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Chemical wastewater has complex water quality components, and the reaction raw materials are often solvent-like substances or compounds with cyclic structure, which increases the difficulty of wastewater treatment; and it is difficult to be biochemically degraded, which has become a major problem in industrial wastewater treatment. The response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the process parameters of supercritical water oxidation treatment of chemical wastewater, and the effects of reaction temperature, pressure, oxidant quantity and reaction time on the COD removal effect of wastewater were investigated; a quadratic polynomial mathematical model was established between COD removal and each factor; it was concluded that the effects of each factor on COD removal were pressure > reaction time > oxidant quantity > reaction temperature. Under the process con-ditions of temperature 490 C, pressure 24 MPa, action time 60 s and oxidant quantity 300 mg/L, the COD removal of wastewater reached 94.65%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the associations between weekly alcohol consumption and the risk and surgical outcome of Chronic Rhinosinusitis (CRS). Design: A case–control study. Setting and Participants: The study population consisted of 1095 CRS patients and 909 healthy collected from the first affiliated hospital of Zhengzhou University between May 2018 and December 2019. Main Outcome Measures: Unconditional multivariate logistic regression analysis and Cox proportional hazards regression analysis were performed to estimate the association of alcohol consumption with the risk and surgical outcomes of CRS. Odds ratios (OR) or hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated separately. The Kruskal–Wallis test was used to explore the possible molecular mechanisms. Results: As compared with nondrinkers, the multivariable‐adjusted OR (95% CI) values of current drinkers consuming 7.5–22 drinks and >22 drinks per week were 2.158 (1.249–3.729) and 5.373 (2.912–9.911), respectively. The rate of mucosal epithelialization after CRS surgery for patients who drank 7.5–22 drinks and >22 drinks per week was lower than that of nondrinkers [HR (95% CI) = 0.487 (0.351–0.675) and 0.252 (0.184–0.346), respectively]. The association of alcohol consumption with the risk and surgical outcome of CRS was dose dependent (p <.01). Alcohol consumption increased the risk of CRS and extended the time of mucosal epithelialization after CRS surgery by possibly increasing serum IgE levels (p <.05). Conclusion: Higher alcohol consumption of >7.5 drinks per week was an independent risk factor for CRS and extended the time of mucosal epithelialization after surgery. As a potential underlying mechanism, alcohol consumption increases serum IgE levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-volume fly ash replacing cement helps to improve the fluidity, volume stability, durability, and economy of self-compacting concrete (SCC). Sulfate attack is the most common form of the durability damage of hydraulic concrete; in particular, the performance degradation at the water level change position is more significant. Therefore, research on the influence effect and mechanism of fly ash on the durability is of great significance. In this paper, the change regularity of the SCC physical and mechanical properties with the fly ash replacement percentage and dry–wet cycles were studied by 60 dry–wet cycles of sulfate attack test. The 6 h electric flux, MIP, and SEM were used to study the performance degradation mechanism of SCC cured for 56 days, which had also been attacked by sulfate. The results show that the physical and mechanical properties of SCC increased first and then decreased with the dry–wet cycles of sulfate attack. After 10–15 cycles, the corresponding properties increased slightly, and then decreased gradually. When the fly ash content was 40%, the corrosion resistance coefficient, relative dynamic elastic modulus, and flexural strength retention were higher than those of the control specimen. However, when the fly ash content was 50%, they were close to the control and deteriorated obviously with the further addition of fly ash. For pore sizes in the range of 120–1000 nm, the porosity of SCC cured for 56 days was inversely proportional to the 6 h electric flux and the retention of mechanical properties, indicating that the porosity of the large pores is the decisive factor affecting the chloride ion permeability and corrosion resistance. The incorporation of fly ash in SCC can change the sulfate attack products and destruction mechanism. The sulfate attack damage of SCC with 40% of fly ash and the control specimen was dominated by ettringite crystallization and expansion, while those with a fly ash content of 50% and 60% had no obvious corrosion products, and the microstructures became looser. The appropriate fly ash replacement percentage could significantly improve the corrosion resistance of SCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many catering merchants are currently adopting omnichannel sales methods. At a restaurant, customers can place their orders, and while waiting for the food to be completed, they can enjoy the restaurant's service environment. Online customers, by placing orders on various apps, can skip the queue, increasing their utility by reducing the opportunity cost, but they cannot enjoy the restaurant's service environment. For merchants, it is important to adequately address how to choose the optimal capacity to provide services to customers in different channels and obtain optimal profits based on the service environment. In this paper, we establish a stylized theoretical model to study the impact of the service environment on customers' shopping behavior online and offline, and we study how merchants can formulate the optimal capacity. Our main results are as follows: First, improving the service environment was conducive to reducing the merchants' safety capacity and could help them obtain higher profits. In short-term omnichannel operations, merchants obtained higher profits than in traditional offline single-channel operations. Improving the service environment increased profits, but the profit difference between short-term omnichannel and offline single-channel operations gradually decreased. Finally, in long-term operations, the process of online customers transferring to offline channels based on a high-quality service environment might be detrimental to merchants' profits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bladder cancer (BC) is a common malignant tumor of the genitourinary system, and there are not enough tumor biomarker tests that are specific, trustworthy, and noninvasive for the diagnosis and prognosis. The purpose of this study is to investigate the clinical relevance, prognostic value, and immunological signature of Mannosidase alpha class 1B member 1(MAN1B1) expressions in BC. