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Lettuce is rich in various phenolic acids and flavonoids, making it a good source of dietary polyphenols. This study measured the contents of total phenols and flavonoids and antioxidant capacity of 50 varieties of lettuce (34 green lettuce varieties and 16 red lettuce varieties). Meanwhile, 17 characteristic phenolic acids and flavonoid compounds in lettuce were identified and quantitated using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-ToF-MS) and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UPLC). Then, multivariate statistical analysis was used for classification and correlation analysis. The results showed that the contents of total phenols, total flavonoids, and antioxidant capacity of red lettuce varieties were higher than those of green lettuce varieties. In total, 7 phenolic compounds, namely, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, isochlorogenic acid A/B, chicory acid, and luteolin-7-O-β-D-glucuronide, quercetin-3-O-glucuronide, and quercetin-3-O-glucoside were detected, being overall more abundant in red lettuce varieties than the other varieties. The results of multivariate statistical analysis indicated that chlorogenic acid, luteolin-7-O-β-D-glucuronide, and quercetin-3-O-glucoside had higher correlation with the antioxidant capacity of lettuce. In summary, five new red varieties and commercial varieties, such as G21K104, W3088, and H20K6160, and four new green varieties, including G21K212 and G21K117, had higher antioxidant activity. This study provides a reference for lettuce breeding, germplasm resource innovation, and the development of nutritious, healthy and functional products.

Abstract Aims To thoroughly evaluate the quality of the entire process of neonatal screening (NBS) in China. Methods We collected survey questionnaires from 54.4% (135/248) of NBS institutions in China and conducted on-site visits to 20 of these facilities to validate the data. The quality performance of the institutions was evaluated, and differences across various factors were analysed. Results Merely 62.5% of the provinces had acceptable performance in neonatal screening. Institutions with limited staff were more prone to organizational management shortcomings. Institutions in provinces with a per capita GDP below 10,000 USD exhibited lower quality control levels than those with a per capita GDP between 10,000 and 15,000 USD. Obstetrics departments have a lower awareness of quality control compared to other blood collection facilities. Conclusions A nationwide, comprehensive quality control system for continuous enhancements in quality management, screening, diagnosis, and treatment is imperative to ensure prompt diagnosis and intervention.

This study aimed to clarify the roles and underlying mechanisms of luteolin in the progression of cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury (CIRI).

Inherited and age-related retinal degenerations are the commonest causes of blindness without effective treatments. Retinal progenitor cells (RPCs), which have the multipotency to differentiate into various retinal cell types, are regarded as a promising source of cell transplantation therapy for retinal degenerative diseases. However, the self-limited expansion of RPCs causes difficulty in cell source supply and restrict its clinical treatment. In this work, we found that inhibition of microRNA-449a (miR-449a) in RPCs can promote proliferation and inhibit apoptosis of RPCs, partially through upregulating Notch signaling. Further optimization of transduction miR-449a inhibitor into RPCs by endothelial cell-derived exosomes can promote the survival of RPCs transplanted in vivo and reduce cell apoptosis in retinal degeneration mouse models. In summary, these studies have shown that exosome-miR-449a inhibitor can effectively promote the expansion of RPCs in vitro and enhance transplanted RPCs survival in vivo, which might provide a novel intervention strategy for retinal degenerations in the future.

MicroRNA-140-5p (miR-140-5p) plays a pivotal role in human cancers. However, its role and molecular mechanisms in breast carcinoma are not fully explored. Using miR-140-5p transfected breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231, several in vitro experiments were performed and described in this paper. They consist of the cell proliferation assay, wound healing assay, transwell assay, colony formation assays and qRTPCR. Expression levels of target proteins were determined using Western blotting. In addition, experiments on animal models were performed to study the possible role of miR-140-5p in tumorigenesis of breast carcinoma cells. The induction of experimental breast tumor in mice model was achieved through the incorporation of MDA-MB-231 tumor cells subcutaneously into the middle left side of the mice. The results showed that miR-140-5p up-regulation significantly suppresses proliferation, cellular invasion and migration of breast carcinoma cells. Furthermore, miR-140-5p up-regulation stops breast cancer cells at G0/G1 phase. The results of the animal model indicated that up-regulation of miR-140-5p suppresses its tumorigenic ability. Moreover, we also found that miR-140-5p up-regulation reduces the phosphorylation level of STAT3, p65, and AKT. In addition, miR-140-5p overexpression significantly decreases CDK2 expression while increasing E-cadherin expression level. These data revealed that miR-140-5p suppressed tumor progression of breast carcinoma cells through inhibition of the AKT/STAT3/NF-κB pathway. Taken the present study results together, we can conclude that miR-140-5p may act as a novel target in microRNA-targeting anticancer strategy for the treatment of breast cancer.

