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The clinical outcomes between left-sided colon cancer and middle/low rectal cancer seem to be different. This study aimed to examine the effect of primary tumor location regarding the left-sided colon and middle/low rectum on the overall survival (OS) of patients who underwent colorectal hepatic metastasectomy.

Impulsive choice has enduring trait-like characteristics and is defined by preference for small immediate rewards over larger delayed ones. Importantly, it is a determining factor in the development and persistence of substance use disorder (SUD). Emerging evidence from human and animal studies suggests frontal cortical regions exert influence over striatal reward processing areas during decision-making in impulsive choice or delay discounting (DD) tasks. The goal of this study was to examine how these circuits are involved in decision-making in animals with defined trait impulsivity. To this end, we trained adolescent male rats to stable behavior on a DD procedure and then re-trained them in adulthood to assess trait-like, conserved impulsive choice across development. We then used chemogenetic tools to selectively and reversibly target corticostriatal projections during performance of the DD task. The prelimbic region of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) was injected with a viral vector expressing inhibitory designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (Gi-DREADD), and then mPFC projections to the nucleus accumbens core (NAc) were selectively suppressed by intra-NAc administration of the Gi-DREADD actuator clozapine-n-oxide (CNO). Inactivation of the mPFC-NAc projection elicited a robust increase in impulsive choice in rats with lower vs. higher baseline impulsivity. This demonstrates a fundamental role for mPFC afferents to the NAc during choice impulsivity and suggests that maladaptive hypofrontality may underlie decreased executive control in animals with higher levels of choice impulsivity. Results such as these may have important implications for the pathophysiology and treatment of impulse control, SUDs, and related psychiatric disorders.

Lycium barbarumpolysaccharide (LBP) is a substance with various biological activities extracted from Lycium barbarum. LbGPs are peptidoglycans with a short peptide backbone and a complex, branched glycan moiety, which is further extracted and isolated from LBPs. Previous studies have shown that LbGP can inhibit cancer cell growth, but its specific mechanism is not completely clear. In this study, we found that LbGP could inhibit the proliferation of glioma cells and promote the expression of period 2 (PER2) through the PKA-CREB pathway. In addition, LbGP could inhibit the de novo synthesis of lipids by downregulating SREBP1c and its target genes, which depended on the expression of PER2. Moreover, PER2 negatively regulated the expression of SREBP1c via suppressing PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway. In summary, LbGP may upregulate the expression of PER2 to reduce the expression of SREBP1c, inhibit lipid synthesis in glioblastoma, and inhibit glioblastoma cell proliferation. This study provides an alternative drug for the treatment of glioma and elucidates its potential mechanism.

Use of the SCATTR instrument to measure the degree of attractiveness of joint venture shopping centers to Chinese consumers is discussed. Additional information on the methodology used to evaluate Chinese shopping centers is also included.

Lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) is an essential mediator in human lipid metabolism and is associated with a variety of diseases, but the exact identity of LPC receptors remains controversial. Through extensive biochemical and structural analyses, we have identified the orphan receptor GPR119 as the receptor for LPC. The structure of the GPR119–G-protein complex without any added ligands reveals a density map that fits well with LPC, which is further confirmed by mass spectrometry and functional studies. As LPCs are abundant on the cell membrane, their preoccupancy in the receptor may lead to ‘constitutive activity’ of GPR119. The structure of GPR119 bound to APD668, a clinical drug candidate for type 2 diabetes, reveals an exceedingly similar binding mode to LPC. Together, these data highlight structural evidence for LPC function in regulating glucose-dependent insulin secretion through direct binding and activation of GPR119, and provide structural templates for drug design targeting GPR119.

Takeda G protein-coupled receptor 5 (TGR5) is a promising target for treating metabolic syndrome and inflammatory diseases. Herein, we identified a new series of betulinic acid derivatives as potent TGR5 agonists, which show remarkable activity on human (h) and canine (c) TGR5 but exhibit unpromising activity on murine (m) TGR5. Species difference was also observed with many other reported TGR5 agonists. Therefore, we screened 29 amino acids which were conserved in hTGR5 and cTGR5 but different in mTGR5 and found a key amino acid, H88 in mTGR5 (Y89 in hTGR5), which contributed to the species difference. With the CRISPR/Cas9 system, the mTGR5H88Ymutation was introduced into mice, and the optimized compound 11d-Nadisplayed a significant glucose-lowering effect and stimulated GLP-1 and insulin secretion in TGR5H88Ymice but not in wild-type animals. Taken together, our study provides a useful tool to bridge the gap of species difference and discovers a potent TGR5 agonist for further investigation.

