the maximum diameter required to predict aortic disease. Cardiac CT was performed on 97 patients for suspected coronary artery disease. The average diameter of ascending (AAD) and descending aorta (DAD) in the plane of pulmonary bifurcation, in the plane of the sinus junction (AAD [STJ] and DAD [STJ]), descending aorta in the plane of the diaphragm (DAD [Dia]), the diameter of the main pulmonary artery (MPAD), distance from the sternum to the spine (S-SD), and distance from the sternum to the ascending aorta (S-AAD) were assessed at 20 different time points in the cardiac cycle. Differences in aortic diameter in different cardiac phases and the correlation between aortic diameter and traditional risk factors were analyzed by the general linear mixed model. The diameter of the thoracic aorta reached the minimum at the phase of 95–0%, and reached the maximum at 30–35%. The maximum values of AAD, AAD (STJ), DAD, DAD (STJ), and DAD (Dia) were 32.51 ± 3.35 mm, 28.86 ± 3.01 mm, 23.46 ± 2.88 mm, 21.85 ± 2.58 mm, and 21.09 ± 2.66 mm, respectively. The maximum values of MPAD/AAD and DAD/AAD (STJ) were 0.8140 ± 0.1029, 0.7623 ± 0.0799, respectively. The diameter of the thoracic aorta varies with the cardiac phase. Analyzing the changes in aortic diameter, which can be done using cardiac CT, could provide a more accurate clinical measurement for predicting aortic disease.

A novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has spread worldwide and led to high disease burden around the world. This study aimed to explore the key parameters of SARS-CoV-2 infection and to assess the effectiveness of interventions to control the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). A susceptible—exposed—infectious—asymptomatic—recovered (SEIAR) model was developed for the assessment. The information of each confirmed case and asymptomatic infection was collected from Ningbo Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to calculate the key parameters of the model in Ningbo City, China. A total of 157 confirmed COVID-19 cases (including 51 imported cases and 106 secondary cases) and 30 asymptomatic infections were reported in Ningbo City. The proportion of asymptomatic infections had an increasing trend. The proportion of elder people in the asymptomatic infections was lower than younger people, and the difference was statistically significant (Fisher’s Exact Test, P = 0.034). There were 22 clusters associated with 167 SARS-CoV-2 infections, among which 29 cases were asymptomatic infections, accounting for 17.37%. We found that the secondary attack rate (SAR) of asymptomatic infections was almost the same as that of symptomatic cases, and no statistical significance was observed (χ2 = 0.052, P = 0.819) by Kruskal–Wallis test. The effective reproduction number (Reff) was 1.43, which revealed that the transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 was moderate. If the interventions had not been strengthened, the duration of the outbreak would have lasted about 16 months with a simulated attack rate of 44.15%. The total attack rate (TAR) and duration of the outbreak would increase along with the increasing delay of intervention. SARS-CoV-2 had moderate transmissibility in Ningbo City, China. The proportion of asymptomatic infections had an increase trend. Asymptomatic infections had the same transmissibility as symptomatic infections. The integrated interventions were implemented at different stages during the outbreak, which turned out to be exceedingly effective in China.

Arsenic exposure poses numerous threats to human health. Our previous work in mice has shown that arsenic causes anemia by inhibiting erythropoiesis. However, the impacts of arsenic exposure on human erythropoiesis remain largely unclear. We report here that low-dose arsenic exposure inhibits the erythroid differentiation of human hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs). The impacts of arsenic (in the form of arsenite; As3+) on red blood cell (RBC) development was evaluated using a long-term culture of normal human bone marrow CD34+-HPCs stimulated in vitro to undergo erythropoiesis. Over the time course studied, we analyzed the expression of the cell surface antigens CD34, CD71 and CD235a, which are markers commonly used to monitor the progression of HPCs through the stages of erythropoiesis. Simultaneously, we measured hemoglobin content, which is an important criterion used clinically for diagnosing anemia. As compared to control, low-dose As3+ exposure (100 nM and 500 nM) inhibited the expansion of CD34+-HPCs over the time course investigated; decreased the number of committed erythroid progenitors (BFU-E and CFU-E) and erythroblast differentiation in the subsequent stages; and caused a reduction of hemoglobin content. These findings demonstrate that low-dose arsenic exposure impairs human erythropoiesis, likely by combined effects on various stages of RBC formation.

Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most dangerous malignant diseases in females. However, the reliable serum biomarkers of BC still need to be explored. Chemerin levels have been found to be associated with different types of cancer. This study aimed to evaluate the role of serum chemerin as a biomarker of BC diagnosis, as well as the correlation between serum chemerin levels and clinicopathological features. The serum from 248 BC patients, 30 breast benign tumor patients, and 103 healthy controls were collected and serum chemerin levels were determined with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We found that serum levels of chemerin in BC patients were higher than those in healthy control individuals (p

Tumors deficient in the urea cycle enzymes argininosuccinate synthase-1 (ASS1) and ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) are unable to synthesize arginine and can be targeted using arginine-deprivation therapy. Here, we show that colorectal cancers (CRCs) display negligible expression of OTC and, in subset of cases, ASS1 proteins. CRC cells fail to grow in arginine-free medium and dietary arginine deprivation slows growth of cancer cells implanted into immunocompromised mice. Moreover, we report that clinically-formulated arginine-degrading enzymes are effective anticancer drugs in CRC. Pegylated arginine deiminase (ADI-PEG20), which degrades arginine to citrulline and ammonia, affects growth of ASS1-negative cells, whereas recombinant human arginase-1 (rhArg1peg5000), which degrades arginine into urea and ornithine, is effective against a broad spectrum of OTC-negative CRC cell lines. This reflects the inability of CRC cells to recycle citrulline and ornithine into the urea cycle. Finally, we show that arginase antagonizes chemotherapeutic drugs oxaliplatin and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), whereas ADI-PEG20 synergizes with oxaliplatin in ASS1-negative cell lines and appears to interact with 5-fluorouracil independently of ASS1 status. Overall, we conclude that CRC is amenable to arginine-deprivation therapy, but we warrant caution when combining arginine deprivation with standard chemotherapy.

Pyrrosia s.l. comprises ca. 60 species with a disjunct Africa/Asia and Australia distribution. The infrageneric classification of Pyrrosia s.l. is controversial based on the phylogenetic analyses of chloroplast markers and morphology. Based on the expanded taxon sampling of Pyrrosia s.l. (51 species), we investigated its phylogeny, biogeography, character evolution and environmental adaptation by employing five chloroplastid markers (rbcL, matK, psbA-trnH, and rps4 + rps4-trnS) and one single (low)-copy nuclear gene, LEAFY. Pyrrosia s.l. was divided into six major clades and eight subclades. Reticulate evolution was revealed both among clades and among species in Pyrrosia s.l. Ancestral character state optimization revealed high levels of homoplastic evolution of the diagnostic characters in Pyrrosia s.l., while the crassulacean acid metabolism pathway seems to have an independent origin. Molecular dating and biogeographic diversification analyses suggested that Pyrrosia s.l. originated no later than the Oligocene and the main clades diversified during the Oligocene and Miocene, with southern Asia, the Indo-China Peninsula and southwestern and southern China as the most likely ancestral areas. Transoceanic long-distance dispersal, rather than vicariance, contributed to the intercontinental disjunction. Diversification scenarios of Pyrrosia s.l. under geological movements and climate fluctuation are also discussed.

The methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) has been initiated in Wuhan, China since early 2006. To understand the social-demographic, behavioral, and infectious diseases characteristics of drug users enrolled in their first-ever-MMT between 2006 and 2015, a retrospective observational study was implemented to also provide evidence for health policy-decisions to reduce harm and control disease. Pearson chi-square tests and t-tests were used to assess significant differences between two 5-year periods, 2006–2010 and 2011–2015. We observed increases in the mean age (38.65 vs. 42.43 years, P

Short tandem repeats (STRs) located on the Y chromosome with the properties of male-specific inheritance and haploidy are widely used in forensics to analyze paternal genealogies and match male trace donors to evidence. Besides, Y-chromosomal haplotypes play an important role in providing breathtaking insights into population genetic history. However, the genetic diversity and forensic characteristics of Y-STRs in Guizhou main ethnic groups (Hans, Miaos and Bouyeis) remain uncharacterized. Here, we obtained Y-chromosomal 23-marker haplotypes in three Guizhou populations and submitted the first batch of Y-STR haplotype data to the YHRD. The HD in the aforementioned three populations are 0.99990, 0.99983, and 0.99979, respectively, and DC values are 0.9902, 0.9908, and 0.97959, respectively. Subsequently, genetic differentiation between our newly studied populations and reference groups along ethnic/administrative divisions, as well as national/continental boundaries were investigated via AMOVA, MDS, and phylogenetic relationship reconstruction. Significant genetic differentiations from our subjects and other groups are identified in ethnically, linguistically and geographically diverse populations, including most prominently Tibetans and Uyghurs among 30 mainland Chinese populations, Taiwanese groups and others among 58 Asian populations, as well as African groups and others among 89 worldwide populations. Qiannan Bouyei has a close genetic relationship with Guangxi Zhuang, and Zunyi Han and Qiandongnan Miao have close genetic affinity with Hunan Han and Guizhou Shui, respectively. Collectively, this new-generation Y-STR amplification system can be used as a supplementary tool in forensic identification and male parentage testing and even pedigree search.

