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IntroductionThis study aimed to explore the possible pathogenesis of a rare case of co-existing Cushing’s syndrome (CS) and primary aldosteronism (PA) caused by bilateral adrenocortical adenomas secreting aldosterone and cortisol, respectively.MethodsA 41-year-old Chinese woman with severe hypertension and hypokalemia for 5 and 2 years, respectively, was referred to our hospital. She had a Cushingoid appearance. Preoperative endocrinological examinations revealed autonomous cortisol and aldosterone secretion. Computed tomography revealed bilateral adrenal adenomas. Subsequently, adrenal vein sampling and sequential left and right partial adrenalectomy indicated the presence of a left aldosterone-producing tumor and a right cortisol-producing tumor. Pathological examination included immunohistochemical analysis of the resected specimens. Secretions of aldosterone and cortisol were observed both in vivo and in vitro. Further, whole-exome sequencing was performed for DNA that was extracted from peripheral blood leukocytes and bilateral adrenal adenomas in order to determine whether the patient had relevant variants associated with PA and CS.ResultsImmunohistochemical staining revealed that the left adenoma primarily comprised clear cells expressing CYP11B2, whereas the right adenoma comprised both eosinophilic compact and clear cells expressing CYP11B1. The mRNA levels of steroidogenic enzymes (including CYP11B1 and CYP17A1) were high in the right adenoma, whereas CYP11B2 was highly expressed in the left adenoma. A novel somatic heterozygous missense variant—KCNJ5 c.503T > G (p.L168R)—was detected in the left adrenal adenoma, but no other causative variants associated with PA and CS were detected in the peripheral blood or right adrenocortical adenoma. In the primary cell culture of the resected hyperplastic adrenal adenomas, verapamil and nifedipine, which are two calcium channel blockers, markedly inhibited the secretion of both aldosterone and cortisol.ConclusionWe present an extremely rare case of bilateral adrenocortical adenomas with distinct secretion of aldosterone and cortisol. The heterogeneity of the tumor cell compositions of aldosterone- and cortisol-producing adenoma (A/CPA) and somatic mutation of KCNJ5 may have led to different hormone secretions in the bilateral adrenal adenomas.

ObjectiveTo improve the accuracy of the diagnosis of familial progressive intrahepatic cholestasis type 3 (PFIC3, https://www.omim.org/entry/602347).Materials and methodsBetween September 2019 and March 2021, we recruited four patients with PFIC3 from two liver centers in East China. Molecular genetic findings of ATP-binding cassette subfamily B member 4 [ATP binding cassette transporter A4 (ABCB4), https://www.omim.org/entry/171060] were prospectively examined, and clinical records, laboratory readouts, and macroscopic and microscopic appearances of the liver were analyzed.ResultsFour patients experienced cholestasis, mild jaundice, and elevated levels of serum direct bilirubin, γ-glutamyltransferase, or total bile acids. All patients had moderate-to-severe liver fibrosis or biliary cirrhosis, and their liver biopsy specimens stained positive with rhodamine. Molecular immunohistochemistry revealed reduced or absent MDR3 expression in all liver specimens. A novel mutation of ABCB4 (c.1560 + 2T > A) was identified in patients with PFIC3, which is of high clinical significance and may help understand mutant ABCB4 pathogenesis.ConclusionMDR3 immunohistochemistry and molecular genetic analyses of ABCB4 are essential for the accurate diagnosis of PFIC3.

Homogeneously catalyzed reactions often make use of additives and promotors that affect reactivity patterns and improve catalytic performance. While the role of reaction promotors is often discussed in view of their chemical reactivity, we demonstrate that they can be involved in catalysis indirectly. In particular, we demonstrate that promotors can adjust the thermodynamics of key transformations in homogeneous hydrogenation catalysis and enable reactions that would be unfavorable otherwise. We identified this phenomenon in a set of well-established and new Mn pincer catalysts that suffer from persistent product inhibition in ester hydrogenation. Although alkoxide base additives do not directly participate in inhibitory transformations, they can affect the equilibrium constants of these processes. Experimentally, we confirm that by varying the base promotor concentration one can control catalyst speciation and inflict substantial changes to the standard free energies of the key steps in the catalytic cycle. Despite the fact that the latter are universally assumed to be constant, we demonstrate that reaction thermodynamics and catalyst state are subject to external control. These results suggest that reaction promotors can be viewed as an integral component of the reaction medium, on its own capable of improving the catalytic performance and reshaping the seemingly rigid thermodynamic landscape of the catalytic transformation.