Impaired glutamate homeostasis is a key characteristic of the neurobiology of drug addiction in rodent models and contributes to the vulnerability to relapse to drug seeking. Although disrupted astrocytic and presynaptic regulation of glutamate release has been considered to constitute with impaired glutamate homeostasis in rodent model of drug relapse, the involvement of endocannabinoids (eCBs) in this neurobiological process has remained largely unknown. Here, using cocaine self-administration in rats, we investigated the role of endocannabinoids in impaired glutamate homeostasis in the core of nucleus accumbens (NAcore), which was indicated by augmentation of spontaneous synaptic glutamate release, downregulation of metabotropic glutamate receptor 2/3 (mGluR2/3), and mGluR5-mediated astrocytic glutamate release. We found that the endocannabinoid, anandamide (AEA), rather than 2-arachidonoylglycerol elicited glutamate release through presynaptic transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) and astrocytic cannabinoid type-1 receptors (CB1Rs) in the NAcore of saline-yoked rats. In rats with a history of cocaine self-administration and extinction training, AEA failed to alter synaptic glutamate release in the NAcore, whereas CB1R-mediated astrocytic glutamate release by AEA remained functional. In order to induce increased astrocytic glutamate release via exogenous AEA, (R)-methanandamide (methAEA, a metabolically stable form of AEA) was chronically infused in the NAcore via osmotic pumps during extinction training. Restoration of mGluR2/3 function and mGluR5-mediated astrocytic glutamate release was observed after chronic methAEA infusion. Additionally, priming or cue-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking was inhibited in methAEA-infused rats. These results demonstrate that enhancing endocannabinoid signaling is a potential pathway to restore glutamate homeostasis and may represent a promising therapeutic strategy for preventing cocaine relapse.

Diabetic retinopathy (DR), the most common microvascular complication of diabetes and leading cause of visual impairment in adults worldwide, is suggested to be linked to abnormal lipid metabolism. The present study aims to comprehensively investigate the relationship between n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and DR. This was a propensity score matching based case–control study, including 69 pairs of DR patients and type 2 diabetic patients without DR with mean age of 56.7 ± 9.2 years. Five n-6 PUFAs were determined by UPLC-ESI-MS/MS system. Principle component regression (PCR) and multiple conditional logistic regression models were used to investigate the association of DR risk with n-6 PUFAs depending on independent training and testing sets, respectively. According to locally weighted regression model, we observed obvious negative correlation between levels of five n-6 PUFAs (linoleic acid, γ-linolenic acid, eicosadienoic acid, dihomo-γ-linolenic acid and arachidonicacid) and DR. Based on multiple PCR model, we also observed significant negative association between the five n-6 PUFAs and DR with adjusted OR (95% CI) as 0.62 (0.43,0.87). When being evaluated depending on the testing set, the association was still existed, and PCR model had excellent classification performance, in which area under the curve (AUC) was 0.88 (95% CI: 0.78, 0.99). In addition, the model also had valid calibration with a non-significant Hosmer–Lemeshow Chi-square of 9.44 (P= 0.307) in the testing set. n-6 PUFAs were inversely associated with the presence of DR, and the principle component could be potential indicator in distinguishing DR from other T2D patients.

Background and objectives: Accumulating evidences suggest that chronic systemic inflammation (CSI) is independently associated with large number of major non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs) ranging from metabolic disorders to cancers, and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been accepted as a novel, convenient marker for CSI response. Testosterone deficiency in men is linked to high risk of NCDs. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the individual and joint association of bioavailable testosterone (BIOT) and aging with NLR. Methods: A total of 132 male adults were enrolled during Jan. 2011 and Oct. 2017 in the first affiliated hospital of University of Science and Technology of China. Local weighted regression (LOESS) and multivariable generalized linear regression models were utilized to comprehensively examine the individual and joint association between BIOT and age with NLR. Results: Obvious linear relationships between NLR and BIOT or age were observed with the LOESS models. NLR was negatively correlated to BIOT after adjusting for some potential confounding factors (P= 0.034). As compared to the lowest quartile of BIOT, the adjusted decrease of NLR for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th quartiles were 0.40, 0.64 and 0.72, respectively. Meanwhile, NLR was observed to be independently correlated to elevated age (P= 0.043). Furthermore, as compared to the counterparts, men over 70 years combined with plasma BIOT less than 4.7 nmol/L had the highest NLR level, which suggested that low BIOT and aging jointly correlated to the level of NLR (P= 0.005). Conclusion: BIOT deficiency and aging were individually and jointly correlated to CSI. Men over 70 years combined with BIOT < 4.7 nmol/L were more like to have higher grade of CSI than others.

