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Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive and irreversible neurological condition that occurs with age and poses a significant global public health concern, is distinguished by the degeneration of neurons and synapses in various regions of the brain. While the exact processes behind the neurodegeneration in AD are not completely known, it is now acknowledged that inflammation may have a significant impact on the beginning and advancement of AD neurodegeneration. The severity of many neurological illnesses can be influenced by the equilibrium between pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory mediators. The IL-1 family of cytokines is linked to innate immune responses, which are present in both acute inflammation and chronic inflammatory diseases. Research on the role of the IL-1 family in chronic neurological disease has been concentrated on AD. In this context, there is indirect evidence suggesting its involvement in the development of the disease. This review aims to provide a summary of the contribution of every IL-1 family member in AD pathogenesis, current immunotherapies in AD disease, and present treatment possibilities for either targeting or boosting these cytokines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Obesity and sarcopenia are both viewed as pathological body composition issues and indicators of compromised nutritional status. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of sarcopenic obesity on short- and long-term clinical outcomes. Methods: The clinical data of patients who underwent radical gastrectomy between 2013 and 2019 were prospectively collected. Sarcopenia is defined by European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP2) and obesity is defined by the body mass index (BMI). To identify the independent predictors of postoperative complications and overall survival, we performed univariate and multivariate logistic and Cox regression analyses. Results: In a total of 508 cases, 372 (73.2%) cases were diagnosed with non-sarcopenia, 112 (22.0%) with non-obese sarcopenia, and 24 (4.7%) with sarcopenic obesity. In the multivariate logistic regression, both of non-obese sarcopenia (OR = 2.305, 95% CI = 1.444–3.679, P < 0.001) and sarcopenic obesity (OR = 2.589, 95% CI = 1.088–6.156, P = 0.031) were independent risk factors for postoperative complications. In the multivariate Cox analysis, only non-obese sarcopenia (HR = 2.614, 95% CI = 1.882–3.631, P < 0.001) was independent risk factor for overall survival. Conclusions: Sarcopenic obesity serves as an independent risk factor for postoperative complications, but not for overall survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mirroring public ideologies and value systems in legislative discourse, stance not only functions as a powerful instrument for legislators to balance legal values and stakeholders' interests but also acts as a valuable reference for individuals to understand legislative texts. This study conducts a corpus-driven analysis of stance expressions in legislative discourse. Using three self-compiled corpora that incorporate data protection laws from the United States, the European Union, and China, we apply Hyland's stance model to contrastively analyse evidence of hedging, boosting, self-mention, and attitude markers across these jurisdictions and eventually propose a specialised research model of stance in law. This study unveils the nature of modesty and sufficient discursive space of data protection laws, as well as legislative values and public ideologies conveyed by different jurisdictions within the broader socio-legal cultural context. Besides uncovering the legal constructiveness of data protection laws, the results also suggest that the overall representation of stance in data protection legislation aligns with its performance in legislative discourse, which showcases a legislative tendency to achieve an overtly neutral appearance through covert stance expressions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The advancement of laser-induced graphene (LIG) technology has streamlined the fabrications of flexible graphene devices. However, the ultrafast kinetics triggered by laser irradiation generates intrinsic amorphous characteristics, leading to high resistivity and compromised performance in electronic devices. Healing graphene defects in specific patterns is technologically challenging by conventional methods. Herein, we report the rapid rectification of LIG's topological defects by flash Joule heating in milliseconds (referred to as F-LIG), whilst preserving its overall structure and porosity. The F-LIG exhibits a decreased ID/IG ratio from 0.84 – 0.33 and increased crystalline domain from Raman analysis, coupled with a 5-fold surge in conductivity. Pair distribution function and atomic-resolution imaging delineate a broader-range order of F-LIG with a shorter C-C bond of 1.425 Å. The improved crystallinity and conductivity of F-LIG with excellent flexibility enables its utilization in high-performance soft electronics and low-voltage disinfections. Notably, our F-LIG/polydimethylsiloxane strain sensor exhibits a gauge factor of 129.3 within 10% strain, which outperforms pristine LIG by 800%, showcasing significant potential for human-machine interfaces. Laser-induced graphene (LIG) can be obtained via a practically convenient approach, but its amorphous characteristics limit its applications. Here, the authors report a flash Joule heating strategy to improve the crystalline quality and conductivity of LIG, leading to strain sensors with enhanced sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study employs a corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis to demystify the dominant patterns of representations around 5G in the Chinese and British press. Keyword analyses identify four thematic categories around the representation of 5G: the nature of 5G, social actors in 5G discourse, actions around 5G and timing in 5G discourse. Findings suggest that the Chinese press tends to use positive evaluative expressions to depict 5G as a trustworthy and beneficial issue and stress China's strong support for 5G development. In contrast, the British press prefers to frame 5G as a product of geopolitical rivalry and an issue with scientific uncertainties and controversies by repeatedly employing negative language patterns related to 5G risks and conspiracy theories. Besides, a subtle but varying "self versus other" schema is constructed by the two presses. The Chinese press is inclined to use positive predication strategies to construct a positive self-representation, whereas the British press tends to adopt negative predication strategies to portray China as an outgroup and meanwhile use scapegoating strategies to profile Britain as a positive self by using recurrent patterns denoting the pressure exerted on Britain by the United States. Such differences could result from their journalistic ideologies and values and the contrasting socio-political contexts where the two presses are situated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time and space, habitually seen as the human psychological background, are increasingly being studied as the cognitive foreground for the development and evolution of matters. Via applying the corpus-based method based on the self-complied corpora of the US, the UK, the EU and Chinese data protection laws, this study examines the basic logic framework of time and space, including human psychological representation, semiotic essence, and function, seeking to present a holistic landscape of tempo-spatial construction in humanity, law and society from the perspective of cognitive semiotics. It finds that the human psychological representations in the tempo-spatial construction process contain cyclical time, linear time, place space and field space; the tempo-spatial essence is to express semiotic meanings through social dialogue and power negotiation among legal subjects in social contexts; and the tempo-spatial functions are manifested in mapping cognitive thinking mode of humanity and constructing law and society. It can be argued that legal discourse is the result of the tempo-spatial dialogue between legal subjects that depends on the interaction between society and its members and the overall evolution of its meaning interpretation; the