While Mn-catalyzed (de)hydrogenation of carbonyl derivatives have been well established, the reactivity of Mn hydrides with olefins remains very rare. Herein we report the first Mn(I) pincer complex that effectively promotes site-controlled transposition of olefins. This new reactivity is shown to emerge once the N-H functionality within Mn/NH bifunctional complex is suppressed by alkylation. While detrimental for carbonyl (de)hydrogenation, such a masking of the cooperative NH functionality allows for the highly efficient conversion of a wide range of allylarenes to higher-value 1-propenybenzenes in near-quantitative yield with excellent stereoselectivities. The reactivity towards a single positional isomerization was also retained for longer-chain alkenes resulting in the highly regioselective formation of 2-alkenes, which are less thermodynamically stable compared to other possible isomerization products. The detailed mechanistic analysis of reaction between activated Mn catalyst and olefins points to catalysis operating via a metal alkyl mechanism - one of the three conventional transposition mechanisms previously unknown in Mn complexes.

The pursuit for high throwing power (TP) in copper-hole metallization has been regarded as a major issue in the field of printed circuit boards (PCB). In this work, a membrane composed by polythiophene (PT) conductive polymers to replace electroless-plating copper layer is developed and investigated. High value of TP for dielectric holes on PCB is achieved by distributing nickel nanoparticles (NiNPs) on the PT membrane. During the electroplating process, NiNPs acting as seed clusters adsorb onto the surface of PT, effectively improve the copper electrocrystallization and thus increase the deposition rate of copper in the holes, enhancing TP of dielectric through-holes (THs) and filling rate of blind via. The results from morphological, electrical and thermal shock characterization validate that the copper layer formed by electroplating in the presence of NiNPs on the PT membrane has outstanding practical qualities.

CO2 laser drilling of blind hole is the necessary process to obtain high-density connection between different conductive layers for printed circuit board (PCB). A copper induced direct CO2 laser drilling blind hole was proposed to simplify the working process and enhance hole alignment with the aid of copper brown oxidation. Brown oxidized copper holding a roughened surface to extend the laser route in its surface and copper oxidation of CuO with a high laser absorptivity were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), 3D microscope, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), infrared thermal camera, and metallographic microscopy. It therefore breaks the limitation of pure copper stripped by CO2 laser. Example for CCL of top copper with thickness of 18 μm and dielectric resin with thickness of 80 μm realized the qualified Φ100 μm blind hole under 45 mL/L brown oxidation solution for 90 s.

Higher multiplexing in droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) can simplify the detection process of ddPCR-based non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) and improve its reliability, making it a practical approach in clinical practice. However, a high level of multiplex ddPCR-based NIPT has rarely been reported. In this study, we developed a multiplex ddPCR assay using universal locked nucleic acid (LNA) probes to reliably identify fetal aneuploidies. We first performed statistical analysis based on the Poisson distribution to evaluate the required number of target DNA molecules and the total number of droplets for a ddPCR assay. Next, we designed two sets of primers and probes to quantify cfDNA from chromosomes 21 and 18 and then determined the disease status of a sample. Finally, we evaluated our multiplex ddPCR assay with 60 clinical plasma samples. All of the 60 clinical samples were correctly identified. The accessibility and cost-effectiveness of our multiplex ddPCR-based NIPT make it a competitive prenatal testing method in clinical use.

Additional file 1. Supplementary tables and figures.