To meet the requirement of numerical weather prediction for local severe convective weather, especially disastrous weather and extreme weather events, based on GRAPES-MESO 10 km system, many works have been completed, which include improving the calculation accuracy and stability of the model dynamic framework, selecting and testing the physical parameterization schemes suitable for high-resolution model, establishing a national radar quality control preprocess system, applying the national (SA/SB/CB) three-dimensional network mosaic data through the cloud analysis system, establishing a convective resolvable assimilation system and land surface data assimilation system for small and medium-scale systems, implementing the assimilation and application of unconventional local dense data such as radar radial wind, wind profile radar, FY-4A imager emissivity, satellite cloud motion wind, satellite GNSSRO, surface precipitation and the near surface data, and developing the rapid cycle technology. By integrating all the jobs mentioned above, the nationwide rapid analysis and forecast system CMA-MESO (GRAPES-MESO 3 km)has been established and put into operational run since June 2020 with 3 km horizontal resolution and 3 h time interval. The operational verification results in flood season from June to September of 2020 show that the forecasts of near surface elements (precipitation, 2 m temperature and 10 m wind) of CMA-MESO forecast surpass the results of GRAPES-MESO 10 km system, and the threat score for 3 h accumulated precipitation forecast is outstanding. The threat score for 24 h accumulated precipitation of CMA-MESO is slightly worse than the result of ECMWF, but the threat score for 3 h accumulated precipitation forecast is significantly better. For the precipitation exceeding 10.0 mm, CMA-MESO performs better than ECMWF within all the lead times, and the advantages are more obvious with the increase of precipitation threshold. Compared to ECMWF, CMA-MESO shows more obvious advantages on daytime forecast. For 25 mm precipitation threshold, the improvement rate exceeds 50% in most of the daytime and reaches about 100% in the later stage of forecast. The spatial distribution of mean 24 h accumulated precipitation predicted by CMA-MESO and ECMWF models is close to the observation, but the amount predicted by CMA-MESO is slightly larger. The frequency and intensity of precipitation simulated by CMA-MESO, which can characterize the ability of model to predict the spatial-temporal fine characteristics of precipitation, are consistent with observation in terms of both horizontal distribution and magnitude. The comprehensive performance of CMA-MESO in flood season in China exceeds that of ECMWF fine grid model.

To reveal the physical properties of pores and sunspots varying with solar cycle, we carried out a statistical comparison among pores, transitional sunspots, and mature sunspots using Solar Dynamics Observatory/Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager from 2010 April to 2023 July. The OTSU method and region-growing algorithm were combined to detect umbrae of 11,876 sunspots covering solar cycles 24 and 25. The relationships between umbral area, continuum intensity ( I ), line-of-sight (LOS) magnetic field strength ( B _los ), and line-of-sight velocity ( V _los ) of umbrae were investigated in detail. The main conclusions are as follows. (1) The steepness between the total magnetic flux and total area of transitional sunspots appears to be flattened in each phase of the observed solar cycles, and does not have a significant variation over the solar cycle. (2) For three groups of sunspots, the umbral physical parameters’ means and their correlations show only minor variations with the solar cycle, which are in error ranges. (3) As the mean umbral LOS magnetic field strength increases, the correlation of the umbral I – B _los increases. The flattening of transitional sunspots in total area–total magnetic flux scatter is related to the evolution of sunspots itself, and may not correspond to the solar cycle. The umbral physical parameters and their correlations do not exhibit a discernible regularity over the solar cycle. Our analysis results contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the dynamic processes of sunspot magnetic fields and give a new perspective on revealing the physical features of vertical magnetic flux tubes.

Abstract Background NLR is a systemic inflammatory marker that have been associated with overall survival in patients with some rapidly progressive disease. There are few data about the diagnostic and predictive value of NLR in autoimmune diseases, and it has not been described in anti-MDA5 positive DM. We try to correlate neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) with fatality from dermatomyositis in anti-MDA5 positive patients. Method A retrospective study in which 195 patients were enrolled was conducted. Clinical and laboratory information was collated and ratios of neutrophil to lymphocyte counts (NLR) calculated. The primary end point was all-cause death. Result Of the 195 patients studied, all had interstitial lung disease, including 140 survivors and 55 non-survivors. An optimal NLR cut-off value of 4.86 for mortality prediction was identified. The NLR of non-survivors was significantly higher than that of survivors (p 4.86 was an independent predictor of mortality (HR: 2.52; 95%CI: 1.33–4.78; p = 0.005). Abstinence from smoking (HR: 2.66; 95%CI: 1.33–4.78; p = 0.003), emergence of rapidly progressive interstitial lung disease (RPILD; HR: 4.38; 95%CI: 2.37–8.08; p

