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The cracking resistance was a significant factor influencing the design load of composite beams. According to previous studies, the cracking load reached only 14–40% of the ultimate load when steel-UHPC composite beams in the hogging moment, and the risk of cracking remained. A new perfobond rib shear (PBL) connector was proposed further to improve the cracking resistance of steel-UHPC composite beams. Bending behaviors were researched by analyzing the crack distribution, failure mode, and load-deflection curve for composite beam. At failure, the steel beam flange buckled significantly, and three cracks penetrated through the UHPC board at the pure bending section. Additionally, the excellent slip resistance of the new PBL connector was validated in a push-out test. The failure mode of the push-out specimens was the fracture of the perforated reinforcement. During the push-out test, no cracks were observed on the UHPC boards. Besides conducting experiments, exploring the influence of the headed stud and new PBL connector on the composite beam by numerical analysis. The numerical results proved that the new PBL connector could release tensile stresses in the UHPC slabs and enhance the cracking properties of composite beams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rare Metals is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Two geological steering models, the particle swarm support vector machine (PSO-SVM) and the gray wolf support vector machine (GWO–SVM), were analyzed to determine the models' optimal global parameters. The fitness function was used to compare and analyze the models, while the original data and feature reconstruction data were used to simulate and analyze the models. The most suitable model for shale gas geosteering identification was selected; the multi-source information fusion for the shale gas geosteering design was completed; and a complete geosteering discrimination model was established. Research on the shale gas geosteering identification system with multi-source information fusion was conducted, and we completed the technical scheme design of shale gas geosteering discrimination system with multi-source information fusion, supported the ground real-time data acquisition system, processed the geosteering discrimination, and completed the demand analysis of the shale gas geosteering discrimination system with multi-source information fusion. In the process of drilling, the relationship between the trajectory and the formation position was analyzed, and the drilling trajectory was monitored. The system mainly included the software main interface, data, and geosteering identification module. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To solve the problem in traditional technology of the time lag in determining formation information based on drilling time and rock physical characteristics, which leads to the failure of the guided drilling tool, a Levy flight optimized gray wolf support vector machine (LGWO-SVM) shale gas geosteering identification method based on gamma spectrum dataset was proposed. First, the gamma spectrum dataset was processed using mapminmax normalization to eliminate the feature confusion caused by data modeling. Second, principal component analysis (PCA) feature reconstruction was carried out on the gamma spectrum dataset to provide an excellent data basis for the subsequent establishment of a multiclassification support vector machine (SVM) model. Then, the Levy distribution was adopted into gray wolf optimization for the multiclassification SVM model to obtain the LGWO-SVM model for geosteering discriminant prediction. Finally, the experimental results corresponding to the particle swarm optimization support vector machine (PSO-SVM) and the gray wolf optimizer support vector machine (GWO-SVM) models were summarized and compared. The experimental results show that after the data processing and feature extraction of the gamma spectrum dataset, the established LGWO-SVM model can accurately distinguish the formation information and effectively improve the reservoir drilling rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Central South University is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Maternal caretaking and transport of dead infants are widespread among nonhuman primates, having been reported in numerous species of monkeys and apes. By contrast, accounts of such behaviors toward dead juveniles are scarce. Here, we describe responses by the mother and other group members to the death of a juvenile in a wild, multi-level group of Sichuan snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana). Following the juvenile's fatal accident, his mother transported and cared for the corpse for four days. Immature monkeys belonging to the same one-male unit, and some individuals from other social units also showed interest in and tended the corpse. Comparisons of this case with those involving the deaths of infants and an adult female in the same population highlight possible effects of physiological, psychological and emotional factors in primate thanatological responses, and provide an additional