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•CD21lowB cells participate both in protective immunity and autoimmunity.•PD-1+CD4+T helper cells promote extramedullary BCR editing of CD21lowB cells.•Myeloid cells promote autoantibody production by expressing B cell activating factor.

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RFID-based human activity recognition (HAR) attracts attention due to its convenience, non-invasiveness, and privacy protection. Existing RFID-based HAR methods use modeling, CNN, or LSTM to extract features effectively. Still, they have shortcomings: 1) requiring complex hand-crafted data cleaning processes and 2) only addressing single-person activity recognition based on specific RF signals. To solve these problems, this paper proposes a novel device-free method based on Time-streaming Multiscale Transformer called TransTM. This model leverages the Transformer's powerful data fitting capabilities to take raw RFID RSSI data as input without pre-processing. Concretely, we propose a multiscale convolutional hybrid Transformer to capture behavioral features that recognizes single-human activities and human-to-human interactions. Compared with existing CNN- and LSTM-based methods, the Transformer-based method has more data fitting power, generalization, and scalability. Furthermore, using RF signals, our method achieves an excellent classification effect on human behavior-based classification tasks. Experimental results on the actual RFID datasets show that this model achieves a high average recognition accuracy (99.1%). The dataset we collected for detecting RFID-based indoor human activities will be published.

Byline: Yingtian. Wei, Yueyong. Xiao, Zhongmin. Wang, Xiaokun. Hu, Guang. Chen, Xiaoyi. Ding, Yong. Fan, Yue. Han, Kaiwen. Huang, Xuequan. Huang, Ming. Kuang, Xu. Lang, Hailiang. Li, Chengli. Li, Jiakai. [...]

Purpose: Laparoscopic liver resection is a minimal invasive surgery. Augmented reality can map preoperative anatomy information extracted from computed tomography to the intraoperative liver surface reconstructed from stereo 3D laparoscopy. However, liver surface registration is particularly challenging as the intraoperative surface is only partially visible and suffers from large liver deformations due to pneumoperitoneum. This study proposes a deep learning-based robust point cloud registration network. Methods: This study proposed a low overlap liver surface registration algorithm combining local mixed features and global features of point clouds. A learned overlap mask is used to filter the non-overlapping region of the point cloud, and a network is used to predict the overlapping region threshold to regulate the training process. Results: We validated the algorithm on the DePoLL (the Deformable Porcine Laparoscopic Liver) dataset. Compared with the baseline method and other state-of-the-art registration methods, our method achieves minimum target registration error (TRE) of 19.9 ± 2.7 mm. Conclusion: The proposed point cloud registration method uses the learned overlapping mask to filter the non-overlapping areas in the point cloud, then the extracted overlapping area point cloud is registered according to the mixed features and global features, and this method is robust and efficient in low-overlap liver surface registration.

A flexible pressure sensor with co-planar electrodes was fabricated based on piezoelectric nanocomposites by the combination of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) base polymer with zinc oxide (ZnO) nanotetrapods (ZNTs) fillers. ZNTs were synthesized by an oxidation process of Zn powder at different temperatures over 900 °C in air, and its crystallinity and structural morphology could be controlled effectively by the growth temperature based on scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and photoluminescence spectroscopy analyses. The effects of the growth temperature and filler concentration of ZNTs on the piezoelectric properties of the nanocomposite sensors were investigated. The sensors exhibit a good linear response to external pressure less than 14 N, and the sensitivity increases with the increase of the growth temperature and ZNTs filler concentration due to the improvement in the crystallinity, the aspect ratio of T-arms, and the interconnectivity between ZNTs/ZNTs interfaces in the nanocomposite film. The sensor can be employed to detect human movements such as bending/stretching motions of fingers and the vibration of vocal cords. It is demonstrated that the sensor has potential applications in hand gesture and speech recognition.

AbstractThis article elaborates on a peaks over threshold (POT) model with earthquake samples based on the Pareto distribution. We analyze the earthquakes using the POT model in the eastern Bayan Har block. The result shows that the area experiences an earthquake above 7.5 every 30 years and a large earthquake above 7.8 every 100 years. The average magnitude of earthquakes above 5.2 that occur in the area every 5 years is 7.1 or greater. The upper limit of the theoretical magnitude predicted by the model is 8.7. Therefore, the risk of geological hazards is high in this area.

Thermal ablation is an exciting new minimally invasive treatment that destroys liver tumors without removing them. It uses image guidance to place a needle through the skin into a liver tumor, which is highly dependent on surgeons’ experience. With the development of digital medicine, augmented reality (AR) has become a more intuitive and safer way to achieve real-time navigation. However, the technology is still in its infancy due to its limited accuracy and real-time performance. To address these problems, we syncretized the holographic AR with the digital twin technique to track the dynamic surgical scene and provide the 3-D navigation of heterogeneous target regions via internal motion prediction. To tackle the dilemma of real-time performance and precise internal motion estimation, a dynamic adaptation scheme is proposed to compensate for the time cost induced by the external/internal correlation model and data transmission. We carried out a series of experiments to validate our methods. With the proposed external/internal correlation model, the average estimation errors of the tumor and vessels are 2.18 and 2.79 mm, respectively. Besides, we performed in vivo experiments on two beagle dogs with an artificial lesion in their liver, respectively, and the puncture accuracy of our method are 2.5 and 2.17 mm. The results show that on one hand, our method can fulfill the real-time requirement of AR via using the intraoperative data, which is also more precise than that with preoperative data. On the other hand, our method can provide more 3-D information for surgeons, such as vessels, which can well ensure the safety of operation.