Patterns of spatial and temporal variability of algal bloom in the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) of China were investigated using Semi-implicit Eulerian-Lagrangian Finite Element (SELFE) model, an unstructured grid, 3-dimensional, hydrodynamic model fully coupled with an extended version of Water Quality Analysis Program (WASP) and the Carbon and Nutrients DIagenesis (CANDI) model. The coupled model was driven by the discharge, operational water level of the TGR, nutrients and phytoplankton from the upstream, climate condition included the solar radiation, heat fluxes and precipitation observed in the hydrometric and meteorological stations. The simulations were conducted to study the dynamic process of the algal blooms occurred in September 2007 and June 2008, and the modeling results agreed well with the field data included nutrients, chlorophyll-a concentrations in the TGR. The results indicated that the nutrients and chlorophyll-a concentrations showed obvious difference in the mainstream and the tributaries affected by the diurnal evolution of the phytoplankton during the algal bloom period. The location of algal bloom in the tributary Xiangxi River where the maximum chlorophyll-a concentration was greater than 30 μg/L was about 20 km from the river mouth, which coincided with the position of backwater tail controlled by the operation of the TGR. Meanwhile, the nutrients concentration near the river bed reached nearly 10 times of the concentration near the water surface after considering the nutrients released from the re-suspended sediment and the biogeochemical process in the river bed sediment. Finally, the climate change affected the aquatic ecosystem in the TGR was investigated and the countermeasure to inhibit the algal bloom in the tributary was suggested through the scenario modeling.

Hereditary hearing loss is a common clinical neurosensory disorder in humans and has a high demand for genetic screening. Current screening techniques using peripheral blood or dried blood spots (DBSs) are invasive. Therefore, this study aims to develop a noninvasive and accurate detection method for eight hotspot deafness-associated mutations based on buccal swab and droplet digital PCR (ddPCR). First, this method was evaluated for analytic performance including specificity, detection limit, dynamic range using plasmid DNA. The specificity was 100% and the detection limit was 5 copies. The dynamic range of this ddPCR-based method was from 10 to 105 copies/μL. Next, the method was found to accurately quantify mitochondrial gene heteroplasmy rate as low as 1% for both m.1494C > T and m.1555A > G sites. Then, we demonstrated that buccal swab was a reliable sample. DNA can be extracted and accurately quantified after a buccal swab had been stored for 90 days at either room temperature or −20 °C. Finally, cli...

Purpose As a common transmission line, the microstrip line plays an important role in high-speed circuits. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the effects of the circuit design of microstrip lines on the signal integrity (SI). In addition, the influence of the type and thickness of the solder resist ink on SI was analyzed to provide guidance for the related producing process design of printed circuit boards (PCBs). Design/methodology/approach Microstrip line properties consisting of shape, line-width/line-space ratio, reference layer design and as-covered solder resist ink were designed to measure the insertion loss (S21) in high-speed PCB. Findings The study showed that the insertion loss (S21) of straight, meander, snake-shaped and wavy microstrip lines was approximately consistent. A microstrip line with width/space ratio less than 0.96 is necessary, as the differential line closing produces a mutual interference. Reference layer including the discontinuous area should be repaired by adjusting the microstrip line parameters. With regard to the solder resist ink, the insertion loss of novel solder resist ink decreased by 0.163 dB/in at 12.9 GHz and 0.164 dB/in at 14 GHz, compared with traditional solder resist ink. Accordingly, the insertion loss effectively improved at a lower thickness of solder resist. Originality/value This paper demonstrated that the common designing factors of line shape, line/space ratio, reference layer and solder resist influence microstrip line SI in the significant reference of designer-making PCB layout.

A novel type of Epoxy Resin (EP)/Copper(II) acetylacetonate (Cu(acac)2) composites is developed and applied to improve electroless plating. This efficient and palladium-free process is based on the EP filled with various mass fractions of Cu(acac)2 via ball milling. The thermal stability of the composite of EP/Cu(acac)2 was performed with corresponding instruments. Moreover, the results of the viscosity and adhesion strength show that the viscosity of sample is positively correlated with the mass fraction of Cu(acac)2 in the composite. On the contrary, the shear strength of sample coated on FR-4 diminishes with the increasing fraction of Cu(acac)2. Results of parametrical optimizing reach the conclusion that under the condition of 50 °C for 15 min by electroless deposition (ELD) of copper, EP containing 40% Cu(acac)2 composites yields the best result.