BackgroundAcute kidney injury can be mitigated if detected early. There are limited biomarkers for predicting acute kidney injury (AKI). In this study, we used public databases with machine learning algorithms to identify novel biomarkers to predict AKI. In addition, the interaction between AKI and clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) remain elusive.MethodsFour public AKI datasets (GSE126805, GSE139061, GSE30718, and GSE90861) treated as discovery datasets and one (GSE43974) treated as a validation dataset were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between AKI and normal kidney tissues were identified using the R package limma. Four machine learning algorithms were used to identify the novel AKI biomarkers. The correlations between the seven biomarkers and immune cells or their components were calculated using the R package ggcor. Furthermore, two distinct ccRCC subtypes with different prognoses and immune characteristics were identified and verified using seven novel biomarkers.ResultsSeven robust AKI signatures were identified using the four machine learning methods. The immune infiltration analysis revealed that the numbers of activated CD4 T cells, CD56dim natural killer cells, eosinophils, mast cells, memory B cells, natural killer T cells, neutrophils, T follicular helper cells, and type 1 T helper cells were significantly higher in the AKI cluster. The nomogram for prediction of AKI risk demonstrated satisfactory discrimination with an Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 0.919 in the training set and 0.945 in the testing set. In addition, the calibration plot demonstrated few errors between the predicted and actual values. In a separate analysis, the immune components and cellular differences between the two ccRCC subtypes based on their AKI signatures were compared. Patients in the CS1 had better overall survival, progression-free survival, drug sensitivity, and survival probability.ConclusionOur study identified seven distinct AKI-related biomarkers based on four machine learning methods and proposed a nomogram for stratified AKI risk prediction. We also confirmed that AKI signatures were valuable for predicting ccRCC prognosis. The current work not only sheds light on the early prediction of AKI, but also provides new insights into the correlation between AKI and ccRCC.

OBJECTIVES:. In COVID-19 patients requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), our primary objective was to determine the frequency of intracranial hemorrhage (ICH). Secondary objectives were to estimate the frequency of ischemic stroke, to explore association between higher anticoagulation targets and ICH, and to estimate the association between neurologic complications and in-hospital mortality. DATA SOURCES:. We searched MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Cochrane, and MedRxiv databases from inception to March 15, 2022. STUDY SELECTION:. We identified studies that described acute neurological complications in adult patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection requiring ECMO. DATA EXTRACTION:. Two authors independently performed study selection and data extraction. Studies with 95% or more of its patients on venovenous or venoarterial ECMO were pooled for meta-analysis, which was calculated using a random-effects model. DATA SYNTHESIS:. Fifty-four studies (n = 3,347) were included in the systematic review. Venovenous ECMO was used in 97% of patients. Meta-analysis of ICH and ischemic stroke on venovenous ECMO included 18 and 11 studies, respectively. The frequency of ICH was 11% (95% CI, 8–15%), with intraparenchymal hemorrhage being the most common subtype (73%), while the frequency of ischemic strokes was 2% (95% CI, 1–3%). Higher anticoagulation targets were not associated with increased frequency of ICH (p = 0.06). In-hospital mortality was 37% (95% CI, 34–40%) and neurologic causes ranked as the third most common cause of death. The risk ratio of mortality in COVID-19 patients with neurologic complications on venovenous ECMO compared with patients without neurologic complications was 2.24 (95% CI, 1.46–3.46). There were insufficient studies for meta-analysis of COVID-19 patients on venoarterial ECMO. CONCLUSIONS:. COVID-19 patients requiring venovenous ECMO have a high frequency of ICH, and the development of neurologic complications more than doubled the risk of death. Healthcare providers should be aware of these increased risks and maintain a high index of suspicion for ICH.