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) CO2reduction into chemical fuels is a promising strategy to alleviate the energy and environmental crisis. However, it remains a challenge to design efficient photocathodes for PEC CO2reduction. Here, we constructed Cu2O-indium (In) core–shell nanowires Schottky junction assisted by physical vapor deposition to boost PEC CO2reduction. The research of charge transport kinetics shows that the construction of Schottky junction effectively promotes the transfer and separation of photogenerated electrons. In addition, the introduction of In improves the catalytic activity of the Cu2O, and the CO yield reaches 75.94 μmol cm–2h–1at −0.7 V vs RHE. The In/Cu2O photocathode exhibits consistent Faradaic efficiency for CO (82%) over 12 h. In situ Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy spectra results indicate that the introduction of In promotes the absorption and accumulation of COOH* intermediate, thereby promoting the release of CO. The study proposes a feasible strategy for designing and fabricating PEC CO2reduction photocathodes with high catalytic activity to treat atmospheric CO2.

During the use of polyethylene (PE) cable in power systems, electrical tree damages can inevitably occur inside the insulation materials, causing partial discharges and threatening the safety of the power supply. It is difficult to detect the micro damages inside the materials by existing technology, and replacing cables creates a lot of solid waste. The microcapsule self-healing technology derived from bionics can automatically detect and heal micro damages inside the material in time, avoiding accidents and saving resources. In this paper, the self-healing abilities and mechanism of the PE/microcapsule composite materials to the electrical tree damage are studied by means of experiments and simulation. PE/microcapsule composite materials are prepared, and the composite material with 1 wt% microcapsule is demonstrated to have better insulation strength. Microcapsules can attract the development of electric trees and limit their size, while the electrical tree can trigger the self-healing behavior of microcapsules in time. The self-healing behavior can effectively heal the electrical tree branch channel, restore breakdown strength and polarization current, and reverse the deterioration process of the material. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation confirms that there is good chemical compatibility between the healing product and PE matrix, ensuring a good self-healing effect.

Objectives: This study aims to elucidate the transcriptomic signatures and dysregulated pathways in patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), with a particular focus on those persisting during disease remission. Methods: We conducted bulk RNA-sequencing of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from a well-defined cohort comprising 26 remission patients meeting the Low Lupus Disease Activity State (LLDAS) criteria, 76 patients experiencing disease flares, and 15 healthy controls. To elucidate immune signature changes associated with varying disease states, we performed extensive analyses, including the identification of differentially expressed genes and pathways, as well as the construction of protein-protein interaction networks. Results: Several transcriptomic features recovered during remission compared to the active disease state, including down-regulation of plasma and cell cycle signatures, as well as up-regulation of lymphocytes. However, specific innate immune response signatures, such as the interferon (IFN) signature, and gene modules involved in chromatin structure modification, persisted across different disease states. Drug repurposing analysis revealed certain drug classes that can target these persistent signatures, potentially preventing disease relapse. Conclusion: Our comprehensive transcriptomic study revealed gene expression signatures for SLE in both active and remission states. The discovery of gene expression modules persisting in the remission stage may shed light on the underlying mechanisms of vulnerability to relapse in these patients, providing valuable insights for their treatment.

Using granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) as the volcanic ash material and fly ash (FA) as the supplementary material, the study was conducted to investigate the mix proportions of an alkali-activated solid waste cementitious material under the stimulating effect of alkali activator carbide slag (CS). This type of cementitious material could serve as a substitute for a portion of cement usage, contributing to resource conservation and mitigating environmental pollution caused by solid waste. This facilitates green and sustainable development. Firstly, an analysis of three raw materials was conducted, and the mix proportions were designed with reference to the CaO-Al2O3-SiO2system of Portland cement. Then 28 groups of specimens were prepared based on the designed mix proportions. The flowability and setting time of each group of specimens were tested. It was observed that an increase in the amount of CS and a decrease in the amount of GGBS resulted in decreased flowability and earlier setting times of the specimens. Additionally, FA exhibited a retarding effect on setting time. Compressive strength tests were conducted on these specimens, revealing that the optimal CS content ranged between 20 % and 40 %. Overall, FA had minimal impact on compressive strength, but it contributed to increased compressive strength in the specimens at later ages. Subsequently, microscopic characterization of the hydration products was performed using X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), and Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS). The hydration products were identified as predominantly composed of calcium silicate hydrate. The quality and defects in the microstructure of gel products from various specimen formulations were compared to elucidate differences in macroscopic performance. Finally, the hydration process mechanism diagram of alkali-activated materials was presented to illustrate the stimulation and formation of gel products, primarily composed of C-S-H. This diagram revealed the principles behind the action of alkali-activated cementitious materials. The proposed design and testing methodology for the GGBS-FA-CS system in this study had certain reference significance for research in the direction of alkali-activated solid waste cementitious materials.

The emergence of peroxidase (POD)-like nanozyme-derived catalytic therapy has provided a promising choice for reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated broad-spectrum antibacterials to replace antibiotics, but it still suffers from limitations of low therapeutic efficiency and unusual addition of unstable H2O2. Considering that the higher blood glucose in diabetic wounds provides much more numerous nutrients for bacterial growth, a cascade nanoenzymatic active material was developed by coating glucose oxidase (GOx) onto POD-like Fe2(MoO4)3[Fe2(MoO4)3@GOx]. GOx could consume the nutrient of glucose to produce gluconic acid (weakly acidic) and H2O2, which could be subsequently converted into highly oxidative •OH via the catalysis of POD-like Fe2(MoO4)3. Accordingly, the synergistic effect of starvation and ROS-mediated therapy showed significantly efficient antibacterial effect while avoiding the external addition of H2O2that affects the stability and efficacy of the therapy system. Compared with the bactericidal rates of 46.2–59.404% of GOx or Fe2(MoO4)3alone on extended-spectrum β-lactamases producing Escherichia coliand methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, those of the Fe2(MoO4)3@GOx group are 98.396 and 98.776%, respectively. Animal experiments showed that the as-synthesized Fe2(MoO4)3@GOx could much efficiently promote the recovery of infected wounds in type 2 diabetic mice while showing low cytotoxicity in vivo.