Low-grade high-sulfur bauxite was pretreated via suspension roasting and muffle furnace roasting to remove sulfur and enhance digestion properties. The results show that sulfur can be efficiently removed, and the alumina digestion properties are significantly improved after suspension roasting. Under optimal conditions (t=70 min, T=280 °C, w(CaO)=8% and Nk=245 g/L), the digestion ratios are 94.45% and 92.08% for the suspension-roasted and muffle-roasted ore, respectively, and the apparent activation energies are 63.26 and 64.24 kJ/mol, respectively. Two crystal models were established by Materials Studio based on the XRD patterns. The DFT simulation shows that the existing Al—O bands after suspension roasting can improve alumina digestion. The (104) and (113) planes of Al2O3after suspension roasting are found to combine with NaOH more easily than those of Al2O3treated in a muffle furnace.

Recovering iron and aluminum efficiently is the key route to utilize low-grade high-iron bauxite. Aiming to optimize the iron separating process and elevate both Fe and Al recovery ratio, three different Fe–Al recovery processes with different magnetic roasting (R), Bayer leaching process (L) and magnetic separation (S) orders were investigated. The studied processes include bauxite leaching → red mud roasting → magnetic separation (L–R–S), bauxite roasting → magnetic separation → leaching (R–S–L) and bauxite roasting → leaching → magnetic separation (R–L–S). The iron recovery ratio, Fe2O3content in iron concentration and the bauxite dissolution ratio of each process were investigated. Moreover, the optimizations of the leaching, roasting and magnetic separation conditions were studied. Results indicate that the R–S–L process should be an advisable order to recover both alumina and iron. In the three processes, the R–S–L route had the highest alumina dissolution ratio and iron recovery ratio, which was 86.20% and 69.58%, respectively, while the Fe2O3content of the iron concentrate was 40.66%.

Purpose: The incidence, pathogenesis, molecular pathways, and outcomes of colorectal cancer vary depending on the location of the tumor. This study aimed to compare the difference in tumor characteristics and the outcome between right-sided colon cancer and left-sided colorectal cancer (LCRC).Materials and methods: A total of 1503 patients with colorectal cancer who underwent surgery at the Taipei Veterans General Hospital between 2000 and 2010 were enrolled in this study. Right-sided colon cancer was defined as cancers in the cecum, ascending colon, and transverse colon, while LCRC was defined as cancers in the splenic flexure colon, descending colon, sigmoid colon, and rectum. The endpoint was overall survival. The mutations were detected via polymerase chain reaction and MASS array. The prognostic value was determined using the log-rank test and the Cox regression analysis.Results: A total of 407 and 1096 cases were classified as right-sided colon cancer and LCRC, respectively. Compared to patients with LCRC, those with right-sided colon cancer had more mucinous type cancer (7.4% vs. 3.5%), poorly differentiated tumor (11.5% vs. 3.6%), and advanced tumor-node-metastasis stage. The risk for peritoneal tumor seeding was higher in the right-sided colon cancer group (12.8% vs. 5.7%). Overall survival was better in LCRC than in right-sided colon cancer (P=0.036).Conclusions: In our study, right-sided colon cancer had a more advanced tumor stage, a higher risk of peritoneal metastasis, and a poorer outcome than LCRC. Moreover, right-sided colon cancer had more gene mutations in BRAF, KRAS, SMAD4, TGF-β, PIK3CA, PTEN, AKT1, and high microsatellite instability.

Rolling element bearings constitute the key parts on rotating machinery, and their fault diagnosis is of great importance. In many real bearing fault diagnosis applications, the number of fault data is much less than the number of normal data, i.e. the data are imbalanced. Many traditional diagnosis methods will get low accuracy because they have a natural tendency to favor the majority class by assuming balanced class distribution or equal misclassification cost. To deal with imbalanced data, in this article, a novel two-step fault diagnosis framework is proposed to diagnose the status of rolling element bearings. Our proposed framework consists of two steps for fault diagnosis, where Step 1 makes use of weighted extreme learning machine in an effort to classify the normal or abnormal categories, and Step 2 further diagnoses the underlying anomaly in detail by using preliminary extreme learning machine. In addition, gravitational search algorithm is applied to further extract the significant features and determine the optimal parameters of the weighted extreme learning machine and extreme learning machine classifiers. The effectiveness of our proposed approach is testified on the raw data collected from the rolling element bearing experiments conducted in our Institute, and the empirical results show that our approach is really fast and can achieve the diagnosis accuracies more than 96%.