Abstract Epigenetic alterations and metabolic dysfunction are two hallmarks of aging. However, the mechanism of how their interaction regulates aging, particularly in mammals, remains largely unknown. Here we show ELOVL fatty acid elongase 2 (Elovl2), a gene whose epigenetic alterations are most highly correlated with age prediction, contributes to aging by regulating lipid metabolism. We applied artificial intelligence to predict the protein structure of ELOVL2 and the interaction with its substrate. Impaired Elovl2 function disturbs lipid synthesis with increased endoplasmic reticulum stress and mitochondrial dysfunction, leading to key aging phenotypes at both cellular and physiological level. Furthermore, restoration of mitochondrial activity can rescue age-related macular degeneration (AMD) phenotypes induced by Elovl2 deficiency in human retinal pigmental epithelial (RPE) cells; this indicates a conservative mechanism in both human and mouse. Taken together, we revealed an epigenetic-metabolism axis contributing to aging and illustrate the power of an AI-based approach in structure-function studies.

The temporal variations of solar rotation in the photosphere, chromosphere, and corona have been widely investigated, whereas the rotation of the solar transition region is rarely studied. Here, we perform a primary study about the long-term variation of the rotation in the transition region using Ly α irradiance from 1947 February 14 to 2023 February 20. Correlation techniques are used, and the main results are as follows. (1) The sidereal rotation period of the solar transition region varies between 22.24 and 31.49 days, and the mean sidereal rotation period is 25.50 days for the studied time interval 1947–2022. (2) The rotation period of the transition region exhibits a clear downward trend during 1947–2022, which might be caused by the reduced heliospheric pressure and the weaker solar global magnetic fields. (3) Significant periodic signal of the quasi-Schwabe cycle is found in the rotation periods of the transition region. (4) The cross-correlation between the rotation periods of the solar transition region and sunspot activity corroborates a strong correlation with the Schwabe cycle. Possible mechanisms responsible for these results are discussed.

Abstract Background Necator americanus is one of the major etiological agents of human ancylostomiasis. Historically, the epidemiology of ancylostomiasis in Henan Province of central China and the molecular characteristics of N. americanus have been poorly understood. Methods In this study, we report a case of ancylostomiasis in Zhengzhou city of Henan Province. We also review the epidemiology of ancylostomiasis in Henan Province from 1949 to 2020. In addition, the complete mitochondrial (mt) genome of one clinical isolate is fully characterized using Illumina sequencing. All available mt genomes of hookworms in GenBank were included to reconstruct the phylogeny using both maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) methods. Results A total of three worms were collected from the patient. These worms were identified as N. americanus based on morphological characteristics as well as confirmed by genotyping with the barcoding gene cox1. Although ancylostomiasis cases have dropped substantially in recent years, hookworm infection is still a public health problem in underdeveloped areas and remote rural areas in Henan Province. The mt genome features of the N. americanus contained 12 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA genes, two ribosomal RNA genes, and a major non-coding region. The nad1 gene showed high sequence variability among isolates, which is worth considering for future genetic studies of N. americanus. Phylogenetic analyses support the monophyly of hookworm isolates from different hosts and distinct geographical locations. Conclusions The mt genome of N. americanus presented here will serve as a useful data set for studying population genetics and phylogenetic relationships of hookworms. Positive measures for preventing and controlling ancylostomiasis are required by both health services and individuals in Henan Province. Graphical abstract

Abstract Background Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) are a group of proteins that inhibit body fluids from growing to ice crystals and thus improve biological antifreeze ability. It is vital to the survival of living organisms in extremely cold environments. However, little research is performed on sequences feature extraction and selection for antifreeze proteins classification in the structure and function prediction, which is of great significance. Results In this paper, to predict the antifreeze proteins, a feature representation of weighted generalized dipeptide composition (W-GDipC) and an ensemble feature selection based on two-stage and multi-regression method (LRMR-Ri) are proposed. Specifically, four feature selection algorithms: Lasso regression, Ridge regression, Maximal information coefficient and Relief are used to select the feature sets, respectively, which is the first stage of LRMR-Ri method. If there exists a common feature subset among the above four sets, it is the optimal subset; otherwise we use Ridge regression to select the optimal subset from the public set pooled by the four sets, which is the second stage of LRMR-Ri. The LRMR-Ri method combined with W-GDipC was performed both on the antifreeze proteins dataset (binary classification), and on the membrane protein dataset (multiple classification). Experimental results show that this method has good performance in support vector machine (SVM), decision tree (DT) and stochastic gradient descent (SGD). The values of ACC, RE and MCC of LRMR-Ri and W-GDipC with antifreeze proteins dataset and SVM classifier have reached as high as 95.56%, 97.06% and 0.9105, respectively, much higher than those of each single method: Lasso, Ridge, Mic and Relief, nearly 13% higher than single Lasso for ACC. Conclusion The experimental results show that the proposed LRMR-Ri and W-GDipC method can significantly improve the accuracy of antifreeze proteins prediction compared with other similar single feature methods. In addition, our method has also achieved good results in the classification and prediction of membrane proteins, which verifies its widely reliability to a certain extent.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have gained much attention for their crucial regulatory roles in human diseases and cancers. However, the role and the mechanism of circRNA ArfGAP with FG repeats 1 (circAGFG1) in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are still largely unknown. circAGFG1 was highly expressed in NSCLC, and high expression of circAGFG1 was closely related to the low survival rate of NSCLC patients. circAGFG1 knockdown inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion and promoted the apoptosis of NSCLC cells. circAGFG1 bound to miR-28-5p in NSCLC cells, and circAGFG1 promoted NSCLC progression partly through sponging miR-28-5p in vitro. HIF-1α was a target of miR-28-5p, and miR-28-5p overexpression-mediated influences in NSCLC cells were partly overturned by the addition of HIF-1α overexpression plasmid. circAGFG1/miR-28-5p/HIF-1α axis regulated cellular glycolytic metabolism in NSCLC cells. circAGFG1 silencing restrained the xenograft tumor growth in vivo. circAGFG1 promoted the proliferation, migration, and invasion and suppressed the apoptosis of NSCLC cells through accelerating the glycolysis via miR-28-5p/HIF-1α axis.