As a green and environmental protection method, the self-repairing technology has great expectations to be met. In this study, the influence of ettringite on the crack self-repairing of cement-based materials in a hydraulic environment was systematically analyzed. First, the composition and pore characteristics of the self-repairing carrier was studied by XRD, XRF, and the mercury injection method. The composition was basically consistent with cement-based materials, and the structure of the self-repairing carrier was relatively dense. Second, the products were analyzed by SEM and EDS, and it was found that the distribution range of crystal size was from 1 to 20 µm, the cube and flocculent accumulation was calcite, while the rod and flake crystals were ettringite. Finally, the repair effect on the surface and inside of the crack was demonstrated by the crack area repair rate and water permeability resistance. Compared with single microbial mineralization, the synergistic repair effect of microbial mineralization and ettringite formation was better in water permeability resistance. With the further increase of water pressure, its advantages would be more obvious.

Port-A-Cath systems (PCS) are safe and convenient devices for long-term infusion in patients with malignant tumors. This study retrospectively analyzed the complications from PCS and their management.

Introduction:Lenvatinib is the first-line treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We aimed to compare the clinical outcomes of lenvatinib plus drug-eluting beads transarterial chemoembolization (DEB-TACE) versus lenvatinib alone in real-world practice. Methods:This retrospective analysis included 142 consecutive patients who received lenvatinib plus DEB-TACE and 69 patients who received lenvatinib alone as first-line treatment from 15 Chinese academic centers from November 2018 to November 2019. Overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR) were evaluated by modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors criteria, and safety profiles were compared between the two groups. Results:The median OS and PFS were significantly longer in the combined therapy group than in the monotherapy group in whole cohort (median OS, 15.9 vs. 8.6 months, p= 0.0022; median PFS, 8.6 vs. 4.4 months, p< 0.001) and after propensity score matching analysis (median OS, 13.8 vs. 7.8 months, p= 0.03; median PFS, 7.8 vs. 4.5 months, p= 0.009). Moreover, the treatment option was an independent prognostic factor for OS and PFS with adjustment based upon baseline characteristics (adjusted hazard ratio [HR]: 0.53, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.36–0.78, p= 0.001, and adjusted HR: 0.42, 95% CI: 0.30–0.60, p< 0.001, respectively) and propensity score (adjusted HR: 0.52, 95% CI: 0.36–0.76, p= 0.001, and adjusted HR: 0.46, 95% CI: 0.33–0.64, p< 0.001, respectively). Moreover, a greater ORR was observed in the combined group (ORR: 46.48% vs. 13.05%, p< 0.001). Furthermore, the most common adverse events (AEs) were elevated aspartate aminotransferase (54.9%) and fatigue (46.4%) in the lenvatinib plus DEB-TACE group and lenvatinib group, respectively. Most AEs were mild-to-moderate and manageable. Conclusions:With well-tolerated safety, lenvatinib plus DEB-TACE was more effective than lenvatinib monotherapy in improving OS, PFS, and ORR. Thus, it may be a promising treatment for advanced HCC. Future prospective studies confirming these findings are warranted.

Graphene nanoribbons with zigzag edges(ZGNRs) have attracted much attention for their spin-polarized edge states predicted more than 15 years ago. Since the ZGNRs are fabricated on metal substrates using molecular precursors, due to their strong coupling with metal substrates, experimental detection of the spin-polarized edge states is still difficult. Here, we design a partially hydrogenated graphene(PHGr), in which periodic hexagonal graphene nanoflakes(GNFs) with zigzag boundaries are embedded in a hydrogenated graphene layer. Using density functional theory(DFT) based first-principles calculations, we find that the hexagonal GNFs exhibit spin-polarized boundary states at their opposite zigzag boundaries, which is similar with the bow-tie-shaped GNFs and ZGNRs. DFT calculations demonstrate that the PHGr is a semiconductor with an antiferromagnetic ground state. Moreover, the antiferromagnetic boundary states and semiconducting properties keep unchanged when the size of GNF varies from 1.4 nm to 2.3 nm. The robustness of the spin-polarized boundary states enables this PHGr as a robust material for detecting spin-polarized boundary states coming from zigzag boundaries. In addition, we find that single Au atoms selectively adsorbed on boundaries catalyze H2 dissociation and therefore lower the barrier of graphene hydrogenation. Therefore, the PHGr can be used not only in carbon-based spintronic devices but also as a platform for single atom catalyst.

Identification of genetic variants via high-throughput sequencing(HTS) technologies has been essential for both fundamental and clinical studies. However, to what extent the genome sequence composition affects variant calling remains unclear. In this study, we identified 63,897 multi-copy sequences(MCSs) with a minimum length of 300 bp, each of which occurs at least twice in the human genome. The 151,749 genomic loci (multi-copy regions, or MCRs) harboring these MCSs account for 1.98% of the genome and are distributed unevenly across chromosomes. MCRs containing the same MCS tend to be located on the same chromosome. Gene Ontology (GO) analyses revealed that 3800 genes whose UTRs or exons overlap with MCRs are enriched for Golgi-related cellular component terms and various enzymatic activities in the GO biological function category. MCRs are also enriched for loci that are sensitive to neocarzinostatin-induced double-strand breaks. Moreover, genetic variants discovered by genome-wide association studies and recorded in dbSNP are significantly underrepresented in MCRs. Using simulated HTS datasets, we show that false variant discoveryrates are significantly higher in MCRs than in other genomic regions. These results suggest that extra caution must be taken when identifying genetic variants in the MCRs via HTS technologies.

