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Laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains controversial, especially for tumors larger than 5 cm. We compared the short- and long-term outcomes of laparoscopic and open liver resection (OLR) for large HCC.Patients with large HCC after curative hepatectomy were enrolled. To compare the short-term outcomes, propensity score matching (PSM) and inverse probability treatment weighting (IPTW) were performed to reduce the effect of confounding factors, respectively. Subsequently, Cox-regression analyses were conducted to identify the independent risk factors associated with decreased recurrence-free survival (RFS) and poor overall survival (OS).There were 265 patients enrolled in the final analysis: 146 who underwent OLR and 119 who underwent LLR. There was no significant difference between the OLR and LLR groups according to PSM and IPTW analysis (all P 0.05). Multivariable analysis revealed that LLR was not independently associated with poorer OS (HR 1.15, 95% CI 0.80-1.67, P = 0.448) or RFS (HR 1.22, 95% CI 0.88-1.70, P = 0.238).There were no significant differences in perioperative complications or long-term prognosis between LLR and OLR for large HCC, which provides evidence for standard laparoscopic surgical practice with adequate surgeon experience and careful patient selection.

Although anatomical hepatectomy (AH) is widely used in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the prognosis is still unsatisfactory. The present study aimed to evaluate the survival benefit of adjuvant transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) for patients with HCC after AH. A total of 832 patients were stratified into with adjuvant TACE (443, 53.2%) and without adjuvant TACE group (389, 46.8%) AH. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to control for confounding factors, and multivariable Cox regression was performed to determine the independent risk factors. After PSM, the results showed that the adjuvant TACE group had better overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS). Among the patients with tumor recurrence, adjuvant TACE was associated with a high rate of early-stage tumor at recurrence, a lower recurrence rate around the frontal margin and extrahepatic metastases, and a higher rate of receiving curative treatment. Multivariable Cox regression analysis showed that adjuvant TACE was an independent prognostic factor for OS (HR 0.673, P = 0.001) and RFS (HR 0.650, P = 0.001). Patients with HCC after AH can benefit from postoperative adjuvant TACE. Therefore, adjuvant TACE should be considered for patients with a high risk of recurrence.

To observe the effect of warm acupuncture on the expression of Janus protein tyrosine kinase 2/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (JAK2/STAT3) signaling pathway and inflammatory factors of articular cartilage in rabbits with knee osteoarthritis (KOA), so as to explore its underlying mechanisms in improving KOA.New Zea-land rabbits were randomly divided into blank, model, warm acupuncture and medication groups (12 rabbits in each group). The KOA model was prepared by using the right hind limb tubular plaster extension fixation method. The rabbits in the warm acupuncture group received acupuncture of "Neixiyan"(EX-LE4),"Waixiyan"(ST35),"Heding"(EX-LE2) and "Zusanli"(ST36), followed by attaching an ignited moxa-stick segment to the acupuncture-handle. The treatment was conducted for 15 min, once a week for 4 weeks. The rabbits in the medication group received gavage of diclofenac sodium solution(0.35 mg/kg), once daily for 4 weeks. The dysfunction severity state of the rabbit's knee-joint was evaluated using Lequesne scale (0-3 points), and the histopathological changes of cartilage were observed under microscope after H.E. staining and the state of distribution of chondrocytes in different layers and the extracellular matrix was assessed using Mankin score (0-6 points). The contents of serum interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) were measured by using ELISA, and the expression levels of p-JAK2/JAK2, p-STAT3/STAT3 and MMP-9 in knee cartilage tissue were detected using Western blot.Compared with the blank group, the Lequesne score, Mankin score, and the contents of serum IL-6, TNF-α and MMP-9, and the ratios of p-JAK2/JAK2 and p-STAT3/STAT3, and the expression level of MMP-9 protein in knee cartilage tissue were significantly increased in the model group (Warm acupuncture can improve motor function and reduce cartilage injury in KOA rabbits, which may be related to its functions in inhibiting the secretion of pro-inflammatory factors and regulating JAK2/STAT3 signaling and downregulating MMP-9 expression in the cartilage tissue.

Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is common among adolescents and young adults (AYAs) in areas with endemic hepatitis B virus infection. We sought to characterize clinical features and long-term outcomes among AYAs versus older adults (OAs) who underwent HCC resection. Methods From a Chinese multicenter database, patients were categorized as AYA (aged 13–39 years) versus OA (aged ≥40 years). Patient clinical features, perioperative outcomes, overall survival (OS) and time-to-recurrence (TTR) were compared. Multivariable Cox-regression analyses were performed to identify the impact of age on OS and TTR. Results Among 1952 patients, 354(22.2%) were AYAs. AYAs were less likely to have cirrhosis yet were likely to have advanced tumor pathological characteristics than OAs. Postoperative morbidity and mortality were comparable. Compared with OAs, AYAs had a comparable OS but a decreased TTR. Multivariable analyses identified that young age ( Conclusions Compared with OAs, AYAs had a higher incidence of recurrence following liver resection among patients with HCC, suggesting that enhanced surveillance for postoperative recurrence may be required among AYAs.

The endophytic fungus Nigrospora sphaerica S5 derived from the semi-mangrove plant Myoporum bontioides was fermented. Its metabolites were purified by column chromatography. Nine compounds were obtained and identified as terezine P(1), 3-(1-hydroxyethyl)-4-methyl dihydrofuran-2(3H)-one(2), methylhydroheptelidate(3), hydroheptelidic acid(4), 5, 7-dimethoxy-4, 6-dimethylphthalide(5),(3R,4S)-(-)-4-hydroxymellein(6), pestalopyrone(7), indole-3-formaldehyde(8) and p-hydroxybenzaldehyde(9) by spectroscopic techniques. Terezine P(1) was a new alkaloid belonging to the terezine class with a pyrazine ring. Compounds 2-7 were lactones, of which 3 and 4 belonged to sesquiterpenes. Compounds 8 and 9 were indole alkaloids and phenols, respectively. Compounds 3-6 were purified from Nigrospora sp. for the first time. These compounds showed different degrees of antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli of O6 serotype and E. coli of O78 serotype.

Quantum coherence, coming from quantum superposition, occupies a significant position in the field of physics. We put forward a lower bound of the robustness of multilevel coherence mathematically by optimizing the coherence witnesses via semi-definite programming, which can be direct and easy to evaluate and experimentally accessible. A numerical example is supplemented to illustrate the efficiency of the presented bound.

The bearing behavior of suction caissons supporting offshore wind turbines under two-way cyclic lateral loading and dead load in clay was investigated with consideration of soil strength degradation and adhesive interface friction between caisson walls and heterogeneous clay using the finite-element package ABAQUS. An ABAQUS built-in user subroutine was programmed to calculate the adhesive interface friction between clay and caisson walls. The results of parametric studies showed that the degradation of bearing capacity could be aggravated by the decrease of the aspect ratio. The offset between the rotation point of the soil inside the caisson and the central axis of the caisson increased with the increasing vertical load and number of cycles. The linearly increasing strength profile and adhesive interface led to the formation of an inverted spoon failure zone inside the caisson. The settlement-rotation curves in each cycle moved downwards with increasing number of cycles due to the soil strength degradation.

Although traditional functionally graded materials (FGMs) have weakened a certain extent abrupt changes along interfaces between layers, eliminating residual abrupt interfaces which results in great inter laminar stresses remains a major challenge. Herein, ceramic scaffolds with novel continuously graded channels have been firstly prepared through combining layer-by-layer casting with gelation-freeze-dry. Followed by infiltrating soft phase, the co-continuous FGMs without delamination and abrupt changes between layers can be successfully fabricated. The wet layering of suspensions and continuous ice crystals across the interface are the main reasons for the eliminated interfaces. More importantly, the performance of FGMs can be optimized to meet the practical requirement attributed to the varied porosity and pore size distribution of freeze-cast ceramic scaffolds. The novel process for co-continuous ceramics/ FGMs without abrupt interfaces can be extended to other polymers or even metals.