tempo-spatial construction in human-law-society triangle is thus a typical intersemiotic operation. This study demonstrates the utility of sign of time and sign of space as a cognitive perspective in discourse construction and maps the strong interdependence between humanity, law and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regulating electron transport rate and ion concentrations in the local microenvironment of active site can overcome the slow kinetics and unfavorable thermodynamics of CO2 electroreduction. However, simultaneous optimization of both kinetics and thermodynamics is hindered by synthetic constraints and poor mechanistic understanding. Here we leverage laser-assisted manufacturing for synthesizing CuxO bipyramids with controlled tip angles and abundant nanograins, and elucidate the mechanism of the relationship between electron transport/ion concentrations and electrocatalytic performance. Potassium/OH− adsorption tests and finite element simulations corroborate the contributions from strong electric field at the sharp tip. In situ Fourier transform infrared spectrometry and differential electrochemical mass spectrometry unveil the dynamic evolution of critical *CO/*OCCOH intermediates and product profiles, complemented with theoretical calculations that elucidate the thermodynamic contributions from improved coupling at the Cu+/Cu2+ interfaces. Through modulating the electron transport and ion concentrations, we achieve high Faradaic efficiency of 81% at ~900 mA cm−2 for C2+ products via CO2RR. Similar enhancement is also observed for nitrate reduction reaction (NITRR), achieving 81.83 mg h−1 ammonia yield rate per milligram catalyst. Coupling the CO2RR and NITRR systems demonstrates the potential for valorizing flue gases and nitrate wastes, which suggests a practical approach for carbon-nitrogen cycling. Controlling the kinetics and thermodynamics of electrochemical processes is essential to achieve high-performance multielectron reduction. Here, the authors report laser-induced copper bipyramids with abundant nanograins and controlled tip angles for enhanced multielectron CO2 and nitrate reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adult skeletal muscle regeneration is mainly driven by muscle stem cells (MuSCs), which are highly heterogeneous. Although recent studies have started to characterize the heterogeneity of MuSCs, whether a subset of cells with distinct exists within MuSCs remains unanswered. Here, we find that a population of MuSCs, marked by Gli1 expression, is required for muscle regeneration. The Gli1+ MuSC population displays advantages in proliferation and differentiation both in vitro and in vivo. Depletion of this population leads to delayed muscle regeneration, while transplanted Gli1+ MuSCs support muscle regeneration more effectively than Gli1− MuSCs. Further analysis reveals that even in the uninjured muscle, Gli1+ MuSCs have elevated mTOR signaling activity, increased cell size and mitochondrial numbers compared to Gli1− MuSCs, indicating Gli1+ MuSCs are displaying the features of primed MuSCs. Moreover, Gli1+ MuSCs greatly contribute to the formation of GAlert cells after muscle injury. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that Gli1+ MuSCs represents a distinct MuSC population which is more active in the homeostatic muscle and enters the cell cycle shortly after injury. This population functions as the tissue-resident sentinel that rapidly responds to injury and initiates muscle regeneration. Adult skeletal muscle regeneration is mainly driven by muscle stem cells (MuSCs), which are highly heterogeneous. Here, the authors found that a population of MuSCs, marked by Gli1 expression, is key contributor to muscle regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The combined use of walnut meal peptides and ellagic acid demonstrated synergistic anti-inflammatory properties, which could be enhanced through encapsulation into nanoparticles to enhance their bioavailability. However, the specific anti-inflammatory mechanism of these nanoparticles remains unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the anti-inflammatory mechanism of nanoparticles composed of walnut meal peptides and ellagic acid using ELISA, Western Blot, and qRT-PCR techniques. The ELISA results revealed a significantly reduction in the secretion of nitric oxide and inflammatory factors upon treatment with the nanoparticles. Besides, the findings from the qRT-PCR analysis demonstrated a significant reduction in the mRNA expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase and inflammatory factors in RAW264.7 cells following treatment with the nanoparticles. Additionally, the Western Blot results indicated that the nanoparticles exerted inhibitory effects on the upstream signaling pathway of nuclear factor kappa-B and modulated the mitogen-activated protein kinases signaling pathway, resulting in the suppression of inflammatory factor expression. This study contributes to the foundational understanding of the potential application of these nanoparticles as anti-inflammatory agents in the context of health food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Legume family (Leguminosae or Fabaceae), is one of the largest and economically important flowering plants. Heartwood, the core of a tree trunk or branch, is a valuable and renewable resource employed for centuries in constructing sturdy and sustainable structures. Hongmu refers to a category of precious timber trees in China, encompassing 29 woody species, primarily from the legume genus. Due to the lack of genome data, detailed studies on their economic and ecological importance are limited. Therefore, this study generates chromosome-scale assemblies of five Hongmu species in Leguminosae: Pterocarpus santalinus, Pterocarpus macrocarpus, Dalbergia cochinchinensis, Dalbergia cultrata, and Senna siamea, using a combination of short-reads, long-read nanopore, and Hi-C data. We obtained 623.86 Mb, 634.58 Mb, 700.60 Mb, 645.98 Mb, and 437.29 Mb of pseudochromosome level assemblies with the scaffold N50 lengths of 63.1 Mb, 63.7 Mb, 70.4 Mb, 61.1 Mb and 32.2 Mb for P. santalinus, P. macrocarpus, D. cochinchinensis, D. cultrata and S. siamea, respectively. These genome data will serve as a valuable resource for studying crucial traits, like wood quality, disease resistance, and environmental adaptation in Hongmu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wood is the most important natural and endlessly renewable source of energy. Despite the ecological and economic importance of wood, many aspects of its formation have not yet been investigated. We performed chromosome-scale genome assemblies of three timber trees (Ochroma pyramidale, Mesua ferrea, and Tectona grandis) which exhibit different wood properties such as wood density, hardness, growth rate, and fiber cell wall thickness. The combination of 10X, stLFR, Hi-Fi sequencing and HiC data led us to assemble high-quality genomes evident by scaffold N50 length of 55.97 Mb (O. pyramidale), 22.37 Mb (M. ferrea) and 14.55 Mb (T. grandis) with >97% BUSCO completeness of the assemblies. A total of 35774, 24027, and 44813 protein-coding genes were identified in M. ferrea, T. grandis and O. pyramidale, respectively. The data generated in this study is anticipated to serve as a valuable genetic resource and will promote comparative genomic analyses, and it is of practical importance in gaining a further understanding of the wood properties in non-model woody species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Walnut meal is a by-product produced during the production of walnut oil and is often treated as a waste. However, the nutrients in walnut meal mean it has significant potential for development as a plant-based milk. This study investigated the effect of microfluidization on the stability of walnut protein emulsion (WPE) and walnut protein beverage (WPB) produced from walnut meal, compared with conventional homogenization. The particle size, zeta potential, rheological properties, and stability of WPE all significantly improved after microfluidization. The mean particle size and zeta potential of the microfluidized WPE significantly decreased (p < 0.05). The rheological properties demonstrated that the viscosity of the microfluidized WPE decreased by 80%, and that the shear force increased 4.5 times as the shear rate increased. This gave