perspective on the origin and evolution of compassionate acts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid and accurate identification of the formation lithology encountered during the drilling of oil and gas fields is an important step to control the trajectory of the drilling tool borehole and improve the optimal reservoir encounter rate. At present, the main way to distinguish the lithology of the formation encountered by drilling is to use artificial detection elements, which does not form a set of intelligent formation identification system. In view of the above problems, this paper proposes a method to identify the lithology of drilled formation by using element and gamma spectrum measurement and establishes a reasoning model of intelligent identification of formation lithology by using improved fuzzy clustering algorithm-SVM (IFCM-SVM) method. Field application shows that the accuracy of IFCM-SVM intelligent formation identification method proposed in this paper can reach 90.9%, and verifies the feasibility of using element and gamma spectrum measurement to realize the intelligent identification of formation lithology in drilling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bimetallic oxides have attracted extensive attention due to their excellent photocatalytic properties. Co2NiO4 has good electrical activity which can effectively regulate the distribution of charge. The scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope images of Co2NiO4 showed two-dimensional uniform lamellar morphology. This kind of morphology could provide a larger specific surface area, which was conducive to improving photocatalytic water decomposing and hydrogen evolution. In addition, we combined Co2NiO4 with NiWO4 to improve the conductivity of Co2NiO4 and the position of Fermi energy level, forming a p-n-type heterojunction, effectively promoting the interface charge transfer through the internal electric field, and inhibiting the electron–hole pair recombination. The photocatalytic hydrogen production of CN/NW-3 in the sensitized system reached 341.83 μmol for 5 h, which was 19 times that of pure Co2NiO4. At the same time, UV–Vis diffuse reflection and Mott–Schottky curve were used to further determine the conduction band (CB) and valence band (VB) positions of Co2NiO4 and NiWO4, which formed a charge transport path with higher separation and transfer efficiency. This work highlights the high-efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production performance of CN/NW p-n heterojunction. Co2NiO4 and NiWO4 form p-n heterojunction, and the synergy between them provides a new hydrogen-producing active center for each. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the poor photocatalytic hydrogen evolution ability of pure CdS, we need to develop a photocatalytic hydrogen evolution catalyst with high activity and no precious metal doping. Therefore, in this article, we used a simple hydrothermal synthesis of CdS nanoparticles, using water as a carrier, loading a small amount of amorphous CoS, by changing the loading ratio of amorphous CoS, synthesized TYPE–II type heterojunction composite catalyst CCS. The successful synthesis of the composite catalyst CCS was verified by XRD, SEM and other characterization methods. UV–vis, PL and other characterization showed that the supported amorphous CoS could significantly improve the photocatalytic activity of CdS, and the photochemical detection also showed that the performance of composite catalyst CCS was better than that of pure CdS. Using Na2S and Na2SO3 mixed solution as electron sacrificial agent, the hydrogen production performance of CCS composite catalyst was determined through hydrogen evolution experiment and cyclic stability experiment. It was found that the sacrificial agent had a great promotion effect on the hydrogen production performance of photocatalyst. It was found that the hydrogen production rate of the composite catalyst could reach 2.01 mmol·g−1·h−1, which was 6.3 times of the pure CdS. This study offers a novel approach for the design of amorphous–based nanostructures as efficient hydrogen evolution cocatalysts. First, CdS are excited by light, consuming S2− and SO32− ions in the sacrificial agent, generating a large number of electrons and holes. Due to the energy difference between the conducting band (CB) of CdS and amorphous CoS, the electrons are transferred from the surface of CdS to the conducting band (CB) of amorphous CoS, while the electrons obtained from water and H+ in the sacrificial agent are reduced to H2. The amorphous CoS is used as the transfer medium of electron acceptor, and the synergistic effect between heterojunctions is used to improve the charge separation efficiency and electron transfer rate. Therefore, the photocatalytic hydrogen production effect of the composite catalyst CCS–7 has been greatly improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the duration of humoral immune response in convalescent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients, we conduct a 12-month longitudinal study through collecting a total of 1,782 plasma samples from 869 convalescent plasma donors in Wuhan, China and test