Understanding mesolimbic dopamine adaptations underlying vulnerability to drug relapse is essential to inform prognostic tools for effective treatment strategies. However, technical limitations have hindered the direct measurement of sub-second dopamine release in vivofor prolonged periods of time, making it difficult to gauge the weight that these dopamine abnormalities have in determining future relapse incidence. Here, we use the fluorescent sensor GrabDA to record, with millisecond resolution, every single cocaine-evoked dopamine transient in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) of freely moving mice during self-administration. We reveal low-dimensional features of patterned dopamine release that are strong predictors of cue-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking. Additionally, we report sex-specific differences in cocaine-related dopamine responses related to a greater resistance to extinction in males compared with females. These findings provide important insights into the sufficiency of NAc dopamine signaling dynamics—in interaction with sex—for recapitulating persistent cocaine seeking and future relapse vulnerability.

Hydraulic axial piston motor is one of the fundamental components in hydraulic systems; it is widely used in engineered machine, especially in high-power drive or reciprocating motion, such as hydraulic excavator. For hydraulic axial piston motor efficient planning, in addition designing and controlling are required for system operating safety and efficiency. Simulation delivers an advantage over analytical approaches and allows better understanding of the motor performance. For multi-piston hydraulic motor, one of the simulation methods, distributed parameter model, could analyze the detailed performance in each piston chamber. Therefore, in this study, we investigate the characteristics of hydraulic axial piston motor by setting up a distributed parameter model based on physical prototype, which includes mechanical–hydraulics coupling process. The effects of the dynamic pressure inside the piston chamber, the fluidic compressibility and other related parameters are considered in the coupling process. At the same time, the distributed parameter model of hydraulic axial piston motor was used in the simulation model of hydraulic excavator. The results indicate that in two-way hydraulic axial piston motor, the valve plane should adopt symmetrical structure, and silencing groove set should be put on both ends of the valve plane slots, which could reduce pressure ripple and overshoot in the piston chamber. Furthermore, the torque characteristics are highly affected by the clearance between the piston and the cylinder bore. Through this research, we may have a better understanding about the mechanism of output torque fluctuation in hydraulic axial piston motor, and the pressure ripple and overshoot in the piston chamber due to through-flow area discontinuity between the silencing groove and the ends of the valve plane slots. The model is verified using a nine-piston hydraulic motor in hydraulic excavator.

To improve the efficiency of iron recovery from steel slag and reduce the wear-and-tear on facilities, a new method was proposed by adding a secondary screen sizer to the magnetic separation process according to grain size distribution of magnetic iron (M-Fe) in the slag. The final recycling efficiency was evaluated by calculating the percentage of recycled M-Fe to the maximum amount of M-Fe that could be recovered. Three types of slags, namely basic oxygen furnace slag, desulfurization slag, and iron ladle slag, were studied, and the results showed that the optimized recovery efficiencies were 93. 20%, 92. 48%, and 85. 82% respectively, and the recycling efficiencies were improved by 9. 58%, 7. 11%, and 6. 21% respectively. Furthermore, the abrasion between the mill equipment and the remaining slags was significantly reduced owing to the efficient recovery of larger M-Fe particles. In addition, the using amount of grinding balls was reduced by 0. 46 kg when every 1 t steel slag was processed.

The paper presents results of field and theoretical investigations of wave transformation in the surf zone near the IBW PAN Coastal Research Station in Lubiatowo (Poland, the south Baltic Sea). The study site displays multi-bar cross-shore profiles that intensively dissipate wave energy, mostly induced by breaking. The main field data comprise wave heights and cross-shore bathymetric profiles.Wave transformation is modelled theoretically by two approaches, namely the IBW PAN phase-averaged wave transformation model and the approach based on the hydraulic jump model, developed by Hsu & Lai (2009) for hydrological situations encountered under the actual conditions of two field campaigns - in 1987 and 1996. Discrepancies between the measured data and the model results are discussed. In general, the model results are in good agreement with the in-situ observations. The comparison of the field data with the computational results concerns a part of the surf zone between about 5 m water depth and the first nearshore stable bar, where the depth amounts to ca. 1.2 m.