the resulting product the characteristics of non-Newtonian fluid. LUMisizer stability demonstrated that microfluidization improves stability through protein absorption on the oil-water interface. Microfluidization increased the denaturation temperature (Tm) of WPE from 135.65 to 154.87℃. Moreover, microfluidization improved the color, centrifugal precipitation rate, and viscosity in WPB compared to the control at all studied temperatures. The Arrhenius approach was used to establish a shelf-life model, which predicted that microfluidized WPB could be stored for 175 d at 4℃. This study provided a new reference for the widespread application of microfluidization in the production of food-based emulsion and beverage products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is aimed at the preparation and evaluation of walnut meal-derived elastase inhibitory peptide loaded in chitosan-tripolyphosphate (CS-TPP) nanoparticles (NPs). It was shown that the maximum encapsulation efficiency of FFVPF could reach 94.58 ± 0.23%. TEM microphotographs, polydispersity index, and zeta-sizer reports indicated that FFVPF-loaded CS-TPP NPs were in nanometric range and were spherical, discrete, and uniform in size with PDI less than 0.3. FTIR analysis indicated that the peptides interacted with CS-TPP NPs through strong hydrogen bonds and electrostatic interactions. The CS-TPP FFVPF NPs showed better stability with heating treatment, pH treatment, or photochemical treatment. Moreover, the in vitro release profile of peptides was identified. The release rate of encapsulated FFVPF was released explosively to 77.22 ± 2.21% and gradually slowed down. These findings highlighted the prospect of CS-TPP NPs as an oral delivery system, and the application of peptides within food and pharmaceutical products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The South-to-North Water Diversion Project (SNWDP) is a significant and costly cross-basin mega water project in China, and one aim is to improve water use efficiency. To assess the effect of the SNWDP, this study conducts a quantitative evaluation of the middle route of the SNWDP's impact on water use efficiency through the event analysis method based on panel data from 2010 to 2019 of 14 cities along the middle route. The results show the construction of the SNWDP has had a positive impact on water use efficiency in the areas along the project, and the water use efficiency is constantly improving. Further empirical analysis shows that regional groundwater supply, industrial water consumption, and technical level have a significant positive impact on regional water use efficiency. Regional per-capita GDP has a significant negative impact on water use efficiency. The results can provide a scientific basis and decision-making reference for optimizing the SNWDP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Defect detection in the textile industry is an important and demanding task. Traditional methods rely on manual inspection, which is costly and damaging to the fabric. The deep learning methods based on semantic segmentation network simply and efficiently implement the fabric defect detection with high accuracy. In this paper, we proposed a Separation Convolution UNet (SCUNet) combined with convolutional down sampling, depth-separable convolution and cross-parallel ratio loss function(IoU Loss), and the number of parameters is only 4.27 M (Million). The location detection of fabric defects is performed by extracting surface features in fabric pictures. We selected a dataset containing 106 fabric grayscale images and performed preprocessing including image cutting and data enhancement. We tested the SCUNet with four metrics on the AITEX dataset, and the results showed that the accuracy, recall, specificity and mIoU are 98.01%, 96.86%, 98.07%, and 34.32%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The properties of leachate from refuse transfer stations (RTSs) in rural China were indefinite. In this study, a total of 14 leachate samples from RTSs in nine provinces of China were characterized for their pH, electric conductivity, chromaticity, concentration of organic substances, nitrogen distribution, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), organic phosphorous pesticide, and heavy metals. The structural composition of fluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOM) was also determined. To evaluate the leachate pollution potential in this study, a leachate pollution index was derived and used. Chromium (Cr) was the most polluting heavy metal present in rural leachate. Ethanol and ethyl acetate were the most frequently detected VOCs at high concentrations. Three-dimensional fluorescence excitation-emission matrix spectra were used to characterize the FDOM. Three components, tryptophan (C1), tyrosine-like (C2), and humic acid– and fulvic acid–like (C3) substances, were identified from all 14 samples. Tryptophan was the major component of FDOM and present in 45.7% of the samples by calculating the fluorescence intensity percentage, on average. Pearson correlations revealed that the fluorescence intensity of C1 and C3 was strongly related to soluble chemical oxygen demand and dissolved oxygen carbon, while C2 had significant positive correlations with ammonia nitrogen and total phosphorus of the solid waste. This study provided detailed data and findings that could serve as a preliminary basis for broadening options for the treatment and management of leachate from rural RTSs in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A court judgment is a common legal discourse and the final carrier of court trial activities. From the perspective of socio-cognitive discourse analysis, this study aims to describe and explore the Chinese court judgments in a corpus-based method, concentrating on the interactions among discourse, cognitive, and social dimensions. We have three key findings through an empirical qualitative analysis of the court judgments in China. First, the discourse dimension of Chinese court judgments is both society-oriented and cognition-oriented. The discourse components could mark the cognition sources in court judgments. Second, the cognitive source of faith is a part of social cognition on law and regulation, and induction and paraphrase provide the personal cognition to testimony, documentary, or hearsay evidence. Besides, the cognitive source of inference could change personal cognition into a social consensus through a reasoning process. Third, the social function of court judgments corresponds to the cognitive source and builds the surface structure with various discourse components. Moreover, a probe into the multi-dimensional relationship in court judgments can offer practical insights into the interpretation of legal texts in Chinese judicial decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emojis are increasingly being used as digital evidence in courts due to the miscommunication and misinterpretation arising from the high variability of their usage and interpretation. Emojis in courts have been extensively researched in extant studies, but relatively little attention has been paid to the emoji variation phenomena in Chinese courts. Through an empirical qualitative content analysis of the court judgments in China and the United States and some supplementary materials, this study posits that an emoji's meaning in courts can be subject to the following six categories of variations: i. variation across platforms, including devices, operating systems, software programs and clients; ii. temporal variation; iii. variation in court cases under different rules of evidence; iv. variation in individual participants; v. variation across social groups; and vi. linguistic-cultural variation. From a social semiotic perspective, emojis as dynamic signs have great meaning potentials, making their meanings context-dependent and interpreter-dependent. For this reason, it is suggested that legal professionals untangle and weave historical, social, cultural and legal contexts into the interpretation of an emoji's meaning. Moreover, a probe into the contextualized configuration of emojis can offer practical insights into the interpretation of emoji-bearing texts in judicial decision-making as well as the admissibility and investigation of digital evidence in courts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skeletal muscle plays