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Background During cerebral ischemia, inflammatory factors such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and IL-1β released from the ischemic core may trigger neuronal death in the ischemic penumbra, influencing infarct volume. This study aimed to understand the relationship between serum IL-1β, IL-6, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels with infarct core and ischemic penumbra volume in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and its influence on prognosis. Methods The serum levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and hs-CRP were measured in 65 patients within 24h of AIS onset. The infarcts of the patients were imaged with magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance angiography. Alberta Stroke Program Early Computed Tomography Score (ASPECTS) and core volume on computed tomography perfusion or perfusion-weighted imaging were used to calculate infarct volume and ischemic penumbra volume. The Tan collateral score was calculated with Neusoft Brain Clinical Assistant Ration Evaluate (NeuBrainCARE). Results We found a significant correlation between infarct core volume and serum hs-CRP levels (P

Infrastructure-Vehicle Cooperative Autonomous Driving (IVCAD) is a new paradigm of autonomous driving, which relies on the cooperation between intelligent roads and autonomous vehicles. This paradigm has been shown to be safer and more efficient compared to the on-vehicle-only autonomous driving paradigm. Our real-world deployment data indicates that the effectiveness of IVCAD is constrained by reliability and performance of commercial communication networks. This paper targets this exact problem, and proposes INTERNEURON, a middleware to achieve high communication reliability between intelligent roads and autonomous vehicles, in the context of IVCAD. Specifically, INTERNEURON dynamically matches IVCAD applications and the underlying communication technologies based on varying communication performance and quality needs. Evaluation results confirm that INTERNEURON reduces deadline violations by more than 95\%, significantly improving the reliability of IVCAD systems.

Angular correlations between vector boson and heavy flavors~(HF) are potentially new effective tools to gain insight into the partonic interactions in the quark-gluon plasma (QGP). In this paper, we present the theoretical study of the azimuthal angular de-correlations of $γ+$HF in nucleus-nucleus collisions as a new probe of the in-medium $P_T$-broadening effect. The initial production of $γ+$HF in p+p is generated by SHERPA which matches the next-to-leading hard processes with parton shower. The in-medium heavy quark evolution is implemented by a Monte Carlo Langevin simulation, which takes into account the collisional and radiative energy loss. We observe considerable suppression at $Δϕ_{γD}\simπ$ and enhancement at $Δϕ_{γD}, 11 pages, 9 figures

In this study, we aimed to address the attenuation of electrokinetic fluxes that occur during plant (tall fescue)-based electrokinetic remediation of oil-contaminated soil. Following 60 days of treatment, the concentration of water-soluble cations and anions in the electrokinetics-assisted phytoremediation treatment (EK-P) were 20.03 mg/kg and 15.7 mg/kg higher than that in the electrokinetic (EK) treatment, respectively. At the electrode, plants were able to alleviate the ion aggregation effect caused by the electrokinetics, reduce the conversion of soluble ions to insoluble ones, and reduce the decay of water-soluble ions. In addition, the zeta potential of EK-P was 5.05 mV lower than that of EK. Plants maintained the stability of the soil colloid and reduced the movement of the peak of colloidal particle size from small to large particles, thereby reducing the amount of colloidal deposition. Finally, the EK-P current was 22.49% higher than that in EK while the electrokinetic effect was maintained. Meanwhile, electrokinetics increased plant biomass by 20.21%. Electrokinetics was found to create a synergy with the plants, an effect that eventually enhanced the rate of oil degradation.

Total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) pollution in oilfield soils is a worldwide environmental problem. In this study, we analysed the spatial variation of residual TPH components and the ecological risk they pose. The soils of five selected oilfields in China, across 11 degrees of latitude and 17 degrees of longitude were selected for the investigation. The results showed that the non-zonal composition of the residual TPHs in the soil was similar to the that of the crude oil input. Principal component analysis (PCA) suggested that the effect of zonal environmental factors explained 81.5% of the variability in the residual indexes of saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons. The first principal component, the soil clay and organic matter, correlated positively with the residual TPH index. The second principal component, the accumulated temperature, however, correlated negatively with the residual TPH index in the soil. Moreover, the application of the soil quality index (SoQI) and a Monte Carlo simulation for estimating the residual TPH content suggested that the ecological risk caused by residual TPHs in the soil decreased when the oilfield latitude and clay and organic matter content in the oilfield soil were lower. This study provides a basis for the assessment and monitoring of ecological risk in oilfield soils worldwide.