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) databases provided the raw information that was used to analyze the expression of MAN1B1 in tumor patients. Then, a statistical study was carried out to assess the correlations of MAN1B1 expression with the clinical characteristics and the prognosis of BC. The correlation between MAN1B1 expression and tumor immune infiltration was explored via single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA). In human cancers, MAN1B1 expressions were shown to be generally higher in tumors than in normal specimens. We confirmed that MAN1B1 expression was distinctly increased in BC specimens compared with nontumor specimens. BC specimens with advanced T stage and M stage showed a higher level of MAN1B1. Survival analysis revealed that the overall survival (OS), disease-specific survival (DSS), and progression-free interval (PFI) of patients with high MAN1B1 expressions were distinctly worse than those with low MAN1B1 expressions. Importantly, multivariate analyses only confirmed that MAN1B1 expression was an independent prognostic factor for OS of the patients with BC. Furthermore, we observed that MAN1B1 expression level was significantly correlated with abundance of multiple immune infiltrates including Th2 cells, macrophages, Th1 cells, neutrophils, T helper cells, and NK CD56 bright cells. In conjunction with all of these findings, elevated MAN1B1 expression is associated with a poor prognosis and a higher number of immune cells in BC. MAN1B1 has the potential to act as a biomarker that can evaluate both the patient's prognosis and the degree of immune infiltration in BC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, an intermittent braking strategy (IBS) was proposed to improve the thermal-mechanical performance of the brake system under emergency braking, and its feasibility was performed by the thermal-mechanical-wear coupling analysis model validated with experiment results. According to the simulation results, the maximum thermal stress of brake disk for the conventional continuous braking strategy is about 879 MPa at initial brake speed of 350 km/h, which has exceeded the material property limits, yet the intermittent braking strategies can alleviate it obviously with a decrease of 139 MPa. Furthermore, the maximum temperature and thermal stress of the optimal IBS can be decreased by 18% and 40%, respectively, which shows the significance and validity of the proposed IBS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roasting is crucial for producing Yuan An yellow tea (YAYT) as it substantially affects sensory quality. However, the effect of roasting time on YAYT flavor quality is not clear. To investigate the effect of roasting time on the sensory qualities, chemical components, odor profiles, and metabolic profile of YAYTs produced with 13 min roasting, 16 min roasting, 19 min roasting, 22 min roasting, and 25 min roasting were determined. The YAYTs roasted for 22 min got higher sensory scores and better chemical qualities, such as the content of gallocatechin (GC), gallocatechin gallate (GCG), free amino acids, solutable sugar, meanwhile the lightness decreased, the hue of tea brew color (b) increased, which meant the tea brew got darker and yellower. YAYTs roasted for 22 min also increased the contents of key odorants, such as benzaldehyde, nonanal, β-cyclocitral, linalool, nerol, α-cedrol, β-ionone, limonene, 2-methylfuran, indole, and longiborneol. Moreover, non-targeted metabolomics identified up to 14 differentially expressed metabolites through pair-wise comparisons, such as flavonoids, phenolic acids, sucrose, and critical metabolites, which were the main components corresponding to YAYT roasted for 22 min. In summary, the current results provide scientific guidance for the production of high quality YAYT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-speed train brake discs are prone to abnormal wear in low temperature and heavy snow, which affects the safety of train operation. In this article, a staged braking strategy was proposed to improve the performance of train brake system in extremely cold climate by optimizing the relationship between operating speed and braking pressure. First, based on a brake bench test study, it was found that the average friction coefficient between the friction pairs increases significantly when the friction block holes were filled with quartz sand, and it was determined that the rigid particles introduced between the friction pairs at low temperatures are the direct cause of brake disc scratches. Then, a single abrasive wear model of the brake disc was established based on the Lagrangian finite-element method, and the damage characteristics of the brake disc under different braking modes were simulated and analyzed by the proposed model. The simulation results show that the braking mode with low speed and high pressure causes the most severe brake disc wear, which is consistent with the test results. According to the experiment and simulation results, the wear depth of the brake disc can be reduced by about 40% with the proposed staged braking strategy, which is of great significance to the safety of train operation in extremely cold weather. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Chronic sinusitis (CRS) was a chronic inflammation that originated in the nasal mucosa and affected the health of most people around the world. Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) was one kind of chronic sinusitis. Emerging research had suggested that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) played vital parts in inflammatories and inflammation development. Methods. We acquired GEO data to analyze the differential expression between the miRNA, immune genes, TF, and lncRNA data in CRSWNP and the corresponding control tissues. Bioinformatic analysis by coexpression of endogenous RNA network and competitive way enrichment, analysis, and forecasting functions of these noncoding RNA. The different pathway expressions in CRSwNP patients were confirmed using GSVA to analyze the differentially expressed immune genes and TF data sets in CRSwNP patients. The differential immune gene and transcription factor data set in CRSwNP perform functional notes and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network structure. We predicted the potential genes and RNAs related to CRSWNP by constructing a ceRNA network. In addition, we also used 19 hub immune genes to predict the potential drugs of CRSWNP. lncRNA biomarkers in CRSwNP were identified by lncRNAs LASSO regression. The CIBERSORT algorithm was used to contrast the divergence in immune infiltrations between CRSwNP and usual inferior turbinate organizations in 22 immunocyte subgroups. Results. We identified a total of 48 miRNAs, 304 lncRNAs, 92 TFs, and 525 immune genes as CRSwNP-specific RNAs. GO and KEGG pathways both analyzed differentially expressed immune genes and transcription factor data sets. We predicted the potential genes GNG7, TUSC8, LINC01198, and has-miR-6776-5p by constructing ceRNA and PPI networks. At the same time, we found that the above genes were involved in two important pathways: chemokine signal path and PI3K/AKT signal path. In addition, we predicted 5 small molecule drugs to treat CRSwNP