a critical role in human health. Muscle stem cells (MuSCs) serve as the major cell type contributing to muscle regeneration by directly differentiating to mature muscle cells. MuSCs usually remain quiescent with occasionally self-renewal and are activated to enter cell cycle for proliferation followed by differentiation upon muscle injury or under pathological conditions. The quiescence maintenance, activation, proliferation, and differentiation of MuSCs are tightly regulated. The MuSC cell-intrinsic regulatory network and the microenvironments work coordinately to orchestrate the fate transition of MuSCs. The heterogeneity of MuSCs further complicates the regulation of MuSCs. This review briefly summarizes the current progress on the heterogeneity of MuSCs and the microenvironments, epigenetic, and transcription regulations of MuSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wrongful convictions (WC) have been widely studied in law and social sciences, yet, previous research lacks a clear conceptualization and rigorous scientific measurement scale to measure stakeholders' WC perceptions. Given the significance of stakeholders' perceptions in influencing policy reforms and transforming the criminal justice system, developing such a measurement scale offers an effective tool to comprehensively understand the relationship between WC and criminal justice system errors/misconduct and guide policymaking. In this study, based on samples of multiple stakeholders in Pakistan, we adopted qualitative and quantitative techniques for WC perception scale development and empirical testing. The results indicated that WC in the criminal justice system context consists of six dimensions, including perceptions of errors and misconduct by the police, prosecutor, judiciary, defense attorney, eyewitness, and forensics. The resulting WC perception measurement scale demonstrated an acceptable level of reliability and validity. The WC perception latent construct with the six resultant dimensions was tested with a structural equation model to assess the association of each perceived sub-construct with WC perception. The findings indicated that the legal professionals, policymakers, and the general public tend to believe that the prosecutors' and police errors and misconduct are the prime reasons for WC in Pakistan. This study also provides theoretical and practical implications for future studies in relevant fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aging is characterized by a progressive deterioration of physiological integrity, leading to impaired functional ability and ultimately increased susceptibility to death. It is a major risk factor for chronic human diseases, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, neurological degeneration, and cancer. Therefore, the growing emphasis on "healthy aging" raises a series of important questions in life and social sciences. In recent years, there has been unprecedented progress in aging research, particularly the discovery that the rate of aging is at least partly controlled by evolutionarily conserved genetic pathways and biological processes. In an attempt to bring full-fledged understanding to both the aging process and age-associated diseases, we review the descriptive, conceptual, and interventive aspects of the landscape of aging composed of a number of layers at the cellular, tissue, organ, organ system, and organismal levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Populus euphratica Oliv. response to salinity stress has been mainly studied at a whole-plant level. However, many genes associated with salinity tolerance are constitutively expressed or show strong organ-or tissue-specific, and the relationship between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the antioxidant system has been rarely investigated. In present work, the effects of salinity treatments (0, 50, 100, 150, and 200 mM NaCl) on cell ultrastructure, ROS, antioxidant enzymes, and relevant gene expressions were investigated to get an overview of salinity stress response of P. euphratica micro-shoots under in vitro conditions. Antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX), etc., were activated in the presence of low and moderate salt stress (≤ 150 mM NaCl). Regulation of ROS levels and the cellular redox equilibrium, as well as an increase in glutathione (GSH) and ascorbic acid (AsA) content, were also recorded at 150 mM NaCl. PeCu/ZnSOD upregulation occurred 12 h before PeAPX2 upregulation at 100 mM NaCl. The enzymes SOD, APX, CAT, and POD were inhibited by high salinity stress (200 mM NaCl), whereas the level of H2O2 was significantly increased. PeCu/ZnSOD expression increased after 12 h, whereas PeAPX2 expression increased after 36–72 h at 200 mM NaCl. This resulted in a burst of O2.− and H2O2, which accelerated membrane lipid peroxidation, significantly reduced chlorophyll content, and eventually led to chlorosis and cellular damage. In this study, the bigger contributing markers to salt tolerance were AsA, APX, CAT, and SOD. Our results indicated the coordinated alterations between enzymatic, ROS and gene expressions facilitated the resistance to salinity in P. euphratica micro-shoots under moderate salinity. Key message: The micro-shoots of P. euphratica could endure 150 mM NaCl stress. The coordinated changes in PeCu/ZnSOD and PeAPX2 expression and antioxidative enzymes facilitated in vitro Populus euphratica resistance to salinity stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The anti-inflammatory effect of the interaction between ellagic acid (EA) and a bioactive tripeptide (FPL) from walnut meal was investigated in this study. We found that lipopolysaccharide (LPS) -induced expression of nitric oxide, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, and interleukin-1β were significantly inhibited by the interaction of EA and FPL in RAW264.7 macrophage cells. Cell viability assays and CompuSyn simulations predicted the highest synergistic effect of the combination at doses of EA-25 µM and FPL-100 µM, with the lowest combination index (CI) values reaching 0.56. Fluorescence spectra revealed the intrinsic fluorescence of phenylalanine in FPL was quenched by interaction with EA. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy indicated FPL had electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions with EA through N–H, C = O, C-N bonds and the secondary structure of FPL had effectively changed, with a decrease in α-helix when interacting with EA. Our results demonstrated that the synergistic anti-inflammatory effect of EA and FPL as potential inflammatory inhibitors in food industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sarcopenia and cachexia are two predictors of adverse clinical outcomes, but they are partly overlapping. We aimed to compare the characteristics and prognostic value of cachexia and sarcopenia in patients after gastrectomy. Methods: From 2014 to 2019, a total of 1215 gastric cancer patients were enrolled. Cachexia and sarcopenia were diagnosed according to the most recent consensus definitions. Baseline characteristics and clinical outcomes were compared between the two groups. Risk factors of survival were evaluated by Cox regression analysis. Results: Of all patients, 26.5% were diagnosed with cachexia and 19.8% were diagnosed with sarcopenia. Sarcopenia was more prevalent in elderly patients, while cachexia was prone to occur in patients with TMN stage III. Survival curves showed that sarcopenia had adverse effects in patients with TMN stage I and II–III, while cachexia was only associated with poor survival at stages II–III. For the entire cohort, both cachexia and sarcopenia were adverse factors for prognosis. However, for stage I patients, sarcopenia was an independent predictor for overall survival (OS) (HR = 4.939, P < 0.001) and disease-free survival (DFS) (HR = 4.256, P < 0.001), but not cachexia; for stage II–III patients, cachexia was an independent predictor for OS (HR = 1.538, P < 0.001) and DFS (HR = 1.473, P = 0.001), but not sarcopenia. Conclusions: Sarcopenia and cachexia have different clinical characteristics and prognostic values. For patients with early stage gastric cancer, detection for sarcopenia was more meaningful than cachexia. However, the prognostic significance of cachexia exceeded sarcopenia in advanced cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is an