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Background: Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is a novel definition proposed in 2020 with a relatively complex set of criteria. Thus, simplified criteria that are more applicable are required. This study aimed to develop a simplified set of criteria for identifying MAFLD and predicting MAFLD-related metabolic diseases. Methods: We developed a simplified set of metabolic syndrome-based criteria for MAFLD, and compared the performance of the simplified criteria with that of the original criteria in predicting MAFLD-related metabolic diseases in a 7-year follow-up. Results: In the 7-year cohort, a total of 13,786 participants, including 3372 (24.5%) with fatty liver, were enrolled at baseline. Of the 3372 participants with fatty liver, 3199 (94.7%) met the MAFLD-original criteria, 2733 (81.0%) met the simplified criteria, and 164 (4.9%) were metabolic healthy and met neither of the criteria. During 13,612 person-years of follow-up, 431 (16.0%) fatty liver individuals newly developed T2DM, with an incidence rate of 31.7 per 1000 person-years. Participants who met the simplified criteria had a higher risk of incident T2DM than those who met the original criteria. Similar results were observed for incident hypertension, and incident carotid atherosclerotic plaque. Conclusion: The MAFLD-simplified criteria are an optimized risk stratification tool for predicting metabolic diseases in fatty liver individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water-based enhanced oil recovery methods have been developed to improve the oil production rate from ultra-tight reservoirs. By coupling the effect of surfactant as wettability alteration and water alternating gas injection method, we aimed to determine the most efficient enhanced oil recovery technique. We performed seven injectivity scenarios to measure the oil recovery factor by introducing the alkylbenzene sulfonic acid (LABSA) as a surfactant agent during the active carbonated water alternating gas (ACWAG) injection. To consider the effect of slug size during water alternating gas injection, we used two different slug sizes (0.3, and 0.6). After the water breakthrough, a little oil volume was produced, and the maximum oil recovery factor at 1.5 Pore Volume (PV) was 26%. This issue corresponded to the water channeling after the breakthrough point. For smaller slug sizes (0.3), the maximum oil recovery factor (78%) was reached in smaller pore volumes. One of the exciting results wass the considerable influence of slug ratio during the water alternating gas (WAG) injection, in which it provided more oil recovery factor (83%) when the gas volume is higher than the water volume. Finally, by introducing the coupling effect of active carbonated water (made by LABSA surfactant) and WAG injection, the maximum oil recovery factor was 85%, corresponding to the better efficiency of active carbonated water in interfacial tension reduction. The results of this comprehensive investigation can be extended in ultra-tight sandstone reservoirs and can be applied as a further guideline in numerical simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seed variety purity is the main indicator of seed quality, which affects crop yield and product quality. In the present study, a new method for the identification of pine nut varieties based on hyperspectral imaging and convolutional neural networks LeNet-5 was established so as to avoid the hybridization of different varieties of pine nuts, improve the identification efficiency and reduce the cost of identification. Images of 128 wavelengths in the 370–1042 nm range were acquired by hyperspectral imaging. The spectrum and image of each seed were obtained by means of black-and-white correction and region segmentation of the original image. Twenty characteristic wavelengths were extracted from the first three principal components (PCs) of principal component analysis (PCA). A support vector machine (SVM) spectral recognition model based on full wavelengths and characteristic wavelengths was established. For different species of pine seeds, the classification accuracies of the prediction set in the aforementioned datasets were 97.7 and 93.1%, respectively. The seed images of 20 characteristic wavelengths were input into LeNet-5 to improve the network structure and the number of convolution channels. The improved LeNet-5 performed better with over 99% accuracy. Such results show that the convolutional neural network is of considerable significance for fast and nondestructive identification of pine seed varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modification of EGFR aptamer (Apt 1) and HER2 aptamer (Apt 2) with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) is reported to obtain probe I (Apt 1-AuNPs) and probe II (Apt 2-AuNPs). Taking Eca109, KYSE510, and KYSE150 cells as models, the sandwich scattering system of probe I-cell-probe II was formed by the recognition of tumor markers by the aptamer modified probe, and the resonance Rayleigh scattering (RRS) spectra were investigated. The results showed that the scattering system can be used to quantitatively detect the Eca109 cell lines in the range 5.0×10 to 5.0×105 cells·mL−1 with a detection limit of 15 cells· mL−1.The system can also detect the KYSE510 cell lines in a linear range of 5.0×10 to 5.0×105 cells·mL−1 with a detection limit of 18 cells·mL−1 and the KYSE150 cell lines in a linear range of 3.0×10 to 5.0×105 cells·mL−1 with a detection limit of 12 cells·mL−1. To demonstrate the potential application of the RRS method for real sample analysis, cells were spiked into blank serum samples at concentrations from 1.0×102 to 1.0×105 cells·mL−1. The recovery was between 97.0% and 102.3%, and the RSD was between 1.1% and 4.9%, confirming the feasibility of the proposed method for ESCC cell determination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chinese visceral adiposity index (CVAI) is a novel indicator that precisely evaluates visceral obesity and has been shown to be significantly associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in the general population. However, the relationship between CVAI and NAFLD in lean adults remains unclear. Aims: This study aimed to explore the association of CVAI with NAFLD in a lean population and evaluate the diagnostic capability of CVAI for lean NAFLD. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 9,607 lean adults (body mass index < 24 kg/m2), who underwent their annual health examinations at the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine in 2021. NAFLD was determined by ultrasonography to the exclusion of other known etiologies. Results: The prevalence of NAFLD was 16.4% in this lean population. CVAI values were significantly higher in participants with NAFLD than those without NAFLD and the CVAI quartile was positively associated with the prevalence of NAFLD, which was 0.4%, 6.0%, 19.4%, and 39.8% among the participants with CVAI in quartile 1 to 4, respectively (P for trend < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis found that CVAI was positively associated with the risk of NAFLD (adjusted odds ratio: 1.025, 95% confidence interval: 1.021–1.028; P < 0.001). Furthermore, CVAI had a significantly higher area under curve value for detecting NAFLD than other visceral obesity indices. Conclusion: Our study showed that CVAI was positively associated with the prevalence and risk of NAFLD in lean adults, and CVAI showed the highest diagnostic ability for lean NAFLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is the most common chronic liver disease worldwide. The important role of urid acid (UA) in MAFLD has been widely investigated. Our previous studies unveiled the elevation of serum UA levels independently predicts an increased risk of incident MAFLD. However, the role of intrahepatic UA in MAFLD has not been investigated yet. Glucose transporter 9 (GLUT9) is a key transporter that mediates the uptake of UA in hepatocytes. Methods: In this study, we first explored the clinical association between GLUT9 polymorphism and MAFLD. Blood samples of 247 male Chinese (127 were MAFLD patients) were collected and tested for the blood UA levels and genotype of the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of GLUT9 (rs1014290). Next, Glut9 hepatic-specific knockout mice (Glut9Hep−ko) were generated to investigate the role of hepatic GLUT9 in MAFLD in male mice. Results: We found that the GA/AA genotypes (rs1014290) were associated with elevated serum UA levels in MAFLD patients. Meanwhile, we found that Glut9Hep−ko mice displayed lower intrahepatic UA levels, down-regulated lipogenesis genes expressions, and attenuated MAFLD symptoms after 12 weeks of high-fat diet feeding, compared with Glut9Fl/Fl littermates. However, Glut9Hep−ko mice and wild-type littermates showed no significant difference on hepatic fatty acid oxidation or inflammation. Conclusions: Our results suggested that GLUT9 polymorphism was significantly associated with MAFLD, and hepatic-specific knockout of Glut9 significantly decreased intrahepatic contents and ameliorated diet-induced MAFLD in mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a solid lubricating material, WS2 composite coating plays an important role in the lubrication of spacecraft rotating parts. However, spacecrafts will face high temperature and humid atmospheric environment during launch, and their WS2 composite coating is thus prone to oxidation failure, which limits its engineering application. Here, a new type of WS2 composite coating was successfully prepared through doping rare earth. The prepared coating showed excellent high temperature tribological properties in atmospheric environment. The mechanism that rare earth doping can improve the high temperature tribological properties of WS2 composite coating was revealed by high temperature tribological test, XPS, Raman, and other analysis methods. The results suggest that the synergistic effect of rare earth oxide and WS2 at high temperature leads to excellent tribological properties, which will lay a foundation for the effective application of WS2 composite coating in spacecraft rotating parts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Poly-/per-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are widespread environmental pollutants that may induce metabolic perturbations in humans, including particularly alterations in lipid profiles. Prenatal exposure to PFAS can cause lasting effects on offspring metabolic health, however, the underlying mechanisms are still unknown. Objectives: The goal of the study was to investigate the impact of prenatal PFAS exposure on the lipid profiles in cord blood. Methods: Herein, we combined determination of bile acids (BAs) and molecular lipids by liquid chromatography with ultra-high-resolution mass spectrometry, and separately quantified cord blood concentrations of sixteen PFAS in a cohort of Chinese infants (104 subjects) in a cross-sectional study. We then evaluated associations between PFAS concentration and lipidome using partial correlation network analysis, debiased sparse partial correlation, linear regression analysis and correlation analysis. Results: PFAS levels showed significant associations with the lipid profiles; specifically, PFAS exposure was positively correlated with triacylgycerols (TG) and several bile acids. Importantly, exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) were associated with increased levels of TGs with saturated fatty acids while multiple