by analyzing 19 central immune genes, namely, danazol, ikarugamycin, semustine, cefamandole, and molindone. Finally, we identified 5 biomarkers in CRSwNP, namely, LINC01198, LINC01094, LINC01798, LINC01829, and LINC01320. Conclusions. We had identified CRSwNP-related miRNAs, lncRNAs, TFs, and immune genes, which may be making use of latent therapeutic target for CRSwNP. At the same time, we identified 5 lncRNA biomarkers in CRSwNP. The results of this study showed that LINC01198 promoted the progression of CRSwNPs through spongy miR-6776-5p. Our studies provide a new way for further analyses of the pathogenesis of CRSwNP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have created an advanced shift in the treatment of lung cancer (LC), but the existing biomarkers were not in clinical and widespread use. The purpose of this study was to develop a new nomogram with immune factors used for monitoring the response to ICI therapy. LC patients with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors treatment were included in this analysis. The immune biomarkers and clinicopathological characteristic values at baseline were used to estimate the tumor response. The nomogram was based on the factors that were determined by univariate and multivariate Cox hazard analysis. For internal validation, bootstrapping with 1000 resamples was used. The concordance index (C -index) and calibration curve were used to determine the predictive accuracy and discriminative ability of the nomogram. Overall survival (OS) was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Patients with lung metastasis (P = 0.010), higher baseline neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) level (P < 0.001), lower baseline lymphocyte-monocyte (LMR) (P = 0.019), and lower CD3+CD8+ T cell count (P = 0.009) were significantly related to the tumor response. The above biomarkers were contained into the nomogram. The calibration plot for the probability of OS showed an optimal agreement between the actual observation and prediction by nomogram at 3 or 5 years after therapy. The C -index of nomogram for OS prediction was 0.804 (95% CI: 0.739-0.869). Decision curve analysis demonstrated that the nomogram was clinically useful. Moreover, patients were divided into two distinct risk groups for OS by the nomogram: low-risk group (OS: 17.27 months, 95% CI: 14.75-19.78) and high-risk group (OS: 6.11 months, 95% CI: 3.57-8.65), respectively. A nomogram constructed with lung metastasis baseline NLR, LMR, and CD3+CD8+ T cell count could be used to monitor and predict clinical benefit and prognosis in lung cancer patients within ICI therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introducing the cloud platform operator (CPO) to manage all kinds of manufacturing services on the cloud service platform, the game strategy selection of the multiple participants in the cloud manufacturing alliance is one of current research hotspots of the cloud manufacturing mode. Based on the game theory, this article elaborates the multi-participants business collaboration process and proposes the game strategy selection framework of the multiple participants in the cloud manufacturing alliance. From the perspectives of the manufacturing resource demander (MRD), the manufacturing resource provider (MRP), and the CPO, the game types are analyzed, the benefit functions are established, the existences of game equilibria are proved, and their corresponding constraint conditions are obtained. Integrating the dominant game strategies of the multiple participants, the dominant combination strategies of the above three game equilibria are proposed and the intersection conditions of Nash equilibrium from the mixed perspective are obtained. A set of experimental data from the practical case is given to prove that the solution space of Nash equilibrium from the mixed perspective is not empty. This research provides the theoretical basis for the landing application of the cloud manufacturing mode and the technical support for the development of the cloud manufacturing service platform. It has the important academic value and the broad application prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses and discusses the monthly and annual changes of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations from main sewage discharge ports in Xiangshan Bay. Using monitoring data obtained from 2010 to 2019, it systematically examines the monthly variation characteristics of the sewage discharge ports and the interannual changes in the fluxes of major pollutants into the sea. The concentrations of COD, TN, and TP, which were relatively high in November and January-March, generally declined. The annual and monthly changes fluctuated, but the flux into the sea generally decreased. The ecological environment of the nearby sea area is adversely affected, chiefly by land-based pollutants. During the five-year period, COD mainly came from soil erosion and domestic pollution, while TN and TP mainly came from agricultural activities and soil erosion. Hence, it is both necessary and urgent to improve the management of the sewage outfalls from land sources into the sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the increasingly urgent demand for effective wastewater denitrification and dephosphorization systems, there is a need to improve the performance of existing biological treatment technologies. As a bacteria‐level communication mechanism, quorum sensing (QS) synchronizes gene expression in a density‐dependent manner and regulates bacterial physiological behavior. On this basis, the QS‐based bacterial communication mechanism and environmental factors affecting QS are discussed. This paper reviews the influence of QS on sludge granulation, biofilm formation, emerging contaminants (ECs) removal, and horizontal gene transfer in sewage treatment system. Furthermore, the QS inhibition strategies are compared. Based on the coexistence and balance of QQ and QS in the long‐term operation system, QQ, as an effective tool to regulate the growth density of microorganisms, provides a promising exogenous regulation strategy for residual sludge reduction and biofilm pollution control. This paper reviews the potential of improving wastewater treatment efficiency based on QS theory and points out the feasibility and prospect of exogenous regulation strategy. Practitioner Points: The mechanism of bacterial communication based on QS and the environmental factors affecting QS were discussed.The application of QS and QQ in improving the sludge performance of biological treatment systems was described.The significance of QS and QQ coexistence in sewage treatment process was described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer cell-derived exosomes regulate tumor growth and progression. However, the effects of exosomes and its contents on head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we found HNSCC displayed a dysregulation of exosomes biogenesis. miR-185-3p was one of the most upregulated exosome-derived miRNAs in HNSCC. Functional assay showed that RAB25 is a direct downstream target of miR-185-3p. miR-185-3p/RAB25 