invaluable treasure for human being and China is a country endowed with rich ICH. Among all the measures of safeguarding ICH, intellectual property (IP) tools are effective while controversial. As China started relatively late in the legal protection of ICH, the gap between legislation and judiciary needs to be filled in. This study examines the IP protection of ICH in China based on the current laws and regulations and then provides a semiotic approach to the relevant legal evolution in China. This study, taking in some experiences outside China, goes further to provide recommendations for improving the IP protection in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the driving force of the evolutionary game, the strategy update mechanism is crucial to the evolution of cooperative behavior. At present, there has been a lot of research on the update mechanism, which mainly involves two aspects. On one hand, all players in the network use the same rule to update strategies; on the other hand, players use heterogeneous update rules, such as imitate and innovate. A sophisticated update mechanism is available. However, most of these studies are based on node dynamics, that is, individuals adopt the same strategy to their neighbors at the same time. Considering that in real life, faced with complex social relationships, the code of conduct generally followed by individuals is to adopt different decision-making behaviors for different opponents. Therefore, here, we are based on edge dynamics, which allows each player to adopt different strategies for different opponents. We analyze how the mixing ratio of the two mechanisms in the network affects the evolution of cooperative behavior based on imitation and myopic. The parameter u is introduced to represent the proportion of myopic players. The simulation results show that in the edge dynamics behavior patterns, compared with the myopic rule, the imitate rule plays a leading role in promoting the group to achieve a high level of cooperation, even when the temptation to defect is relatively large. Furthermore, for players who adopt the imitate update mechanism, individuals with high cooperation rate dominate when u is relatively high, and individuals with low cooperation rate dominate when u is relatively large. For players who adopt the myopic update rule, regardless of the value of u, the individual's cooperation rate is 0.25 and 0.5 is dominant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spirulina platensis protein hydrolysates were prepared by digesting protein extracts with papain, and the hydrolysates were separated into 30, 10, and 3 kDa weights using membrane ultrafiltration. The 0–3 kDa low-molecular-weight Spirulina peptides (LMWSPs) proved the highest chemical antioxidant activity by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging ability, hydroxyl radical (·OH) scavenging activities and total antioxidant capacity. Cellular antioxidant ability of LMWPs fractions against 2000 μg/mL H2O2 induced oxidative damage of L02 cells were investigated. The MTT assay results displayed that LMWSPs at different concentrations (0–1000 μg/mL) had proliferation effect on the L02 cells and that treatment of the L02 cells with the 1000 μg/mL LMWSPs (0–3 kDa) significantly prevented H2O2-induced oxidative damage compared with control cells. Moreover, the 2′,7′-dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) fluorescent probe assay showed that the levels of ROS and NO were significantly lower in the experimental group that was treated with the peptides for 24 h than in the control group. Furthermore, using the corresponding kits, the treatment inhibited the reduction of SOD activity and the increase of MDA contents in the L02 cells. Therefore, LMWSPs (0–3 kDa) may have potential applications in antioxidant and liver health products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The applicability of laparoscopic-assisted radical gastrectomy for elderly patients with gastric cancer is still not well clarified. The aim of this double-center study was to explore the feasibility and effectiveness of laparoscopic-assisted radical gastrectomy on elderly patients with gastric cancer. Methods: We prospectively collected data of patients who underwent gastrectomy for cancer in two centers from June 2016 to December 2019. Propensity score matching was performed at a ratio of 1:1 to compare the laparoscopic-assisted radical gastrectomy group and open radical gastrectomy group. Univariate analyses and multivariate logistic regression analyses evaluating the risk factors for total, surgical, and medical complications were performed. Results: A total of 481 patients with gastric cancer met the inclusion criteria and were included in this study. After propensity score analysis, 258 patients were matched each other (laparoscopic-assisted radical gastrectomy (LAG) group, n = 129; open radical gastrectomy (OG) group, n = 129). LAG group had lower rate of surgical complications (P = 0.009), lower rate of severe complications (P = 0.046), shorter postoperative hospital stay (P = 0.001), and lower readmission rate (P = 0.039). Multivariate analyses revealed that anemia, Charlson comorbidity index, and combined resection were independent risk factors in the LAG group, whereas body mass index and American Society of Anesthesiology grade in the OG group. Conclusion: Laparoscopic-assisted radical gastrectomy was relative safe even effective in elderly gastric cancer patients. We should pay attention to the different risk factors when performing different surgical procedures for gastric cancer in elderly patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) play a pathogenic role in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). STAT3 signaling is activated in FLS of RA patients (RA-FLS), which in turn causes RA-FLS hyperproliferation. RL is a traditional remedy for treating inflammatory diseases in China. It comprises Rosae Multiflorae Fructus and Lonicerae Japonicae Flos. A standardized ethanolic extract of RL (RLE) has been shown to exert anti-arthritic effects in collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) rats. Some constituents of RLE were reported to inhibit JAK2/STAT3 signaling in rat FLS. Here, we determined whether RLE inhibits FLS hyperproliferation, and explored the involvement of STAT3 signaling in this inhibition. In joints of CIA rats, RLE increased apoptotic FLS. In IL-6/sIL-6R-stimulated RA-FLS, RLE reduced cell viability and evoked cell apoptosis. In synovial tissues of CIA rats, RLE lowered the protein level of phospho-STAT3. In IL-6/sIL-6R-stimulated RA-FLS, RLE inhibited activation/phosphorylation of STAT3 and JAK2, decreased the nuclear localization of STAT3, and downregulated protein levels of Bcl-2 and Mcl-1. Over-activation of STAT3 diminished RLE's anti-proliferative effects in IL-6/sIL-6R-stimulated RA-FLS. In summary, RLE inhibits hyperproliferation of FLS in rat and cell models, and suppression of STAT3 signaling contributes to the underlying mechanisms. This study provides further pharmacological groundwork for developing RLE as a modern anti-arthritic drug. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The saturated gain performance of the two-pump fiber optical parametric amplifier (2-P FOPA) in the presence of random dispersion fluctuation as well as fourth-order dispersion coefficient are investigated. The gain spectra of the 2-P FOPA is simulated by solving the coupled equations numerically, considering the dispersion fluctuations along the fiber as a stochastic process with a given standard deviation and correlation length. The gain performance of 2-P FOPA is analysed with the variation of correlation length, standard deviation and fourth-order dispersion coefficient, respectively. It shows that, the gain saturation curves of 2-P FOPA exhibit obvious differences in the presence of dispersion fluctuations and fourth-order dispersion coefficients. The peak gain reduces with the increase of the standard deviation and the reduction is higher in case of shorter correlation lengths, also the variations of 2-P FOPA saturation powers are affected by the standard deviation and correlation length significantly. In addition, the performance of the 2-P FOPA varies greatly while considering the fourth-order dispersion coefficient, where the peak gain remains the same, but the 3 dB bandwidth is wider with considering