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19902-7

Electro-bioremediation is a promising technology for remediation of soil contaminated with persistent organic compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). During electro-bioremediation, electrical fields have been shown to increase pollutant degradation. However, it remains unclear whether there is an optimal strength for the electrical field applied that is conductive to the maximum role played by microbes. This study aimed to determine the optimal strength of electric field through the analysis of the effects of different voltages on the microbial community and activity. Four bench-scale experiments with voltages of 0, 1, 2 and 3 V cm−1 were conducted for 90 days in an aged PAH-contaminated soil. The spatiotemporal changes of the soil pH, moisture content and temperature, microbial biomass and community structure, and the degradation extent of PAHs were researched over 90 days. The results indicated that the total microbial biomass and degradation activity were highest at voltages of 2 V cm−1. The concentration of total phospholipid fatty acids, used to quantify soil microbial biomass, reached 65.7 nmol g−1 soil, and the mean degradation extent of PAHs was 44.0%. Similarly, the maximum biomass of actinomycetes, bacteria and fungus also occurred at the voltage of 2 V cm−1. The Gram-positive/Gram-negative and (cy17:0+cy 19:0)/(16:1ω7+18:1ω7) ratios also showed that the intensity of electric field and electrode reactions strongly influenced the microbial community structure. Therefore, to optimize the electro-bioremediation of PAH-contaminated soil, the strength of electric field needs to be selected carefully. This work provides reference for the development of novel electrokinetically enhanced bioremediation processes.

Additional file 1 : Supplementary Table 1. Dynamic variations in cell counts of total WBCs, total lymphocytes, and lymphocyte subsets in patients with non-severe COVID-19, severe COVID-19, and severe influenza A at weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4. Values represent P values.

This study investigates the effect of the electrokinetic process, which includes electromigration and electro-osmosis, and the cause of process termination. The results show that electromigration strongly contributes to the ionic transportation in the first 10 days, and electro-osmosis is the dominant mechanism during 11–40 d. A total of 90% of Na+ was transported out of the compact soil, whereas Ca2+ was mainly retained near the cathode in the form of precipitation. The soil colloid electric double layer (EDL) was compressed at the anode because of the high concentration of free Ca2+ in the first 10 days and became thinner after 40 days because of the pH reduction. At the cathode, the EDL was first enlarged with the increase in pH and subsequently compressed because of the Ca precipitation film. Correspondingly, partial soil particles that were smaller than 712 nm were aggregated into larger ones because of the compression of EDL, particularly at the anode. In addition, partial soil particles were transported with EOF toward the cathode, which increased the percentage of colloid particles (

Background An effective emergency triage system is lacking in mainland China. The Chinese Emergency Triage Scale (CETS) was developed based on vital complaints and vital parameters, according to Chinese data. Objective The aim of this study was to assess the reliability and validity of the CETS by emergency department (ED) nurses in eight EDs in mainland China. Design A cross-sectional multi-center study was conducted. Settings Eight EDs in the eastern, western, northern, and central areas of mainland China. Participants A total of 51 ED nurses and 8000 active ED patients participated in the study between May and September 2018 in eight EDs. Methods Standardized triage scenarios and active patients were assigned to nurses who used the CETS for evaluative purposes. Accuracy was defined by concordance with the key for the scenarios and was calculated as percentages. Inter-rater reliability was measured by weighted κ to compare the triage nurse's rating with the research nurse's acuity level for each patient. The triage time and clinical outcome of 1000 active patients per site also were collected. The criterion-related validity of the CETS was evaluated; criteria included ED mortality, number of patients discharged, and admission to ICU or general ward. The relationship between the CETS acuity levels triaged by the research nurse and four possible outcomes was assessed with a cross-classification table, using a chi-square test. The ability of the CETS to predict ED mortality was assessed via the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) area under the curve (AUC). Results Mean pooled accuracy from all sites was 89.4% (95% CI = 86.9%–91.8%), and the proportion of over-triage slightly exceeded under-triage (6.5% vs. 4.1%). There was no difference in accuracy between sites or according to nurse experience. Inter-rater reliability values for triage nurses and research nurses were 0.96 (95% CI = 0.95–0.97), based on the quadratic weight κ. Trauma cases were assigned to triage with greater accuracy than were nontrauma cases, both for the scenarios and for active patients. The average triage time of ED nurses in all sites was 151.5 ± 26.3 s, using the computer-based triage instrument. The chi-square test showed that there was a significant difference in triage time between the CETS levels (p Conclusions The CETS is a reliable system for ED triage and can promote rapid and effective triage in mainland China.