Cannabinoid type 1 receptors (CB1Rs) orchestrate brain reward circuitry and are prevalent neurobiological targets for endocannabinoids and cannabis in the mammalian brain. Decades of histological and electrophysiological studies have established CB1R as presynaptic G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) that inhibit neurotransmitter release through retrograde signaling mechanisms. Recent seminal work demonstrates CB1R expression on astrocytes and the pivotal function of glial cells in endocannabinoid-mediated modulation of neuron-astrocyte signaling. Here, we review key facets of CB1R-mediated astroglia regulation of synaptic glutamate transmission in the nucleus accumbens with a specific emphasis on cocaine-directed behaviors.

Multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) are now widely accepted as a standard of quality control and a model for various approaches to cancer care in many countries. Evidence has shown that MDTs can improve clinical decision-making as well as the outcomes and experiences of patients with various cancers. Adopting MDTs for treating patients with colorectal cancer has considerably influenced current medical practice. Most of the decisions made by MDTs are implemented, and preoperative evaluation can be achieved more completely with more accurate preoperative staging. Patients who receive care under the guidance of MDTs have higher rates of access to multimodal therapies than do patients who do not. In addition, pathology reports are more likely to be of higher quality. In an MDT setting, adjuvant chemotherapies are prescribed in a more suitable manner and overall survival is improved. An MDT can determine whether patients with rectal cancer should first be treated surgically or receive neoadjuvant therapy. MDTs considerably influence decisions regarding the choice of staging modality and neoadjuvant treatment. However, results regarding the reduced rate of positive circumferential resection margins and more favorable overall survival are controversial. In conclusion, most of the influence of MDTs on current treatment for colorectal cancer is positive; therefore, establishing MDTs should be encouraged to enhance the quality of colorectal cancer care.

In recent years, a trend toward the combination of variable displacement and speed-variable pump drive is becoming apparent. Combination of variable displacement and speed-variable pump drive has been revealed to be more efficient than speed-variable pump drive or variable displacement pump drive. However, few research works have dealt with the pumping performance of combination of variable displacement and speed-variable pump. This study aims to investigate the characteristics of pressure pulsations of combination of variable displacement and speed-variable pump. A simulation model is developed by means of software package ITI-SimulationX®. The model is used to predict the pressure pulsations under different operating conditions. Experiments are also carried out to verify theoretical results. From these results, it can be drawn that the pumping dynamics of combination of variable displacement and speed-variable pump is not the best in the view of pressure pulsation, and it is slightly inferior to that of variable displacement pump drive. For required delivery volumetric flow and load pressure, delivery pressure pulsations’ amplitude of combination of variable displacement and speed-variable pump slightly increases with an increase in swash plate angle and adapted rotational speed. However, test results also show that lower rotational speed and adapted swash plate angle working condition can effectively reduce total noise level of the system. Consequently, lower rotational speed and higher swash plate angle working condition are suggested for the design of combination of variable displacement and speed-variable pump drive controller.

Acute hepatic failure (AHF) is a severe liver injury leading to sustained damage and complications. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) may be an alternative option for the treatment of AHF. In this study, we reprogrammed human dental pulp-derived fibroblasts into iPSCs, which exhibited pluripotency and the capacity to differentiate into tridermal lineages, including hepatocyte-like cells (iPSC-Heps). These iPSC-Heps resembled human embryonic stem cell-derived hepatocyte-like cells in gene signature and hepatic markers/functions. To improve iPSC-Heps engraftment, we next developed an injectable carboxymethyl-hexanoyl chitosan hydrogel (CHC) with sustained hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) release (HGF-CHC) and investigated the hepatoprotective activity of HGF-CHC-delivered iPSC-Heps in vitro and in an immunocompromised AHF mouse model induced by thioacetamide (TAA). Intrahepatic delivery of HGF-CHC-iPSC-Heps reduced the TAA-induced hepatic necrotic area and rescued liver function and recipient viability. Compared with PBS-delivered iPSC-Heps, the HGF-CHC-delivered iPSC-Heps exhibited higher antioxidant and antiapoptotic activities that reduced hepatic necrotic area. Importantly, these HGF-CHC-mediated responses could be abolished by administering anti-HGF neutralizing antibodies. In conclusion, our findings demonstrated that HGF mediated the enhancement of iPSC-Hep antioxidant/antiapoptotic capacities and hepatoprotection and that HGF-CHC is as an excellent vehicle for iPSC-Hep engraftment in iPSC-based therapy against AHF.