Acupuncture is a centuried and unfading treatment of traditional Chinese medicine, which has been proved to exert curative effects on various disorders. Numerous works have been put in to uncover the effective mechanisms of acupuncture. And the interdependent interaction between acupuncture and acupoint microenvironment is a crucial topic. As a benign minimally invasive stimulation, the insertion and manipulation of needle at acupoint could cause deformation of local connective tissue and secretion of various molecules, such as high mobility group box 1 and ATP. The molecules are secreted into extracellular space and bind to the corresponding receptors thus active NF‐κB, MAPK, ERK pathways on mast cells, fibroblasts, keratinocytes, and monocytes/macrophages, among others. This is supposed to trigger following transcription and translation of immune factors and neural active substance, as well as promote the free ion movement (such as Ca2+influx) and the expansion of blood vessels to recruit more immune cells to acupoint. Finally, acupuncture could enhance network connectivity of local microenvironment at acupoints. The earlier mentioned substances further act on a variety of receptors in local nerve endings, transmitting electrical and biochemical signals to the CNS, and giving full play to the acupuncture action. In conclusion, we portrayed a neuro‐immune microenvironment network of acupoints that medicates the acupuncture action, and would lay a foundation for the systematic study of the complex network relationship of acupoints in the future. Review of the constitution of the acupoint and how the complex network within it initiate acupuncture action.

Let Hbe a complex Hilbert space of dimension =2and B(H)be the algebra of all bounded linear operators on H. We give the form of surjective maps on B(H)preserving the c-numerical range of operator products when the maps preserve weak zero products. As a result, we obtain the characterization of surjective maps on Mn(C)preserving the c-numerical range of operator products. The proof of the results depends on some propositions of operators in B(H), which are of different interest.

This paper focuses on the influences of minimum quality standards (MQS) on entry decisions for two firms located in different countries. More precisely, when each firm sells its product only in its domestic market, there is no restriction on its product's quality. However, when choosing to enter its foreign market, the quality is required to be no less than a specified MQS. A multi-stage game is established to examine the effects of such MQS on firms' strategic choices of entry into their respective foreign markets. It shows that strategic choices cause the emergence of heterogeneous equilibria in which both firms make different entry decisions and thus produce products with distinct qualities provided that the MQS lies in an intermediate range. If the MQS is relatively low, both firms are willing to enter their respective foreign markets so that they coexist in each market. A relatively high MQS induces each firm to stay only in its domestic market. Furthermore, firms never have more incentive to open a new foreign market compared to the socially efficient configuration. Compared to strong competition, weak competition causes that the equilibrium behavior privately by firms is too far from the allocation that is efficient for society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sepsis-related acute lung injury (ALI) remains a major cause of mortality in critically ill patients and lacks specific therapy. Mitochondrial dysfunction is involved in the progression of septic lung injury. Mitochondrial dynamics, mitophagy, and biogenesis converge to constitute the assiduous quality control of mitochondria (MQC). Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) protects against sepsis-induced ALI through the modulation of mitochondrial dynamics. However, the causal relationship between HO-1 and the general processes of MQC, and their associated cellular pathways in sepsis-related ALI remain ill-defined. Herein, lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI in Sprague-Dawley rats together with LPS-induced oxidative injury in RAW264.7 macrophages were used to investigate whether the PI3K/Akt pathway-mediated induction of HO-1 preserves MQC and alleviates septic lung injury. After pretreatment with hemin, a potent inducer of HO-1, LPS-induced cell apoptosis, enhanced mitochondrial fragmentation, and mitochondrial membrane potential damage were significantly reduced in macrophages. In rats, these effects were accompanied by a higher survival rate, less damage to lung tissue, a 28.5% elevation in lung mitochondria MnSOD activity, and a 39.2% increase in respiratory control ratios. Concomitantly, HO-1 induction preserved the dynamic process of mitochondrial fusion/fission (Mfn2, OPA1, Drp1), promoted mitochondrial biogenesis (NRF1, PGC1α, Tfam), and facilitated the key mediators of mitochondrial mitophagy (Parkin, PINK1) at mRNA and protein levels. Notably, LY294002, a PI3K inhibitor, or knockdown of PI3K by small interfering RNA significantly suppressed Akt phosphorylation, attenuated HO-1 induction, and further reversed these beneficial effects evoked by hemin pretreatment in RAW264.7 cells or rats received LPS, indicating a direct involvement of PI3K/Akt pathway. Taken together, our results indicated that HO-1 activation, through PI3K/Akt pathway, plays a critical role in protecting lung from oxidative injury in the setting of sepsis by regulating MQC. HO-1 may therefore be a therapeutic target for the prevention sepsis-related lung injury.

Highlights • We investigate how two firms’ simple foresight impacts their equilibrium selection. • We construct a dynamic game model to reflect the simple foresight. • We find an increase of more rational firms can stabilize equilibrium behavior. Abstract This paper conducts a further analysis concerning equilibrium selection in a widely-studied nonlinear Cournot duopoly game, where each firm is capable to forecast its rival's output in the near future through a straightforward extrapolative foresight technology. Compared with the prior related work in which just one firm can implement such technology, this newly developed adjustment mechanism is endowed with more rationality in the sense that there appear more intelligent firms. It turns out this more rational adjustment mechanism does lead to more convergence to asymmetric equilibrium behavior for a weak foresight ability. Our finding shows that some undesirable complex behavior such as fluctuations and divergent trajectories can be inhibited by increasing the number of such rational firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ObjectivesAccumulated evidence implies that night shift work may trigger liver dysfunction. Non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) is suggested to be a necessary mediator in this process. This study aimed to examine the relationship between night shift work and elevated level of alanine transaminase (e-ALT) of workers and investigate the potential mediation effect of NAFL.MethodsThis study included all male workers from the baseline survey of a cohort of night shift workers. Information on demographics, lifestyle and lifetime working schedule was collected by face-to-face interview. Liver sonography was used to identify NAFL cases. Serum ALT level was detected by an automatic biochemical analyser. e-ALT was defined as ALT >40 U/L. Logistic regression models were used to evaluate ORs, and mediation analysis was employed to examine the mediation effect.ResultsAmong 4740 male workers, 39.5% were night shift workers. Night shift workers had an increased risk of e-ALT (OR, 1.19, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.42). With the increase in night shift years, the OR of e-ALT increased from 1.03 (95% CI 0.77 to 1.36) to 1.60 (95% CI 1.08 to 2.39) among workers without NAFL. A similar trend was not found among workers with NAFL. In addition, no significant mediation effect of NAFL in the association between night shift work and e-ALT was found.ConclusionsNight shift work is positively associated with abnormal liver function, in particular among workers without NAFL. Shift work involving circadian disruption is likely to exert a direct effect on liver dysfunction rather than rely on the mediation effect of NAFL.