classes of phospholipids were decreased. In addition, several free fatty acids showed significant positive correlations with PFOS. Conclusions: Our results indicated that prenatal exposure to PFAS mediated metabolic changes, which may explain the associations reported between PFAS exposure and metabolic health later in life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of religion (i.e. Buddhism and Taoism on the whole) on corporate tax compliance in China. Using a sample of 13,743 firm-year observations from the Chinese stock market for the period of 2008–2016, we find that firms headquartered in locations with stronger religious atmosphere are more likely to do better in tax compliance. Moreover, the tax compliance effect is moderated by pecuniary motivation and religious intensity, and varies with heterogeneity in formal institutions. The effect is weakened when the pecuniary motivation is strong, such as firms with more institutional ownership or less state ownership. The effect gets strengthened in firms with more female managers, while weakened in firms located in coastal regions which are more vulnerable to culture shocks. The effect is also more pronounced in regions with weaker formal institutions, such as worse legal environment or laxer tax enforcement. Our findings are robust to a battery of robustness checks, and shed light on the role of religion in disciplining corporate tax behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conversion of cellulose into glucose is one of the important approaches to biomass utilization, but the insolubility of cellulose in water makes it difficult to hydrolyze particularly in the case of heterogeneous catalysis due to the mass transfer obstacle between solid catalyst particles and cellulose particles. Temperature-responsive HCl-releasing catalysts have unique characteristic as they allow to catalyze the hydrolysis reaction of cellulose under homogeneous catalysts while the released HCl can be recovered and reused via simple cooling after reaction. In this paper, three mesoporous N-doped carbon materials (CNs) with temperature-responsive HCl-releasing ability were synthesized by carbonization of aminoguanidine hydrochloride at 400, 500 and 600 °C respectively. The basicity and the temperature-responsive HCl-releasing behavior of the as-prepared CNs are examined by means of acid–base titration and high temperature releasing experiment. The experimental results show that, of the three samples, CN-400 possesses the maximum HCl intake of 1.28 mmol HCl/g and can release about 1.15 mmol HCl/g when being heated to 220 °C. Employing CN-400·nHCl as the catalyst, a total reducing sugars (TRS) yield of 81.1% and 61.1% glucose yield can be obtained after reaction under 220 °C for 60 min. The considerable basic sites are derived from the pyridine nitrogen and indispensable for HCl-releasing to catalyze cellulose hydrolysis. Furthermore, CN-400·nHCl possesses excellent catalytic stability. Temperature-responsive acid-releasing catalysts provide a novel and green solid-liquid phase cellulose conversion reaction system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Lagrangian meshless (particle) methods, such as the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH), moving particle semi-implicit (MPS) method and meshless local Petrov-Galerkin method based on Rankine source solution (MLPG_R), the Laplacian discretisation is often required in order to solve the governing equations and/or estimate physical quantities (such as the viscous stresses). In some meshless applications, the Laplacians are also needed as stabilisation operators to enhance the pressure calculation. The particles in the Lagrangian methods move following the material velocity, yielding a disordered (random) particle distribution even though they may be distributed uniformly in the initial state. Different schemes have been developed for a direct estimation of second derivatives using finite difference, kernel integrations and weighted/moving least square method. Some of the schemes suffer from a poor convergent rate. Some have a better convergent rate but require inversions of high order matrices, yielding high computational costs. This paper presents a quadric semi-analytical finite-difference interpolation (QSFDI) scheme, which can achieve the same degree of the convergent rate as the best schemes available to date but requires the inversion of significant lower-order matrices, i.e. 3 × 3 for 3D cases, compared with 6 × 6 or 10 × 10 in the schemes with the best convergent rate. Systematic patch tests have been carried out for either estimating the Laplacian of given functions or solving Poisson's equations. The convergence, accuracy and robustness of the present schemes are compared with the existing schemes. It will show that the present scheme requires considerably less computational time to achieve the same accuracy as the best schemes available in literatures, particularly for estimating the Laplacian of given functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aim: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common chronic liver disease worldwide, but its pathogenesis remains imprecisely understood and requires further clarification. Recently, the tumor suppressor p53 has received growing attention for its role in metabolic diseases. In this study, we performed in vivo and in vitro experiments to identify the contribution of p53–autophagy regulation to NAFLD. Methods: Livers from wild-type and p53 knockout mice as well as p53-functional HepG2 cells and p53-dysfunctional Huh7 cells were examined for autophagy status and HMGB1 translocation. In vivo and in vitro NAFLD models were established, and steatosis was detected. In the cell models, autophagy status and steatosis were