Increased bacterial translocation in the gut and bloodstream infections are both major comorbidities of heart failure and myocardial infarction (MI). However, the alterations in the microbiome of the blood of patients with MI remain unclear. To test this hypothesis, we conducted this case-control study to explore the microbiota compositions in the blood of Chinese patients with MI. Using high-throughput Illumina HiSeq sequencing targeting the V3–V4 region of the 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene, the microbiota communities in the blood of 29 patients with MI and 29 healthy controls were examined. In addition, the relationship between the blood microbiome and clinical features of MI was investigated. This study revealed a significant reduction in alpha diversity (Shannon index) in the MI group compared with the healthy controls. Also, a significant difference was detected in the structure and richness between the patients with MI and healthy controls. The members of the phylum Actinobacteria, class Actinobacteria, order Bifdobacteriales, family Bifidobacteriaceae, and genus Bifidobacterium were significantly abundant in the MI group, while the members of the phylum Bacteroidetes, class Bacteroidia, and order Bacteroidales were significantly enriched in the healthy controls (p < 0.05). Moreover, the functional analysis revealed a significant variation between both groups. For instance, the enrichment of genes involved in the metabolism pathways of three amino acids decreased, that is, nucleotide transport and metabolism, coenzyme transport and metabolism, and lipid transport and metabolism, among others. Our study will contribute to a better knowledge of the microbiota of blood, which will further lead to improved MI diagnosis and therapy. Further study is needed to determine the role of the blood microbiota in human health and disease.

BackgroundAccording to their symptoms, abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) can be divided into symptomatic and asymptomatic types. This study aimed to explore the differences and correlations between postoperative lumen thrombosis in these two groups after endovascular aortic repair (EVAR).MethodsA retrospective study using clinical data of 169 patients with AAA treated with EVAR collected in our hospital between January 2018 and January 2021 was conducted based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria for patient selection. Based on whether the patient had clinical symptoms at admission and the presence of a complete lumen thrombus during follow-up, the patients were divided into two sets of groups: a complete-thrombus group (n = 44) and a partial-thrombus group (n = 125), and a group with clinical symptoms (n = 32) and a group without clinical symptoms (n = 137). The clinical data of these groups were compared, and a further stratified analysis was performed.ResultsA total of 169 patients were included in the analysis. An abdominal aorta stent graft was successfully implanted in all patients. The complete-thrombus rate of the patients in this study was 73.96%. Univariate analysis showed that the maximal aortic diameter and preoperative peripheral blood neutrophil levels affected the clinical symptoms of patients with AAA (p < 0.05). The complete thrombus rate of the lumen of the AAA was lower in patients with clinical symptoms than in those without symptoms during the follow-up period (p < 0.05). Female sex, preoperative hyperuricemia, and symptoms at admission were independent risk factors for a partial thrombus in the lumen during follow-up. Based on these independent risk factors, we constructed a scoring system to differentiate patients into low- (0 points), middle- (1 point), and high-risk (2 points) groups. The scoring system could distinguish the complete lumen thrombosis rate after EVAR to a certain extent.ConclusionsPatients with symptomatic AAAs were more likely to develop incomplete lumen thrombosis than asymptomatic patients during follow-up after EVAR.