In recent years, computational intelligence has been widely used in many fields and achieved remarkable performance. Evolutionary computing and deep learning are important branches of computational intelligence. Many methods based on evolutionary computation and deep learning have achieved good performance in remote sensing image registration. This paper introduces the application of computational intelligence in remote sensing image registration from the two directions of evolutionary computing and deep learning. In the part of remote sensing image registration based on evolutionary calculation, the principles of evolutionary algorithms and swarm intelligence algorithms are elaborated and their application in remote sensing image registration is discussed. The application of deep learning in remote sensing image registration is also discussed. At the same time, the development status and future of remote sensing image registration are summarized and their prospects are examined.

Background: TJAB1099 is a novel, highly active inhibitor of human enterovirus 71 (HEV71), which is a most commonly found virus leading to Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease (HFMD). However, the TJAB1099 could not be detected in the plasma using a regular HPLC-UV detection during the pharmacokinetic study due to the poor solubility, which in turn limited the release prior to be absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract. Objective: The objectives of the present study were to improve the solubility of TJAB1099 by preparing formulation and develop an Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method applied to the pharmacokinetic study. Methods: The TJAB1099 was prepared as a phospholipid complex that intends to increase the watersolubility and subsequently improving TJAB1099 exposed in the circulation system. A highly sensitive UPLC-MS/MS method was developed for the pharmacokinetic study, in which the pharmacokinetic parameters were determined following oral and intravenous administration of 5 mg/kg and 1 mg/kg of TJAB1099 in rats, respectively. Results: The precisions for the method were less than 12.8%, while the accuracies were in the range of 90.8 - 98.0% and 96.1 - 99.6% for within-day and between-day, respectively. The mean recoveries for TJAB1099 and terfenadine (internal-standard, IS) were 85.0 ± 5.4% and 92.4 ± 4.1%, respectively. The pharmacokinetic study revealed that the Cmax of TJAB1099 after oral administration can reach 6.84 ± 2.43 ng/mL, while the Tmax is 0.70 ± 0.11 h. The AUC0-12 is 19.81 ± 11.07 µg/mL/h. However, the absorption was poor with an absolute oral bioavailability of 0.62. Conclusion: The UPLC-MS/MS method was successfully applied in the pharmacokinetic study of TJAB1099 in rats.

To explore the molecular mechanism of warming moxibustion (WM) in knee osteoarthritis (KOA).The knee joints of 40 New Zealand rabbits were placed in a plaster cast in an extended position to establish a KOA model. The animals were randomly divided into four groups: the control group, model group, WM group, and diclofenac (DF) group. Hematoxylin-eosin staining and the modified Mankin score were applied to evaluate the histopathological changes. Chondrocyte apoptosis was determined by the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay. Western blotting and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction were performed to measure the expression of interleukin-1α (IL-1β), prostaglandin E receptor 3 (PTGER3), a disintegrin-like and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin type-1 motifs-5 (ADAMTS-5), matrix metalloproteinase-13 (MMP-13), and C-terminal telopeptides of collagen type II (CTX-II) in cartilage tissues of the different groups. The concentrations of IL-1β, PTGER3, and CTX-II in serum were detected by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Rabbits with KOA in the WM and DF groups showed significantly reduced cartilage erosion and Mankin scores, compared with the untreated rabbits. The number of TUNEL-positive cells observed in the WM group was much fewer than that in the model group. The expression of PTGER3, MMP-13, CTX-II IL-1β, and ADAMTS-5 in cartilage tissues was remarkably downregulated following therapy with WM and DF. Moreover, a marked reduction was observed in the serum levels of IL-1β, PTGER3, and CTX-II in the WM and DF groups.WM exerts favorable therapeutic effects on articular injuries of KOA by regulating the expression of inflammatory and cartilage degradation-related cytokines.