Nutrient state in the Three Gorges Reservoir has long been concerned. Mainstream of the reservoir however has received relatively less researchers’ attention compared to tributaries. In 2015–2017, we sampled 40 cross-sections along mainstream and 10 tributaries in flood and dry seasons in order to reveal lateral, vertical, and longitudinal distribution patterns of total nitrogen (TN) and phosphorus (TP) in water and sediment. Concentrations of waterborne TN and TP ranged from 1.48 to 2.33 mg/L and 0.09 to 0.16 mg/L respectively. Laterally, nutrients were well mixed and homogeneously distributed. Vertically, nutrients concentrations in surface water were higher than in bottom water. Longitudinally, TN concentration increased from tail to head of the reservoir due to accumulation of nitrogen imported from riparian zone and tributaries, whereas TP concentration decreased from tail to head because of sediment deposition. TN and TP concentrations in channel bed sediment were 622–949 and 916–950 mg/kg respectively. Neither of them had significant longitudinal trends nor correlations with waterborne nutrient concentrations. This work will help to understand nutrient dynamics in the Three Gorges Reservoir.

Droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) is a single-molecule amplification technology with broad applications in precision medicine and clinical diagnosis. Dual-fluorescence and four-cluster ddPCR (two/four-ddPCR) assay is an effective way to quantify copy numbers. Currently, two/four-ddPCR data are usually classified with manual thresholds. For clinical applications, automatic and accurate methods are required to avoid subjectivity in diagnosis. Although there are some automatic classification algorithms, their accuracy and robustness still need to be improved to meet the needs of clinical diagnosis. Therefore, a new method is in high demand to automatically classify two/four-ddPCR data in an accurate and robust way. Here, a novel density-watershed algorithm (DWA) method was developed for the accurate, automatic and unsupervised classification of two/four-ddPCR data. First, data gridding was applied to a scatter plot of the fluorescence signal intensity to calculate data densities. Based on the data densities, the watershed algorithm was used to divide the gridded scatter plot into isolated regions automatically. Next, an optimal cluster pattern was determined based on these isolated regions, and excess regions were merged. Finally, the two/four-ddPCR data were classified based on the merged regions, and DNA template copy numbers were calculated accordingly. Using the DWA method for the quantification of both wild types and mutants of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) L858R and T790M, the classification results were highly consistent with expectations, and significantly better than commonly-used automatic algorithms for now. The computed template copy numbers scaled proportionally to the relative concentration of input templates (r2 > 0.998) in four orders of magnitude with a good reproducibility, and achieved a limit of detection over 40 times lower than the commonly-used automatic algorithms. Furthermore, the DWA method was validated on 254 clinical DNA samples derived from frozen tissues, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues and peripheral blood. In most cases, the DWA method derived accurate and valid classification results. This highly effective DWA method may be widely used for automatically classifying two/four-ddPCR data, and it will greatly promote the application of ddPCR in clinical diagnosis.

Highly-sensitive and contamination-free droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) is an enabling technology and widely needed for accurate quantification of nucleic acid in clinical applications. In this paper, a novel droplet reader was developed by combining a "quasi" confocal laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) cytometry with a delicate microfluidic chip design. The droplets with a size of 90 μm was illuminated at an out-of-focus position by two aligned laser beams to generate maximum fluorescent signal. Additionally, the lateral offset position of the microfluidic chip should be precisely tuned so that the bandwidth of the FAM and VIC channels were configured at the matching sizes. Then, PMT gain voltages and pneumatic pressures were optimized for better droplet detection efficiencies. An aerosol adsorption experiment was performed to demonstrate that there was no aerosol contamination, and detected copy numbers of both mutants and wild types scaled linearly with the expected input copy numbers (r2>0.998) with a LoB of 0.0 copies and LoD of 3.0 copies. The results demonstrated that this droplet reader with the delicate chip is a convenient, highly-sensitive and contamination-free to detect fluorescence signals inside droplets after ddPCR, which is highly promising for broad applications of ddPCR in clinical diagnosis.

In this work, a simple and efficient method for Markovnikov addition of imidazole derivatives to vinyl esters catalyzed by Lipozyme TL IM/K2CO3 in a continuous-flow microreactor was described. The effects of the mixed catalysts, molar ratio and the structure of reactants on the reaction performance were experimentally studied. The attractive features of this process are shorter reaction times (30 min) and excellent yields compared to that in shaker reactors.