examined by p53 and/or HMGB1 silencing. Results: First, the silencing of p53 could induce autophagy both in vivo and in vitro. In addition, p53 knockout attenuated high-fat diet-induced NAFLD in mice. Similarly, knockdown of p53 could alleviate palmitate-induced lipid accumulation in cell models. Furthermore, high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) was proven to contribute to the effect of silencing p53 on alleviating NAFLD in vitro as an autophagy regulator. Conclusion: The anti-NAFLD effect of functional p53 silencing is associated with the HMGB1-mediated induction of autophagy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuroblastoma (NB) is one of the most common malignant tumors of the sympathetic nervous system in childhood. NB severely threatens patient's health and life. However, more effective diagnosis and treatment methods are badly needed in clinics all over the world. MYCN is well recognized as a genetic biomarker of high risk and poor outcome in NB. miRNAs are small RNAs and miR-98 involved in the pathogenesis of various cancers. The role and mechanism of miR-98 in NB remains to be investigated. Here we found that miR-98 was decreased in human MYCN-high-expression NB tissues, and its down-regulation was associated with poor prognosis of NB. Over-expression of miR-98 inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion of NB cells. The analysis by employing the software of miRanda predicted the possible binding sites of miR-98 in the 3′-UTR of MYCN, and experimental data illustrated that miR-98 directly bound to MYCN 3′-UTR and decreased MYCN expression. Over-expression of MYCN rescued the decreased malignant phenotype caused by over-expression of miR-98 in NB. N6-methyladenosine modification in 3′-UTR of MYCN promoted its interaction with miR-98. The data collectively demonstrated that RNA m6A modification was required for miR-98/MYCN axis-mediated inhibition of neuroblastoma progression, and miR-98 might be novel targets for NB detection and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an integrated calibration method for position sensitive detector (PSD) of moving support mechanism in vacuum plasma environment is proposed. That is, the PSD is used to track the laser spot to restore the coordinate information of the signal. Firstly, a PSD integrated calibration principle is proposed to reduce the position error of the signaler by tracking laser points with PSD. Then on this basis, due to the spatial declination angle in the PSD imaging model, a spatial declination correction model was established to compensate the spatial declination error. Finally, there are errors occurred in the measurement because of the nonlinearity of PSD, and the improved backpropagation (BP) neural network calibration algorithm is adopted to further correct the errors through the Fletcher–Reeves linear search method to obtain the accurate coordinate information of the annunciator. MATLAB is used to verify the convergence of the calibration algorithm error. Simulation results show that 951 epochs need to be trained by using the traditional BP algorithm to make the position error converge to 0.001 mm. But when using the improved BP algorithm, only 44 epochs are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fructose is not only an important food and beverage ingredient, but also a renewable resource for production of bio-chemicals. In this paper, a series of N doped mesoporous carbon materials (MCNs) were prepared and evaluated as heterogeneous catalysts for catalytic isomerization of glucose to fructose. The MCNs were prepared through carbonization of p-phenylenediamine disulfate and the effects of desulfonation with NaOH and hydrogenation treatments were examined. It is found that the molar ratio of H2SO4/pPDA crucially affects the porous structure and the nitrogen content. Desulfonation with NaOH treatment could largely eliminate the sulfonic groups on the carbon edges and thus enhance the basicity of the MCN materials, whereas hydrogenation reduction could modify the N atom species and reinforce the strength of the basic sites, as a result enhancing the catalytic activities in glucose isomerization to fructose. Among all of the prepared MCN samples, MCN-2-DH showed an excellent activity in aqueous solution, which afforded a fructose yield of 31.6% with 84.6% selectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolutionary Eikonal equation is a Hamilton-Jacobi equation with Hamiltonian H(P) = |P|, which is not strictly convex nor smooth. The regularizing effect of Hamiltonian for the Eikonal equation is much weaker than that of strictly convex Hamiltonians, therefore leading to new phenomena. In this paper, we study the set of singularity points of solutions in the upper half space for C1 or C2 initial data, with emphasis on the countability of connected components of the set. The regularity of solutions in the complement of the set of singularity points is also obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sequence optimization in neonates might improve detection sensitivity of abnormalities for a variety of conditions. However this has been historically challenging because tissue properties such as the longitudinal relaxation time and proton density differ significantly between neonates and adults.Objective: To optimize the magnetization-prepared rapid gradient echo (MP-RAGE) sequence to enhance both signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) efficiencies.Materials and methods: We optimized neonatal MP-RAGE sequence through (1) reducing receive bandwidth to decrease noise, (2) shortening acquisition train length (acquisition number per repetition time or total number of read-out radiofrequency rephrasing pulses) using slice partial Fourier acquisition and (3) simulating the solution of Bloch’s equation under optimal receive bandwidth and acquisition train length. Using the optimized sequence parameters, we scanned 12 healthy full-term infants within 2 weeks of birth and four preterm infants at 40 weeks’ corrected age.Results: Compared with a previously published neonatal protocol, we were able to reduce the total scan time by reduce the total scan time by 60% and increase the average SNR efficiency by 160% (P<0.001) and the average CNR efficiency by 26% (P=0.029).Conclusion: Our in vivo neonatal brain imaging experiments confirmed that both SNR and CNR efficiencies significantly increased with our proposed protocol. Our proposed optimization methodology could be readily extended to other populations (e.g., older children, adults), as well as different organ systems, field strengths and MR sequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the causal dynamics of the U.S. sector price changes and oil price changes using the symmetric nonlinear and asymmetric nonlinear causality tests. We find a unidirectional causality from each sector to the oil market using the Granger and MWald linear causality tests. However, the symmetric nonlinear and asymmetric nonlinear causality for negative price changes tests yield unidirectional causality from the oil to the sector price changes which sharply contrast the evidence using the linear models. We find bidirectional causality using the asymmetric nonlinear test for positive price changes, suggesting temporal, dual and nonlinear information flow during bull markets. Our results from the nonlinear and asymmetric causality tests remain robust after accounting for structural breaks. The empirical findings unravel nonlinear interactions between sector price and oil price changes as well as the importance of signs of changes in the interacting variables, implying oil returns may need to be priced when forecasting sector returns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanisms of thrombogenicity in essential thrombocythemia (ET) are complex and not well defined. Our objective was to explore whether phosphatidylserine (PS) exposure on blood cells and endothelial cells (ECs) can account for the increased thrombosis and distinct thrombotic risks among mutational subtypes in ET. Using flow cytometry and confocal microscopy, we found that the levels of PS-exposing erythrocytes, platelets, leukocytes, and serum-cultured ECs were significantly higher in each ET group [JAK2, CALR, and triple-negative (TN) (all P < 0.001)] than those in controls. Among ET patients, those with JAK2 mutations showed higher levels of PS-positive erythrocytes, platelets, neutrophils, and serum-cultured ECs than TN patients or those with CALR mutations, which show similar levels. Coagulation function assays showed that higher levels of PS-positive blood cells and serum-cultured ECs led to markedly shortened coagulation time and dramatically increased levels of FXa, thrombin, and fibrin production. This procoagulant activity could be largely blocked by addition of lactadherin (approx. 70% inhibition). Confocal microscopy showed that the FVa/FXa complex and fibrin fibrils colocalized with PS on ET serum-cultured ECs. Additionally, we found a relationship between D-dimer, prothrombin fragment F1 + 2, and PS exposure. Our study reveals a previously unrecognized link between hypercoagulability and exposed PS on cells, which might also be associated with distinct thrombotic risks among mutational subtypes in ET. Thus, blocking PS-binding sites may represent a new therapeutic target for preventing thrombosis in ET. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although shorter chain homologues and other types of fluorinated chemicals are currently used as alternatives to long-chain perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), their safety information remains unclear and urgently needed. Here, the cytotoxicity of several fluorinated alternatives (i.e., 6:2 fluorotelomer carboxylic acid (6:2 FTCA), 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonic acid (6:2 FTSA), 6:2 chlorinated polyfluorinated ether sulfonate (6:2 Cl-PFESA), and hexafluoropropylene oxide (HFPO) homologues) to human liver HL-7702 cell line were measured and compared with perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). Their binding mode and affinity to human liver fatty acid binding protein (hL-FABP) were also determined. Compared with PFOA and PFOS, 6:2 Cl-PFESA, HFPO trimer acid (HFPO-TA), HFPO tetramer acid (HFPO-TeA), and 6:2 FTSA showed greater toxic effects on cell viabilities. At low exposure doses, these alternatives induced cell proliferation with similar mechanism which was different from that of PFOA and PFOS. Furthermore, binding affinity to hL-FABP decreased in the order of 6:2 FTCA < 6:2 FTSA < HFPO dimer acid (HFPO-DA) < PFOA < PFOS/6:2 Cl-PFESA/HFPO-TA. Due to their distinctive structure, 6:2 Cl-PFESA and HFPO homologues were bound to the hL-FABP inner pocket with unique binding modes and higher binding energy compared with PFOA and PFOS. This research enhances our understanding of the toxicity of PFAS alternatives during usage and provides useful evidence for the development of new alternatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Migraine is a neurological disorder resulting in large socioeconomic burden. This network meta-analysis (NMA) is designed to compare the relative efficacy and tolerability of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSAIDs) and triptans. Methods: We conducted systematic searches in database PubMed and Embase. Treatment effectiveness was compared by synthesizing direct and indirect evidences using NMA. The surface under curve ranking area (SUCRA) was created to rank those interventions. Results: Eletriptan and rizatriptan are superior to sumatriptan, zolmitriptan, almotriptan, ibuprofen and aspirin with respect to pain-relief. When analyzing 2 h-nausea-absence, rizatriptan has a better efficacy than sumatriptan, while other treatments indicate no distinctive difference compared with placebo. Furthermore, sumatriptan demonstrates a higher incidence of all-adverse-event compared with diclofenac-potassium, ibuprofen and almotriptan. Conclusion: This study suggests that eletriptan may be the most suitable therapy for migraine from a comprehensive point of view. In the meantime ibuprofen may also be a good choice for its excellent tolerability. Multi-component medication also attracts attention and may be a promising avenue for the next generation of migraine treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a major organic component in aquatic sediments, black carbon (BC) could act as super surface sorbent for contaminants in soils or sediments due to its relatively structured carbon matrix with high degree of porosity and extensive surface area. In this work, the adsorption characteristics of Pb were studied using BCs as adsorbents, which were extracted from four particle sizes of sediment from Lake Wuliangsuhai (WLSH), under conditions of different pH, BC content, and ionic strength. The results showed BC content near to 1 % of sediments from WLSH, in which BC1, BC2, BC3, and BC4 composited about 1.8, 1.6, 1.1, and 0.8 % in the sediment fractions of >180, 180-63, 63-32, and <32 μm, respectively. The specific surface area and the Pb sorption capacity were increased with decreasing the particle size of BCs. Correspondingly, the adsorption percentage of Pb increased with increasing initial pH and BC content but declined as the increase of ionic strengths. The Pb sorption capacity was reached maximum at pH 5-6. Compared pre- to post-sorption BCs by SEM-EDS and FTIR, although the carboxyl (C=O) and phenol (OH) groups on BC fractions contributed to Pb sorption, the main adsorption mechanism of BCs was the surface sorption at pH <6. Relatively, the contribution of BCs accounted for about 18 % of Pb sorption capacity on sediments. This work is helpful to understand the environmental effects of different size fractions BCs extracted from natural sediments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To verify whether the new Asian modified CKD-EPI equation improved the performance of original one in determining GFR in Chinese patients with CKD. Method: A well-designed paired cohort was set up. Measured GFR (mGFR) was the result of Tc-diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid (Tc-DTPA) dual plasma sample clearance method. The estimated GFR (eGFR) was the result of the CKD-EPI equation (eGFR1) and the new Asian modified CKD-EPI equation (eGFR2). The comparisons were performed to evaluate the superiority of the eGFR2 in bias, accuracy, precision, concordance correlation coefficient and the slope of regression equation and measure agreement. Results: A total of 195 patients were enrolled and analyzed. The new Asian modified CKD-EPI equation improved the performance of the original one in bias and accuracy. However, nearly identical performance was observed in the respect of precision, concordance correlation coefficient, slope of eGFR against mGFR and 95 % limit of agreement. In the subgroup of GFR < 60 mL min/1.73 m, the bias of eGFR1 was less than eGFR2 but they have comparable precision and accuracy. In the subgroup of GFR > 60 mL min/1.73 m, eGFR2 performed better than eGFR1 in terms of bias and accuracy. Conclusion: The new Asian modified CKD-EPI equation can lead to more accurate GFR estimation in Chinese patients with CKD in general practice, especially in the higher GFR group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humic acids (HAs) determine the distribution, toxicity, bioavailability, and ultimate fate of heavy metals in the environment. In this work, ten HA fractions (F1-F10) were used as adsorbent, which were sequentially extracted from natural sediments of Lake Wuliangsuhai, to investigate the binding characteristics of Cu to HA. On the basis of the characterization results, differences were found between the ten extracted HA fractions responding to their elemental compositions and acidic functional groups. The characterization results reveal that the responses of ten extracted HA fractions to their elemental compositions and acidic functional groups were different. The O/C and (O + N)/C ratio of F1-F8 approximately ranged from 0.66 to 0.53 and from 0.72 to 0.61, respectively; the measured results showed that the contents of phenolic groups and carboxyl groups decreased from 4.46 to 2.60 mmol/g and 1.60 to 0.58 mmol/g, respectively. The binding characteristics of Cu to the ten HA fractions were well modeled by the bi-Langmuir model; the binding behavior of Cu to all the ten HA fractions were strongly impacted by pH and ionic strength. The FTIR and SEM-EDX image of HA fractions (pre- and post-adsorption) revealed that carboxyl and phenolic groups were responsible for the Cu sorption on the ten sequentially extracted HA fractions process, which is the same with the analysis of the ligand binding and bi-Langmuir models Accordingly, the adsorption capacity of the former HA fractions on Cu were higher than the latter ones, which may be attributed to the difference of carboxyl and phenolic group contents between the former and latter extracted HA fractions. Additionally, the functional groups with N and S should not be neglected. This work is hopeful to understand the environmental effect of humic substances, environmental geochemical behavior, and bioavailability of heavy metals in lakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Though foreign body (FB) aspiration or