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Bahe river is the secondary tributary of the Yarlung Zangbo river, and the largest tributary of Nyang River in China, for which we analyzed the microbial diversity, community structure and metabolic function diversity in the surface sediments of 3 cascade hydropower stations upstream and downstream and their adjacent tributaries were analyzed by high-throughput sequencing. The study has shown that the abundance of microbial community in the surface sediments of Bahe cascade hydropower station were as follows S7(downstream of Laozui Hydropower Station), S3(downstream of 606 Hydropower Station), S5(Zhulaqu of Bahe tributary), S4(upstream of Xueka Hydropower Station), S1(upstream of 606 Hydropower Station), S2 (Zimuzhongnongbaqu of Bahe tributary) and S6(downstream of Xueka Hydropower Station/upstream of Laozui Hydropower Station), and the microbial diversity and abundance of 7 sampling points were lower than those of other areas. The predominant bacteria in the surface sediments of Bahe cascade hydropower stations are Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria, Frimicutes, Actinobacteria, Bacteroides, etc. The dominant bacteria are Exiguobacterium, Tychonema_CCAP_1459-11B, norank_f__unclassified_o__Oxypotobacteria_Incertae_Sedis, Hyphobacterium, Sphingorhabdus, Leptolyngbya_FYG, Phytobacter, Pseudoarthrobacter, Pseudoarthrobacter, Unclassified_f__ Microbacteriaceae. Predominant bacteria varied significantly between samples. Further study shown that total phosphorus, temperature and flow velocity were the main factors affecting microbial community structure in plateau rivers. And the cascade effect also affects the microbial community structure, the functional genes, functional proteins, dominant enzymes and FAPROTAX functions of the river in S3 and S4. However, cascade effect was failure in S6, S7. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Nyang River is located in an area sensitive to global climate change, the climate warming changes and human activities have impacted the fragile ecosystem of Plateau Rivers, for which we analyzed the bacterial diversity, community structure characteristics and main influencing factors in the surface sediments of 7 sampling sites in the middle and lower of the Nyang River in Tibet which is in China by high-throughput sequencing technology. The study showed that the abundance of bacterial community in the surface sediments of the middle and lower reaches of the Nyang River that is S1 (upstream of the junction of Bahe Town), S2 (Bahe River), S3 (downstream of the junction of Bahe Town), S4 (upstream of Duobu Hydropower Station), S5 (downstream of Duobu Hydropower Station), S6 (upstream of Bayi Town), S7 (downstream of Bayi Town). The abundance of bacterial community and bacterial diversity at S2 site are relatively high, and the bacterial diversity and abundance of the 7 sampling sites are lower than those of other areas. Five dominant bacteria phyla, including Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and seven dominant bacteria genera, including Exiguobacterium, Hymenobacter, Hyphomicrobium, Leptolyngbya_FYG, Phormidesmis_ANT. L52.6, Tychonema_CCAP_1459-11B were extracted from the surface sediments of the middle and lower reaches of the Nyang River in the dry season. There were significant differences in the dominant bacteria among the samples. Further study found that the influencing factors were flow velocity, environmental factors and nutrients in descending order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: Metastatic lung cancer often spreads to the musculoskeletal structures and spinal column. Patients suffering from spinal metastasis due to lung cancer present poorer prognostic outcomes in terms of overall survival compared to spinal metastases from other origins. To date, no meta-analysis has attempted to evaluate the prognostic impact of various predictive factors that may influence the overall survival of patients with spinal metastasis due to metastatic lung cancer. The aim of the study was to evaluate the prognostic impact of different predictive factors that might influence the overall survival of patients with spinal metastasis due to metastatic lung cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Five electronic databases (Web of Science, EMBASE, CENTRAL, Scopus, and MEDLINE) were screened for eligible studies according to PRISMA guidelines. We conducted a random-effects meta-analysis to evaluate the prognostic impact of aging, pre-ambulatory status, radiotherapy, adenocarcinoma, performance status, visceral metastasis, and number of affected vertebrae on the overall survival of patients with spinal metastasis due to lung cancer. RESULTS: From 963 studies, we found 13 