Occupational cancer causes a large number of deaths every year, posing a great threat to public health in China and abroad. Occupational cancer surveillance can help to dynamically monitor and predict the trend of cancer occurrence and provide basic reference for the formulation of occupational cancer prevention and treatment measures. Occupational cancer surveillance started late in China relative to developed western countries, but formed its own characteristics through years of development of legislation and institutional reform, and large-scale epidemiological investigations and laboratory research. Occupational cancer surveillance is currently a part of cancer surveillance system of the National Cancer Center, as well as an integral part of occupational disease surveillance in China. It generally includes not only cancer incidence surveillance, but also cancer-related occupational risk factor surveillance, and surveillance of effects of occupational cancer prevention, treatment, and intervention. The methods of occupational cancer surveillance in China include passive monitoring, active monitoring, and sentinel monitoring. These methods have their respective advantages and disadvantages and would be best to be combined in practice. The rapid development of economy and technology, and continuous advancement of hospital informatization, especially the establishment and application of big data on occupational cancer, may point out directions for the development of occupational cancer surveillance in the future. Occupational cancer prevention and control in China still has a long way to go and the destination is to achieve primary prevention for occupational cancer.

ABSTRACTDespite evidence that estrogens and insulin are related to type 1 endometrial carcinoma (EC), their synergistic role has not been analyzed. Here, we investigated how estrogens cooperate with insulin to promote type 1 EC progression. We examined the clinical significance of serum estrogen and insulin levels using type 1 EC patients and control subjects. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses for total, premenopausal, and postmenopausal subjects were performed. Type 1 EC risk was evaluated with respect to estrone, estradiol, and insulin levels based on odds ratios (ORs) using stratified data. Cell growth in vitroand in vivo, effects of insulin and estradiol on apoptosis and cell cycle distribution were measured after estradiol and insulin stimulation. Estrone and insulin concentrations were significantly high in type 1 EC patients and retained positive associations with type 1 EC after adjustment for BMI, WHR, diabetes, and hypertension. The odds ratio was significantly high for type 1 EC patients with higher levels of estrone/estradiol and insulin than for patients with higher levels of either estrone/estradiol or insulin, suggesting that estrogen and insulin play a synergistic role in type 1 EC carcinogenesis and progression. Compared to EC cells and cell-based xenografts treated with estradiol or insulin alone, those treated with estradiol and insulin exhibited stronger stimulation. Estrogen and insulin play synergistic roles in type 1 EC carcinogenesis and progression, extending our understanding of EC risks.

Background Transrenal DNA can potentially be useful in the disease management of colorectal cancer (CRC) and has potential diagnostic utility. Our study aimed to conduct preoperative and postoperative analysis of KRAS-positive patients, using transrenal DNA compared with plasma DNA. This is critically needed for disease diagnostics and treatment response monitoring.Methods CRC patients at different stages of the disease and with different molecular profiles were recruited for serial time-point analysis. Preoperative and postoperative urine specimens were extracted and compared with tumor tissues and plasma DNA.Results Our analysis demonstrated that transrenal DNA offered comparable sensitivity and specificity to plasma DNA analysis. Collection of transrenal DNA, being noninvasive, is an attractive assay and easily allows serial monitoring of the disease. Results from preoperative detection showed a close correlation to tumor tissue profiling and demonstrated close associations to the disease. We also observed significant decreases in mutant KRAS DNA concentration after surgery, which confirmed transrenal DNA's sensitivity to treatment response.Conclusions The use of transrenal DNA offers a possible alternative method of disease profiling, detection and tracking. Our study is one of the first to systematically analyze a relatively large number of different CRC patients using transrenal DNA. The positive correlation with disease demonstrates the assay's viability in the clinical setting, and our method further opens up the possibility to use transrenal DNA for clinical intervention investigations.

Although neuronal cell adhesion molecule (NrCAM) has been reported to be overexpressed in papillary thyroid cancer (PTCs), its role in this disease remains largely unclear.

The suggested bat origin for Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) has revitalized the studies of other bat-derived coronaviruses with respect to interspecies transmission potential. Bat coronavirus (BatCoV) HKU9 is an important betacoronavirus (betaCoV) that is phylogenetically affiliated with the same genus as MERS-CoV. The bat surveillance data indicated that BatCoV HKU9 has been widely spreading and circulating in bats. This highlights the necessity of characterizing the virus for its potential to cross species barriers. The receptor binding domain (RBD) of the coronavirus spike (S) protein recognizes host receptors to mediate virus entry and is therefore a key factor determining the viral tropism and transmission capacity. In this study, the putative S RBD of BatCoV HKU9 (HKU9-RBD), which is homologous to other betaCoV RBDs that have been structurally and functionally defined, was characterized via a series of biophysical and crystallographic methods. By using surface plasmon resonance, we demonstrated that HKU9-RBD binds to neither SARS-CoV receptor ACE2 nor MERS-CoV receptor CD26. We further determined the atomic structure of HKU9-RBD, which as expected is composed of a core and an external subdomain. The core subdomain fold resembles those of other betaCoV RBDs, whereas the external subdomain is structurally unique with a single helix, explaining the inability of HKU9-RBD to react with either ACE2 or CD26. Via comparison of the available RBD structures, we further proposed a homologous intersubdomain binding mode in betaCoV RBDs that anchors the external subdomain to the core subdomain. The revealed RBD features would shed light on the evolution route of betaCoV.