specific antibody responses. The results show that positive rate of IgG antibody against receptor-binding domain of spike protein (RBD-IgG) to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in the COVID-19 convalescent plasma donors exceeded 70% for 12 months post diagnosis. The level of RBD-IgG decreases with time, with the titer stabilizing at 64.3% of the initial level by the 9th month. Moreover, male plasma donors produce more RBD-IgG than female, and age of the patients positively correlates with the RBD-IgG titer. A strong positive correlation between RBD-IgG and neutralizing antibody titers is also identified. These results facilitate our understanding of SARS-CoV-2-induced immune memory to promote vaccine and therapy development. COVID-19 pandemic is a global health risk, but our understanding on the induced durable immunity remains scarce. Here the authors assess antibody responses in 869 convalescent COVID-19 patients to find that specific antibody titers reduce with time, and the RBD-IgG positive rate exceed 70% at 12 month post diagnosis, with male and older patients showing stronger responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) function as post-transcriptional mediators for genes involved in cancer progression, including chronic lymphocytic leukemia. MiR-582-5p has been identified as a tumor suppressor in various tumors. The antioncogenic role of miR-582-5p was then validated in this study. Objective: Mononuclear cells were isolated from peripheral blood samples of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and healthy donors. Expression of miR-582-3p in the mononuclear cells was examined by qRT-PCR. CCK8 assay was performed to detect cell viability, and cell cycle and apoptosis were evaluated by flow cytometry. Dual luciferase activity assay was performed to determine the targeting relationship between miR-582-3p and HNRNPA1, and western blot was performed to unravel the mechanism. Results: MiR-582-5p was reduced in mononuclear cells of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia compared to healthy donors. Forced miR-582-5p expression reduced cell viability, and promoted apoptosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells. Cell cycle was arrested in G0/G1 phase via miR-582-5p mimic. MiR-582-5p bound to HNRNPA1 (heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1) and down-regulated its expression. Silence of HNRNPA1 decreased cell viability, promoted apoptosis, and blocked cell cycle at G0/G1 phase through up-regulation of IκBα (IkappaBalpha). Moreover, HNRNPA1 silencing attenuated the promotive effect induced by miR-582-5p inhibitor on the progression of chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Conclusion: MiR-582-5p demonstrated anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic roles in chronic lymphocytic leukemia cell growth via down-regulation of HNRNPA1 and up-regulation of IκBα, thus inactivating NF-κB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Data on the efficacy and safety of nonvitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients with cancer are limited. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to compare the efficacy and safety between NOACs and warfarin in this population. Methods: A comprehensive search of the PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases for articles published through July 2020 was performed. An evaluation of each study was conducted, and data were extracted. Pooled odds ratio (OR) estimates and 95% CIs were calculated. Results: Eight studies (3 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and 5 retrospective cohort studies) involving a total of 24,665 patients were included. Among the RCTs, there were no significant differences in the rates of stroke or systemic embolism (OR=0.69; 95% CI, 0.45–1.06; P=0.09), venous thromboembolism (OR=0.91; 95% CI, 0.33–2.52; P=0.86), myocardial infarction (OR=0.74; 95% CI, 0.44–1.23; P=0.24), major bleeding (OR=0.81; 95% CI, 0.61–1.06; P=0.12), or major or nonmajor clinically relevant bleeding (OR= 0.98; 95% CI, 0.82–1.19; P=0.86) between the NOAC and warfarin groups. Among the observational studies, patients who used NOACs had a significantly lower risk than those who used warfarin. The prevalence rates of ischemic stroke (OR=0.51; 95% CI, 0.28–0.92; P=0.02), VTE (OR=0.50; 95% CI, 0.41–0.60; P<0.00001), major bleeding (OR=0.28; 95% CI, 0.14–0.55; P=0.0002), and intracranial or gastrointestinal bleeding (OR=0.59; 95% CI, 0.37–0.92; P=0.02) were significantly reduced in the NOAC group. Conclusion: Our meta-analysis confirms that NOACs are as safe and effective as warfarin and can be applied in the real world; this data can serve as a reference for clinical doctors for formulating treatment strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the effects of the roughness of magnetic nano-multilayer films on the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) performance, we used magnetron sputtering to prepare Ta/Co/Ta films with different Co thicknesses on a silicon substrate. The surface and interfacial roughness of the multilayer films were investigated using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and