Objective: This work aims to establish a framework in measuring the various attentional levels of the human operator in a real-time animated environment through a visual neuro-assisted approach. Background: With the increasing trend of automation and remote operations, understanding human-machine interaction in dynamic environments can greatly aid to improve performance, promote operational efficiency and safety. Method: Two independent 1-hour experiments were conducted on twenty participants where eye-tracking metrics and neuro activities from electroencephalogram (EEG) were recorded. The experiments required participants to exhibit attentive behaviour in one set and inattentive in the other. Two segments (“increasing flight numbers” and “relatively constant flight numbers”) were also extracted to study the participants’ visual behavioral differences in relation to aircraft numbers. Results: For the two experimental studies, those in the attentive behavioral study show incidences of higher fixation count, fixation duration, number of aircraft spotted, and landing fixations whereas those in inattentive behavior study reveal higher zero-fixation frame count. In experiments involving ‘increasing flight numbers’, a higher percentage of aircraft were spotted as compared to those with ‘constant flight numbers’ in both the groups. Three parameters (number of aircraft spotted, and landing fixations and zero-fixation frame count) are newly established. As radar monitoring is a brain engagement activity, positive EEG data were registered in all the participants. A newly Task Engagement Index (TEI) was also formulated to predict different attentional levels. Conclusion: Results provide a refined quantifiable tool to differentiate between attentive and inattentive monitoring behavior in a real-time dynamic environment, which can be applied across various sectors. Recommendation: With the quantitative TEI established, this paves the way for future studies into attentional levels by regions, time based, as well as eye signature studies in relation to visual task engagement and management and determining expertise levels to be explored. Factors relating to fatigue could also be investigated using the TEI approach proposed.

The southern Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass (YSCWM) and the Yellow Sea Warm Current (YSWC) are prominent features in the southern Yellow Sea. The traditional viewpoint is that the southern YSCWM exists in the warm half of the year and the YSWC exists in the cold half of the year; the most existing studies have regarded these features as independent ocean phenomenon. Through marine investigations conducted in the recent years in the southern Yellow Sea, the southern YSCWM was found to exist in the early winter in 2010, and the YSWC was observed in the early summer in 2013, 2014. For approximately half the year, the southern YSCWM and YSWC existed simultaneously, and the YSWC was located in a slightly high-temperature region in the middle of the southern YSCWM. A sandwich-shaped temperature structure formed in the middle of the southern Yellow Sea from spring to autumn. This article studies the seasonal variation characteristics of the three-dimensional southern YSCWM and YSWC structures using ocean survey data collected in the recent years. The new perspective of the seasonal variations in the southern YSCWM and YSWC obtained herein will promote the recognition of southern Yellow Sea water exchanges and support biogeochemical cycle research in the Yellow Sea.

With modern information technology widely applied to school teaching in all aspects, blended teaching based on SPOC is increasingly popular with colleges and universities. However, it’s still rare to see the applied research into it for English teaching in primary schools. In order to explore the application of SPOC in English teaching of primary schools, this paper analyzed the current situation of English teaching in primary schools in China in detail, and then proposed a blended teaching model based on the SPOC platforms of Cloud Class and 17zuoye.com. We also conducted an experiment that lasts about one year by tracking and recording the performance of two groups of classes in Zhongwu Primary School with an experimental class and a control class in each group. After analyzing the experimental data, we found that the SPOC-based teaching model proposed in this paper can achieve good practical results, and can be applied and promoted for future teaching in other schools.

Objectives: Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) are associated with high mortality rates. The genes and pathways linked with AAA remain poorly understood. This study aimed to identify key differentially expressed genes (DEGs) linked to the progression of AAA using bioinformatics analysis.Methods: Gene expression profiles of the GSE47472 and GSE57691 datasets were acquired from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. These datasets were merged and normalized using the “sva” R package, and DEGs were identified using the limma package in R. The functions of these DEGs were assessed using Cytoscape software. We analyzed the DEGs using Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analysis. Protein–protein interaction networks were assembled using Cytoscape, and crucial genes were identified using the Cytoscape plugin, molecular complex detection. Data from GSE15729 and GSE24342 were also extracted to verify our findings.Results: We found that 120 genes were differentially expressed in AAA. Genes associated with inflammatory responses and nuclear-transcribed mRNA catabolic process were clustered in two gene modules in AAA. The hub genes of the two modules were IL6, RPL21, and RPL7A. The expression levels of IL6 correlated positively with RPL7A and negatively with RPL21. The expression of RPL21 and RPL7A was downregulated, whereas that of IL6 was upregulated in AAA.Conclusions: The expression of RPL21 or RPL7A combined with IL6 has a diagnostic value for AAA. The novel DEGs and pathways identified herein might provide new insights into the underlying molecular mechanisms of AAA.