signaling controlled tumor progression and correlated with disease prognosis. Targeting miR-185-3p/RAB25 significantly inhibited tumor growth and promoted drug response to chemotherapy. To conclude, the findings demonstrate exosomal miR-185-3p promotes tumor growth by mediating RAB25 that could be effectively targeted for HNSCC treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Horseshoe crabs, the most well‐known example of "living fossils", are iconic and ecologically important macroinvertebrates in coastal and estuarine ecosystems. Their blood is a crucial resource for manufacturing Limulus or Tachypleus amebocyte lysate to detect bacterial endotoxins or fungal contamination in drug and medical devices. An enhanced understanding of their ecological roles and trophic interactions in the food webs is fundamental to facilitate resource management for the declining populations in Asia. Foraging information of the Asian species, however, is mainly derived from preliminary, scattered reports from a limited number of study locations. In this study, resource utilization, trophic niche dynamics, and trophic interaction of the juvenile tri‐spine horseshoe crab, Tachypleus tridentatus (instars 1–12, approximately 0.5–8 years old) across ontogeny was assessed in diversified nursery habitats along the northern Beibu Gulf, China, using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes. Our results suggest that: (i) T. tridentatus are ecological generalists given the vast range of carbon isotopic values and trophic niche width estimates exhibited between multiple instar groups; (ii) juvenile T. tridentatus across most habitat types predominantly assimilated energy from a variety of basal production sources in the food web, but primarily depended on sedimentary organic matter and seagrass resource pools; (iii) ontogenetic shifts in juvenile dietary proportions were evident, with decreased reliance on sedimentary organic matter, coupled with increased reliance on benthic macroinvertebrate grazers, detritivores, and omnivores with age; and (iv) nearly all juvenile instars occupied similar trophic positions in the food web with slight shifts in trophic position present with increasing size. Our findings indicate that resource availability and ontogenetic diet shifts strongly influence horseshoe crab trophic dynamics, and age should be accounted when formulating habitat conservation measures based on resource use for Asian horseshoe crabs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many unsupervised approaches have been proposed recently for the video-based re-identification problem since annotations of samples across cameras are time-consuming. However, higher-order relationships across the entire camera network are ignored by these methods, leading to contradictory outputs when matching results from different camera pairs are combined. In this paper, we address the problem of unsupervised video-based re-identification by proposing a consistent cross-view matching (CCM) framework, in which global camera network constraints are exploited to guarantee the matched pairs are with consistency. Specifically, we first propose to utilize the first neighbor of each sample to discover relations among samples and find the groups in each camera. Additionally, a cross-view matching strategy followed by global camera network constraints is proposed to explore the matching relationships across the entire camera network. Finally, we learn metric models for camera pairs progressively by alternatively mining consistent cross-view matching pairs and updating metric models using these obtained matches. Rigorous experiments on two widely-used benchmarks for video re-identification demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method over current state-of-the-art unsupervised methods; for example, on the MARS dataset, our method achieves an improvement of 4.2% over unsupervised methods, and even 2.5% over one-shot supervision-based methods for rank-1 accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For studying the level of pollution by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the Xinjiang Urumqi petrochemical wastewater irrigation area of farmland soil profiles, 60 soil samples were collected from the wastewater irrigation area and 3 different land-use types (cultivated land, wasteland, and forest land) were included. To investigate the distributions of PAHs in soil, the source analysis is performed using the method of characteristic ratio and the total index method. The results show that the PAHs content in the surface soil of the sewage irrigation area is 237.3–2028.6 µg/kg, with an average value of 911 µg/kg. The PAHs contents in the soil of different land-use types are in the following order: woodland > cultivated land > wasteland. In the soil profile of the polluted irrigated area, 0–40 cm is the main polluted layer, the dominant component being the 2–3-ring PAHs. The monomer concentration and the total PAHs concentration both decrease with increasing soil depth. According to the characteristic ratio and the total index method, the irrigation of petrochemical wastewater is considered the main contributor to PAHs pollution in the soil of different land types in the sewage irrigation area. In addition, there is the problem of automobile exhaust emissions and the influence of incomplete combustion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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BACKGROUND: Melt crystallization is typically recognized as a highly efficient and green method for oil fractionation. This work concentrated on novel layer melt crystallization for preparing desirable olein and stearin products from palm oil and the evaluation of fraction quality. Layer melt crystallization was performed at various temperatures and the effects on fractions were evaluated using iodine value (IV), solid fat content (SFC) and melting point. The lipid composition, thermal and crystallization properties, and phase behaviors of the final optimized fractions were determined using gas chromatography, high‐performance liquid chromatography–atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry and differential scanning calorimetry. RESULTS: Increasing crystallization tube temperatures under the same jacket temperature increased the melting point and SFC, while decreasing the IV of the olein product. Opposite results were observed for the stearin product. Major fatty acids in fractions were determined as palmitic acid and oleic acid. 1,2‐Dioleoyl‐3‐palmitoylglycerol and 1,3‐dipalmitoyl‐2‐oleoylglycerol were identified as the main triacylglycerols in olein and stearin fractions, respectively. A critical effect of crystallization temperature on co‐crystallization of oleins and stearins was revealed. A transition from plate‐like crystal growth to spherulitic growth with spontaneous nucleation was indicated in palm oil and stearin fractions with increasing crystallization temperature. As for olein fractions, a temperature increase resulted in heterogeneous nucleation from instantaneous nucleation. CONCLUSIONS: Novel layer melt crystallization was successfully applied and optimized for fractionating palm oil. The composition and property changes of obtained fractions were analyzed and explained at both macroscopic and microscopic levels. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Waardenburg syndrome type 1 (WS1) is a rare genetic disorder characterized by dystopia canthorum, abnormal iris pigmentation, and congenital hearing loss with variable penetrance.WS1 is caused by mutations in paired box gene 3 (PAX3). The current study aimed to investigate the genetic cause of hearing loss in a four-generation Chinese WS1 family. Methods: The phenotype of the study family was characterized using clinical evaluation and pedigree analysis. Target region high-throughput sequencing system was designed to screen the all coding exons and flanking intronic sequences of the six WS-associated genes. Sanger sequencing was used to identify the causative nucleotide changes and perform the co-segregating analysis. The expression, subcellular distribution, and transcriptional activity of the mutant PAX3 protein were analysis to reveal the functional consequences of the mutation. Results: Based on diagnostic criteria, the proband of this pedigree classified as WS1. We identified a novel missense mutation (c.117 C > A, p. Asn39Lys) in exon 2 of the PAX3 gene. In vitro, the Asn39Lys PAX3 retained nuclear distribution ability. However, it failed to activate the melanocyte inducing transcription factor (MITF) promoter and impaired the function of WT PAX3. Conclusions: Our study reports a novel missense PAX3 mutation in a Chinese family and shows haploinsufficiency may be the underlying mechanism for the WS1 phenotype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Sudden cardiac death is a leading cause of death from coronary heart disease (CHD). The risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) increases with age, and sudden arrhythmic death remains a major cause of mortality in elderly individuals, especially ventricular arrhythmias (VA). We developed a risk prediction model by combining ECG and other clinical noninvasive indexes including biomarkers and echocardiology for VA in elderly patients with CHD. Method. In the retrospective study, a total of 2231 consecutive elderly patients (≥60 years old) with CHD hospitalized were investigated, and finally 1983 patients were enrolled as the model group. The occurrence of VA within 12 months was mainly collected. Study parameters included clinical characteristics (age, gender, height, weight, BMI, and past medical history), ECG indexes (QTcd, Tp-e/QT, and HRV indexes), biomarker indexes (NT-proBNP, Myo, cTnT, CK-MB, CRP, K+, and Ca2+), and echocardiology indexes. In the respective study, 406 elderly patients (≥60 years old) with CHD were included as the verification group to verify the model in terms of differentiation and calibration. Results. In the multiparameter model, seven independent predictors were selected: LVEF, LAV, HLP, QTcd, sex, Tp-e/QT, and age. Increased HLP, Tp-e/QT, QTcd, age, and LAV were risk factors (RR > 1), while female and increased LVEF were protective factors (RR < 1). This model can well predict the occurrence of VA in elderly patients with CHD (for model group, AUC: 0.721, 95% CI: 0.669∼0.772; for verification group, AUC: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.648∼0.818; Hosmer–Lemeshow χ 2 = 13.541, P = 0.095). After adjusting the predictors, it was found that the combination of clinical indexes and ECG indexes could predict VA more efficiently than using clinical indexes alone. Conclusions. LVEF, LAV, QTcd, Tp-e/QT, gender, age, and HLP were independent predictors of VA risk in elderly patients with CHD. Among these factors, the echocardiology indexes LVEF and LAV had the greatest influence on the predictive efficiency of the model, followed by ECG indexes, QTcd and Tp-e/QT. After verification, the model had a good degree of differentiation and calibration, which can provide a certain reference for clinical prediction of the VA occurrence in elderly patients with CHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: For the dataset with different sample contributions and different feature importance, it is difficult to acquire a proper cluster structure that covers the entire features of the sample set. To improve the clustering result, a novel weighted fuzzy clustering algorithm based on both samples and generalized entropy features, called SGEF‐WFCM, is proposed in this article, among which a new objective function is developed on the basis of feature‐weighted generalized entropy regularization with a double‐weighting strategy of samples and features, the weighted coefficients of the features to each cluster, as well as the importance of the samples to the cluster are calculated dynamically, to obtain a better clustering result. Finally, experiments on both synthetic datasets and real‐world datasets from UCI are employed to verify the performance of the proposed SGEF‐WFCM algorithm. The results show that SGEF‐WFCM is superior to the conventional FCM algorithm in both the effectiveness and the usefulness during practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The human diet has been considered to be the main source of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) intake, but only a few risk assessments for PFASs alternatives and isomers with persistent and bioaccumulative properties were available. Hence, the concentrations and human exposure of 10 linear PFASs, 8 branched PFASs and 4 alternatives were characterised in animal-origin and vegetable dietary food samples consumed by Beijing residents of China. Linear-PFASs were commonly found in fish, while PFBS was mainly found in vegetables. PFASs alternative 6:2Cl-PFESA was mainly detected in freshwater and marine fish, with a mean level of 223 and 158 pg/g ww, respectively. In addition, br-PFOA and br-PFOS were only detected in pork liver and fish samples. The EDI∑PFOA and EDI∑PFOS values were far below the tolerable weekly intake as recommended by EFSA in 2018. However, the occurrence and exposure of PFAS alternatives suggested that the risk of these contaminants should be further evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The critical role of IgE in allergic diseases is well-documented and clinically proven. Omalizumab, a humanized anti-IgE antibody, was the first approved antibody for the treatment of allergic diseases. Nevertheless, omalizumab still has some limitations, such as product instability and dosage restriction in clinical application. In this study, we attempted to develop an omalizumab biobetter antibody with the potential to overcome its limitations. We removed two aspartic acid isomerization hotspots in CDRs of omalizumab to improve antibody candidate's stability. Meanwhile, several murine amino acids in the framework region of omalizumab were replaced with human source to reduce the potential immunogenicity. Yeast display technology was then applied to screen antibody candidates with high binding affinity to IgE. Moreover, YTE mutation in Fc fragment was introduced into the candidates for extending