Environmental context Conventional pre-treatment methods are usually ineffective for the extraction of bisphenol A (BPA) from environmental water samples. We report that a novel magnetic nanoparticle with double-functionalisation is an excellent solid-phase adsorbent for extracting BPA from river water samples. This study provides a simple but efficient approach for extraction of low-concentration pollutants from water samples. Abstract In this study, double functionalised magnetic nanoparticles (DFMNPs) for extraction of bisphenol A (BPA) in an aqueous phase were designed and prepared. In the preparation of DFMNPs, amide and pyridine groups were simultaneously introduced into the surface of magnetic nanoparticles. A new dispersed solid-phase extraction (DSPE) method adopting DFMNPs as the adsorbents was developed for separating and enriching BPA from river water samples. This DSPE method showed fast magnetic response, high binding efficiency to target BPA, and short experimental time. The recovery of BPA in spiked river water was 94.4% with the DSPE method, which was much higher than those with traditional solid-phase extraction (SPE) methods. The high performance of DFMNPs on extraction of BPA from river water was attributed to the synergistic function of the amide and pyridine groups. The hydrophilic amide groups caused DFMNPs to disperse well in water, whereas the alkaline pyridine groups bound BPA effectively by ionic bonds. Our DSPE was particularly superior to conventional SPE in the pre-treatment of large-volume water samples as the time taken could be remarkably reduced.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has an extremely broad host range that includes hippopotami, which are phylogenetically closely related to whales. The cellular ACE2 receptor is one of the key determinants of the host range. Here, we found that ACE2s from several marine mammals and hippopotami could efficiently bind to the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of both SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 and facilitate the transduction of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 pseudoviruses into ACE2-expressing cells. We further resolved the cryo-electron microscopy complex structures of the minke whale ACE2 and sea lion ACE2, respectively, bound to the RBDs, revealing that they have similar binding modes to human ACE2 when it comes to the SARS-CoV-2 RBD and SARS-CoV RBD. Our results indicate that marine mammals could potentially be new victims or virus carriers of SARS-CoV-2, which deserves further careful investigation and study. It will provide an early warning for the prospective monitoring of marine mammals.

Structural and mechanical properties of self-assembled metal-free naphthalocyanine (H2Nc) films on a Ag(111) surface are studied. Six self-assembled domains are observed by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Combining the high-resolution STM images and density functional theory (DFT) based calculations, we found that molecules adsorbed flatly on the substrate by forming six different interlocked square-like unit cells with different lattice parameters. DFT calculations indicated comparable adsorption energies for all the configurations. Six domains with different lattice parameters present different strain states, giving us a possibility to evaluate the Young’s modulus of the metal-free naphthalocyanine films on the Ag(111) surface. We found that the Young’s modulus of H2Nc is comparable to those of typical conjugated organic-molecule-based crystals (e.g., naphthalene), providing useful information for future applications when the elastic properties should be concerned.

Density functional calculations were performed to investigate the interaction of the side chains of histidine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, and tyrosine with the outer surface of different charged graphene sheet (GS)/(7,7) single-walled carbon nanotube (CNT) at the M06-2X-6-31+g(d,p)//M06-2X-6-31G(d) level of theory, which can get insights into the π–π interactions in enzyme-modified CNT electrodes. The aromatic rings of the amino acids prefer to orient in parallel with the plane of the CNT at the different charge states, which bears the signature of π–π interactions. The π–π interactions mainly include the dispersion forces, the electrostatic forces, and the H−π bonds. The dispersion force nearly keeps constant for the same aromatic ring interaction with the GS/CNT at the different charge states. However, the electrostatic forces and the strength of H···π bonds are significantly affected by the different charge states. These factors cause the change of the binding order for the four aromatic rings with the GS and CNT. More importantly, the highest doubly occupied molecular orbitals (HDMOs), the singly occupied molecular orbitals (SOMOs), and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) mostly reside on the CNT moieties for all charged systems, indicating that the negative and positive charges are ready to accumulate on the CNT moiety when the CNT interacts with the aromatic amino acids. These results support that the CNTs can be used to assemble the enzyme-modified CNT electrodes.

The paper is of relevance to weak interactions between two parallel rings of close aromatic amino acids, which may participate in electron hole transport in proteins. The ab initio calculations reveal the possibility for the formation of the π∴π three-electron bond between two parallel aromatic rings, facilitating electron hole transport in proteins as the effective relay stations. The relay functionality of these special structures comes from their lower local ionization energies and proper binding energies, which vary with the different aromatic amino acids and the arrangements of the same aromatic rings according to the local microsurroundings in proteins.

Avian influenza A virus continues to pose a global threat with occasional H5N1 human infections, which is emphasized by a recent severe human infection caused by avian-origin H7N9 in China. Luckily these viruses do not transmit efficiently in human populations. With a few amino acid substitutions of the hemagglutinin H5 protein in the laboratory, two H5 mutants have been shown to obtain an air-borne transmission in a mammalian ferret model. Here in this study one of the mutant H5 proteins developed by Kawaoka’s group (VN1203mut) was expressed in a baculovirus system and its receptor-binding properties were assessed. We herein show that the VN1203mut had a dramatically reduced binding affinity for the avian α2,3-linkage receptor compared to wild type but showed no detectable increase in affinity for the human α2,6-linkage receptor, using Surface Plasmon Resonance techonology. Further, the crystal structures of the VN1203mut and its complexes with either human or avian receptors demonstrate that the VN1203mut binds the human receptor in the same binding manner (cisconformation) as seen for the HAs of previously reported 1957 and 1968 pandemic influenza viruses. Our receptor binding and crystallographic data shown here further confirm that the ability to bind the avian receptor has to decrease for a higher human receptor binding affinity. As the Q226L substitution is shown important for obtaining human receptor binding, we suspect that the newly emerged H7N9 binds human receptor as H7 has a Q226L substitution.