For three-dimensional bio-printed cell-laden hydrogel tissue constructs, the well-designed internal porous geometry is tailored to obtain the desired structural and cellular properties. However, significant differences often exist between the designed and as-printed scaffolds because of the inherent characteristics of hydrogels and cells. In this study, an iterative feedback bio-printing (IFBP) approach based on optical coherence tomography (OCT) for the fabrication of cell-laden hydrogel scaffolds with optimal geometrical fidelity and cellular controllability was proposed. A custom-made swept-source OCT (SS-OCT) system was applied to characterize the printed scaffolds quantitatively. Based on the obtained empirical linear formula from the first experimental feedback loop, we defined the most appropriate design constraints and optimized the printing process to improve the geometrical fidelity. The effectiveness of IFBP was verified from the second run using gelatin/alginate hydrogel scaffolds laden with C3A cells. The mismatch of the morphological parameters greatly decreased from 40% to within 7%, which significantly optimized the cell viability, proliferation, and morphology, as well as the representative expression of hepatocyte markers, including CYP3A4 and albumin, of the printed cell-laden hydrogel scaffolds. The demonstrated protocol paves the way for the mass fabrication of cell-laden hydrogel scaffolds, engineered tissues, and scaled-up applications of the 3D bio-printing technique.

Elevated Golgi phosphoprotein 2 (GP73, also known as GOLPH2 or GOLM1) expression in serum and liver, which can be induced by viral infection and cytokine treatments, is intimately connected with liver disease, including acute hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, its pathogenic roles in hepatic diseases have never been clarified in detail. Here, we showed that the upregulated GP73 is indispensable for SREBPs activation and lipogenesis. Notably, GP73 overexpression enhanced SCAP-SREBPs binding and its Golgi trafficking even under cholesterol sufficiency. Consistent with these functional findings, GP73 blockage could alleviate tunicamycin-induced liver steatosis by reducing SREBPs activation. A significant positive correlation of GP73 with genes in lipid metabolism pathway was also identified in liver cancer based on data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset. Our findings revealed previously unrecognized role of GP73 in lipid metabolism.

A biofilter with fungus was developed for efficient degradation of benzene, which can overcome the potential risk of leakage commonly found in such services. Results indicated that the optimum parameter values were temperature 40 °C, pH 6, and 500 mg L−1 of the initial benzene concentration. Besides, the empty bed residence time and inlet load range of biofilter were set to 20 s and 21.23–169.84 g m−3 h−1 respectively. Under these conditions, this biofilter can obtain the maximum removal efficiency of more than 90%, the eliminating capacity could be up to 151.67 g m−3 h−1. Furthermore, scanning electron microscopy was used to investigate three filler materials for packing fungus biofilm. This is the first study introducing an Aspergillus strain for benzene removal and these results highlight that the development of this biofilter has the potential scaling-up application as gas-processing of industrial wastes.

Forty-nine patients with stage IIb cervical cancer were included to investigate the changes in bladder volume in response to different approaches to maintaining consistent bladder filling. The impacts of age (Page), water consumption (P wat ), and body mass index (BMI, P bmi ) on the mean urinary inflow rate (v tot ) were analysed. The bladder volume (BV) increased linearly over time. A large variation in v tot among individuals was observed, ranging from 0.19 to 5.13 ml/min. The v tot was correlated with Page (R = −0.53, p = 0.01) and P wat (R = 0.84, p = 0.00), and no correlation between v tot and P bmi was found (p > 0.05). Therefore, v tot could be parameterized using two methods: multivariable linear regression and iterative fitting. There was no statistically significant difference between the two methods. The model accuracy was successfully assessed with several validation tests for patients with good compliance (79.2% of all patients), and the proportion of radiotherapy (RT) fractions with zero wait time (one ultrasound (US) scan) increased from 6.5% to 41.2%. The optimal US scanning number and RT time could be provided using this model. This adaptive RT approach could reduce patient discomfort caused by holding onto urine and reduce technician labour as well as cost.

Recent research revealed that TERMINAL FLOWER 1 (TFL1) homologues are involved in the critical developmental process of floral initiation in several plant species. In this study, the functions of three putative TFL1 homologues (JcTFL1a, JcTFL1b and JcTFL1c) in the biofuel plant Jatropha curcas were analysed using the transgenic approach. JcTFL1b and JcTFL1c, but not JcTFL1a, could complement the TFL1 function and rescue early flowering and determinate inflorescence phenotype in tfl1-14 Arabidopsis mutant, thus suggesting that JcTFL1b and JcTFL1c may be homologues of TFL1. Transgenic Jatropha overexpressing JcTFL1a, JcTFL1b or JcTFL1c showed late flowering, whereas only JcTFL1b and JcTFL1c overexpression delayed flowering in transgenic Arabidopsis. JcTFL1b-RNAi transgenic Jatropha consistently exhibited moderately early flowering phenotype. JcFT and JcAP1 were significantly downregulated in transgenic Jatropha overexpressing JcTFL1a, JcTFL1b or JcTFL1c, which suggested that the late flowering phenotype of these transgenic Jatropha may result from the repressed expression of JcFT and JcAP1. Our results indicate that these three JcTFL1 genes play redundant roles in repressing flowering in Jatropha.

