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Meng Cai,1,* Jie Liu,2,* Xiao-Feng Lei,1 Yun-Long Li,3 Jin Yu1 1Department of Anesthesiology, Women and Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing Health Center for Women and Children, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Respiratory, The Affiliated Banan Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, People’s Hospital of Chongqing Banan District, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Women and Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing Health Center for Women and Children, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Jin Yu, Department of Anesthesiology, Women and Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing Health Center for Women and Children, No. 120, Longshan Road, Yubei District, Chongqing, 401147, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86-18623117820, Fax +86-23-63702844, Email dodoes@qq.comBackground: Intravenous labor analgesia is recommended as an alternative for parturients who have contraindications to epidural analgesia. There are several opioid analgesics and different administering regimens used in the clinic. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness and safety of two intravenous remifentanil dosage regimens in the first labor stage.Patients and Methods: One hundred and fifteen parturients with a contraindication to epidural analgesia but were willing to receive systemic labor analgesia were randomized into group A received a fixed dose of remifentanil throughout the first stage of labor, and group B received an elevated dose of remifentanil during the active phase of the first stage both by patient-controlled analgesia (PCA). Maternal numerical rating scale (NRS) pain score and oxygen desaturation, sedation efficacy, satisfaction, as well as maternal and fetal adverse reactions were recorded and compared.Results: The mean NRS pain scores before an

Meng Cai,1 Hao Liu,2 Yong Peng,2 Jing-Kun Miao,2 Xiao-Feng Lei,1 Jin Yu1 1Department of Anesthesiology, Chongqing Health Center for Women and Children, Women and Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Pediatrics, Chongqing Health Center for Women and Children, Women and Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Jin Yu, Department of Anesthesiology, Chongqing Health Center for Women and Children, Women and Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, No. 120, Longshan Road, Yubei District, Chongqing, 401147, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86-18623117820, Email dodoes@qq.comObjective: Remifentanil, in combination with etomidate and sevoflurane, is commonly used in clinics for general anesthesia induction in cesarean section (CS). This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between the induction to delivery (I-D) time and neonatal plasma drug concentration and anesthesia, as well as its effects on neonates.Methods: Fifty-two parturients in whom general anesthesia was induced for CS were divided into group A (I-D< 8 min) and group B (I-D≥ 8 min). Maternal arterial (MA), umbilical venous (UV), and umbilical arterial (UA) blood samples were collected at delivery to analyze the remifentanil and etomidate concentrations using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.Results: There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in terms of plasma concentrations of remifentanil in the MA, UA, and UV blood (P > 0.05). The plasma concentration of etomidate in MA and UV was higher in group A than that in group B (P< 0.05), whereas the UA/UV ratio of etomidate was higher in group B than that in group A (P< 0.05). The Spearman rank correlation test showed no correlation between the I-D time and plasma remifentanil concentration in the MA, UA, and UV plasma (P> 0.05). The concentration

Xiao Lei,1,&ast; Guodong Tan,2,&ast; Yiming Wang,3,&ast; Li Chen,4,&ast; Yuan Cao,1 Bingxin Si,2 Zhen Zhen,2 Bei Li,5 Yan Jin,5 Wei Wang,6 Fang Jin1 1Shaanxi Clinical Research Center for Oral Disease & Department of Orthodontics, School of Stomatology, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China; 2Air Force Medical Center, Fourth Military Medical University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 3Shaanxi Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases & Department of Oral Surgery, School of Stomatology, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China; 4Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Energy Chemical Process Intensification & Institute of Polymer Science in Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Xi’an Jiao Tong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China; 5State Key Laboratory of Military Stomatology & Shaanxi International Joint Research Center for Oral Diseases, Center for Tissue Engineering, School of Stomatology, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China; 6State Key Laboratory of Military Stomatology & National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases & Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, Department of Operative Dentistry and Endodontics, School of Stomatology, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Fang Jin, Shaanxi Clinical Research Center for Oral Disease & Department of Orthodontics, School of Stomatology, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China, Email fangjin191@163.com Wei Wang, State Key Laboratory of Military Stomatology & National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases & Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, Department of Operative Dentistry and Endodontics, School of Stomatology, Fourt

Shubnikov–de Hass oscillations are directly observed in undoped antiferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi2Te4. With increasing magnetic fields, the oscillation period decreases gradually in the magnetic transition from canted antiferromagnetism to ferromagnetism and then saturates in high magnetic fields, indicating the field-induced evolution of the band structure. From the analysis of the high-field oscillations, a nontrivial Berry phase and a small effective mass are extracted. Furthermore, rotating the magnetization of MnBi2Te4 can lead to a splitting of the high-field oscillations, which suggests the enhanced asymmetry of the Weyl cones in tilted fields. Therefore, the observation of these magnetically tunable quantum oscillations clearly demonstrates the indispensable role of field in tuning the band structure or physical properties of MnBi2Te4.