eligible studies with data on 1144 patients. Our meta-analysis revealed that pre-treatment ambulatory status (2.08), Eastern cooperative oncology group score (1.78), and aging (1.68) had significant impacts on overall survival. CONCLUSIONS: We provide preliminary evidence highlighting three factors potentially predictive of overall survival for patients suffering from spinal metastasis due to metastatic lung cancer. These findings may help clinicians stratify and manage patients more effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A physical model is developed with the volume of fluid (VOF) method to track the free interface in the meltpool to understand the meltpool evolution, fluid flowing and the behaviour in gas and liquid interface. The model is characterized with a combined heat source model consisting of a parabolic rotating and a cylindrical distribution, and a stochastic distributed model of powder bed with powder particle size. The heat source is only loaded in the unit interface between metallic and gas phase in the laser-powder interaction zone. The simulation is carried out only in first and second laser scanning track due to the reduction in computing time. Simulation results exhibits the fluid flowing and surface morphology in the meltpool is determined significantly by different laser parameters such as laser power and scanning velocity. The simulated meltpool geometry has good agreement with the experimental ones. The meltpool geometry of the first track changes from the approximate circle, ellipse to 'comet' due to the heat accumulation during continuous laser scanning. The meltpool geometry of the second track becomes much larger, its temperature is higher and the fluid flowing is faster than that of the first track. The melt metal flows violently in the initial position due to the high flowing velocity in a limit melt space. The second track has enough space for metal flowing and it is easy to obtain a smooth surface morphology than the first track; thus, a long enough meltpool helps to get a steady fluid and smooth surface morphology. The temperature of the meltpool at beam centre fluctuates during laser scanning process, which depend on the determined effects of the interaction between thermal conduction and violent fluid flowing or the interaction between heat accumulation and violent fluid flowing. The information about temperature distribution and fluid flowing in the meltpool provided by the simulation helps to analyse and understand the formation mechanism of the meltpool geometry, surface morphology and meltpool evolution as well, benefiting to further control the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) processing of Ti6Al4V alloy powder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Hyperoxia treats a subset of critical neonatal illnesses but induces intestinal damage in neonatal pups. In this process, the intestinal flora and mucosal epithelium might be altered by hyperoxia. So the changes of the intestinal flora and mucosal epithelium were studied. Methods. Neonatal rats were randomized into the model group that was exposed to hyperoxia and the control group that was maintained under normoxic conditions; then, intestinal lavage fluid and intestinal tissues were harvested. ELISA was used to detect D-lactic acid (D-LA), endotoxin (ET), diamine oxidase (DAO), intestinal fatty acid binding protein (i-FABP), liver-type fatty acid binding protein (L-FABP) and cytokines in the intestinal lavage of neonatal rats during hyperoxia. The intestinal zonula occluden-1 (ZO-1), occlusion protein (Occludin), and closure protein-4 (Claudin-4) of neonatal pups were detected by immunohistochemistry, western blotting, and real-time Polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) during hyperoxia. NCM460 cell survival rates were assayed by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) during hyperoxia and administration of N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC). The expression levels of ZO-1, Occludin, and Claudin-4 in NCM460 cells were detected by immunohistochemistry, western blotting, and RT-PCR during hyperoxia and NAC. Results. D-LA, ET, L-FABP, i-FABP, DAO, TNF-α, IL-10, and IFN-γ were significantly increased by hyperoxia, while ZO-1, Occludin, and Claudin-4 were clearly decreased in the hyperoxia group compared with the control group. NAC promoted cell survival, which was inhibited by hyperoxia. The cellular expression levels of ZO-1, Occludin, and Claudin-4, which were lowered by hyperoxia, were increased by NAC. Conclusion. Hyperoxia causes injury of the intestinal mucosa, and ROS plays a role in this intestinal damage during hyperoxia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis analyzing the efficacy of zoledronic acid in improving outcomes with percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) and percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) surgeries for osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (OVCF). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We electronically searched the databases of PubMed, Embase, ScienceDirect, CENTRAL, and Google Scholar up to 15th September 2020. All types of studies assessing the use of zoledronic acid with PKP/PVP surgeries were included. RESULTS: Seven studies were included. On meta-analysis of data from five studies reporting bone mineral density (BMD) as g/cm², we found a statistically significant increase in BMD in the zoledronic group (MD: 0.14; 95% CI: 0.07, 0.21, I²=97%; p<0.001). On pooled analysis of two studies reporting T scores, a similar result in favour of the zoledronic acid group was noted (MD: 0.60; 95% CI: 0.23, 0.98, I²=76%; p=0.002). We also found a statistically significant reduction in pain scores (MD: -1.23; 95% CI: -1.59, -0.86, I²=97%; p<0.00001), ODI scores (MD: -9.54; 95% CI: -12.76, -6.31, I²=95%; p<0.00001) and serum type I procollagen peptide (CTX) levels (MD: -0.19; 95% CI: -0.25, -0.12, I²=98%; p<0.00001) with zoledronic acid as compared to control. Our analysis also found a significantly reduced risk of further vertebral fractures in patients receiving zoledronic acid as compared to control (RR: 0.17; 95% CI: 0.07, 0.39, I²=0%; p<0.00001). CONCLUSIONS: Our review indicates that the use of once-yearly zoledronic acid in the peri-operative period of PVP/PKP procedures for patients with OVCF leads to significant improvement of BMD, reduced pain scores, better ODI scores, and reduced incidence of further vertebral fractures. Our results have clinical significance as it encourages the use of zoledronic acid for such patients for better clinical outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is one of the most representative diabetic microangiopathy complications. So far, there have been no satisfactory therapeutic strategies, and the injection of stem cells provides a target for DN therapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Urine-derived stem cells (USCs) were obtained from 9 healthy men. 24 mice were randomly and equally divided into control group, DN model group, DN+hUSC group (treated with USCs for 3 times). Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) and Masson staining were used to detect histological changes of kidney injury. Creatinine and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) were measured to assess renal function. Besides, myofibroblast accumulation, macrophage infiltration, cell proliferation, and oxidative stress were detected by immunohistochemical analysis. RESULTS: Compared with DN model group, DN+hUSC group showed lower function loss, cell infiltration, and oxidative stress, as well as less renal fibrosis, histological damage, and cell proliferation. CONCLUSIONS: USC can alleviate inflammation and oxidative stress, reduce renal interstitial fibrosis, improve renal tissue structure and protect renal function through paracrine effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we evaluated the probiotic properties of two strains Lactobacillus reuteri ZLR003 and Lactobacillus salivarius ZLS006. The two strains displayed tolerance of acid and heat, and demonstrated antimicrobial ability in vitro. Furthermore, their potential functions in vivo were also tested. A total of 120 crossbred (Landrace × Large White) growing pigs were divided into three groups: a control diet, the same diet supplemented with L. reuteri ZLR003 (2.0 × 109 cfu/kg of diet) or L. salivarius ZLS006 (3.50 × 109 cfu/kg of diet). The results showed that the average daily gain and feed conversion ratio were significantly improved in L. reuteri ZLR003- (1–5 weeks and 1–9 weeks) (P < 0.05) and L. salivarius ZLS006-treated pigs (1–5 weeks, 6–9 weeks and 1–9 weeks) (P < 0.05) compared with the control group. Dietary supplementation with L. salivarius ZLS006 increased the apparent digestibility of nitrogen at Week 9 (P < 0.05). The faecal Lactobacillus populations increased at the end of experiment, and the Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus in faeces decreased in the two Lactobacillus treatments compared with the control at Week 5 (P < 0.05) and Week 9 (P < 0.05), respectively. Furthermore, the total cholesterol, alanine transferase, aspartate transferase, blood urea nitrogen and haptoglobin levels in serum were significantly decreased following L. reuteri ZLR003 and L. salivarius ZLS006 treatments (P < 0.05). In conclusion, these data suggest that the two Lactobacillus strains may be promising candidates for probiotic products in growing-finishing pigs. Intestinal health plays an important role in promoting the healthy growth of animals. The present study showed that the two Lactobacillus strains exhibited excellent probiotic characteristics in vitro and in vivo for growing-finishing pigs. The results contribute to our understanding of the probiotic activity of the strain and its application in animal production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on a study which determined the thermal refractive index coefficients of Nb:KTiOPO4 crystals. Advantages of niobium doping; Technique used in measuring the refractive index; Results of the study.