Luteinizing hormone (LH) is one of the main pituitary hormones that regulate ovulation, however its role has not been studied in giant panda. In this study, we developed an ELISA method for the detection of panda urinary LH. We analyzed urinary hormones of 24 female pandas during 36 breeding periods, we found females could easily be impregnated if the first mating occurred within 10 hours after LH peak. We also found the patterns of the ratios of urinary LH and progestagen in pandas that bred and successfully gave birth were significantly different from those that bred but failed to give birth. These data was the first to provide the urinary LH profiles during the estrous and gestational periods in pandas, and demonstrated that the appearance of the urinary LH peak indicated the timing of ovulation. The LH detection together with estrogen analysis makes the window for successful mating narrower than previously reported. Moreover, detection of urinary LH and progestagen can be used to discriminate between pregnancies and pseudopregnancies/miscarriages in the species. Thus, our findings suggest that LH not only plays a critical role in regulating ovulation but also plays an important role in maintaining pregnancy in the giant panda.

Giant enhancement of spin Hall effect of tunneling light (SHETL) is theoretically proposed in a frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR) structure with hyperbolic metamaterial (HMM). We calculate the transverse shift of right-circularly polarized light in a SiO2-air-HMM-air-SiO2 waveguide and analyze the physical mechanism of the enhanced SHETL. The HMM anisotropy can greatly increase the transverse shift of polarized light even though HMM loss might reduce it. Compared with transverse shift of transmitted light through a single HMM slab with ZnAlO/ZnO multilayer, the maximum transverse shift of tunneling light through a FTIR structure with identical HMM can be significantly enlarged by more than three times which reaches −38 μm without any amplification method.

The functional adaptive changes in cyanide detoxification in giant panda appear to be response to dietary transition from typical carnivore to herbivorous bear. We tested the absorption of cyanide contained in bamboo/bamboo shoots with a feeding trial in 20 adult giant pandas. We determined total cyanide content in bamboo shoots and giant panda’s feces, levels of urinary thiocyanate and tissue rhodanese activity using color reactions with a spectrophotometer. Rhodanese expression in liver and kidney at transcription and translation levels were measured using real-time RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry, respectively. We compared differences of rhodanese activity and gene expressions among giant panda, rabbit (herbivore) and cat (carnivore), and between newborn and adult giant pandas. Bamboo shoots contained 3.2 mg/kg of cyanide and giant pandas absorbed more than 65% of cyanide. However, approximately 80% of absorbed cyanide was metabolized to less toxic thiocyanate that was discharged in urine. Rhodanese expression and activity in liver and kidney of giant panda were significantly higher than in cat, but lower than in rabbit (all P

Spatial patchiness and temporal variability in water availability are common in nature under global climate change, which can remarkably influence adaptive responses of clonal plants, i.e. clonal integration (translocating resources between connected ramets). However, little is known about the effects of spatial patchiness and temporal heterogeneity in water on growth and clonal integration between congeneric invasive and native Hydrocotyle species. In a greenhouse experiment, we subjected severed or no severed (intact) fragments of Hydrocotyle vulgaris, a highly invasive species in China, and its co-existing, native congener H. sibthorpioides to different spatial patchiness (homogeneous and patchy) and temporal interval (low and high interval) in water supply. Clonal integration had significant positive effects on growth of both species. In the homogeneous water conditions, clonal integration greatly improved the growth in fragments of both species under low interval in water. However, in the patchy water conditions, clonal integration significantly increased growth in both ramets and fragments of H. vulgaris under high interval in water. Therefore, spatial patchiness and temporal interval in water altered the effects of clonal integration of both species, especially for H. vulgaris. The adaptation of H. vulgaris might lead to invasive growth and potential spread under the global water variability.

Ion-controlled switchable progress is very important in many biological behaviors. Here, we reported K+-controlled switch, this switch system exhibited excellent carbaryl (G) binding/release by fluorescent (FL), ultraviolet-visible (UV) spectrums and 1H NMR spectroscopy. More importantly, the K+-controlled G binding/release switch based on C4C5 not only in the solution, but also on the surface, promising for the application for the pesticide controlled release.