The magneto-transport properties of magnetic topological insulators MnBi2Te4(MBT-124) and MnBi4Te7 (MBT-147) have been studied experimentally in this thesis. These include the surface-induced linear magnetoresistance (LMR), the magnetically tunable Shubnikov–de Haas (SdH) oscillation, the current-dependent magnetic states, and anomalous Hall effect (AHE). Much progress has been made in antiferromagnetic topological insulator MBT-124, such as the observation of the quantum anomalous Hall effect and axion insulator states in few layer MBT-124. But in the bulk MBT-124, the transport signature of topological surface states has not been reported yet. In our study of the flake MBT-124, the existence of the high mobility surface states is demonstrated by two-dimensional (2D) LMR in high magnetic fields. It has been found that the nonsaturating LMR persists up to 14 T. The 2D transport of this LMR is revealed by rotating the magnetic field. The two-band analysis of the nonlinear Hall signal shows the close relation between this LMR and the topological surface state. Furthermore, whether the surface states of MBT-124 are gapped below Neel temperature still remains an open question. A suppression of this LMR occurs during the magnetic transition from paramagnetic (PM) phase to antiferromagnetic (AFM) phase at the Neel temperature, which may suggest a surface state gap opening in band structure due to this transition. In addition, the failure of both classical model and quantum LMR model in describing the LMR indicates that this LMR deserves further investigations. It is worth mentioning that a similar LMR is also found in MBT-147. In previous studies, the close connection between the magnetic state of MBT-124 and its band structure or topological phase is reported. However, such a connection has not been directly investigated, especially in the quantum oscillation experiment. Here, we report on the discovery of the novel magnetic fi

The Large-scale 3D reconstruction, texturing and semantic mapping are nowadays widely used for automated driving vehicles, virtual reality and automatic data generation. However, most approaches are developed for RGB-D cameras with colored dense point clouds and not suitable for large-scale outdoor environments using sparse LiDAR point clouds. Since a 3D surface can be usually observed from multiple camera images with different view poses, an optimal image patch selection for the texturing and an optimal semantic class estimation for the semantic mapping are still challenging. To address these problems, we propose a novel 3D reconstruction, texturing and semantic mapping system using LiDAR and camera sensors. An Adaptive Truncated Signed Distance Function is introduced to describe surfaces implicitly, which can deal with different LiDAR point sparsities and improve model quality. The from this implicit function extracted triangle mesh map is then textured from a series of registered camera images by applying an optimal image patch selection strategy. Besides that, a Markov Random Field-based data fusion approach is proposed to estimate the optimal semantic class for each triangle mesh. Our approach is evaluated on a synthetic dataset, the KITTI dataset and a dataset recorded with our experimental vehicle. The results show that the 3D models generated using our approach are more accurate in comparison to using other state-of-the-art approaches. The texturing and semantic mapping achieve also very promising results., Comment: 8 pages

Shubnikov–de Hass oscillations are directly observed in undoped antiferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi2Te4. With increasing magnetic fields, the oscillation period decreases gradually in the magnetic transition from canted antiferromagnetism to ferromagnetism and then saturates in high magnetic fields, indicating the field-induced evolution of the band structure. From the analysis of the high-field oscillations, a nontrivial Berry phase and a small effective mass are extracted. Furthermore, rotating the magnetization of MnBi2Te4 can lead to a splitting of the high-field oscillations, which suggests the enhanced asymmetry of the Weyl cones in tilted fields. Therefore, the observation of these magnetically tunable quantum oscillations clearly demonstrates the indispensable role of field in tuning the band structure or physical properties of MnBi2Te4.