their serum half-life. A lead candidate, AB1904Am15, was screened out, which showed desired biophysical properties and improved stability, high binding affinity and elevated potency in vitro , prolonged half-life in human FcRn transgenic mouse, and enhanced in vivo efficacy in cynomolgus monkey asthma model. Overall, our study developed a biobetter antibody of omalizumab, AB1904Am15, which has the potential to show improved clinical benefit in the treatment of allergic diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: Tools for the non-invasive assessment of colorectal cancer (CRC) prognosis have profound significance. Although plasma coagulation tests have been investigated in a variety of tumours, the prognostic value of the prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) in CRC has not been discussed. Our study objective was to explore the prognostic significance of preoperative PT and APTT in CRC patients. Patients and Methods: A retrospective analysis of preoperative coagulation indexes including PT, PTA, INR, APTT, FIB, TT, PLT, NLR and PLR in 250 patients with CRC was performed. Kaplan–Meier and multivariate Cox regression analysis were used to demonstrate the prognostic value of these preoperative coagulation indexes. Results: The overall survival (OS, p< 0.05) and disease-free survival (DFS, p< 0.05) of CRC patients with lower PT and APTT levels were significantly prolonged. Based on univariate analysis, PT levels (p< 0.001, p< 0.001), PTA levels (p=0.001, p=0.001), APTT levels (p=0.001, p< 0.001), INR levels (p< 0.001, p< 0.001), fibrinogen levels (p=0.032, p=0.036), tumour status (p=0.005, p=0.003), nodal status (p< 0.001, p< 0.001), metastasis status (p< 0.001, p< 0.001) and TNM stages (p< 0.001, p< 0.001) were remarkably associated with DFS and OS. Multivariate Cox regression analysis suggested that the levels of PT (HR: 2.699, p=0.006) and APTT (HR: 1.942, p=0.015), metastasis status (HR: 2.091, p= 0.015) and TNM stage (HR: 7.086, p=0.006) were independent predictors of survival in CRC. In the whole cohort, the enrolled patients were then divided into three groups according to their PT and APTT levels. The OS and DFS differed notably among the low-risk (PT< 11.85 sec and APTT< 25.85 sec), medium-risk (PT≥ 11.85 sec or APTT≥ 25.85 sec), and high-risk (PT≥ 11.85 sec and APTT≥ 25.85 sec) groups. Conclusion: Elevated levels of preoperative PT and APTT were predictors of poor outcomes in CRC patients. Moreover, the combination of preoperative PT and APTT can be a new prognostic stratification approach for more precise clinical staging of CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macroautophagy/autophagy is an essential cellular response in the fight against intracellular pathogens. Although some viruses can escape from or utilize autophagy to ensure their own replication, the responses of autophagy pathways to viral invasion remain poorly documented. Here, we show that peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) infection induces successive autophagic signalling in host cells via distinct and uncoupled molecular pathways. Immediately upon invasion, PPRV induced a first transient wave of autophagy via a mechanism involving the cellular pathogen receptor NECTIN4 and an AKT-MTOR-dependent pathway. Autophagic detection showed that early PPRV infection not only increased the amounts of autophagosomes and LC3-II but also downregulated the phosphorylation of AKT-MTOR. Subsequently, we found that the binding of viral protein H to NECTIN4 ultimately induced a wave of autophagy and inactivated the AKT-MTOR pathway, which is a critical step for the control of infection. Soon after infection, new autophagic signalling was initiated that required viral replication and protein expression. Interestingly, expression of IRGM and HSPA1A was significantly upregulated following PPRV replication. Strikingly, knockdown of IRGM and HSPA1A expression using small interfering RNAs impaired the PPRV-induced second autophagic wave and viral particle production. Moreover, IRGM-interacting PPRV-C and HSPA1A-interacting PPRV-N expression was sufficient to induce autophagy through an IRGM-HSPA1A-dependent pathway. Importantly, syncytia formation could facilitate sustained autophagy and the replication of PPRV. Overall, our work reveals distinct molecular pathways underlying the induction of self-beneficial sustained autophagy by attenuated PPRV, which will contribute to improving the use of vaccines for therapy. Abbreviations: ACTB: actin beta; ANOVA: analysis of variance; ATG: autophagy-related; BECN1: beclin 1; CDV: canine distemper virus; Co-IP: coimmunoprecipitation; FIP: fusion inhibitory peptide; GFP: green fluorescent protein; GST: glutathione S-transferase; HMOX1: heme oxygenase 1; hpi: hours post infection; HSPA1A: heat shock protein family A (Hsp70) member 1A; HSP90AA1: heat shock protein 90 kDa alpha (cytosolic), class A member 1; IFN: interferon; IgG: immunoglobulin G; INS: insulin; IRGM: immunity related GTPase M; MAP1LC3/LC3: microtubule associated protein 1 light chain 3; MeV: measles virus; MOI: multiplicity of infection; MTOR: mechanistic target of rapamycin kinase; PI3K: phosphoinositide-3 kinase; PIK3C3: phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase catalytic subunit type 3; SDS: sodium dodecyl sulfate; siRNA: small interfering RNA; SQSTM1/p62: sequestosome 1; UV: ultraviolet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Domain adaptation is an important branch of transfer learning. Previous studies have always taken efforts to minimize the optimization goal, but they neglect the relative quality of features or instances. For example, a classic work treats different instances equally in a degree and chooses these instances which minimize the optimization function value. This method will discard these instances that make the data distribution in source and target data domain different and will neglect the instances' relative quality. To reduce interference between instances in the process of domain adaptation, we put forward a novel method of ODA that uses the overlapping degree to measure every feature or instance's relative quality and implement feature or instance reweighting. At the same time, we have noticed that there are many parameters with values that will influence the effect of the method. Previous studies do not have a reasonable method to determine the parameters' values. We can use the genetic algorithm to find the balance between marginal distribution adaptation and conditional distribution adaptation to find the best combination of multiple parameters. Experiments we have done verify that the ODA method outperforms by 3.26% compared with the best comparison method. We have found that our method of finding the optimal parameters can yield more accurate results than the original method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identification, protection and enhancement of essential habitats are priority issues for management and restoration of exploited species. The shores utilized by Asian horseshoe crabs as nurseries were surveyed and the coastal habitat characteristics were