Purpose This study aimed to determine the prognostic value of mutations in the tumor suppressor gene FBXW7for clinical outcomes in colorectal cancer (CRC).Methods Between January 2000 and December 2009, FBXW7mutations in tumor tissues from 1,519 CRC patients at Taipei Veterans General Hospital were assessed using a MassArray system. We compared the clinicopathological variables and prognosis between the wild-type and mutant tumor tissue groups.Results FBXW7mutations were present in 114/1,519 CRC patients (7.5%). In stage I/II CRC patients, mutant FBXW7was more common than wild-type FBXW7(62.3% vs. 50.8%). CRC patients with FBXW7mutations did not differ significantly in their 5-year overall survival (OS). Stage I/II CRC patients with FBXW7mutations had lower OS, but this difference was not significant (71.6% vs. 78.2%). Among FBXW7tumors, S582L was the most frequent mutation type (19.3%), followed by R465H (16.6%), R505C (14.9%) and R479Q (14.9%). Subgroup analysis of FBXW7mutants showed that R465H/R465C/R479Q had better 5-year OS than other mutant types (76.9% vs. 56.0%; p=0.012).Conclusions There was no strong association between patient prognosis and FBXW7mutations in our large-scale study.

Primary central nervous system (CNS) atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor (ATRT) is an extremely malignant pediatric brain tumor observed in infancy and childhood. It has been reported that a subpopulation of CD133+cells isolated from ATRT tumors present with cancer stem-like and radioresistant properties. However, the exact biomolecular mechanisms of ATRT or CD133-positive ATRT (ATRT-CD133+) cells are still unclear. We have previously shown that ATRT-CD133+cells have pluripotent differentiation ability and the capability of malignant cells to be highly resistant to ionizing radiation (IR). By using microRNA array and quantitative RT-PCR in this study, we showed that expression of miR142-3p was lower in ATRT-CD133+cells than in ATRT-CD133-cells. miR142-3p overexpression significantly inhibited the self-renewal and tumorigenicity of ATRT-CD133+cells. On the contrary, silencing of endogenous miR142-3p dramatically increased the tumor-initiating and stem-like cell capacities in ATRT cells or ATRT-CD133-cells and further promoted the mesenchymal transitional and radioresistant properties of ATRT cells. Most importantly, therapeutic delivery of miR142-3p in ATRT cells effectively reduced its lethality by blocking tumor growth, repressing invasiveness, increasing radiosensitivity, and prolonging survival time in orthotropic-transplanted immunocompromised mice. These results demonstrate the prospect of developing novel miRNA-based strategies to block the stem-like and radioresistant properties of malignant pediatric brain cancer stem cells.

The Microstructure Evolution of Mg-14Li-Al and Mg-14Li-Al-0.3%La (wt.%) is Investigated. The Results Show that, the Precipitation of Al2la is Specially Dissolved in Mg-14Li-Al-0.3%La Alloy which Soft Texture and Decrease the Tensile Strength through SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) Images. Through the Stress-Strain Testing, the Fracture Morphology is Observed. It is Suggested that the the Direction between Texture and Dislocation Movement is the Dominant Factor Influencing Ultimate Tensile Strength and Yield Strength for Mg-14Li-Al-0.3%La Alloy. In Conclusion, adding Miner La Element in Magnesium Leads to Excellent Metal Forming.

Study on the forms of mercury is helpful to remove Hg from coal or flue gas more effectively. This paper focus on the coal from three main production base of China, and the Hg content in coal samples was measured by Zeeman effect-mercury analyzer (Lumex RA-915+and RP-91). Moreover, the chemical composition and main phase in coal sample were studied by XRF and XRD. The research results show the Hg content has a close rotation with Si and Al in coals. With the increasing of Si and Al there is more Hg in coals, it further prove the main form of Hg in coals is intergrowth with clay.

In this paper, the problem of wave interactions created by two submerged closely spaced poroelastic breakwaters is investigated theoretically. An existing analytical solution is extended so as to be able to consider the problem subject to appropriate boundary conditions. The study domain is divided into seven sub-regions. Using general solutions for each region and matching kinematic and dynamic boundary conditions combined with an orthogonality condition, a set of simultaneous equations is developed; the individual equations being solved numerically. The analytical solutions are in agreement with the simplified cases of a submerged rigid breakwater, submerged permeable rigid breakwater and submerged poroelastic breakwater. Changes in the width of the two adjacent breakwaters, the effect of the permeability coefficient on wave profile, and the effect of materials and configurations of the breakwater on wave variation are the focus of the present paper. The presented results show that a large amount of energy is lost when the adjacent structures both have the same widths for a layer of a soft material with a high permeability. Different materials and shapes of structures can significantly influence the reflection coefficient.