This paper envisions a scenario that hundreds of heterogeneous robots form a robotcenter which can be shared by multiple users and used like a single powerful robot to perform complex tasks. However, current multi-robot systems are either unable to manage heterogeneous robots or unable to support multiple concurrent users. Inspired by the design of modern datacenter OSes, we propose Avalon, a robot operating system with two-level scheduling scheme which is widely adopted in datacenters for Internet services and cloud computing. Specifically, Avalon integrates three important features together: (1) Instead of allocating a whole robot, Avalon classifies fine-grained robot resources into three categories to distinguish which fine-grained resources can be shared by multi-robot frameworks simultaneously. (2) Avalon adopts a location based resource allocation policy to substantially reduce scheduling overhead. (3) Avalon enables robots to offload computation intensive tasks to the clouds.We have implemented and evaluated Avalon on robots on both simulated environments and real world.

Soil pollution is a global problem which has gained enormous attentions especially in China. The Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences is the first research institute to study remediation technology for contaminated soils. In the 1990s, this institute carried out the Major Programs of Chinese Academy of Sciences, namely, “Study of clean technology on contaminated soil.” Since the year 2000, the Environmental Engineering Group and Pollution Ecology Group of the Institute of Applied Ecology have carried out much research on the mechanisms, technology, materials, and equipment required for the remediation of soils contaminated by organic pollutants and heavy metals. They have undertaken 46 projects on soil remediation supported by the Chinese government and Chinese Academy of Sciences, such as the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program), the Major State Basic Research Development Program of China (973 Program), the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the Major Programs of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Many significant results have been obtained, including 6 remediation technologies, 5 remediation equipments, 10 remediation materials, and the publication of 46 patents and 67 papers.

This study demonstrated the highly efficient degradation of n-hexadecane in soil, realized by alternating bioremediation and electrokinetic technologies. Using an alternating technology instead of simultaneous application prevented competition between the processes that would lower their efficiency. For the consumption of the soil dissolved organic matter (DOM) necessary for bioremediation by electrokinetics, bioremediation was performed first. Because of the utilization and loss of the DOM and water-soluble ions by the microbial and electrokinetic processes, respectively, both of them were supplemented to provide a basic carbon resource, maintain a high electrical conductivity and produce a uniform distribution of ions. The moisture and bacteria were also supplemented. The optimal DOM supplement (20.5 mg·kg−1 glucose; 80–90% of the total natural DOM content in the soil) was calculated to avoid competitive effects (between the DOM and n-hexadecane) and to prevent nutritional deficiency. The replenishment of the water-soluble ions maintained their content equal to their initial concentrations. The degradation rate of n-hexadecane was only 167.0 mg·kg−1·d−1 (1.9%, w/w) for the first 9 days in the treatments with bioremediation or electrokinetics alone, but this rate was realized throughout the whole process when the two technologies were alternated, with a degradation of 78.5% ± 2.0% for the n-hexadecane after 45 days of treatment.

The relationship between source-sink landscape pattern and phosphorus pollution in Yuqiao watershed(Tianjin) was revealed by use of digital elevation model and phosphorus pollution spatial simulation model on the basis of remote sensing(RS) images interpretation.DEM data at the scale of 1∶50000 were used to extract surface features,identify flow direction,calculate flow accumulation and extract river network in the whole basin using the hydrology module in the ArcGIS spatial analyst tool.Maximum like hood classification algorithm was used to extract land cover information for Yuqiao watershed from the TM images of 1999 and 2009 on which basis landscape change from 1999 to 2009 was statistically analyzed.Spatial distribution of phosphorus pollution in Yuqiao watershed under different landscape patterns were simulated by scenario approach.It is found that the area ratio of sink landscape types of forest,shrub and grass decreased 18.44% whereas that of source landscape types of cultivated land,orchard,built-up increased 12.34%.For the main sub-basins in Yuqiao watershed,namely,Li River,Sha River and Lin River,the area ratio of source landscape types to sink landscape types were 2.81∶1,1.82∶1 and 0.85∶1,respectively in 2009.The total phosphorus pollution of Yuqiao watershed increased significantly from 1.00(kg/km2) up to 1.12(kg/km2) from 1999 to 2009 when the total phosphorus pollution of source landscape has increased 51.5% from 0.98(kg/km2) to 1.49(kg/km2).Significant spatial heterogeneity of phosphorus pollution existed among the three sub-basins with the total phosphorus load in Lin River,Sha River and Li River being 1.26(kg/km2),1.14(kg/km2) and 1.10(kg/km2),respectively.In sum,there were significant temporal and spatial heterogeneity between source-sink landscape pattern and phosphorus pollution in Yuqiao watershed.