Nodal-line semimetals (NLSMs) contain Dirac-Weyl-type band-crossing nodes extending into shapes of lines, loops, and chains in the reciprocal space, leading to band topology and transport responses. Robust NLSMs against spin-orbit coupling typically occur in three-dimensional and in-plane isotropic materials which have more symmetry operations to protect the line nodes of band crossing, while the possibilities in exfoliatable materials with in-plane anisotropy are rarely discussed. Here, we demonstrate a robust NLSM phase in an exfoliatable in-plane anisotropic nonmagnetic semimetal TaNiTe5. Combining angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements and first-principles calculations, we reveal multiple Dirac-type nodal lines with fourfold degeneracy in TaNiTe5. Our findings suggest rich physics in structurally anisotropic topological materials and call for further functional exploitation based on them.

Nodal-line semimetals (NLSMs) contain Dirac-Weyl-type band-crossing nodes extending into shapes of lines, loops, and chains in the reciprocal space, leading to band topology and transport responses. Robust NLSMs against spin-orbit coupling typically occur in three-dimensional and in-plane isotropic materials which have more symmetry operations to protect the line nodes of band crossing, while the possibilities in exfoliatable materials with in-plane anisotropy are rarely discussed. Here, we demonstrate a robust NLSM phase in an exfoliatable in-plane anisotropic nonmagnetic semimetal TaNiTe5. Combining angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements and first-principles calculations, we reveal multiple Dirac-type nodal lines with fourfold degeneracy in TaNiTe5. Our findings suggest rich physics in structurally anisotropic topological materials and call for further functional exploitation based on them.

Nodal-line semimetals (NLSMs) contain Dirac-Weyl-type band-crossing nodes extending into shapes of lines, loops, and chains in the reciprocal space, leading to band topology and transport responses. Robust NLSMs against spin-orbit coupling typically occur in three-dimensional and in-plane isotropic materials which have more symmetry operations to protect the line nodes of band crossing, while the possibilities in exfoliatable materials with in-plane anisotropy are rarely discussed. Here, we demonstrate a robust NLSM phase in an exfoliatable in-plane anisotropic nonmagnetic semimetal TaNiTe5. Combining angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements and first-principles calculations, we reveal multiple Dirac-type nodal lines with fourfold degeneracy in TaNiTe5. Our findings suggest rich physics in structurally anisotropic topological materials and call for further functional exploitation based on them.

Through a thorough magnetotransport study of antiferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi2Te4 (MBT) thick films, a positive linear magnetoresistance (LMR) with a two-dimensional (2D) character is found in high perpendicular magnetic fields and at temperatures up to at least 260 K. The nonlinear Hall effect further reveals the existence of high-mobility surface states in addition to the bulk states in MBT. We ascribe the 2D LMR to the high-mobility surface states of MBT, thus unveiling a transport signature of surface states in thick MBT films. A suppression of LMR near the Neel temperature of MBT is also noticed, which might suggest the gap opening of surface states due to the paramagnetic-antiferromagnetic phase transition of MBT. Besides these, the failure of the disorder and quantum LMR model in explaining the observed LMR indicates new physics must be invoked to understand this phenomenon.

Through a thorough magnetotransport study of antiferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi2Te4 (MBT) thick films, a positive linear magnetoresistance (LMR) with a two-dimensional (2D) character is found in high perpendicular magnetic fields and at temperatures up to at least 260 K. The nonlinear Hall effect further reveals the existence of high-mobility surface states in addition to the bulk states in MBT. We ascribe the 2D LMR to the high-mobility surface states of MBT, thus unveiling a transport signature of surface states in thick MBT films. A suppression of LMR near the Neel temperature of MBT is also noticed, which might suggest the gap opening of surface states due to the paramagnetic-antiferromagnetic phase transition of MBT. Besides these, the failure of the disorder and quantum LMR model in explaining the observed LMR indicates new physics must be invoked to understand this phenomenon.

Through a thorough magnetotransport study of antiferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi2Te4 (MBT) thick films, a positive linear magnetoresistance (LMR) with a two-dimensional (2D) character is found in high perpendicular magnetic fields and at temperatures up to at least 260 K. The nonlinear Hall effect further reveals the existence of high-mobility surface states in addition to the bulk states in MBT. We ascribe the 2D LMR to the high-mobility surface states of MBT, thus unveiling a transport signature of surface states in thick MBT films. A suppression of LMR near the Neel temperature of MBT is also noticed, which might suggest the gap opening of surface states due to the paramagnetic-antiferromagnetic phase transition of MBT. Besides these, the failure of the disorder and quantum LMR model in explaining the observed LMR indicates new physics must be invoked to understand this phenomenon.