neutron reflectometry. The AFM results with a range of 10 μm indicated that the surface undulation increased with the increment of the Co thickness and the root-mean-square (RMS) roughness increased from 0.48 to 2.26 nm. The neutron reflectometry results proved that the thicker the Co layer, the rougher the interface in the multilayer film, with an increase from 1 to 2.7 nm. The four probe method was used to study the GMR properties of the films. It indicated that the GMR effect was enhanced and the GMR value shifted from − 0.04% to − 1.13% with increasing Co thickness from 6.5 to 20 nm. The enhancement in the GMR effect originated from the thicker Co layer, which led to increasing interfacial roughness, thereby enhancing the spin-dependent scattering of the interface and increasing the absolute value of the GMR. Nevertheless, when the Co thickness increased to 42 nm, the GMR absolute value decreased from 1.13 to 0.8% and the GMR effect was destroyed. This behavior originated from the increased shunt of the ferromagnetic layer and the rougher Ta capping layer increasing the spin-independent scattering center, thereby eventually undermining the GMR effect. Diffusion between the multilayer films was observed using a polarized neutron reflection experiment, further illustrating that the GMR effect could be adjusted by the interfacial roughness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Melanoma is a skin cancer with great metastatic potential, which is responsible for the major deaths in skin cancer. Although the prognosis of melanoma patients has been improved with the comprehensive treatment, for patients with metastasis, the complexity and heterogeneity of diffuse diseases make prognosis prediction and systematic treatment difficult and ineffective. Therefore, we established a novel personalized immune-related gene pairs index (IRGPI) to predict the prognosis of patients with metastatic melanoma, which was conducive to provide new insights into clinical decision-making and prognostic monitoring for metastatic melanoma. Through complex analysis and filtering, we identified 24 immune-related gene pairs to build the model and obtained the optimal cut-off value from receiver operating characteristic curves, which divided the patients into high and low immune-risk groups. Meantime, the Kaplan–Meier analysis, Cox regression analysis and subgroup analysis showed that IRGPI had excellent prognostic value. Furthermore, IRGPI was shown that was closely associated with immune system in the subsequent tumor microenvironment analysis and gene set enrichment analysis. In addition, we broken through the data processing limitations of traditional researches in different platforms through the application of gene pairs, which would provide great credibility for our model. We believe that our research would provide a new perspective for clinical decision-making and prognostic monitoring in metastatic melanoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The composite catalyst of crystalline Co(OH)2 modified rare-earth perovskite-type LaNiO3 was synthesized by physical precipitation-sol high temperature calcination method. The ratio between La/Ni and between Co(OH)2/LaNiO3 added presence obvious impact on hydrogen production performance. Under the illumination of the cut-off filter (≥ 420 nm), when the molar ratio between La/Ni is 2:1, the hydrogen production amount at 5 h reached 70.89 μmol. The hydrogen production of Co(OH)2/LaNiO3 under the optimal catalytic conditions was 4.5 times higher than of pure LaNiO3. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed good crystallinity of the sample and successful synthesis of the material. TEM and SEM were used to detect the appearance of the catalytic material. The Photoluminescence spectrum (PL), ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV–Vis) and electrochemical workstations were used to characterize the catalytic performance, which is consistent with the hydrogen production results. It is indicated that the bulk Co(OH)2 acts as an electron collector in the catalytic process, which significantly increases the transfer rate of photoelectrons, enhance the hydrogen production performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It was the constant pursuit of researchers to explore catalysts with higher catalytic activity, and the use of co-catalysts to modify the performance of photocatalytic materials had a significant effect on charge separation. In this paper, the non-precious metal NiS-modified ZnCo2O4 composite catalytic material prepared by hydrothermal method had high-efficiency catalytic performance. When the weight ratio of NiS to ZnCo2O4 was 12%, the optimal catalytic activity is 3.57 mmol g−1 h−1, which was more than twice that of ZnCo2O4. The presence of NiS not only improved the specific surface area of the catalyst and its ability to respond to light, but the close interface formed by the combination of the two monomer phases accelerated the transfer and the utilization of the photocharge on ZnCo2O4 to NiS, thereby promoting the separation of electron holes and improving the photocatalytic activity of the catalyst. According to the research results, the mechanism of hydrogen production in the photocatalytic system was revealed. In this paper, NiS was used to modify the bimetallic oxide with cubic appearance, which provided a new strategy for the development of new photocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Necrosis with inflammation plays a crucial role in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Receptor-interacting protein 3 (RIPK3) regulates a newly discovered programmed form of necrosis called necroptosis. However, the underlying mechanism of necroptosis in ARDS remains unknown. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the possible involvement of RIPK3 in ARDS-associated necroptosis. RIPK3 protein levels were found to be significantly elevated in the plasma and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of ARDS patients. Next, we utilised a mouse model of severe ARDS induced with high-dose lipopolysaccharide and found that lung injury was mainly due to RIPK3-mixed lineage kinase domain-like pseudokinase (MLKL)-mediated necroptosis and endothelial dysfunction. The activation of RIPK3-MLKL by tumour necrosis factor receptor 1 (TNFR1) and TNFR1-associated death domain protein (TRADD) required catalytically active RIPK1 and the inhibition of Fas-associated protein with death domain (FADD)/caspase-8 catalytic activity. We further showed that the molecular chaperone heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90)/p23, as a novel RIPK3- and MLKL-interacting complex, played an important role in RIP-MLKL-mediated necroptosis, inflammation and endothelial dysfunction in the pulmonary vasculature, which resulted in ARDS. Collectively, the results of our study indicate that necroptosis is an important mechanism of cell death in ARDS and the inhibition of necroptosis may be a therapeutic intervention for ARDS. Key messages: Lung injury in high-dose LPS-induced severe ARDS is mainly due to RIP3-MLKL-mediated necroptosis and endothelial dysfunction. Chaperone HSP90/p23 is a novel RIP3- and MLKL-interacting complex in HPAECs. HSP90/p23 is a novel RIP3- and MLKL-interacting complex in RIP-MLKL-mediated necroptosis, inflammation and endothelial dysfunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expansion of the optical response range and the high photoelectron holes separation and the transfer efficiency are prerequisites for the excellent hydrogen evolution performance of the catalyst. In this paper, amorphous CoSx is combined with rare-earth complex LaMnO3 and under the characterization of SEM, TEM, XRD and XPS, the successful synthesis of the composite catalyst was demonstrated; characterization results by UV–Vis, BET and electrochemical workstations show that the composite material exposes more active sites, and the close contact interface formed between the two effectively improves the separation and transmission of photogenerated carriers, and the ability of the composite material to sense light is also significantly enhanced. After optimizing the hydrogen production conditions of the composite catalyst, the hydrogen production under visible light (≥ 420 nm) for 5 h reached 458.8 μmol, which was about 6.8 and 4.5 times that of pure LaMnO3 and CoSx, and the hydrogen evolution stability of the material is very good. Studies have shown that amorphous CoSx is a good material that can replace precious metals for hydrogen production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the new composite material Co–Mo–S/Ni(OH)2 has high hydrogen evolution ability under photoreaction, the hydrogen evolution of Co–Mo–S/Ni(OH)2 composite material reaches 357 μmol after reaction 3 h, and the catalyst still exhibits high photocatalytic activity after four cycles under light response. It shows that this new catalyst has high activity and stability. The results of XPS, TEM, SEM and XRD indicate that the composite catalyst is successfully synthesized. The results of PL and electrochemical experiments show that Ni(OH)2 attached to Co–Mo–S can increase the transfer of photogenerated electrons and reduce the recombination of electrons and holes. From the UV–visible and BET characterization, the presence of Ni(OH)2 increases the range of response of the Co–Mo–S to sunlight, the pore volume and surface range, which improves the absorption capacity of the catalyst for ErB. Therefore, Co–Mo–S/Ni(OH)2 has excellent application prospect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sm2MoO6/Ni(OH)2 was successfully immersed in water first, and the sensitizer is Eosin Y and the sacrificial agent is triethanolamine agent for high-efficiency photocatalytic production of H2. When Sm2MoO6 was loaded onto the surface of Ni(OH)2, the photocatalytic activity (2407.48 μmol g−1 h−1) was 2.6 times that of Ni(OH)2 (925.36 μmol g−1 h−1), which was Sm2MoO6 (169.36 μmol g−1 h−1) is 14.2 times. From a series of characterizations, Sm2MoO6 is an effective cocatalyst to improve the separation of photo-generated charges and the efficiency of electron transfer. Large specific surface areas are a primary requirement for high efficiency catalysts, and the catalyst is sufficiently into contact with the sensitizer and the sacrificial agent to soar the photocatalytic activity. The