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to investigate equilibrium selection in a heterogeneous population composed of both optimizing and programmed agents using an evolutionary game-theoretic framework. Under the Smith dynamic, we are able to identify a class of games in which any programmed behavior will become extinct ultimately starting from any initial state, as well as a class of games in which all programmed agents can get wiped out eventually, as long as there are not enough initially. Besides, the long-run behavior is characterized under a variety of well-behaved dynamics such as the Brown–von Neumann–Nash dynamic. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Hypertension is the most common cardiovascular disease. The discovery of the antihypertensive action of adenosine triphosphate-sensitive potassium (KATP) channel openers was a significant advance in the treatment of hypertension. Iptakalim is a novel KATPchannel opener with a unique chemical structure that differs from other KATPopeners. Among the 3 different subtypes of KATPchannels heterologously expressed in human embryonic kidney cells and Xenopusoocytes, iptakalim exhibits significant selectivity for SUR2B/Kir6.1 channels, mild effects on SUR2A/Kir6.2 channels, and fails to open SUR1/Kir6.2 channels. Iptakalim is a more potent activator of the SUR2B/Kir6.1 subtype of KATPchannels than diazoxide and pinacidil, the 2 most commonly studied KATPchannel openers. Iptakalim selectively produces arteriolar vasodilation with essentially no effect on the capacitance vessels. It can preferentially relax arterioles and small arteries, without affecting large arteries. Furthermore, iptakalim strongly lowers the blood pressure of hypertensive rodents and humans but has little effect on normotensive rodents and humans. Selective antihypertensive action is not observed with pinacidil or diazoxide and may be due to the high selectivity of iptakalim for the SUR2B/Kir6.1 subtype of KATPchannels, as well as its selective relaxation of resistance vessels. In pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells, iptakalim inhibits the increase of cytoplasmic free Ca2+concentration, as well as cell proliferation induced by endothelin-1. Furthermore, iptakalim has exerted protective effects against hypertensive damage to target organs in rats and improves endothelial dysfunction associated with cardiovascular diseases by selective activation of the SUR2B/Kir6.1 subtype of KATPchannels expressed in the endothelium. Clinical trials of iptakalim in the treatment of mild-moderate hypertension have been completed in China. In additional to strong antihypertensive efficacy, iptakalim seems to have a favorable safety and tolerability profile. Iptakalim is a promising new generation antihypertensive drug.

This study aimed to explore the incidence of abnormal catheter positioning and the effectiveness and safety of intravascular adjustment or removal of abnormally positioned catheters through percutaneous puncture.

BaSnO 3nanoparticles and (Bu 4N) 2(Ru)(dcbpyH) 2(NCS) 2(called N719)-sensitized BaSnO 3nanoparticles were prepared by the sol−gel method. The structures and optical absorption spectra of the samples were examined with X-ray diffraction and UV−vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, respectively. Surface photovoltaic properties of the samples were investigated by surface photovoltage spectroscopy and electric field-induced surface photovoltage spectroscopy. The results indicate that N719 can enhance the photovoltaic response as well as extend the photovoltaic response range of BaSnO 3nanoparticles to the visible region, which shows potential application in harvesting solar energy and future photovoltaic technology. The transfer of charge carriers between the dye and the semiconductor accounts for this photosensitization phenomenon. Valence-band spectra prove that the relative energy levels of N719 and the as-prepared BaSnO 3nanoparticles fit well with the energy requirements for efficient electron injection.

Let G = (V(G),E(G)) be a graph. A (ν, G, λ)‐GD is a partition of all the edges of λKν into subgraphs (G‐blocks), each of which is isomorphic to G. The (ν, G, λ)‐GD is named as graph design for G or G‐decomposition. The large set of (ν, G, λ)‐GD is denoted by (ν, G, λ)‐LGD. In this paper, we obtain a general result by using the finite fields, that is, if q ≥ k ≥ 2 is an odd prime power, then there exists a (q,Pk, k − 1)‐LGD. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs.

Let G=(V(G),E(G)) be a graph. A (n,G, λ)-GD is a partition of the edges of λKn into subgraphs (G-blocks), each of which is isomorphic to G. The (n,G,λ)-GD is named as graph design for G or G-decomposition. The large set of (n,G,λ)-GD is denoted by (n,G,λ)-LGD. In this work, we obtain the existence spectrum of (n,P3,λ)-LGD. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 10: 151–159, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/jcd.10008

The application of the antibiotic drug has dramatically decreased the infection and promoted the development of surgery, but drug‐resistant bacteria appeared along with the abuse of antibiotics. Especially, wound in diabetic patients provides more glucose for bacteria resulting in poor wound healing. Therefore, it is imminent to explore advanced agents for combating multidrug‐resistant bacteria and accelerating diabetic wound healing. Herein, metal–organic frameworks based nanoreactors loaded with glucose oxidase (GOx) and peroxidase‐like bovine hemoglobin (BHb) are designed to construct an effective cascaded catalytic antibacterial system. Therein, GOx can cost the glucose, and release H2O2simultaneously, which can then be transformed into hydroxyl radicals by BHb. As a result, the as‐prepared nanoreactors can play the roles of both starving and killing toward the multidrug‐resistant bacteria. Furthermore, the produced gluconic acid can reduce the pH of working condition, which is beneficial for both the enhancement of peroxidase activity and the inhibition of the bacteria growth. More importantly, the constructed nanoreactors can be degraded and excreted from the body in the form of feces, which render the as‐proposed nanoreactors qualified as effective and safe materials for both combating multidrug‐resistant bacteria in vitro and accelerating the diabetic wound healing in vivo of the mouse model. A synergistical starvation and chemo‐dynamic therapy is developed for combating multidrug‐resistant bacteria and accelerating diabetic wound healing based on a cascaded nanoreactor with both enhanced glucose oxidase and peroxide‐like activity. The nanoreactor is constructed via pore encapsulation of both glucose oxidase and bovine hemoglobin in the metal–organic frameworks.