The steering performances of the frog skating robot are studied by the equivalent swing arm method. Firstly, the influent factors of the steering radius of the frog skating robot are obtained directly by analyzing the intersection points of the axes among the front and passive wheels, and the research problem is put forward. Further, because of the motion characteristics of the frog skating robot arms swing inward, outward at the same time, or only one arm swings, from a kinematic point of view, the two arms can be replaced by an equivalent arm, which can avoid the uncertainties of the tilt axis deflection angles of the passive wheels that cause obstacles to the analyses of the steering radius of the front wheel, then the formula of the front wheel steering radius is given, and the three kinds of the turning modes and their corresponding minimum steering radius are furtherly researched. Finally, the experiments are presented to validate the method by validating the formula of the front wheel steering radius.

A three-dimensional unstructured mesh eco-dynamic model was developed to simulate temporal and spatial variations in water quality with respect to phytoplankton, nutrients, dissolved oxygen, and suspended sediment, based on the ELcirc model. Four major interacting systems were simulated, including phytoplankton dynamics, nutrient cycles, dissolved oxygen balance, and suspended sediment. The effects of suspended and bed sediment on water quality processes were also considered. The model was applied to simulate algal bloom processes in the Xiangxi River (XXR), a tributary of the Yangtze River that was affected by the impounding of the Three Gorges Project. The model was calibrated and verified by field data during the XXR algal blooms. The simulated time serial concentrations of phytoplankton (chlorophyll) and nutrients were generally consistent with field observations. Sensitivity studies were then conducted to assess the impacts of varying inlet discharges, suspended sediment loads, and nutrient loading on the chlorophyll concentration of algae.

Purpose High-grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) is an infrequent malignant neoplasm originates most commonly in the salivary glands with poor prognosis. Thus far, there is little knowledge on MUC-1 expression in high-grade MEC or how it may relate to patient survival. The aim of this study was to determine the extent of MUC-1 expression in high-grade MEC and correlate expression with clinic outcome. Methods Surgical specimens from 62 cases of primary high-grade MEC and 10 cases of normal salivary gland tissue were examined by immunohistochemistry. The relationship between MUC-1 expression and the clinicopathological data and patient survival was analyzed. Results The disease-free survival rates were 54.6% (3 years) and 37.7% (5 years) for high-grade MEC patients. Patient who with primary location at submandibular gland have the worst prognosis (P = 0.042) in comparing with other sites. High expression of MUC-1 in high-grade MEC was significantly correlated with lymphatic/regional metastasis (P = 0.003) and clinic stage (P = 0.02), and high expression of MUC-1 (>75%) was confirmed to be significant independent prognostic factors in high-grade MEC patients [HR 2.929 (95% CI 1.246–6.881); P

Cyanate/epoxy (CE/EP) was added with surface-modified silica (SiO2) particles to form a composite system. Microstructure of the composites was observed to find the dispersion effect of SiO2 particles in the CE/EP matrix. Thermal conductivity, thermal stability and dielectric properties were also tested to investigate the effects of SiO2 particles. CE/EP-based composite with 50 wt% SiO2 exhibited thermal conductivity of 0.492 W.m−1.K−1, thermal decomposition temperature of 420 °C and dielectric constant of 4.1 at 1 MHz.

Purpose The purpose of the present study was to present a new method that combines the use of the fibular flap and a custom-made vertical distractor/dental implant device into 1 surgical procedure for simultaneous functional mandibular reconstruction. Patients and Methods The present retrospective case series included 10 patients who were treated using the fibular flap and dental implant distractor (DID) in a single-stage procedure. These 10 patients were treated within a 3-year period (from 2005 to 2007). Results Of the 10 patients included in the study, 5 were males and 5 were females. The mean age of the sample was 33.8 years (range 17 to 48). The cumulative survival rate of the fibular flaps was 100%. The mean vertical bone height attained with the DID device was 11.4 mm. The mean period from the first operation to the start of dental implant loading was 6.3 months. The cumulative survival rate of the dental implants was 93.75%. Conclusions The use of the DID in the fibular flap for mandibular reconstruction is advantageous because it combines vertical distraction osteogenesis of the fibular flap and dental implantation into a single procedure. Implants placed in the reconstructed areas were found to integrate normally, with survival rates comparable to those with 2-stage operations. As such, this novel DID technique can be used for single-stage reconstruction and rehabilitation of segmental mandibular defects in selected patients.