Hand-foot-mouth disease may cause severe central nervous system complications and even death, that is induced mainly by enterovirus 71 (EV71), which is a non-enveloped virus. Inactivation of the EV71 on hands could effectively inhibit the transmission. However, the inactivations of the EV71 by conventional disinfectants including the alcohols are poor, due to the high stability of the EV71. A novel pyridyl imidazolidinone compound (TJAB1099) was designed to specifically inhibit EV71 replication in vitro. It may potentially be developed as formulations applied on hands for EV71 transmission control.The stress stability of TJAB1099 was first evaluated after storing in high temperature (60 °C, RH 10%), high humidity (25 °C, RH90%), and the high-intensity photolysis (4500 Lx ± 500 Lx) for 15 days, respectively. A wash-free antimicrobial gel containing the TJAB1099 was developed using the copolymer carrier. The antiviral activity, the acute oral toxicity, and the local irritation of the antimicrobial gel were evaluated accordingly.The results indicated that the TJAB1099 was stable during the storage in high temperature and humidity. However, a significant change (p .0001) was detected when TJAB1099 stored in the high-intensity photolysis. The antimicrobial gel containing 1 μM TJAB1099 could inhibit EV71 significantly higher than the ethanol (75%) (p .0001) and commercialized disinfectant products (p .0001). The results of acute oral toxicity and the local irritation suggest that the TJAB1099 containing antimicrobial gel was not causing skin irritations and acute oral toxicity symptoms.The results suggest that the antimicrobial gel containing TJAB1099 was safe and could effectively inhibit EV71 transmission in vitro.

The pile foundation under a high-speed railway (HSR) not only bears the self-weight of the superstructure, but also bears a long-term vertical periodic load during its service. In this study, a large-scale vertical dynamic load test and particle flow numerical simulation method were adopted to investigate the axial cyclic performances of open piles in sand. The results from the dynamic test show that under a dynamic load with cyclic load ratios of 0.1 and 0.2, the surface displacement of the pile decays rapidly as the pile distance increases. Moreover, the higher the vibration amplitude and frequency, the larger the surface displacement. The influence range of the soil around the pile is approximately six times of the pile diameter. It is also found that the external frictional resistance of the upper part of the pile decreases, whereas that of the middle part increases. In addition, the internal friction resistance of the lower part of the pile decreases and gradually stabilizes after approximately 200 cycles. The simulation results show that the influence range of the pile on the surrounding soil is approximately 5–8 times the diameter of the pile under the action of dynamic loading; the vertical displacement of the pile mainly occurs at the beginning of the cycles. The total settlement of the pile foundation increases with an increase in the cyclic load ratio. With an increase in the cycle period, the friction resistance values on the outside of the pile and middle part significantly decrease and increase, respectively. After 10 cycles, the resistance gradually stabilizes, and no evident changes in the internal friction resistance of the pile are observed.

To observe the effect of warm needle with moxibustion (WNM) on morphological changes of articular cartilage and subchondral bone tissues in knee osteoarthritis (KOA) rabbits, so as to explore whether WNM intervention can delay the development of KOA.Forty male New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into blank control, model, WNM and medication (Alendronate sodium) groups, with 10 rabbits in each group. A KOA model was established by immobilizing the right hind limb of rabbits with orthopedic casting tape for 6 weeks. The rabbits of the WNM group received WNM stimulation at "Neixiyan"(EX-LE4) "Waixiyan"(ST35) and "Heding"(EX-LE2) for 15 min, once a day for 4 weeks and those of the medication group received gavage of Alendronate sodium (150 μg·kg-1·d-1) once a day for 4 weeks. X-ray examination and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning were performed to observe the structure of the knee joints. Outcomes of X-ray examination were used to assess the degree of bone hyperplasia and joint space stenosis which were scaled according to Kellgren and Lawrence (K-L) standards, and those of MRI used to evaluate the degree of cartilage damage and bone marrow edema degrees which were respectively scored according to Recht scaling standards and semi-quantitative whole-organ MRI score (WORMS). Histopathological changes (degeneration degrees) of the articular cartilage were observed after H.E. staining, and given Mankin score. The ultrastructure of the cartilage surface and chondrocytes was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), respectively.Compared with the blank control group, the K-L grade, Recht grade, WORMS and Mankin score of the model group were significantly increased (P0.05,P0.01). After the intervention and in comparison with the model group, the K-L grade, Recht grade, WORMS and Mankin score of both WNM and medication groups were significantly decreased (P0.05,P0.01). Results of SEM showed severe defect, bulge and uneven surface of the cartilage with irregular growth and regeneration, and those of TEM showed degeneration and swelling of chondrocytes, margination of endonuclear chromatin, reduction in the number of organelles with disordered arrangement, extreme expansion of endoplasmic reticulum with detachment of the ribosome, unclear mitochondria, and disordered distribution of collagen fibers in the extracellular matrix in the model group, which was relatively milder in both the WNM and medication groups. Compared with the medication group, the Mankin score in the WNM group was evidently lower (P0.05).WNM can effectively slow down the degeneration of cartilage and subchondral bone of KOA rabbits, delay the development of KOA.