the fourth-order dispersion coefficient. The numerical analysis is meaningful for the research of 2-P FOPA saturated gain performance, which having attracted great research interests in the optical fiber communication systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In patients with ultralow rectal cancer, surgical resection of the tumor without impairing sphincter function remains a technical challenge. The purpose of this study was to describe a new technique of transanal natural orifice specimen extraction (NOSE) surgery using our independently developed devices, aiming to achieve precise cancer resection and preserve sphincter function in patients with ultralow rectal cancer. Methods: Precision functional sphincter-preserving surgery (PPS) was performed on nineteen patients with ultralow rectal cancer between June 2019 and April 2020. With the help of our independently developed devices, surgeons directly and accurately removed the lower edge of the tumor and retained healthy rectal tissue on the nontumorous side. Hand-sewn anastomosis with a mattress suture was used to achieve sturdy anastomosis. Preoperative baseline characteristics, operative details, 90-day postoperative complications, costs, and anal function score at 6 months after surgery were documented. Results: Nineteen ultralow rectal cancer patients with a median distance to the dentate line of 2.0 cm successfully underwent PPS without serious postoperative complications. Six out of nineteen patients (31.6%) received a prophylactic stoma. The average cost was 62164.1 yuan. At 6 months after surgery, the average Wexner anal function score and the average Vaizey score were both 3 points. Conclusions: PPS can be employed to precisely resect rectal tumors and preserve sphincter function in ultralow rectal cancer patients. The use of our devices enhanced surgical efficiency, reduced the need for prophylactic stoma, reduced surgery-related costs, and prevented abdominal surgical incisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an innovative model for infrastructure and public service delivery, public–private partnership (PPP) has become increasingly more popular around the world. PPP is facing the dilemma of development direction and value orientation since current studies and practices are mostly performed from an economic perspective. PPP leads according to sustainable development goals. This study briefly reviews the development of China's PPP and summarizes the characteristics of PPP in China through the theory of evolutionary economic geography. Secondly, a conceptual framework of sustainability-oriented PPP is proposed with three phases named PPP1.0, PPP2.0, and PPP3.0. Thirdly, a case study named the Taizhou commuter-rail Line S1 PPP project has been adopted to verify the theoretical framework of the sustainability-oriented PPP. Lastly, the theoretical framework is analyzed and discussed based on the four dimensions: driving force, subject, process, and object. The results show that the sustainability-oriented PPP framework explains the development process and trend of PPP, not only meeting the PPP development needs in China, but also providing a reference value for other developing countries. This study has implications for decision making in China's PPP policy and makes an innovative contribution to the global PPP knowledge body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to explore the specific situation of nonpoint source pollution in Ulansuhai Nur basin, so as to provide reasonable and scientific pollution control and water area protection schemes. According to the socioeconomic statistics and water quality information of Ulansuhai Nur basin from 2008 to 2019, taking chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) as the control indicators, the sources of nonpoint source pollutants (urban domestic sewage, livestock breeding, rural domestic area pollution, rural agricultural production area pollution, and aquaculture pollution) are analyzed. And the amount of each pollution source into the lake is analyzed according to the discharge coefficient and inflow coefficient. The inflow amount and the changing trends of COD, TN, and TP discharged from each pollution source are compared and analyzed, and the main sources of pollution for each control indicator are explored. The causes of water pollution in Ulansuhai Nur basin in recent 10 years are analyzed so as to provide theoretical basis for water pollution control in Ulansuhai Nur basin. The results show that the COD and TN intake in the Ulansuhai Nur basin increase year by year between 2008 and 2019, the pollution load is serious, and it mainly comes from urban domestic sewage and rural agricultural production pollution; the TP intake shows a trend of increasing first and then gradually decreasing, and the inflow amount of pollutants is relatively small and is mainly from livestock breeding; which indicate that the load of nonpoint source pollution in Ulansuhai Nur basin has exceeded the capacity of the lake greatly, causing serious harm to water quality, so proper measures should be taken to control it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sarcopenia is a negative predictor for postoperative recovery. This study was performed to evaluate the short-term outcomes of laparoscopic surgery in colorectal cancer patients with sarcopenia.Methods: We conducted a study of patients who underwent curative surgeries for colorectal cancer in two centers from July 2014 to July 2018. In order to reduce selection bias, we conducted a propensity score matching analysis. Preoperative characteristics including age, gender, anemia, body mass index, hypoalbuminemia, America society of anesthesiology scores, epidural anesthesia, operative procedure, stoma, tumor location, and combined resection were incorporated in the model, and produced 58 matched pairs. The third lumbar skeletal muscle mass, handgrip strength, and 6 m usual gait speed were measured to define sarcopenia. Short-term outcomes were compared between the two groups.Results: In a total of 1136 patients, 272 had sarcopenia diagnosed, and 227 were further analyzed in this study. Among them, 108 patients underwent laparoscopic colorectal surgery and 119 underwent open colorectal surgery. In the matched cohort, the clinical characteristics of the two groups were well matched. The laparoscopic group had significantly reduced overall complications (15.5% vs. 36.2%, P = 0.016) and shorter postoperative hospital stays (10.5 vs. 14, P = 0.027). Subgroup analysis of postoperative complications showed that the incidence of surgical complications (P = 0.032) was lower in the laparoscopic group. Hospitalization costs (P = 0.071) and 30-day readmissions (P = 0.215) were similar between the two groups.Conclusion: Laparoscopic surgery for colorectal cancer is a safe and feasible option with better short-term outcomes in patients with sarcopenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: With the increased prevalence of obesity and sarcopenia, those patients with both visceral obesity and sarcopenia were at higher risk of adverse outcomes.Aim: The aim of this study was to ascertain the combined impact of visceral obesity and sarcopenia on short-term outcomes in patients undergoing colorectal cancer surgery.Methods: We conducted a prospective study from July 2014 to February 2017. Patients' demographic, clinical characteristics, physical performance, and postoperative short-term outcomes were collected. Patients were classified into four groups according to the presence of sarcopenia or visceral obesity. Clinical variables were compared. Univariate and multivariate analyses evaluating the risk factors for postoperative complications were performed.Results: A total of 376 patients were included; 50.8 and 24.5% of the patients were identified as having "visceral obesity" and "sarcopenia," respectively. Patients with sarcopenia and visceral obesity had the highest incidence of total, surgical, and medical complications. Patients with sarcopenia or/and visceral obesity all had longer hospital stays and higher hospitalization costs. Age ≥ 65 years, visceral obesity, and sarcopenia were independent risk factors for total complications. Rectal cancer and visceral obesity were independent risk factors for surgical complications. Age ≥ 65 years and sarcopenia were independent risk factors for medical complications. Laparoscopy-assisted