According to the motion principle of the frog scooter, a kind of novel mobile robot with passive wheels called Frog Skating Robot is designed. The robot consists of three passive wheels, and the steering of the two rear passive wheels are controlled indirectly. There are only 3 DOF of the robot need to be controlled. The driving forces of the robot come from the frictions between the wheels and the ground. In this paper, the motion differential equation of the robot is established using generalized Lagrange-Routh equation when nonholonomic constraints exist. The derived equations are tested by the gait of the linear motion with double-arms symmetrical swing. The experimental results are presented to validate all above analyses.

Integrated inductor with magnetic core is one of the three significant passive components for PCB (Printed Circuit Board) assembly. In this paper, a novel structure of integrated inductor with Ni-P (low P content) magnetic core deposited on the as-patterned conductive copper lines was fabricated by directly electroless-plating method. Two types of PCB integrated inductor with patterns of rectangle and hexagon winding were designed, respectively. The inductance changes were investigated under the changes of Ni-P plating times and tested frequency. Obvious increasing was observed after the deposition of Ni-P magnetic core. Furthermore, effects of the P content of Ni-P thin-film were also investigated in this paper.

Objective Primary desmoid-type fibromatoses arising from the oral and maxillofacial region are uncommon and hold the character of local invasion and regional recurrence. The purpose of this study was to analyze the clinicoepidemiologic characteristics of this rare disease in an eastern Chinese population. Study design Epidemiological and clinicopathological data on 20 patients were reviewed from the hospital records and analyzed accordingly. Results Twelve males and 8 females with a ratio of 3:2 were involved. The mandible was the most common site of presentation. Suspected malignant change was found in 6 cases and an extremely high recurrence rate was also found in up to 53%. Abnormally high blood levels of alkaline phosphatase were found in 65% of patients, which had a close relation with tumor malignant change. Conclusion Chinese people are more susceptible to desmoid-type fibromatoses and are at an extremely high risk of regional malignant change. Elevated serum alkaline phosphatase levels may be taken as an indicator for malignant transformation.

Based on the analytical expression of the electromagnetic field solution of a helical symmetric dielectric material, the relationship between spectral reflectivity and birefringence of a chiral liquid crystal and the blue shift of the Bragg reflection in the condition of oblique incidence are presented in this paper. The theoretical results indicated that: 1) If birefringence (Δn) of the liquid crystal is greater than 0.2 and the thickness of the liquid crystal layer reaches 3 μm, the liquid crystal layer will reflect more than 90% of the incident light; 2) To reflect the whole visible spectrum by Bragg reflection, Δn of the liquid crystals in plane alignment state should exceed 0.6; 3) When the incident beam inclines to 60° from the normal direction, the blue shift of the reflective spectrum will reach to 100 nm. On the other hand, since the Δn of the commercial chiral liquid crystals is not larger than 0.2, to get the entire visible reflective spectrum, it needs to introduce a polymer network into the liquid crystals and make a sagging structure on the surface of substrates. The contribution of the network is to establish random anchorage that makes the pitch varied, hence broadening the Bragg reflection spectra. The random distribution of the sagging structure on the surface substrate is used to induce random screw axes of the chiral liquid crystal, which not only causes a blue shift of Bragg reflection but also further stretches the reflection spectra. Experiments demonstrated that the Bragg reflection spectrum could be broadened from 80 nm to more than 120 nm, and the contrast reaches 4:1 by introducing both polymer network and sagging structure on the substrate surface cell.

According to the special geologic conditions of the Damintun sag in the Liaohe basin, with a complex structure and rapid lateral change of thin interbeds, the technique of logging-constraint seismic inversion based on prestack high-resolution seismic data was used in the description of oil-gas reservoirs. Reservoir seismic inversion can effectively identify underground complex geologic structures and seismic anomalous reflection volumes and quantitatively predict the distribution of sandstones in space and their variant law in combination with lithologic interpretation. This work studies the wave impedance inversion of high-resolution prestack seismic data, and logging multi-attribute data inversion, and applies these methods to the Damintun sag. As a result, the vertical resolution of reservoir prediction is raised, ability of identifying thin-interbed sand bodies is enhanced, reliability of reservoir prediction is improved, and favorable lithologic traps of this area are further confirmed. These effects are of significance in the exploration of hidden hydrocarbons in this oilfield.