described in the northern Beibu Gulf of China. Regression models were applied to explore species‐habitat relationships.Fourteen and ten nursery sites were identified for Tachypleus tridentatus and Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda populations, respectively. Xiacun and Jinhaiwan in the eastern region of the northern Beibu Gulf were the essential nurseries for T. tridentatus, whereas Shanxin and Jiaodong in the western part were the primary nursery shores for C. rotundicauda. These shores supported high densities (4–6 individuals/100 m2) of juvenile horseshoe crab populations.Mangrove and seagrass coverage area, coupled with sediment physico‐chemical parameters, particularly grain size, and the environmental heterogeneity of nursery habitats explained the distribution pattern of juvenile populations. Most juvenile populations were found along the outer fringe of mangroves in the small shallow estuary, particularly near outflows of tidal creeks with generally higher chlorophyll a and organic carbon contents. The distribution of high‐density juvenile populations of both species also overlapped with areas of seagrass patches.These findings highlight the importance of mangroves and seagrasses in the nursery habitat use of Asian horseshoe crabs. Preserving the estuarine habitats with these vegetation types and identifying the high‐use nursery sites should be prioritised in China and other Asian places to conserve the declining Asian horseshoe crab populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Risperidone has been used to treat the symptoms of schizophrenia and to reduce its relapse. However, the responses to treatment show great variability among patients. The potassium channel has been reported as an effective target for antipsychotics. KCNH7 , a member of the voltage-gated K+ channel Kv11 family, is primarily expressed in the brain. Here, we assessed the genetic association of KCNH7 with risperidone responses in 393 schizophrenia patients. The patients were treated with risperidone for 6 weeks. The reduction rates of Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) scores were determined to quantify drug response. We also examined the associations between six single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of KCNH7 and the risperidone responses for a total of 6 weeks. The SNP rs77699177 (C > T) in the KCNH7 gene intron was significantly associated with the treatment response reflected by the PANSS reduction rate (CC, 55.8 ± 23.0; TC, 70.9 ± 20.3, P = 0.000110), indicating that patients with the TC genotype have better efficacy for antipsychotic therapy. The rs2241240 SNP also showed a significant association with treatment responses after 6 weeks of treatment (P = 0.00256). The findings indicate that the voltage-gated K+ channel KCNH7 is a potential functional marker for the identification of the response to risperidone treatment in schizophrenia patients. Note: The study was registered under clinical trial number ChiCTR-RNC-09000522 (http://www.chictr.org/). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overharvesting Asian horseshoe crabs for food is a primary threat to their populations. In the present study, 451 residents were interviewed from the northern Beibu Gulf, the coastal area that is believed to accommodate the highest density of the Chinese horseshoe crab Tachypleus tridentatus worldwide, to obtain baseline information on their consumption behaviour and underlying drivers.Based on the survey data, it is estimated that a mean individual consumption rate of ten meals per year. Nearly half of the respondents (49.7%) claimed that they had previously eaten at least two horseshoe crab meals.Among the six occupation categories (managers, professionals, workers, environmental‐related workers, fishers and farmers, and students), fishers and farmers were identified as the group that had eaten a significantly higher number of horseshoe crab meals, had consumed them more frequently, and had a greater intention of eating them than that of students. The age, education level, and salary of participants were the important socio‐demographic variables related to their consumption behaviour. More than one‐third of respondents decided to consume horseshoe crabs because they perceived them as tasty 'seafood' and valuable ingredients of traditional Chinese medicine.Eighty‐three per cent of participants reported an overall decrease in the number of horseshoe crabs in the region.Although the community was supportive towards horseshoe crab conservation, their ecological knowledge of horseshoe crabs was limited. The findings may be useful for providing insights to merge the gap between scientific data and management planning for the horseshoe crab population in the region. Conservation management initiatives, such as the involvement of fishers in monitoring and enforcement, developing a reporting system for landings and by‐catch, and implementing long‐term conservation education through the school curriculum could promote the protection and management of the population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of sludge content on the expansion ratio of ceramsite was first studied, and then the baking system of sludge ceramsite was preliminarily explored and optimized. The results indicate that: with the increase of the amount of sludge, the supporting component increased and the amount of liquid phase melted at the same temperature increased. With the increase of the amount of sludge, the expansion ratio of ceramsite gradually decreases. The baking range of sludge ceramsite narrow down under adding sludge reduces. It was found that the factors influencing the bulk density were sintering temperature and preheating time. The factors that had a greater influence on the 1h water absorption of ceramics were sintering temperature and preheating temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractWith the increase of train speed, the brake disk receives more heat input, causing its own temperature to reach a higher level. Due to the complex structure of the brake disk, its convective heat transfer coefficient is difficult to calculate, which makes the analysis of the convective heat dissipation between the brake disk and the air complicated. In this article, based on the software FLUENT and ABAQUS, by combining the fluid-solid coupling method and the thermo-mechanical coupling method, the dynamic convective heat transfer and the transient temperature field of brake disk are simulated. The maximum value of dynamic convective heat transfer coefficient is 483 W/m2∙K at the running speed of 350 km/h. As for the transient temperature field, not only the contact relationship between the brake disk and the brake pad is considered, but also the dynamic convective heat transfer between the brake disk and the surrounding air domain is applied. The simulation results are more in line with the actual situation and the engineering application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Accumulating evidences demonstrated that microRNA-target gene pairs were closely related to tumorigenesis and development. However, the correlation between miRNA and target gene was insufficiently understood, especially its changes between tumor and normal tissues. Objectives. The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes of correlation of miRNAs-target pairs between normal and tumor. Materials and Methods. 