Abstract Background This study aimed to examine the performance of the four risk of malignancy index (RMI) in discriminating borderline ovarian tumors (BOTs) and benign ovarian masses in daily clinical practice. Methods A total of 162 women with BOTs and 379 women with benign ovarian tumors diagnosed at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University from January 2012 to December 2016 were enrolled in this retrospective study. Also, we classified these patients into serous borderline ovarian tumor (SBOT) and mucinous borderline ovarian tumor (MBOT) subgroup. Preoperative ultrasound findings, cancer antigen 125 (CA125) and menopausal status were reviewed. The area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operator characteristic curves (ROC) and performance indices of RMI I, RMI II, RMI III and RMI IV were calculated and compared for discrimination between benign ovarian tumors and BOTs. Results RMI I had the highest AUC (0.825, 95% CI: 0.790–0.856) among the four RMIs in BOTs group. Similar results were found in SBOT (0.839, 95% CI: 0.804–0.871) and MBOT (0.791, 95% CI: 0.749–0.829) subgroups. RMI I had the highest specificity among the BOTs group (87.6, 95% CI: 83.9–90.7%), SBOT (87.6, 95% CI: 83.9–90.7%) and MBOT group (87.6, 95% CI: 83.9–90.7%). RMI II scored the highest overall in terms of sensitivity among the BOTs group (69.75, 95% CI: 62.1–76.7%), SBOT (74.34, 95% CI: 65.3–82.1%) and MBOT (59.18, 95% CI: 44.2–73.0%) group. Conclusion Compared to other RMIs, RMI I was the best-performed method for differentiation of BOTs from benign ovarian tumors. At the same time, RMI I also performed best in the discrimination SBOT from benign ovarian tumors.

In this article, a computerized method is proposed for simulating digital woven fabric (DWF) based on sequential yarn images captured from a moving yarn. A mathematical model of woven fabric structure is established by assuming that the crimped shape of yarns in weave structure is elastica, and the cross-sections of yarn in sequence image and fabric are circular and ellipse, respectively. The sequential yarn images, which are preprocessed and stitched first by image processing methods, are resized based on the mathematical model. Then a light intensity curve, which consists of radial curve model and axial curve model, is used to simulate the gray texture distribution of interlacing points in radial and axial directions. Finally, a Boole Matrix model is used to control the woven pattern. In the experiment, a slub yarn and a normal yarn samples with same count are applied to simulate gray texture fabrics. Then the gray fabrics are transformed to color fabrics based on three color maps. The fabric simulations are confined to single fabrics of plain, 2/2 matt, and 1/3 twill weaves.

Abstract Background Ganoderic acids (GAs), derived from the medicinal mushroom Ganoderma lucidum, possess anticancer and other important pharmacological activities. To improve production of GAs, a homologous farnesyl diphosphate synthase (FPS) gene was overexpressed in G. lucidum. Moreover, the influence of FPS gene overexpression on GA production was investigated by developing the corresponding mathematical models. Results The maximum levels of total GAs and individual GAs (GA-T, GA-S, and GA-Me) in the transgenic strain were 2.76 mg/100 mg dry weight (DW), 41 ± 2, 21 ± 5, and 28 ± 1 μg/100 mg DW, respectively, which were increased by 2.28-, 2.27-, 2.62-, and 2.80-folds compared with those in the control. Transcription levels of squalene synthase (SQS) and lanosterol synthase (LS) genes during GA biosynthesis were upregulated by 2.28- and 1.73-folds, respectively, in the transgenic G. lucidum. In addition, the developed unstructured models had a satisfactory fit for the process of GA production in submerged cultures of G. lucidum. Analysis of the kinetic process showed that FPS gene overexpression had a stronger positive impact on GA production compared with its influence on cell growth. Also, FPS gene overexpression led to a higher non-growth-associated-constant β (1.151) over the growth-associated-constant α (0.026) in the developed models. Conclusions FPS gene overexpression is an effective strategy to improve the production of GAs in G. lucidum. The developed mathematical models are useful for developing a better GA production process in future large-scale bioreactors.