first condition for an excellent catalyst is that it has a large specific surface area and can provide more active sites. In the dye sensitization system, the photocatalytic activity of Sm2MoO6/Ni(OH)2 is 2.6 times that of Ni(OH)2 and 14.2 times that of Sm2MoO6. Sm2MoO6 is an effective co-catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a CoS/NiMoO4 composite catalyst with good TYPE-II heterojunction was prepared by hydrothermal method with NiMoO4 nanorods, with water as a medium to load small amount of amorphous CoS, by changing the loading amounts of amorphous CoS. X-ray diffraction, UV–Visible diffuse reflection and other characteristics indicate that doped amorphous CoS can significantly improve the photocatalytic performance of NiMoO4, and the charge separation and electron transfer efficiency of composite catalysts detected by photoelectric chemistry are also significantly improved compared with NiMoO4. The photocatalytic activity and stability of the composite catalyst were studied by hydrogen evolution experiment. The hydrogen production rate of the composite catalyst can reach 338 μmol, which is 3.23 times higher than pure NiMoO4. This simple hydrothermal synthesis of photocatalytic materials provides new ideas and methods for the design and development of new composite photocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel composite perovskite LaNiO3 photocatalyst modified by MoS2 was synthesized by sol-high temperature calcination. When the molar ratio of La/Ni was 2:1, MoS2 accounts for 3% of the MoS2/LaNiO3 composite catalyst. The hydrogen production activity is up to 47.1 μmol h−1. In the visible range (≥ 420 nm), the hydrogen generation of the composite photocatalyst is increased more than three times that of pure LaNiO3. It is described that the hydrogen production capacity of catalytic materials formed by MoS2-modified LaNiO3 is significantly improved under visible light, the electron and hole pairs are effectively separated, the electron transfer rate is increased, and the recombination of electron and hole pairs is reduced. Furthermore, the experimental results were measured by energy spectrum (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL), scanning electron microscope (SEM), UV–Vis transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and electrochemical workstation. This is consistent with the hydrogen production capacity of the catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Over recent decades, laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) has been among the most common bariatric surgeries. Nowadays, many patients require revision surgery due to insufficient weight loss and band-related complications. Sleeve gastrectomy (SG) and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) are the two most common revision surgeries for failed LAGB, but the conclusions about their efficacy and safety have been inconsistent. This meta-analysis aimed to review the clinical outcomes of SG and RYGB after failed LAGB. Methods: In accordance with the PRISMA guidelines, the PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) databases were systematically searched for articles that had studied the efficacy and safety of SG and RYGB. The most appropriate effects model was chosen based on the heterogeneity of the articles included in this meta-analysis. Statistical analysis was conducted using Stata 14.0. Results: Of 586 articles that were retrieved, 16 articles which examined 2141 SG and 2990 RYGB patients met the inclusion criteria. The patients in RYGB groups showed increased percent excess weight loss (%EWL) at 12 and 24 months after revision surgery but no statistically significant change was found about %EWL after 3, 6, or 36 months. In addition, RYGB was associated with a higher rate of complications, interventions, and readmission in addition to being of more operative time. Conclusions: This review suggested that RYGB was more effective at demonstrating weight loss after 12 and 24 months, but comparisons of the long-term efficacy of RYGB with that of SG remain inconclusive. In addition, RYGB was accompanied by a greater number of post-operative complications, interventions, and readmissions. Thus, surgeons should consider the overall status of the patients and their comorbidities as crucial factors when selecting a form of revision surgery. Additional high-quality randomized controlled studies are required to further compare the efficacy and safety of these treatments with longer follow-up times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the incidence and associated factors for early death in stage IV colorectal cancer (CRC) and to construct the predictive nomogram. Methods: Patients with stage IV CRC, who had been diagnosed between 2010 and 2014 in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results datasets, were eligible for this retrospective cohort study. The univariable and multivariable logistic regression models were conducted to determine the associated factors for early death (survival time ≤ 3 months). The predictive nomogram was constructed and the internal validation was performed. Results: Ten thousand two hundred sixty-three out of 