5680 mRNA and 5740 miRNA expression profiles of 11 major human cancers were downloaded from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). The 11 cancer types were bladder urothelial carcinoma, breast invasive carcinoma, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, kidney chromophobe, kidney renal clear cell carcinoma, kidney renal papillary cell carcinoma, liver hepatocellular carcinoma, lung adenocarcinoma, lung squamous cell carcinoma, stomach adenocarcinoma, and thyroid carcinoma. For each cancer type, we firstly obtained differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) and genes (DEGs) in tumor and then acquired critical miRNA-target gene pairs by combining DEMs, DEGs and two experimentally validated miRNA-target interaction databases, miRTarBase and miRecords. We collected samples with both miRNA and mRNA expression values and performed a correlation analysis by Pearson method for miRNA-target pairs in normal and tumor, respectively. Results. We totally got 4743 critical miRNA-target pairs across 11 cancer types, and 4572 of them showed weaker correlation in tumor than in normal. The average correlation coefficients of miRNA-target pairs were different greatly between normal (-0.38 ~ -0.61) and tumor (-0.04 ~ -0.26) for 11 cancer type. The pan-cancer network, which consisted of 108 edges connecting 35 miRNAs and 89 target genes, showed the interactions of pairs appeared in multicancers. Conclusions. This comprehensive analysis revealed that correlation between miRNAs and target genes was greatly reduced in tumor and these critical pairs we got were involved in cellular adhesion, proliferation, and migration. Our research could provide opportunities for investigating cancer molecular regulatory mechanism and seeking therapeutic targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim of this study was to propose a prognostic scoring system based on preoperative serum apolipoprotein A-1 and C-reactive protein (ApoA-1 and CRP, AC score) levels and to evaluate the prognostic value of these markers in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Methods: In all, 539 consecutive cases diagnosed with HCC from 2009 to 2012 at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center were analysed. The characteristics and levels of pretreatment lipids (ApoA-1, apolipoprotein B (Apo-B), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TGs)) and CRP were reviewed and determined by univariate and multivariate Cox hazard models. Then, the AC score was proposed, which combines two independent risk factors (ApoA-1 and CRP).Results: The optimal cut-off points in our study were determined according to established reference ranges. Patients with decreased ApoA-1 levels (< 1.090 g/L) and increased CRP levels (≥3.00 mg/L) exhibited a significantly poor overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). The AC score was calculated as follows: patients with decreased ApoA-1 and elevated CRP were given a score of 3, patients with only one of these abnormalities were given a score of 2, and those with no abnormalities were given a score of 1. Patients with a higher AC score showed more progressive disease and a poorer prognosis. This was observed not only in the entire cohort (for OS, P < 0.001; for DFS, P < 0.001) but also in the subgroups stratified by pathological stage (stage I-II and stage III-IV). The discriminatory ability of the AC score in HCC was assessed according to the AUC values. The AUC value of the AC score (AUC: 0.676, 95% CI: 0.629-0.723, P < 0.001) was higher than that of AFP. In addition, the combination of the AFP and AC scores (AUC: 0.700, 95% CI: 0.655-0.745, P < 0.001) was superior to the AFP and AC scores alone.Conclusions: The AC score is a significant valuable predictor of OS and DFS and could more accurately differentiate the prognosis of HCC patients. As this study is a retrospective analysis, the value of the AC score should be validated in large prospective trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: Neogenin-1 (Neo1) has been reported to be involved in diverse physiology and pathology functions, including cell proliferation, differentiation and migration. The present study aimed to explore the functional role of neogenin-1 (Neo1) in gastric cancer (GC), together with underlying mechanisms. Methods: Neo1 expression was analyzed by qRT-PCR and Western blot analysis in both human GC cell lines and normal gastric epithelial cell line. Neo1 was respectively overexpressed or silenced by transfection with pcDNA3.1 or siRNA, and then the cells were incubated with or without different concentrations of cisplatin, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, and/or inhibitors of Rac-1 and PI3K. Thereafter, cell viability, invasion, and adhesion were measured by CCK-8, wound healing and adhesion assays, respectively. The expression levels of key factors involved in epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the PI3K/AKT pathway were analyzed by Western blot analysis. Results: The results showed that the Neo1 level was significantly increased in GC cell lines, with the highest level in SGC-7901 cells. Overexpression of Neo1 significantly reduced the GC cell sensitivity to cisplatin and increased the cell viability, motility and adhesion ability, and while silencing of Neo1 showed contrary results. Moreover, overexpression of Neo1 dramatically downregulated the E-Cadherin level and upregulated the levels of N-Cadherin and Vimentin. In addition, the data revealed that Neo1 positively regulated the expression of Zinc finger E-box-binding homeobox 1 (ZEB1) by activating the Rac1/PI3K/AKT pathway. Conclusions: Neo1 could promote cell proliferation, motility, and adhesion by up-regulation of ZEB1 via activating the Rac1/PI3K/AKT pathway in GC cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a multilayered configuration of SiO2 film created by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), the thermal stress and growth-caused stress are two intrinsic stresses. In this work, based on the interactions of all the layers of film, a nonlinearly distributed structural stress over a large substrate is found. The numerical simulations for the nonlinear distribution of the structural stress and the uniform distributions of the two intrinsic stresses are carried out. As a result, the tensile structural stress decreases by ∼4x105MPa from center to edge of a 6” silicon wafer and the compressive growth-caused stress increases by ∼5x105MPa corresponding to the growth-rate increase of 40nm/s, which matches a ∼120MPa distribution of residual compressive stress obtained with in-situ measurements of film samples. In simulations, it is also discovered that the initial curvature of substrate has an impressive influence on the later grown film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]