The rarity of primary small cell carcinoma of the esophagus (PSCE) has limited the clinical feature and survival analysis with large sample size. Tissue chromogranin A (CgA) protein expression has been reported to be a useful biomarker for diagnosing PSCE. Interestingly, recent studies have indicated tissue CgA as a significant prognostic marker in multiple human cancers, but without PSCE. The present study, thus, was undertaken to characterize the clinicopathological changes and to evaluate the associations of tissue CgA expression with clinical response on Chinese PSCE patients. All the 125 PSCE patients were enrolled from our 500,000 esophageal and gastric cardia carcinoma databases (1973-2015), constructed by the cooperative team from more than 700 hospitals in China and established by Henan Key Laboratory for Esophageal Cancer Research in Henan, China. Immunostaining for CgA showed that CgA was mainly located in cytoplasm of tumor cells with a positive detection rate of 44.6%. The CgA positive expression rate in PSCE at lower segment of the esophagus (72.2%) was higher than that at middle segment (41.5%) (P = 0.001). However, CgA protein expression did not correlated with lymph node metastasis (P = 0.767), TNM staging (P = 0.740), tumor invasion (P = 0.253), gender (P = 0.262), and age (P = 0.250). Multivariate survival analysis showed that the patients with higher CgA protein expression had a superior long survival than those without CgA expression (P = 0.037). The clinicopathological analysis showed that PSCE occurred predominantly in male (M:F = 1.9:1) at the middle segment (68%) of the esophagus. Histologically, 89.6% were pure PSCE and 10.4% were mixed type with either squamous cell carcinoma (8%) or adenocarcinoma (2.4%). It was noteworthy that, with the in-depth invasion from T1 to T2 and T3, the positive lymph node metastasis rate increased dramatically from 38%, 56% to 74%, respectively. The survival rates of 1-, 2-, 3-, and 5-year were 64%, 35%, 18%, and 7%, respectively. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the young patients (≤60 years) had longer survival than the elderly (P = 0.011). Interestingly, multivariate survival analysis revealed that the patients with mixed PSCE had a significantly better survival than those with pure PSCE (P = 0.015). Furthermore, the median survival time for the patients with and without lymph node metastasis was 1.16 and 2.03 years, respectively. But, the difference was not significant (P = 0.143). Univariate analysis did not show any survival influence by gender, tumor location, tumor invasion depth, and TNM staging. It was noteworthy that, of the 13 early PSCE patients (T1N0M0), only one patient had more than 5 year survival, the others died with less than one or two year (65%). The present study indicates that the PSCE is of badly worsen prognosis, even in the pathological early stage. Tissue CgA protein expression is a promising maker not only for diagnosis and also for prognosis. Further assessment is needed to establish specific PSCE pathological staging system and to clarify the mechanisms of CgA protein in PSCE progression and prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Logistic regression plays an important role in machine learning. People excitingly use it in conceptual matching yet with some details to be understood further. This paper aims to present a reasonable statement on logistic regression based on fuzzy sets and the factor space theory. An example about breast cancer diagnosis is displayed to show how the factor space theory can be incorporated into the understanding and use of logistic regression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dielectric properties of Ba0.96Sr0.04Zr0.04Ln xTi0.96- xO3- δ (Ln = Y, Dy, Gd, Yb) ceramics were investigated in this work. The permittivity dependence on temperature showed the Curie temperature of the investigated ceramic samples was around 100 °C. The permittivity (>10000) at room temperature is obtained when the x is 0.004 and 0.003 for Y3+ and Dy3+, respectively. The origin of the dielectric abnormality may result from the amphoteric properties of Y3+ and Dy3+. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]