36,461 (28.1%) eligible patients resulted in all causes of early death (25.8% for cancer-specific early death and 2.3% for non-cancer early death). Advanced age, marital status, right colon, poor differentiation, higher N stage, and bone metastasis were positively associated with all causes of early death, cancer-specific early death, and non-cancer early death, while higher T stage, positive carcinoembryonic antigen, and distant metastases (bone, lung, liver, and brain) were only positively associated with all causes of early death and cancer-specific early death. The calibration curve for all causes of early death, cancer-specific early death, and non-cancer early death showed the prediction curve closely approximated at the 45° line and the areas under the curve were 75.7% (95% CI, 74.9–76.4%), 75.9% (95% CI, 75.1–76.6%), and 76.9% (95% CI, 76.3–77.6%), respectively. Conclusions: The nomogram was calibrated to predict all causes of early death development, cancer-specific early death development, and non-cancer early death development. These findings can be utilized in early screening and to tailor targeted treatment regimens for stage IV CRC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: MicroRNAs have been considered to participate in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and regulate numerous disease pathways in pulmonary vasculature. However, the molecular role in the pathologies has not yet been fully uncovered, particularly in the view of energy metabolism and vascular smooth muscle cell phenotypic regulation. Here, several altered miRNAs are founded in genome-wide miRNA sequencing analysis, in which miR-449a-5p was identified as a probable candidate in hypoxic PAH and verified such a decreasing trend. Moreover, we identify that miR-449a-5p plays critical role in both mitochondria metabolic dysfunction and phenotype transformation of pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells. Subsequently, we initiate that the transcription factor Myc, which is negatively regulated by miR-449a-5p, results in the aberrant effects contributing to pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cell proliferation. Taken together, we demonstrated that the miR-449a-5p/Myc axis is indispensable for the development and progression of PAH. These results may serve as a significant implication for understanding and treatment of PAH.Key messages: • The downregulation of miR-449a-5p occurs in both PAH-PAs and hypoxic PASMCs.• MiR-449a-5p is involved in hypoxia-induced mitochondria dysfunction of PASMCs.• MiR-449a-5p inhibits hypoxic phenotypic transition and proliferation of PASMCs.• The aberrant effects of MiR-449a-5p depend on downstream transcription factor Myc.• Myc contributes to mitochondria dysfunction and phenotype transformation in PAH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the correlation between epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation status and the risk of brain metastasis (BM) in patients with lung adenocarcinoma, the clinical data of 100 patients with pathologically confirmed lung adenocarcinoma and known EGFR mutation status at exon 18, 19, 20, or 21 were analyzed retrospectively. The incidence of BM was similar between patients with wild-type EGFR and those with EGFR mutations (p = 0.48). However, among patients with EGFR mutations, the incidence of BM was significantly higher in patients with mutation at exon 19 than in patients with mutation at other sites (p = 0.007). Besides, among patients with heterochronous BM, 66.7 % had EGFR mutations. Regarding brain-metastasis-free survival (BMFS), patients with EGFR sensitive mutations (mutation at exon 19/21/and dual mutation) had significantly shorter BMFS compared with patients with wild-type EGFR (p = 0.018). For patients treated only with chemotherapy, BM was an unfavorable prognostic factor. Patients with BM had worse overall survival compared with those without BM (p = 0.035). However, in patients with BM and EGFR sensitive mutations, those treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) had significantly longer overall survival compared with those treated with chemotherapy only (p = 0.0081). In conclusion, among patients with EGFR mutations, those mutated at exon 19 had the highest incidence of BM. Furthermore, patients with EGFR mutations are more likely to develop heterochronous BM. The BMFS was significantly shorter in patients with EGFR sensitive mutations. TKIs improved the survival of patients with lung adenocarcinoma and BM who harbored EGFR sensitive mutations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) cells can be sub-classified into germinal center B cells (GCB) and non-GCB immunophenotypes. In the present study, we treated 161 newly diagnosed DLBCL patients with cyclophosphamide, epirubicin, vincristine, and prednisolone (CEOP) regimen with or without rituximab, and retrospectively investigated DLBCL sub-classifications combined with assessment of B cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) expression level for their utility in the prediction of clinical efficacy. Survival analyses showed that non-GCB patients treated with R-CEOP regimen had significantly higher 