operation was a protective factor for total and medical complications.Conclusion: Patients with both visceral obesity and sarcopenia had a higher complication rate after colorectal cancer surgery. Age ≥ 65 years, visceral obesity, and sarcopenia were independent risk factors for total complications. Laparoscopy-assisted operation was a protective factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the impact of visceral fat on surgical complications and long-term survival for patients undergoing radical gastrectomy.Subjects/methods: From 2009 to 2013, 859 patients who underwent curative resection for gastric cancer were enrolled from a prospectively maintained database. Visceral fat area (VFA) was assessed by preoperative CT scans. Patients were divided into two groups by VFA. Perioperative variables and postoperative outcomes were compared between the high VFA group and low VFA group. Univariable and multivariable analysis were performed to investigate independent risk factors of postoperative complications and survival.Results: Some 859 patients were included in the study, 308 of whom were classified as high VFA. High VFA was correlated with advance age (P = 0.020), higher albumin levels (P = 0.001), hemoglobin levels (P < 0.05), ASA grade (P = 0.043) and Charlson Comorbidity Index (P = 0.004). Relative to patients with low VFA, those with high VFA had longer surgical durations (P = 0.004), higher rate of postoperative complications (P = 0.004), and longer hospital stays (P = 0.004). High VFA was identified as the only determinant for surgical complications by logistic regression analysis (OR, 2.236, 95% CI, 1.537-3.254; P < 0.001). Cox proportional hazards regression revealed no correlation between VFA and overall survival (OS) or disease-free survival (DFS).Conclusions: Increased VFA independently predicts surgical complications in patients after gastrectomy. However, VFA is not a prognostic biomarker of OS or DFS in patients with gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isolated familial hypoparathyroidism is an extremely rare disorder, which to date has been linked to several loci including mutations in CASR, GCM2, and PTH, as well as a rare condition defined as X-linked recessive hypoparathyroidism, previously associated with a 1.5 Mb region on Xq26-q27. Here, we report a patient with hypocalcemia-induced seizures leading to the diagnosis of primary hypoparathyroidism. Mutations in CASR, GCM2, and PTH were ruled out, while whole exome sequencing of the family suggested FHL1, located on chromosome Xq26, as the most likely causative gene variant ( FHL1, exon 4, c.C283T, p.R95W). Since FHL1 has not been linked to calcium regulation before, we provide evidence for its functional role in hypoparathyroidism by: (i) bioinformatics analysis coupling its action to known modulators of PTH function; (ii) observing strong expression of fhl1b in Corpuscles of Stannius, gland-like aggregates in zebrafish that function in calcium regulation similar to mammalian PTH; and (iii) implicating fhl1b and FHL1 as regulators of calcium homeostasis in zebrafish and human cells, respectively. Altogether, our data suggest that FHL1 is a novel regulator of calcium homeostasis and implicate it as the causative gene for X-linked recessive hypoparathyroidism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: One-year mortality is vital for elderly oncologic patients undergoing surgery. Recent studies have demonstrated that sarcopenia can predict outcomes after major abdominal surgeries, but the association of sarcopenia and 1-year mortality has never been investigated in a prospective study. Methods: We conducted a prospective study of elderly patients (≥65 years) who underwent curative gastrectomy for gastric cancer from July 2014 to July 2015. Sarcopenia was determined by the measurements of muscle mass, handgrip strength, and gait speed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify the risk factors associated with 1-year mortality. Results: A total of 173 patients were included, in which 52 (30.1 %) patients were identified as having sarcopenia. Twenty-four (13.9 %) patients died within 1 year of surgery. Multivariate analysis showed that sarcopenia was an independent risk factor for 1-year mortality. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve demonstrated an increased predictive power for 1-year mortality with the inclusion of sarcopenia, from 0.835 to 0.868. Solely low muscle mass was not predictive of 1-year mortality in the multivariate analysis. Conclusions: Sarcopenia is predictive of 1-year mortality in elderly patients undergoing gastric cancer surgery. The measurement of muscle function is important for sarcopenia as a preoperative assessment tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study was performed to determine the association of frailty and nutritional status with postoperative complications after total gastrectomy (TG) with D2 lymphadenectomy in patients with gastric cancer. Methods: Patients undergoing TG with D2 lymphadenectomy for gastric cancer between August 2014 and February 2016 were enrolled. Frailty was evaluated by sarcopenia which was diagnosed by a combination of third lumbar vertebra muscle index (L3 MI), handgrip strength, and 6-m usual gait speed. Nutritional status was evaluated by the nutritional risk screening 2002 (NRS 2002) score. Univariate and multivariate analyses evaluating the risk factors for postoperative complications were performed. Results: A total of 158 patients were analyzed, and 27.2 % developed complications within 30 days of surgery. One patient died within 30 days of the operation. In the univariate analyses, NRS 2002 score ≥3 (OR = 2.468, P = 0.012), sarcopenia (OR = 2.764, P = 0.008), and tumor located at the cardia (OR = 2.072, P = 0.046) were associated with the postoperative complications. Multivariable analysis revealed that sarcopenia (OR = 3.084, P = 0.005) and tumor located at the cardia (OR = 2.347, P = 0.026) were independent predictors of postoperative complications. Conclusions: This study showed a significant relationship between postoperative complications and geriatric frailty using sarcopenia in patients with gastric cancer after TG with D2 lymphadenectomy. Frailty should be integrated into preoperative risk assessment and may have implications in preoperative decisionmaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sarcopenia is characterized by decreased skeletal muscle plus low muscle strength and/or physical performance. This study was performed to determine the association of sarcopenia with short-term postoperative outcomes after gastrectomy for gastric cancer. Methods: We conducted a prospective study of 255 consecutive patients with gastric cancer who underwent curative gastrectomy. The sarcopenia elements, including lumbar skeletal muscle index, handgrip strength, and gait speed, were measured before surgery. Patients were followed up after gastrectomy to gain the actual clinical outcomes. Factors contributing to postoperative complications were analyzed by univariate and multivariate analysis. Results: Sarcopenia was present in 32 of 255 patients (12.5 %), and was significantly correlated with advance age, lower body mass index, higher nutritional risk screening (NRS) 2002 score, and lower preoperative serum albumin and hemoglobin. Compared with non-sarcopenic patients, sarcopenic patients had a higher risk of postoperative complications, longer postoperative hospital stay, and more hospital costs. In univariate analysis, sarcopenia ( p < 0.001), nutritional risk (NRS 2002 score ≥3; p = 0.003), advanced age (≥75 years; p = 0.014), anemia ( p = 0.012), hypoalbuminemia ( p = 0.029), and diabetes ( p = 0.014) were associated with postoperative complications. Multivariable analysis revealed that sarcopenia ( p < 0.001) and diabetes ( p = 0.006) were independent predictors of postoperative complications. Conclusions: Sarcopenia is an independent predictor of postoperative complications in patients with gastric cancer after gastrectomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Laparoscopic surgery and enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) programs were two major improvements for the management of colorectal diseases. The purpose of this systemic review was to examine whether laparoscopic colorectal surgery still improved short-term postoperative outcomes