The outcome of stage I colorectal cancer (CRC) patients is excellent. However, even after radical surgery, 10% of patients develop tumor recurrence or metastasis.

Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is a lethal solid tumor with poor prognosis because of its invasiveness and its resistance to current therapies. Recently, ATC-CD133+ cells were found to have cancer stem cell (CSC) properties and were suggested to be important contributors to tumorigenicity and cancer metastasis. However, the molecular pathways and therapeutic targets in thyroid cancer-related CSCs remain undetermined. In this study, ATC-CD133+ cells were isolated and found to have increased tumorigenicity, radioresistance, and higher expression of both embryonic stem cell-related and drug resistance-related genes compared with ATC-CD133 cells. Microarray bioinformatics analysis suggested that the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) pathway could be important in regulating the stemness signature in ATC-CD133+ cells; therefore, the effect of the potent STAT3 inhibitor cucurbitacin I in ATC-CD133+ cells was evaluated in this study. Treatment of ATC-CD133+ cells with cucurbitacin I diminished their CSC-like abilities, inhibited their stemness gene signature, and facilitated their differentiation into ATC-CD133⁻ cells. Of note, treatment of ATC-CD133+ cells with cucurbitacin I up-regulated the expression of thyroid-specific genes and significantly enhanced radioiodine uptake. Furthermore, cucurbitacin I treatment increased the sensitivity of ATC-CD133+ cells to radiation and chemotherapeutic drugs through apoptosis. Finally, xenotransplantation experiments revealed that cucurbitacin I plus radiochemotherapy significantly suppressed tumorigenesis and improved survival in immunocompromised mice into which ATC-CD133+ cells were transplanted. In summary, these results show that the STAT3 pathway plays a key role in mediating CSC properties in ATC-CD133+ cells. Targeting STAT3 with cucurbitacin I in ATC may provide a new approach for therapeutic treatment in the future.

Extreme learning machines (ELMs) have been proposed for generalized single-hidden-layer feedforward networks which need not be neuron-like and perform well in both regression and classification applications. In this brief, we propose an ELM with adaptive growth of hidden nodes (AG-ELM), which provides a new approach for the automated design of networks. Different from other incremental ELMs (I-ELMs) whose existing hidden nodes are frozen when the new hidden nodes are added one by one, in AG-ELM the number of hidden nodes is determined in an adaptive way in the sense that the existing networks may be replaced by newly generated networks which have fewer hidden nodes and better generalization performance. We then prove that such an AG-ELM using Lebesgue p-integrable hidden activation functions can approximate any Lebesgue p-integrable function on a compact input set. Simulation results demonstrate and verify that this new approach can achieve a more compact network architecture than the I-ELM.

The Bragg scattering of water waves by multiply composite artificial bars was investigated both theoretically and experimentally. Miles' theory is first employed to derive general formulae to calculate Bragg reflection coefficients for multiply composite artificial bars with different shapes, spacings, bar heights, bar footprint, and the number of bars. The theory provides explicit expressions in estimating Bragg reflections over multiply composite bars in practical engineering applications. The undulating oscillation components expanded with respect to the bottom slope and curvature components in the numerical model can increase the accuracy for the simulation of Bragg scattering. Experiments of Bragg reflection over multiply rectangular artificial bars were also conducted in a wave flume. Analytical solutions are in good agreement with numerical simulations of evolution equation of mild-slope equation (EEMSE) and laboratory experiments. Influence parameters that may lead to the optimal combination of a multiple artificial bar to increase the bandwidth of Bragg resonance were studied.

In order to fully understand dynamic behavior of the thickness variation and conduct off-line process tuning, a dynamic simulator for the feedforward Automatic Gauge Control (AGC) for a hot strip finishing mill in China Steel Corporation is developed. One of the major factors influencing on deviation of delivery thickness of the steel strip is the temperature variation caused by cyclic contact between the steel strip and beams, which transfer the strip in the hot rolling process. This temperature difference brings about hardness variation along the strip, which is known as skid marks. Simulation results and system analysis verify that the feedforward AGC system is capable of overcoming the high frequency thickness variation disturbed by the cyclic temperature difference, which usually cannot be effectively compensated by regular gaugemeter AGC feedback loop. A strategy to locate the optimal feedforward gain is also proposed.