Spatially varying motion deblurring has recently witnessed substantial progress due to the development of deep neural network. However, most existing CNN-based methods involve two major shortcomings: (1) The CNN weights are space-sharing, and these methods thus ignore the properties of complex spatially variant blurs which vary from pixel to pixel in natural blurry images. (2) Stacked convolution layers with a large kernel or recurrent neural networks (RNNs) cannot capture the global contextual dependence of features, they thus cannot exploit the relationship between different blur pixels at a distance. To solve these problems, we propose a new dual attention per-pixel filter network (DAPFN). First, we develop a multiscale per-pixel filter network (MSPFN) to learn a specific deblurring mapping for different blur pixels, which predicts the per-pixel spatially adaptive convolution kernel for each blur pixel in the input blurry image of different scales and restores the clean pixel by performing channel-wise spatially adaptive convolution with the local neighborhood pixels. Second, we develop a dual attention enhanced residual network (DAERN) to capture the global contextual dependence of the blurry images, which introduces a dual attention (DA) module consisting of the spatial self-attention module (SSA) and channel self-attention module (CSA). The fusion of the two attention modules helps to further improve the deblurring performance. Third, we propose a new receptive field selection (RFS) block to learn the nonlinear characteristics of spatially variant blurs, which enables the adaptive fusing of the features with different receptive fields and effectively enhances the network nonlinear representation ability. The experimental results on GOPRO dataset indicate that the average PSNR and SSIM of the proposed method reached 31.8455 and 0.9231, respectively. The results of extensive experiments pertaining to spatially varying image deblurring demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art image deblurring methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigated the biotransformation of IMPA, the neutralization product of the nerve agent Sarin, by a microbial consortia. As mandated by the Chemical Weapons Convention signed by 132 countries in 1993, all chemical warfare agents are to be destroyed within ten years of ratification. Technologies must be developed to satisfy this commitment. This paper presents data from a biodegradation kinetics study and background information on the biological transformation of IMPA. Microbial transformation of organophosphate nerve agents and organophosphate pesticide intermediates can be incorporated into a treatment process for the fast and efficient destruction of these similar compounds. Sarin (isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate), also known as GB, is one of several highly neurotoxic chemical warfare agents that have been developed over the past 50 to 60 years. Four mixed cultures were acclimated to the Sarin hydrolysis product, isopropyl methylphosphonic acid (IMPA). Two of these cultures, APG microorganisms and SX microorganisms, used IMPA as the sole phosphorus source. Extended exposure to IMPA improved the cultures' abilities to degrade IMPA to form methylphosphonic acid (MPA) and inorganic phosphate. The presence of free phosphate in the reactor suppressed the degradation of IMPA. IMPA did not inhibit either cultural consortia within the tested concentration range (0 to 1250 mg/L). The νmax was 120.9 mg/L/day for the SX microorganisms and 118.3 mg/L/day for the APG microorganisms. Initial IMPA concentrations of 85 to 90 mg/L were degraded to nondetectable levels within 75 h. These results demonstrate the potential for biodegradation to serve as a complementary treatment process for the destruction of stockpiled Sarin. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 64: 221–231, 1999.

Antibody repertoire sequencing enables researchers to acquire millions of B cell receptors and investigate these molecules at the single-nucleotide level. This power and resolution in studying humoral responses have led to its wide applications. However, most of these studies were conducted with a limited number of samples. Given the extraordinary diversity, assessment of these key features with a large sample set is demanded. Thus, we collect and systematically analyze 2,152 high-quality heavy-chain antibody repertoires. Our study reveals that 52 core variable genes universally contribute to more than 99% of each individual’s repertoire; a distal interspersed preferences characterize V gene recombination; the number of public clones between two repertoires follows a linear model, and the positive selection dominates at RGYW motif in somatic hypermutations. Thus, this population-level analysis resolves some critical features of the antibody repertoire and may have significant value to the large cadre of scientists.

Wuhan was the very first city hit by SARS-CoV-2. Accordingly, the patients who experienced the longest phase of convalescence following COVID-19 reside here.

Background: Nonthermal irreversible electroporation is a minimally invasive surgery technology that employs high and brief electric fields to ablate undesirable tissues. Nonthermal irreversible electroporation can ablate only cells while preserving intact functional properties of the extracellular structures. Therefore, nonthermal irreversible electroporation can be used to ablate tissues safely near large blood vessels, the esophagus, or nerves. This suggests that it could be used for thyroid ablation abutting the esophagus. This study examines the feasibility of using nonthermal irreversible electroporation for thyroid ablation.Methods: Rats were used to evaluate the effects of nonthermal irreversible electroporation on the thyroid. The procedure entails the delivery of high electric field pulses (1-3 kV/cm, 100 microseconds) between 2 surface electrodes bracing the thyroid. The right lobe was treated with various nonthermal irreversible electroporation pulse sequences, and the left was the control. After 24 hours of the nonthermal irreversible electroporation treatment, the thyroid was examined with hemotoxylin and eosin histological analysis. Mathematical models of electric fields and the Joule heating-induced temperature raise in the thyroid were developed to examine the experimental results.Results: Treatment with nonthermal irreversible electroporation leads to follicular cells damage, associated with cell swelling, inflammatory cell infiltration, and cell ablation. Nonthermal irreversible electroporation spares the trachea structure. Unusually high electric fields, for these types of tissue, 3000 V/cm, are needed for thyroid ablation. The mathematical model suggests that this may be related to the heterogeneous structure of the thyroid-induced distortion of local electric fields. Moreover, most of the tissue does not experience thermal damage inducing temperature elevation. However, the heterogeneous structure of the thyroid may cause local hot spots with the potential for local thermal damage.Conclusion: Nonthermal irreversible electroporation with 3000 V/cm can be used for thyroid ablation. Possible applications are treatment of hyperthyroidism and thyroid cancer. The highly heterogeneous structure of the thyroid distorts the electric fields and temperature distribution in the thyroid must be considered when designing treatment protocols for this tissue type.