in comparison with open surgery when both groups of patients received ERAS programs. Methods: PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and reference lists of the identified studies were searched to identify randomized clinical trials that compared laparoscopic with open surgery in patients undergoing colorectal resection in the context of ERAS programs. The outcome measures were analyzed, and the quality of evidence for each outcome was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) system. Results: Five randomized clinical trials encompassing 598 patients were included in the final analysis. Two of them were multicenter trials. The ERAS programs implemented in the five included trials cannot be classified as optimal ERAS programs, but suboptimal ERAS programs. Laparoscopic colorectal surgery significantly reduced total hospital stay (weighted mean difference (WMD) −1.92 days; 95 % confidence interval (CI) −2.61-−1.23 days; P < 0.00001) and number of complications (relative risk (RR) 0.78; 95 % CI 0.66-0.94; P = 0.007) compared with open surgery in the setting of ERAS programs. No significant differences were found between groups for primary hospital stay, number of patients with complications, readmission rates, and mortality. The quality of evidence for all outcomes was low-to-moderate on the GRADE scale, and none had high quality. Conclusions: Laparoscopic colorectal resection significantly reduced total hospital stay and number of complications when compared with open surgery in the setting of suboptimal ERAS programs, but the benefits of laparoscopic colorectal resection remain to be proved within optimal ERAS programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mutant promoter of human telomerase reverse transcriptase ( hTERT) shows high transcriptional activity in bladder cancer cells. Some up-regulated microRNAs (miRNAs) are reported as oncogenic factors in bladder cancer. Previous studies report that miRNAs can be inhibited by base-pairing interactions. The purpose of this study is to construct a synthetic device driven by mutant hTERT promoter to suppress four up-regulated miRNAs and to verify its effects on phenotypes of bladder cancer cells and human normal cells. Tandem bulged miRNA binding sites targeting oncogenic miRNAs were inserted into the 3′ untranslated region (3′ UTR) of mutant hTERT promoter-driven Renilla luciferase gene to construct a synthetic tumor-specific device, miRNA sponges. A negative control was generated by using tandem repeated sequences without targeting any known miRNA. Bladder cancer cells (T24, 5637, UM-UC-3) and human fiber cells (HFC) were transfected with devices. Various functional assays were used to detect the effects of this device. The activity of the mutant hTERT promoter detected by luciferase assay was about three times as large as the wild-type hTERT promoter in bladder cancer cells, while it could not be measured in HFC. Other assays indicated that the synthetic device can significantly inhibit cell growth, decrease motility, and induce apoptosis in bladder cancer cells but not in HFC. A synthetic biology platform is employed to construct tumor-specific miRNA sponges that can be used to target oncogenic miRNAs to inhibit the progression of bladder cancer cells without affecting normal cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the influences of coal moisture control (CMC) and coal briquette technology on structure and reactivity of cokes were investigated by adding a certain proportion of briquette into raw coal with different moisture. The coking experiments were carried out in a tested coke-oven of 70 kg, and the properties of as-obtained coke were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and so on. The coke reactivity index (CRI), coke strength after reaction (CSR) and the optical texture of different cokes were also measured. The results indicated that the two technologies both can improve the structure of coke and reduce the reactivity of coke. The improved coke properties can be attributed to forming a more compact microcrystalline structure of coke to enhance its pore wall structure, its optical texture index (OTI) and its graphitization degree. Noticeably, the introduction of CMC technology in coal briquette process can produce the superposition effect to the great improvement of the coke properties. In addition, the results also indicated that the introduction of CMC technology in coal briquette process can reduce the sulfur content of coke due to the overflowed sulfur in the form of gas during the coking, and can almost be equivalent to substitute 10% briquette in coal briquette process in the improvement of the CRI and CSR from coke, implying the reduced amount of briquette to save coal resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Calcination and acid leaching of coal kaolin were studied to determine an effective and economical preparation method of calcined kaolin. Thermogravimetric-differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) demonstrated that 900°C was the suitable temperature for the calcination. Leaching tests showed that hydrochloric acid was more effective for iron dissolution from raw coal kaolin (RCK), whereas oxalic acid was more effective on iron dissolution from calcined coal kaolin (CCK). The iron dissolution from CCK was 28.78wt%, which is far less effective than the 54.86wt% of RCK under their respective optimal conditions. Through analysis by using Mössbauer spectroscopy, it is detected that nearly all of the structural ferrous ions in RCK were removed by hydrochloric acid. However, iron sites in CCK changed slightly by oxalic acid leaching because nearly all ferrous ions were transformed into ferric species after firing at 900°C. It can be concluded that it is difficult to remove the structural ferric ions and ferric oxides evolved from the structural ferrous ions. Thus, iron removal by acids should be conducted prior to calcination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Fast-track surgery aims to attenuate the surgical stress response, reduce complications, and shorten hospital stay. The goal of the present meta-analysis is to assess the safety and effectiveness of fast-track surgery in patients undergoing gastrectomy for gastric cancer compared with conventional perioperative care. Methods: PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and reference lists of the identified studies were searched to identify randomized clinical trials that compared fast-track surgery with conventional perioperative care in patients undergoing gastrectomy for gastric cancer. Results: Five studies with a total of 400 patients were included in the meta-analysis. Meta-analysis shows that postoperative hospital stay (weighted mean difference (WMD) −1.87 days, 95 % confidence interval (CI), −2.46 to −1.28 days, P < 0.00001), time to first passage of flatus (WMD −0.71 days, 95 % CI, −1.03 to −0.39 days, P < 0.0001), and hospital costs (WMD −505.87 dollars, 95 % CI, −649.91 to −361.84 dollars, P < 0.00001) were significantly reduced for fast-track surgery. No significant differences were found for readmission rates (relative risk (RR), 1.97 95 % CI, 0.37 to 10.64, P = 0.43) and total postoperative complications (RR, 0.99 95 % CI, 0.56 to 1.76, P = 0.97). Conclusions: Fast-track surgery is safe and effective in gastrectomy for gastric cancer. Further randomized trials are needed to strengthen the conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a porous inserted regenerative thermal oxidizer (PRTO) system was developed for a 125 kW industrial copper-melting furnace, due to its advantages of low NO x emissions and high radiant efficiency. Zirconium dioxide (ZrO 2) ceramic foams were placed into the combustion zone of a regenerative thermal oxidizer (RTO). Different performance characteristics of the RTO and PRTO systems, including pressure drop, temperature distribution, emissions, and energy efficiency, were evaluated to study the effects of the porous inserts on non-premixed CH 4 combustion. It was found that the PRTO system achieved a significant reduction in the NO x emission level and a fuel saving of approximately 30% compared to the RTO system. It is most suitable for a lean combustion process at an equivalence ratio <0.4 with NO x and CO emission levels within 0.002%–0.003% and 0.001%–0.002%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]