Background Toll-like receptor (TLR) 9 recognizes bacterial DNA, activating innate immunity, whereas it also provokes inflammation in response to fragmented DNA released from mammalian cells. We investigated whether TLR9 contributes to the development of vascular inflammation and atherogenesis using apolipoprotein E–deficient (Apoe-/-) mice. Methods and Results Tlr9-deficient Apoe-/- (Tlr9-/-Apoe-/-) mice and Apoe-/- mice on a Western-type diet received subcutaneous angiotensin II infusion (1000 ng/kg per minute) for 28 days. Angiotensin II increased the plasma level of double-stranded DNA, an endogenous ligand of TLR9, in these mice. Genetic deletion or pharmacologic blockade of TLR9 in angiotensin II–infused Apoe-/- mice attenuated atherogenesis in the aortic arch (P<0.05), reduced the accumulation of lipid and macrophages in atherosclerotic plaques, and decreased RNA expression of inflammatory molecules in the aorta with no alteration of metabolic parameters. On the other hand, restoration of TLR9 in bone marrow in Tlr9-/-Apoe-/- mice promoted atherogenesis in the aortic arch (P<0.05). A TLR9 agonist markedly promoted proinflammatory activation of Apoe-/- macrophages, partially through p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling. In addition, genomic DNA extracted from macrophages promoted inflammatory molecule expression more effectively in Apoe-/- macrophages than in Tlr9-/-Apoe-/- macrophages. Furthermore, in humans, circulating double-stranded DNA in the coronary artery positively correlated with inflammatory features of coronary plaques determined by optical coherence tomography in patients with acute myocardial infarction (P<0.05). Conclusions TLR9 plays a pivotal role in the development of vascular inflammation and atherogenesis through proinflammatory activation of macrophages. TLR9 may serve as a potential therapeutic target for atherosclerosis.

Xiao Lei, Limei Zhang, Zonglin Li, Jigang Ren Traditional Chinese Medicine Department, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, Sichuan Province, People’s Republic of China Objective: This study aims to figure out the mechanism of astragaloside IV (AS-IV) in the protection of podocyte apoptosis in diabetic nephropathy (DN) rats. Materials and methods: Streptozotocin (STZ) was used to induce diabetes in rats, and the diabetic rats were treated with 5 mg/kg/d of AS-IV for 12 weeks. Albuminuria level, relative TUG1 and TRAF5 levels, and TRAF5 and cleaved-caspase-3 protein levels were examined by ELISA, quantitative reverse transcription (qRT)-PCR, and Western blot analyses, respectively. The interaction between TUG1 and TRAF5 was confirmed by RNA pull-down and RNA precipitation. TUNEL assay was used to detect podocyte apoptosis. Results: Compared with control rats, DN rats had higher albuminuria and TRAF5 levels and lower TUG1 level. AS-IV treatment attenuated albuminuria and TRAF5 levels and improved TUG1 level in DN rats. TUG1 was downregulated and TRAF5 was upregulated in high-glucose-treated MPC5 cells, and AS-IV ameliorated the TUG1 level. In addition, TUG1 interacted with TRAF5, and TUG1 overexpression promoted degradation of TRAF5 protein. Besides, AS-IV modulated TRAF5 expression through regulating TUG1. AS-IV decreased podocyte apoptosis via the TUG1/TRAF5 pathway. Finally, in vivo experiment proved that si-TUG1 abrogated the protective effect of AS-IV on DN. Conclusion: AS-IV attenuated podocyte apoptosis and protected diabetic rats from DN via the lncRNA-TUG1/TRAF5 pathway. Keywords: astragaloside IV, diabetic nephropathy, TUG1, TRAF5, albuminuria

Xiao-dan Zhu, Xiao-ping Lei, Wen-bin Dong Department of Newborn Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China Abstract: Respiratory system diseases are common and major ailments that seriously endanger human health. Resveratrol, a polyphenolic phytoalexin, is considered an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anticancer agent. Thanks to its wide range of biological activities, resveratrol has become a hotspot in many fields, including respiratory system diseases. Indeed, research has demonstrated that resveratrol is helpful to relieve pulmonary function in the general population. Meanwhile, growing evidence indicates that resveratrol plays a protective role in respiratory system diseases. This review aimed to summarize the main protective effects of resveratrol in respiratory system diseases, including its anti-inflammatory, antiapoptotic, antioxidant, antifibrotic, antihypertensive, and anticancer activities. We found that resveratrol plays a protective role in the respiratory system through a variety of mechanisms, and so it may become a new drug for the treatment of respiratory system diseases. Keywords: respiratory system diseases, resveratrol, inflammation, apoptosis, oxidation