Abstract: Objective: This study was designed to investigate the technical methods and clinical therapeutic effects of laparoscopy-assisted resection of gastric stump cancer (GSC). Methods: Laparoscopy-assisted resection was performed on 15 patients with GSC. The approach, method, difficult points, and techniques of the operation were analyzed, and its clinical therapeutic effect was evaluated. Results: With the help of laparoscopy, D2 radical resection of gastric stump was performed on 12 patients, and palliative gastric stump resection was performed on two patients. There was one case of conversion from laparoscopic surgery to open surgery. Roux-en-Y gastric bypass was performed in all cases to reconstruct the alimentary tract. The mean operative time for laparoscopy-assisted resection was 205 ± 25 min. The mean intraoperative blood loss volume was 110 ± 40 ml. The mean number of lymph nodes removed was 18 ± 5. A gastric tube was not placed in the patients after surgery. The mean time for the recovery of intestinal function was 2.5 ± 1 days, the mean duration of postoperative liquid diet was 2.5 ± 1 days, and the mean time for the recovery of ambulatory activity was 3 ± 0.5 days. There was one case of postoperative infection of the incision site. The follow-up time was 6–40 months, with 1 case of death due to liver metastasis, 1 case of death due to peritoneal metastasis, 1 case of death due to complications from lupus erythematosus, and survival for the remaining 12 cases. Conclusions: Laparoscopy-assisted resection of GSC is technically feasible; determination of the short- and long-term efficacies will require a larger and comparative sample study.

Purpose To analyze the difference in the distribution of an insulin growth factor-1 (IGF-1) polymorphism (-2995 C/A) between young and old colorectal cancer (CRC) patients.Methods Information from 950 CRC patients undergoing surgery at the Taipei Veterans General Hospital between 2000 and 2005 was collected. The IGF-1 polymorphism was analyzed in patients in extreme age ranges at the time of CRC onset (i.e., under the 20th and above the 80th percentiles, respectively). Associations between clinicopathological variables and the IGF-1 polymorphism were analyzed.Results Young CRC patients had a higher frequency of advanced disease (58.7%) and mucinous adenocarcinoma (20%) than old CRC patients. Among old CRC patients, the frequency of the AA genotype of IGF-1 was 12.7% (24/189), which was significantly higher than in young patients (4.2%). Other clinicopathological factors including tumor location, differentiation, lymphovascular invasion, and TNM stage were not associated with the AA genotype of IGF-1. Mucinous differentiation (but not the other clinicopathological factors) was significantly associated with the CA/AA genotype of IGF-1 (39/195).Conclusions Older patients had a higher frequency of the AA genotype of IGF-1(-2995 C/A), while younger patients more often had advanced disease and mucinous adenocarcinoma.

In this article, a method for two-dimensional scanning path planning based on robot is proposed. In this method, a section division algorithm based on neighborhood search method for scanning orientation determination is firstly produced. The scanning paths which meet constraints of the system are then generated. Finally, the experiment is carried out on robot-based scanning platform. The two-dimensional data from scanner and the robot position are combined to form three-dimensional surface data of measured workpiece. The experiment results verify the effectiveness of proposed method.

Non-stoichiometric ceria nanoparticles were synthesized by three different methods: plasma heating of commercial ceria (c-CeO2), treatment of a precursor with a molten KOH-NaOH salt system, and solid-state reaction of c-CeO2with reductant NaBH4. These processes increased the concentration of oxygen vacancies and Ce3+fraction on ceria surface, which was observed from the results of Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of the products. Raman results indicated that the plasma treated ceria (p-CeO2) had the largest downshift of 7.9 cm−1, followed by the molten salt treated ceria (m-CeO2), NaBH4-reduced ceria (t-CeO2) and commercial nanoceria (c-CeO2), while results from XPS indicated that p-CeO2had the largest Ce3+fraction. The photocatalytic properties of these non-stoichiometric ceria were evaluated using the degradation of methylene blue (MB) under UV–Vis light irradiation, and the kinetic studies indicated that pseudo-first-order kinetics was followed based on the Langmuir–Hinshelwood mechanism. The reduced photoluminescence (PL) intensity in p-CeO2indicated that the oxygen vacancies effectively suppress the recombination rate of photogenerated electron–hole pairs. Hence, p-CeO2exhibited an enhanced photocatalytic activity compared to other non-stoichiometric ceria samples and a detailed mechanism for the enhancement in photocatalytic activity is discussed.

In mass spectrometric measurements, knowledge of the gas dwell time in the glow discharge region has been utilized to time-resolve the variations of CO2partial pressure in CO2laser discharges. The measured data are interpreted by a dissociation-reformation scheme of CO2molecules in the discharge. Rate coefficients that characterize the CO2equilibrium process are evaluated, and their technical implications are discussed.