5-year OS rates than the CEOP group ( P = 0.033), while no statistically significant difference was observed between R-CEOP and CEOP treatments in GCB patients ( P = 0.317). Prognosis was poorest for high Bcl-2 expressing non-GCB subgroup patients treated with CEOP, compared with Bcl-2 negative non-GCB CEOP patients ( P = 0.044). In the R-CEOP group, Bcl-2 expression had no significant effect on prognosis for both GCB and non-GCB patients. The addition of rituximab to CEOP chemotherapy negates the adverse prognostic influence of Bcl-2 protein expression on overall survival in non-GCB DLBCL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The original version of this Article contained an error in the abstract, which incorrectly read 'The level of RBD-IgG decreases with time, with the titer stabilizing at 64.3% of the initial level by 9 month'. The correct version replaces this sentence with 'The level of RBD-IgG decreases with time, with the titer stabilizing at 35.7% of the initial level by the 9th month'. [Extracted from the article]

Conclusion: The present study suggests that Ki- ras point mutations may play an important role in the early stages of tumorigenesis and that a double mutation has a stronger detrimental effect than a single mutation on the survival after pancreatectomy. Background: Previous studies have suggested the important role of Ki- ras point mutations in ras gene codon 12 in the tumorigenesis of pancreatic cancer, but their clinicopathological significance is still unclear. The present study was designed to assess the clinicopathological significance of Ki- ras point mutations, and p21 expression in malignant and benign diseases of the pancreas. Methods: Oligonucleotide dot-blot hybridization for Ki- ras point mutations in codon 12 and immunohistochemical staining for p21 expression were applied. Cases included 44 primary and 15 metastatic lesions of pancreatic cancer, and 17 benign pancreatic diseases. Results: Ki- ras point mutations and p21 expression were detected in 43 and 19 primary lesions, 9 and 6 metastatic lesions, and four and five benign diseases, respectively. The patients with a single mutation had a better survival after pancreatectomy than those with a double mutation. The patients with a p21(+) GAT mutation showed the worst survival after pancreatectomy compared with other categories of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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With the rapid advancement of modern medical technology, microscopy imaging systems have become one of the key technologies in medical image analysis. However, manual use of microscopes presents issues such as operator dependency, inefficiency, and time consumption. To enhance the efficiency and accuracy of medical image capture and reduce the burden of subsequent quantitative analysis, this paper proposes an improved microscope salient object detection algorithm based on U2-Net, incorporating deep learning technology. The improved algorithm first enhances the network’s key information extraction capability by incorporating the Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM) into U2-Net. It then optimizes network complexity by constructing a Simple Pyramid Pooling Module (SPPM) and uses Ghost convolution to achieve model lightweighting. Additionally, data augmentation is applied to the slides to improve the algorithm’s robustness and generalization. The experimental results show that the size of the improved algorithm model is 72.5 MB, which represents a 56.85% reduction compared to the original U2-Net model size of 168.0 MB. Additionally, the model’s prediction accuracy has increased from 92.24 to 97.13%, providing an efficient means for subsequent image processing and analysis tasks in microscopy imaging systems.Graphical Abstract: With the rapid advancement of modern medical technology, microscopy imaging systems have become one of the key technologies in medical image analysis. However, manual use of microscopes presents issues such as operator dependency, inefficiency, and time consumption. To enhance the efficiency and accuracy of medical image capture and reduce the burden of subsequent quantitative analysis, this paper proposes an improved microscope salient object detection algorithm based on U2-Net, incorporating deep learning technology. The improved algorithm first enhances the network’s key information extraction capability by incorporating the Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM) into U2-Net. It then optimizes network complexity by constructing a Simple Pyramid Pooling Module (SPPM) and uses Ghost convolution to achieve model lightweighting. Additionally, data augmentation is applied to the slides to improve the algorithm’s robustness and generalization. The experimental results show that the size of the improved algorithm model is 72.5 MB, which represents a 56.85% reduction compared to the original U2-Net model size of 168.0 MB. Additionally, the model’s prediction accuracy has increased from 92.24 to 97.13%, providing an efficient means for subsequent image processing and analysis tasks in microscopy imaging systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]