Chan Zhang, Wen-Bin Dong, Shuai Zhao, Qing-Ping Li, Lan Kang, Xiao-Ping Lei, Lin Guo, Xue-Song Zhai Department of Newborn Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Luzhou Medical College, Luzhou, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China Background: The aim of this study is to observe the inhibitive effects of p66Shc gene interfering lentivirus vectors on the expression of p66Shc, and to explore its effects on alveolar epithelial cells apoptosis induced by hyperoxia. Methods: The gene sequences were cloned into the pLenR-GPH-shRNA lentiviral vector, which was selected by Genebank searches. The pLenR-GPH-shRNA and lentiviral vector packaging plasmid mix were cotransfected into 293T cells to package lentiviral particles. Culture virus supernatant was harvested, and then the virus titer was determined by serial dilution assay. A549 cells were transduced with the constructed lentiviral vectors, and real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot were used to evaluate p66Shc expression. This study is divided into a control group, a hyperoxia group, an A549-p66ShcshRNA hyperoxia group, and a negative lentivirus group. Cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry after 24 hours; the expression of X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) and caspase-9 were detected by immunohistochemistry assay. The production of reactive oxygen species and cellular mitochondria membrane potential (ΔΨm) were determined by fluorescence microscopy. Results: We successfully established the p66Shc gene interfering lentivirus vectors, A549-p66ShcshRNA. The A549-p66ShcshRNA was transfected into alveolar epithelial cells, and the inhibitive effects on the expression of p66Shc were observed. Both RT-PCR and Western blot demonstrated downregulation of p66Shc expression in A549 cells. In the A549-p66ShcshRNA hyperoxia group, we found dampened oxidative stress. A549-p66ShcshRNA can cause p66Shc gene silencing, reduce mitochondrial reactive oxygen species gene

It has been recognized that cellular network interfaces are not energy efficient because of tail energy after each transmission. Although many research efforts have been made to reduce tail energy, they ignore the dynamic of link quality caused by user mobility or network congestion, which would lead to limited improvement without quality-of-experience guarantee. In this paper, we study to minimize energy consumption of the cellular network interface with a sequence of download/upload requests. Given accurate estimation of achievable link rate, we design a dynamic-programming (DP) based algorithm to obtain the optimal solution. Without the knowledge of dynamic link quality and future requests, an online algorithm is proposed to approximate the optimal solution. Finally, we conduct extensive simulations using real traces to evaluate the performance of our proposals, and the results show that 29% energy can be saved by using our algorithm under typical network settings. © 2015 IEEE.

The mechanical stability of graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) is an important mechanical property to study, when GNRs are used as components in sensors or other nanodevices. In this paper, nonlocal effects are considered in a continuum model based theoretical analysis of the critical buckling stress of cantilevered double-layer GNRs (DLGNRs) that are subjected to an axial compressive load. The results show that the nonlocal effect has an inverse relationship with the buckling stress, and the nonlocal effect decreases with increasing aspect ratio of DLGNRs. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge this is the first report that, for DLGNRs in anti-phase modes, lower buckling mode can endure higher buckling stress because of van der Waals (vdW) interaction.

A theoretical vibrational analysis of the radial breathing mode (RBM) of double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs) subjected to pressure is presented based on an elastic continuum model. The results agree with reported experimental results obtained under different conditions. Frequencies of the RBM in DWCNTs subjected to increasing pressure depend strongly on circumferential wave numbers, but weakly on the aspect ratio and axial half-wave numbers. For the inner and outer tubes of DWCNTs, the frequency of the RBM increases obviously as the pressure increases under different conditions. The range of variation is smaller for the inner tube than the outer tube.

Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs), the finite-wide counterparts of crystalline graphene sheets, have been potential materials used in nano-devices because of their excellent electronic, thermal and mechanical properties. In this work, a theoretical analysis of nonlocal elasticity theory for the free vibrational characteristics of embedded double-layer GNRs (DLGNRs) is proposed based on continuum and Winkler spring models. We find two types of vibrational modes, in-phase mode (IPM) and anti-phase mode (APM). The results show that the vibrational properties of DLGNRs show different behaviors in IPM and APM. The natural frequencies of DLGNR embedded in an elastic matrix are significantly influenced by nonlocal effects, the aspect ratio of DLGNRs and the Winkler foundation modulus.