Aim To estimate the general and racial/ethnic specific cumulative probability of remission from nicotine alcohol cannabis or cocaine dependence, and to identify predictors of remission across substances. Design Data were collected from structured diagnostic interviews using the Alcohol Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities Interview Schedule-DSM-IV version. Setting The 2001-2002 National Epidemiological Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) surveyed a nationally representative sample from US adults (n = 43 093) selected in a three-stage sampling design. Participants The subsamples of individuals with life-time DSM-IV diagnosis of dependence on nicotine (n = 6937), alcohol (n = 4781), cannabis (n = 530) and cocaine (n = 408). Measurements Cumulative probability estimates of dependence remission for the general population and across racial/ethnic groups. Hazard ratios for remission from dependence. Findings Life-time cumulative probability estimates of dependence remission were 83.7% for nicotine, 90.6% for alcohol, 97.2% for cannabis and 99.2% for cocaine. Half of the cases of nicotine, alcohol, cannabis and cocaine dependence remitted approximately 26, 14, 6 and 5 years after dependence onset, respectively. Males, Blacks and individuals with diagnosis of personality disorders and history of substance use comorbidity exhibited lower hazards of remission for at least two substances. Conclusions A significant proportion of individuals with dependence on nicotine, alcohol, cannabis or cocaine achieve remission at some point in their life-time, although the probability and time to remission varies by substance and racial/ethnic group. Several predictors of remission are shared by at least two substances, suggesting that the processes of remission overlap. The lower rates of remission of individuals with comorbid personality or substance use disorders highlight the need for providing coordinated psychiatric and substance abuse interventions.

Rearrangements of the MLL gene located at chromosome 11q23 are common chromosomal abnormalities associated with acute leukemias. In vast majority of cases with MLL gene rearrangements, only one chromosome 11 or a single MLL allele got involved. We report two very unusual cases of myeloid neoplasms with homozygous inv(11)(q21q23) and biallelic MLL rearrangement. Both patients, a 12-year old boy and a 29-year old woman, presented initially with T lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma (T-ALL), achieved complete remission with intensive chemotherapy, then recurred as acute myeloid leukemia in one patient and therapy-related myelodysplastic syndromes in the other patient, 24 and 15 months after initial T-ALL diagnosis, respectively. In both cases, biallelic MLL gene rearrangements were confirmed by fluorescence in situ hybridization. Mastermind like 2 gene was identified as MLL partner gene in one case. To our knowledge, homozygous inv(11)(q21q23) with two MLL genes rearrangement are extremely rare; it is likely a result of acquired uniparental disomy.

Newly emerged 11q23/MLL rearrangements in patients with a prior history of cytotoxic therapies are almost always associated with therapy-related hematological malignancies. Here we report a patient who had received various chemotherapies for his chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). An abnormal clone of t(3;11)(p13;q23) was detected in 7 out of 20 metaphases in the bone marrow (BM) in the 15(th) year of disease. MLL rearrangement was detected in myeloid and erythroid cells, not in CLL cells by combined morphologic and fluorescence in situ hybridization. BM showed no evidence of myelodysplasia or increased blasts. Patient had been closely followed for 3 years, the abnormal clone was persistently detected but the patient had normal blood counts and normal BM examinations. This is the first case to show MLL rearrangement of unknown clinical significance in the setting of post cytotoxic chemotherapy.

Supplemental Material, Additional_file_2_Table_S1 for Administration of rCTRP9 Attenuates Neuronal Apoptosis Through AdipoR1/PI3K/Akt Signaling Pathway after ICH in Mice by Lianhua Zhao, John H. Zhang, Prativa Sherchan, Paul R. Krafft, Wei Zhao, Sa Wang, Shengpan Chen, Zaiyu Guo, and Jiping Tang in Cell Transplantation