Male infertility (MI) is a complex multifactorial disease, and idiopathic infertility accounts for 30% of cases of MI. At present, the evidence for the effectiveness of empirical drugs is limited, and in vitro fertilization is costly and may increase the risk of birth defects and childhood cancers. Therefore, affected individuals may feel obliged to pursue natural remedies. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) may represent a useful option for infertile men. It has been demonstrated that TCM can regulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis and boost the function of Sertoli cells and Leydig cells. TCM can also alleviate inflam-mation, prevent oxidative stress, reduce the DNA fragmentation index, and modulate the proliferation and apoptosis of germ cells. Furthermore, TCM can supply trace elements and vitamins, ameliorate the microcirculation of the testis, decrease the levels of serum anti-sperm antibody, and modify epigenetic markers. However, the evidence in favor of TCM is not compel-ling, which has hindered the development of TCM. This review attempts to elucidate the underlying therapeutic mechanisms of TCM. We also explore the advantages of TCM, differences between TCM and Western medicine, and problems in existing studies. Subsequently, we propose solutions to these problems and present perspectives for the future development of TCM.

This paper proposes an improved protein feature expression called segmented amino acid composition in position-specific scoring matrix (PSSM-SAA) in the field of subcellular localization prediction. Since there has been sufficient local information in the PSSM-SAA vector with high dimensionality, four global algorithms of dimensional reduction are suggested, including linear discriminant analysis (LDA), median LDA (MDA), generalized Fisher discriminant analysis (GDA), and median-mean line-based discriminant analysis (MMLDA). PSSM-SAA is also compared with three important expressions: PSSM-S, DipCPSSM, and PsePSSM. Numerical experiments involving the overall success rate (OSR) show that PSSM-SAA is much better than PSSM-S and DipCPSSM and slightly better than or equal in performance to PsePSSM regardless of which dimension reduction algorithm is used. LDA is finally recommended for PSSM-SAA through comparison among four techniques of dimensional reduction. Other popular evaluation indexes also confirm the effectiveness of PSSM-SAA with LDA. Next, the suggested model is compared with the state-of-the-art predictors to further evaluate its validity. Finally, a new user-friendly local software for implementing PSSM-SAA is provided, which can be found at https://www.github.com/caozicheng/PSSMSAA-Builder.

Periodic behaviors of solar magnetic indicators might provide a clue for the understanding of solar dynamic processes. Combining with a Lomb–Scargle periodogram, the concentration of frequency and time via a multitapered synchrosqueezed transform is applied to investigate the periodic variations of modified coronal index for the time interval from 1 January 1939 to 31 August 2020. The main results are as follows: (1) During solar cycles 19 to 23, the Schwabe cycle of the modified coronal index is operating with its length variating between 10.5 and 11-yr, and the average value of length is 10.67-yr with standard deviation of 0.14-yr. (2) The Rieger-type periods are mainly distributed in a range from 120 to 200 days. In addition, the periods vary somewhat intermittently during cycles 18 to 24, which are operating with the highest power in cycles 21 and 22 while the power is much lower in cycles 23 and 24. (3) For rotation periods, the temporal variation exhibits a highly intermittent pattern as an asymmetrical distribution with its 25th, 50th, and 75th quantile of 26, 27.8, and 31-day, respectively. (4) Other mid-range periods are also detected with an average period length of 8.07, 5.44, 3.42, 2.3, and 1.01-yr.

Background: Homeostasis of thyroid hormones has significant effects on the cardiovascular system. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between free triiodothyronine (FT3) and adverse cardiovascular events in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) who were undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods: A total of 1701 patients with ACS undergoing PCI were included in this study. All patients were divided into three groups according to the tertiles of FT3 level: the lowest tertile (FT3

In this paper, we study the existence of almost automorphic solutions in the sense of Besicovitch for a class of semilinear evolution equations. Firstly, we study some basic properties of almost automorphic functions in the sense of Besicovitch, including the composition theorem. Then, by using the Banach fixed point theorem, the existence of almost automorphic solutions in the sense of Besicovitch to the semilinear equation is obtained. Finally, we give an example of partial differential equations to illustrate the applicability of our results.

Solar magnetic activity exhibits a complex nonlinear behavior, but its dynamic process has not been fully understood. As the complex network technique can better capture the dynamics of nonlinear system, the visibility graphs (VG), the horizontal visibility graphs (HVG), and the limited penetrable visibility graphs (LPVG) are applied to implement the mapping of sunspot relative numbers in the northern and southern hemispheres. The results show that these three methods can capture important information of nonlinear dynamics existing in the long-term hemispheric sunspot activity. In the presentation of the results, the network degree sequence of the HVG method changes preferentially to the original data series as well as the VG and the LPVG, while both the VG and the LPVG slightly lag behind the original time series, which provides some new ideas for the nonlinear dynamics of the hemispheric asymmetry in the two hemispheres. Meanwhile, the use of statistical feature-skewness values and complex network visibility graphs can yield some complementary information for mutual verification.