The current study was designed to investigate the effect and underlying mechanism of warm acupuncture combined with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSC) transplantation on cartilage tissue injury in rabbit knee osteoarthritis (KOA). In the study, 50 rabbits were randomly divided into 5 groups: blank group, KOA group, warm acupuncture group, BMSCs group, and warm acupuncture combined with BMSCs group. After warm acupuncture combined with BMSCs, the Modified Lequesne MG knee joint assessment scale was used to evaluate the degree of knee joint behavior, the Taiping Peng method generally observed the histomorphology changes of KOA rabbit cartilage, and hematoxylin-eosin staining, safranin O green staining, and toluidine blue staining were conducted to evaluate the extent of cartilage tissue pathology. Furthermore, transmission electron microscopy and TUNEL staining were used to observe cell apoptosis, and immunohistochemistry and qPCR analysis were used to detect the expression of apoptosis-related proteins and mRNA. Results showed that administration of warm acupuncture combined with BMSCs recovered the joint function and significantly decreased Lequesne MG score. The degree of cartilage tissue pathological damage has been improved, cartilage ultrastructure degeneration has recovered, peripheral blood vessels have mild edema, blood supply has gradually recovered, and even small amounts of red blood cells have appeared. In addition, warm acupuncture combined with BMSCs treatment suppressed chondrocyte apoptosis in rabbits with knee osteoarthritis by reduced TUNEL-positive chondrocytes and simultaneously reversed the mRNA expression of Bax, Bcl-2, and Caspase-3. These results indicate that warm acupuncture combined with BMSCs transplantation has a potential protective effect on rabbit KOA, which may be mediated by inhibiting chondrocyte apoptosis.

MicroRNA (miR)-26a-5p is an oncogene significantly associated with osteosarcoma. We try to evaluate expression of circulating miR-26a-5p in osteosarcoma patients and evaluate its significance.A total of 243 consecutive osteosarcoma patients and 96 healthy participates were enrolled. Circulating miR-26a-5p levels were evaluated by using real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reactions (RT-PCR). The association between circulating miR-26a-5p level and survival outcomes was evaluated by univariate and multivariate analysis.Circulating miR-26a-5p levels in osteosarcoma patients was significantly higher than that of healthy volunteers (P < .05). Upregulated miR-26a-5p was significantly related to advanced cancer and metastasis (both P < .05). Moreover, patients with a high serum miR-26a-5p had a poorer overall survival than those with a low serum miR-26a-5p levels (P < .05). Circulating miR-26a-5p level also been showed as independent risk factor for osteosarcoma in multivariate analysis (hazard ratio [HR], 0.38; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.11-0.98; P < .01).Circulating miR-26a-5p was significantly upregulated in osteosarcoma patients and remarkably associated with poor prognosis, indicating that circulating miR-26a-5p might serve as a useful diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for osteosarcoma.