Contains fulltext : 155215.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) Nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) is a transcription factor with a well-described oncogenic role. Study for each of five NF-kappaB pathway subunits was only reported on small cohorts in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). In this large cohort (n=533) of patients with de novo DLBCL, we evaluated the protein expression frequency, gene expression signature, and clinical implication for each of these five NF-kappaB subunits. Expression of p50, p52, p65, RELB, and c-Rel was 34%, 12%, 20%, 14%, and 23%, whereas p50/p65, p50/c-Rel, and p52/RELB expression was 11%, 11%, and 3%, respectively. NF-kappaB subunits were expressed in both germinal center B-cell-like (GCB) and activated B-cell-like (ABC) DLBCL, but p50 and p50/c-Rel were associated with ABC-DLBCL. p52, RELB, and p52/RELB expressions were associated with CD30 expression. p52 expression was negatively associated with BCL2 (B-cell lymphoma 2) expression and BCL2 rearrangement. Although p52 expression was associated with better progression-free survival (PFS) (P=0.0170), singular expression of the remaining NF-kappaB subunits alone did not show significant prognostic impact in the overall DLBCL cohort. Expression of p52/RELB was associated with better overall survival (OS) and PFS (P=0.0307 and P=0.0247). When cases were stratified into GCB- and ABC-DLBCL, p52 or p52/RELB dimer expression status was associated with better OS and PFS (P=0.0134 and P=0.0124) only within the GCB subtype. However, multivariate analysis did not show p52 expression to be an independent prognostic factor. Beneficial effect of p52 in GCB-DLBC appears to be its positive correlation with CD30 and negative correlation with BCL2 expression. Gene expression profiling (GEP) showed that p52(+) GCB-DLBCL was distinct from p52(-) GCB-DLBCL. Collectively, our data suggest that DLBCL patients with p52 expression might not benefit from therapy targeting the NF-kappaB pathway.

The role of water in protective fabrics is critical to comfort and material performance. Excessive perspiration in clothing causes discomfort, and bound water can adversely affect the ability of carbon to adsorb chemicals. Yet the presence of water can also improve the moisture vapor transport of protective polymer films, and is essential for the hydrolytic destruction of nerve agents. Reported here are the findings of wicking and drying experiments conducted on various hydrophilic and hydrophobic cover fabrics that demonstrate the influence of wetting on permeation through fabrics. The influence of water content on reactive polymers capable of degrading nerve agent simulant is also discussed, and the importance of a novel “delivery system” for water to the reactive components through the use of a wicking fabric is introduced.

The recent finding that lobular, and not ductal intraepithelial neoplasia (DIN) displays loss of E-cadherin expression has greatly facilitated the categorization of a large proportion of morphologically ambiguous intraepithelial neoplasias into ductal or lobular types. One reason for such morphologic ambiguity is the presence of comedo-type necrosis within an intraepithelial lesion that otherwise shows archetypal cytologic and architectural features of lobular intraepithelial neoplasia (LIN). The clinicopathologic features of 18 such cases are described in this report. These 18 cases of classic LIN were accumulated from the recent databases of 6 institutions. All cases, by definition, showed no expression of E-cadherin. The 18 patients, all women, were 41 to 85 years of age (mean 61.3). The lesions were initially identified in an excisional biopsy or mastectomy in 12 cases and in an incisional/core biopsy in the remaining 6 cases. An associated invasive carcinoma was present in 12 (67%) of 18 cases (7 classic lobular, 1 pleomorphic lobular, 1 ductal, 1 mixed lobular and ductal, 1 tubular, and 1 case with ductal and lobular carcinomas as separate foci). The average age of the 6 patients with pure LIN (ie, LIN without an invasive component (62.5 y) was not significantly different from the 12 patients in which there was an invasive component (60.7 y) (P = 0.78). The lesions had associated calcifications, typically within the necrotic foci, in 10 (55%) of 18 cases. Immunoreactivity for estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor (in10% of lesional cells), and high-molecular weight keratin was present in 17/18 (94%), 15/18 (83%) and 17/18 (94%) of cases, respectively. Overexpression of HER2/neu, as assessed immunohistochemically, was absent in all 15 cases available for such evaluation. Foci of DIN, separate from the lobular lesions, were present in 6 (33%) of 18 cases. LIN with necrosis seems to occur at an older age than classic LIN, is commonly associated with invasive carcinoma and is significantly more frequently associated with lobular than ductal invasive carcinoma. When present without an invasive component, it may be mistaken for DIN 2 (grade 2 ductal carcinoma in situ). Although the necrosis suggests a ductal phenotype for these intraepithelial proliferations, architectural and cytologic features, high-molecular weight keratin[+], estrogen receptor[+], progesterone receptor[+], and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 /neu[-] immunoprofile, frequent association with invasive lobular carcinoma, and lack of immunoreactivity for E-cadherin, strongly suggests that these lesions are within the morphologic spectrum of lobular neoplasia. Long-term follow-up studies are required to define the true natural history of these lesions. However, because classic LIN with necrosis is apparently rare in its pure form, reexcision is recommended when this lesion is detected in isolation in a core biopsy.