Modified zero valent iron (ZVI) is obtained from commercial iron powder co-ground with manganese dioxide (MnO2) in intensive mechanical stress. The result indicates that the modified ZVI is very effective in arsenic sludge stabilization with a declination of arsenic leaching contraction from 72.50 mg/L to 0.62 mg/L, much lower than that of ordinary ZVI (10.48 mg/L). The involved process, including mechanochemical activation, corrosion and arsenic adsorption, is characterized explicitly to verify the improved arsenic stabilization mechanism. It shows that the mechanically formed Fe-Mn binary oxides layer results in an intensive corrosion extent, generating a mass of corrosion products. Moreover, as the emergence of Mn will restrain the process of iron (hydr)oxides crystallization, the ultimate corrosion products of the modified ZVI predominates in amorphous iron (hydr)oxides, performing much better in arsenic absorption. According to the BCR analysis, unstable arsenic in sludge is easily transformed to residual fraction by the help of amorphous iron (hydr)oxides, resulting in a restrained environmental availability of arsenic sludge after the modified ZVI stabilization.

The most widely accepted treatment for neoplasms of the submandibular gland usually involves excision of the entire gland. Our aim was to establish a gland-preserving operation for benign tumours of the submandibular gland and evaluate its efficacy. We treated 40 patients from January 2007 to December 2008 with benign submandibular gland tumours who were listed to have an operation that either preserved the gland or sacrificed it. Duration of operation, extent of injury to the nerve, postoperative function of the gland, aesthetic appearance, and recurrence were assessed. We found no significant difference in baseline characteristics among the 20 patients in each group (19 men; 21 women, mean (SD) age of 34 (33.8 ± 5.72) years. The extent of injury to the lingual nerve and submandibular branch, together with deformities of the facial contour, were significantly less in the group in which the gland was preserved. Postoperative salivary production and overall patients' satisfaction were also better in that group. There was no recurrence in either group during the follow up period of 38 months-5 years. The gland-preserving procedure has advantages over the typical approach in which the gland is sacrificed. There is less risk of injury to the nerve, less deformity of the facial contour, better preservation of function, and patients are more satisfied. The gland-preserving technique should therefore be the first choice for management of benign submandibular tumours.

Increasing evidence suggests that malignant transformation can result from chronic infection, and Toll‐like receptors (TLRs) may play an important role in this process. We have previously reported that the increased expression of TLR‐9 is associated with tumor cell proliferation in oral cancer. However, the mechanisms involved have not been elucidated. The aim of this study was to investigate whether CpG‐oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG‐ODN), a special TLR‐9 agonist, is able to exert the proliferation‐promoting effect in human oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), and to explore the possible underlying molecular mechanism. Flow cytometry, MTT, and colony formation assay were used to evaluate cell proliferation and cell cycle distribution. The mRNA and protein levels were analyzed by quantitative RT‐PCR and Western blot assay. Luciferase reporter gene, EMSA, and ChIP assays were used to detect the activity of activator protein‐1 (AP‐1) and nuclear factor‐κB (NF‐κB) in HB cells. Results showed that CpG‐ODN could stimulate proliferation of HB cells in a dose‐ and time‐dependent manner with a promoted G (1)/S cell cycle progression. Increased cyclin D1 expression was detected in the nuclear region after CpG‐ODN treatment. Moreover, CpG‐ODN promoted nuclear translocation and activation of AP‐1, which appeared to be required for TLR‐9‐mediated cyclin D1 expression and subsequently cell proliferation, but seemed to have little impact on NF‐κB activity. Our results indicate that CpG‐ODN stimulates tumor cell proliferation through TLR‐9‐mediated AP‐1‐activated cyclin D1 expression in OSCC HB cells. Pharmacologic inhibition of the TLR‐9/AP‐1/cyclin D1 pathway may be a new therapeutic approach for prevention as well as treatment of OSCC.

Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) is an infrequent malignant neoplasm that originates most commonly in the major and minor salivary glands of the head and neck region. This study provides new information on head and neck ACC with cervical lymph node metastasis. Of 616 patients who underwent primary tumour resection from 1995 to 2008 in the authors' hospital, 62 cases with cervical lymph node metastasis were analyzed. The general incidence of cervical lymph node metastasis in ACC was approximately 10%. The base of tongue, mobile tongue and mouth floor were the most frequent sites of lymph nodes metastasis, with incidences of 19.2%, 17.6% and 15.3%, respectively. Most cases occurred via a classic 'tunnel-style' metastasis and the level Ib and II regions were the most frequently involved. Primary site and lymphovascular invasion were significantly associated with lymph node metastasis. High patient mortality was significantly correlated with lymph node positive cases. The tongue-mouth floor complex has a high propensity for cervical lymph node metastasis, which occurs through a classic 'tunnel-style' metastasis. Peritumoral lymphovascular invasion could be taken as strong predictor for lymph node metastasis, which ultimately leads to poor prognosis of ACC patient. Selective neck dissection should be considered in such cases.

Power transform is a nonlinear pretreatment method, which can improve the recognition rate of high resolution range profiles obviously. This paper mainly analyses how we should decide the power transform coefficient in order to get good recognition results. We process the range profiles in different noise condition using different power transform coefficients, and then we classify them with radial basis function classifiers. According to the real data processing results, we know that we should decide power transform coefficients in accordance with the signal-to-noise ratio. (4 pages)

Shikonin, a naphthoquinone pigment isolated from the Chinese herbal therapeutic, Zicao, has been shown to exhibit antioxidant and anticancer effects. In this study, its ability to induce apoptosis in cultured Tca-8113 oral cancer cells was studied. Treatment of the Tca-8113 cells with a variety of concentrations of Shikonin (10-40 microm) resulted in dose- and time-dependent sequences of events marked by apoptosis, as shown by the loss of cell viability, chromatin condensation, internucleosomal DNA fragmentation and sub-G1 phase accumulation. Furthermore, apoptosis in the Tca-8113 cells was accompanied by the activation of protease caspase-8, -9, -3 and low expression of Bcl-2 protein. Interestingly, inactivation of the NF-kappaB pathway was found in shikonin-induced apoptosis in Tca-8113 cells. These results raise the possibility that the anti-tumor effects of Shikonin in Tca-8113 cells are at least partly through the inactivation of the NF-kappaB pathway and subsequent activation of protease caspase family. Pharmacological inhibition of the NF-kappaB activity by Shikonin might be a powerful treatment option for OSCC in which activation of NF-kappaB plays a critical role in tumor growth and progression.

Semantic based Web services integration aims to add valuable semantic information in Web services description and to implement the semantic based Web services discovery and integration. This paper puts forward a semantic based Web service integration framework in P2P-SEWSIP. SEWSIP can collect Web services in distributed Web environment, lift the WSDL files into OWL-S by the use of XML schema in WSDL and domain ontology, and then deploy them in P2P. It also can provide service discovery, evaluation and composition based on semantic information in OWL-S.

SOC (service-oriented computing) is the new emerging paradigm for distributed computing and e-business processing, whose vision is to integrate autonomic Web services as distributed components into a complicated application. Current composed service processes are mostly generated in the syntactic level and in a manual way. The limitation of such a rigid approach is that it does not allow businesses to dynamically change partners and services like in "framework for semantic Web process composition" by K. Sivashanmugam. Some semi-automatic Web service composition frameworks are present based on both semantic matchmaking and process recommendation in terms of semantic description of user requirements and concrete Web services. However, two problems need to be crossed over in these frameworks. How to design the activities in the process with the exact clarity that can be bound to concrete Web service, and how to deal with the problem that the output message type of the preceding service is subtly heterogeneous with the input one of the subsequent service? This paper addresses these two problems and proposes a solution in SEWSIP, a semantic based Web service integration platform. A hierarchical activity mechanism used to control activity clarity and a message transforming mechanism used to eliminate message type heterogeneity, are mainly discussed.

Stateful network services are a growing population of applications in the Internet, whose architecture relies more and more on COTS components. A good parallel programming model is the key to the success of network services. We argue that stage-based parallel programming model is the most suitable candidate, which takes the whole service logic as a set of stages interconnected by event queues, and in each stage, one or multiple threads reside to service messages. And we also reveal several key design principles for this model. 1) The number of stages should not be over 10 for a single CPU system. 2) For stages with blocking calls, a good estimation of the number of threads for that stage can be gotten by (call arrival rate blocking time) and moreover excessive threads give minor performance degradation. 3) To deliver message quickly, it is much better to locate this part of service in a separate nonblocking stage.