Generating body movements based on given music audio recordings is an emerging research topic. This problem remains challenging particularly for string instruments, considering the fact that the relationship between the musical note sequences and the body movement sequences in string instruments does not have an one-to-one correspondence and is highly context-dependent. In this paper, we take a divide-and-rule approach to tackle the multifaceted characteristics of musical movement, and propose a framework for generating violinists’ body movements. Both objective and subjective evaluations show that the proposed framework improves the stability as well as the perceptual quality of the generation outputs by using the task-specific models for bowing and expressive movement. To the best of our knowledge, this work represents the first attempt to generate violinists’ body movements considering music expression.

Introduction Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is common among adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in areas with endemic HBV. We sought to characterize clinical features and long-term oncologic outcomes among AYAs versus older adults (OAs) who underwent liver resection for HCC. Methods Patients undergoing curative-intent liver resection for HCC were identified using a Chinese multicenter database; patients were categorized as AYA (aged 13-39 years) versus OA (aged ≥ 40 years). Patient clinical features, perioperative outcomes, overall survival (OS) and time-to-recurrence (TTR) were evaluated and compared. Multivariable Cox-regression analyses were performed to identify the impact of age relative to the risk factors associated with OS and TTR. Results Among 1,952 patients with HCC who underwent resection, 354 (22.2%) were AYAs. AYAs were less likely to have cirrhosis or portal hypertension yet were likely to have advanced tumor pathological characteristics than OAs. Although major hepatectomy was more often performed in the AYA group, postoperative morbidity and mortality were comparable between the AYA and OA groups. Compared with OAs, the AYAs had a comparable OS (median: 88.8 vs. 93.2 months, p = 0.305) but a decreased TTR (median: 35.6 vs. 50.7 months, p = 0.029). After adjustment for other confounding factors on multivariable analyses, young age (< 40 years) was independently associated with poorer TTR (hazard ratio: 1.35, 95% confidence interval: 1.08-1.69, p = 0.009) but not OS (p = 0.15). Conclusions Compared with OAs, AYAs had a higher incidence of recurrence following liver resection among Chinese patients with HCC, suggesting that enhanced surveillance for postoperative recurrence may be required among.

Due to multiple length-scale and gradient microstructures, numerous living organisms have optimized performance. Herein, inspired by the gradient structure of nacre , biomimetic materials with gradient microstructure were attempted to be created via overcoming the challenges of limited methods. The combination of layer-by-layer casting and gelation-freeze-drying were firstly used to produce ceramic scaffolds with continuously graded channels, followed by infiltrating molten alloy into the scaffolds, new B 4 C/2024Al bi-continuously functionally graded materials (FGMs) equipped with nacre-like and multicomponent gradient structures were developed. Since continuous ice crystals grew across the interface between layers and the around ceramic particles were rearranged during the solidification of the layered wet suspension, abrupt interfaces between layers were effectively eliminated in the scaffolds and final FGMs. Importantly, these unique structures not only provide an exceptional combination of strength and toughness but also allow for a smooth transition of properties. Our feasible approach paves a novel avenue to create FGMs in terms of biomimetic structures with high-performance.

With the acceleration of urbanization, the underground pipe gallery has gradually changed from traditional management to intelligent management. Real-time monitoring of underground pipe gallery can be realized by making good use of ground penetrating communication technology. In order to provide reference for the research of magnetic induction wisdom pipe gallery, this paper summarizes the common ground penetrating communication technology in China. In addition, the application of the increasingly mature technology of magnetic penetration technology in the field of intelligent pipe gallery is expounded.

Electricity not only plays a vital role in our daily lives, but it is also extremely important in national economic and social development. Accurate electric load forecasting can help electric power industry to secure electricity supply and use scheduling to reduce waste of electricity. In this paper, we propose a novel hybrid machine learning combining long short time memory and gradient descent approach to forecast the future hourly electricity demand of northern Taiwan. Furthermore, Random forest is applied to explore the influence of temperature of each city in northern Taiwan and features of electric load and remove irrelevant factors. The experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed hybrid machine learning approach. The average error percentage of load forecast is less than 2.5%.