ingestion is not uncommon in children, a straight pin as the culprit FB is rarely seen. The nature of such a FB makes it sometimes difficult to diagnose and deal with, especially in children. Case report: Here we present such a case who was initially misdiagnosed with FB ingestion but turned out to be an aspiration case. Moreover, its remote location from the hilum made a more invasive surgical retrieval inevitable. A thoracotomy was finally performed to retrieve the pin. And the postoperative course was uneventful. Conclusion: For pediatric FB cases, especially in such a case, it is very important to diagnose timely and accurately. A multidisciplinary team approach would facilitate prompt and accurate diagnosis and potentially simplify treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humic substance (HS) is the determining factor in controlling the geochemistry behavior and progress of heavy metals. Using fulvic acid (FA) extracted from natural sediment as sorbent, this work studied binding characteristics between FA and Pb considering the influences of temperature, ionic strength and FA concentrations. The results showed the amount of bound-Pb increased with increasing initial Pb concentrations and FA concentrations, but decreased with increasing ionic strengths. Correspondingly, the logarithm conditional distribution coefficients (log K) of bound-Pb sharply declined as the increase of initial Pb, and log K increase accompanied the increase of FA concentrations and decrease with the ionic strengths. The two-site ligand binding model fit all the binding experimental data very well and proved that two classes of binding sites were involved in the interaction of Pb with the extracted FA. The results clearly confirmed the chemical heterogeneity of the binding sites present in the FA extracted from the lake sediment. Fourier transform infrared spectra indicated that two types of functional groups exist in the extracted FA and participated in the interaction of FA and Pb, corresponding to the two-site ligand binding model in description of the characteristics of Pb-FA complex. The apparent stability constant ( K) values calculated for the strong binding sites (S) were higher than for the weak sites (S) by 1-2 orders of magnitude; however, S sites were limited in numbers, as evidenced by lowering the maximum binding capability ( B) values, which were 3-40 times smaller than those for S sites. The bound process of Pb to FA is spontaneous and exothermic from the result of the thermodynamic parameters. This work is important to reveal the mechanism of binding characteristics between Pb and FA. It also gives a theoretical and practical direction to understanding the environmental effect of HS, environmental geochemical behavior and bio-availability of heavy metals in lakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The solid wastes generated during the production of chemicals are important sources of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and heavy metals. However, few studies have been conducted regarding long-term monitoring of the risks and states of PCBs and heavy metal pollution from these sources. Herein, we reported the concentrations and risks posed by these pollutants at a chemical solid waste storage site in Taizhou, China, based on data collected before (in 2006) and after clearing the solid waste (in 2013). We examined the concentrations of 24 PCBs, including ten dioxin-like-PCB (DL-PCB) congeners (PCB77, 105, 114, 118, 123, 126, 156, 167, 169, and 189). Our data showed that the mean ∑PCB concentrations in the soil, water, and plant samples were 6902.90 ng/g, 1637.58 ng/L, and 33.95 ng/g, respectively, in 2013. Furthermore, Cr was the most prevalent contaminant. The hazard quotient (HQ) values showed that Pb posed the highest risk in the soil samples, followed by Hg. The results of the reporter gene assay showed that soil extracts from S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, and S9 exhibited potential estrogenic activities. A comparison of the data showed that the PCB pollution in some sites of this area was still serious. The data provided here are fundamentally useful for policy makers to regulate this type of storage site. [Figure not available: see fulltext.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cirrhosis, or liver fibrosis, which is mainly triggered by cirrhosis fat-storing cells (CFSCs) activation, has traditionally been considered an irreversible disease. However, recent observations indicate that even advanced fibrosis is still reversible by removing the causative agents. Anti-fibrotic effects of bone marrow-derived stromal cells (BMSCs) have been demonstrated by inhibiting CFSCs via cytokines secretion; however, the mechanisms are still unclear. Aims: The purpose of this study was to explore the underlying mechanisms by which BMSCs modulate the function of activated CFSCs. Methods: After the co-culture of CFSCs with BMSCs supernatants with or without the addition of recombinant rat adrenomedullin (AM)/AM-specific siRNA, western blot analysis was mainly used to detect the differences of relative protein expression on CFSCs. Results: BMSC-secreted adrenomedullin (AM) effectively inhibited the proliferation and activation of CFSCs by suppressing the expression of Ang II and its binding receptor, AT1, which resulted in a reduction of p47-phox formation. Conclusions: Our data suggested that BMSCs inhibited CFSC activation in vitro via the AM-Ang II-p47-phox signaling pathway, and since CFSC activation is an essential part of hepatic fibrosis process, this inhibition by BMSCs implies us new insights into the potential treatment of hepatic fibrosis via BMSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic carbon (OC) in lake sediments plays an important role in terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycle. The Inner Mongolia Plateau contains a number of shallow and freshwater lakes, with a total lake area of more than 8,000 km, accounting for an approximate 10 % of the total lake area in China. The Inner Mongolia Plateau lakes act as important OC sink in mid-high latitude regions. In this study, heavy and light fractions of OC and OC species were analyzed in sediments from four typical lakes in the Inner Mongolia Plateau. Meanwhile, to identify OC origins, allochthonous and autochthonous OC were calculated based on a binary model. Furthermore, total organic carbon (TOC) storage, active carbon pool (ACP), and stable carbon pool (SCP) over the past 150 years were estimated in the Inner Mongolia Plateau. The dominating direct findings of the current research are that heavy fraction OC plays a key role as carbon sink in mid-high latitude regions due to its percentage of more than 90 % in TOC. The percentages of allochthonous OC in TOC are high, 86.4, 66.7 and 72.5 %, in Daihai Lake (DH), Dalinuoer Lake (DLNE), and Hulunhu Lake (HLH), respectively, which indicates that allochthonous OC is dominant in DH, DLNE, and HLH. The range of humin is 62.15-84.03 % in these four lakes. The average OC accumulation rate calculated in this work is 1.37 g C m year in these four lakes. Comparatively, OC storages in sediments from lakes in the Inner Mongolia Plateau are relatively more stable than from those lakes located in tropical and sub-tropical regions. An estimate of the TOC burial, SCP and ACP in lake sediments would be 1.64 × 10, 1.52 × 10, and 1.20 × 10 g C, respectively, over the past 150 years in the Inner Mongolia Plateau. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beige adipocytes in white adipose tissue (WAT) are similar to classical brown adipocytes in that they can burn lipids to produce heat. Thus, an increase in beige adipocyte content in WAT browning would raise energy expenditure and reduce adiposity. Here we report that adipose-specific inactivation of Notch1 or its signaling mediator Rbpj in mice results in browning of WAT and elevated expression of uncoupling protein 1 (Ucp1), a key regulator of thermogenesis. Consequently, as compared to wild-type mice, Notch mutants exhibit elevated energy expenditure, better glucose tolerance and improved insulin sensitivity and are more resistant to high fat diet-induced obesity. By contrast, adipose-specific activation of Notch1 leads to the opposite phenotypes. At the molecular level, constitutive activation of Notch signaling inhibits, whereas Notch inhibition induces, Ppargc1a and Prdm16 transcription in white adipocytes. Notably, pharmacological inhibition of Notch signaling in obese mice ameliorates obesity, reduces blood glucose and increases Ucp1 expression in white fat. Therefore, Notch signaling may be therapeutically targeted to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Classic kernel principal component analysis (KPCA) is less computationally efficient when extracting features from large data sets. In this paper, we propose an algorithm, that is, efficient KPCA (EKPCA), that enhances the computational efficiency of KPCA by using a linear combination of a small portion of training samples, referred to as basic patterns, to approximately express the KPCA feature extractor, that is, the eigenvector of the covariance matrix in the feature extraction. We show that the feature correlation (i.e., the correlation between different feature components) can be evaluated by the cosine distance between the kernel vectors, which are the column vectors in the kernel matrix. The proposed algorithm can be easily implemented. It first uses feature correlation evaluation to determine the basic patterns and then uses these to reconstruct the KPCA model, perform feature extraction, and classify the test samples. Since there are usually many fewer basic patterns than training samples, EKPCA feature extraction is much more computationally efficient than that of KPCA. Experimental results on several benchmark data sets show that EKPCA is much faster than KPCA while achieving similar classification performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concentrations and vertical distributions of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and their different forms in sediments obtained from nine locations of Lake Dalinouer in September 2008 were analyzed. The results demonstrated that TP in surface sediments ranged from 0.493 to 0.904 g/kg, and inorganic phosphorus was the main fraction of total phosphorus, ranging from 335 to 738 mg/kg. Simultaneously, the autogenetic calcium phosphorus (ACa-P) was the main fraction of inorganic phosphorus, ranging from 145.4 to 543.2 mg/kg. Vertical distribution of different phosphorus forms in different sediment cores was distinguishing, and most of them tended to increase toward the surface sediment, indicated that the phosphorus concentration was related to the humanity with a certain extent. The relationships between TP and occluded phosphorus and ACa-P were significant. Nitrogen in the sediment was composed mainly of organic nitrogen, accounting for grater than 80 % of TN. NO-N was the dominate fraction of inorganic nitrogen in the surface sediment, ranging between 51 and 346 mg/kg (151.1 ± 104.4 mg/kg), and accounting for between 2.2 and 17.7 % of total sediment nitrogen (6.2 ± 5.6 %). The ratio of organic carbon and TN in sediment was in range of 6.0-25.8 and presented a tendency of lake centre >lake sides, indicating that nitrogen accumulated in the sediments from lake sides came mainly from terrestrial source and nitrogen was mainly autogenetic in lake centre. Ratio of N:P in all sampling sites was below 14, indicated that N was the limiting nutrient for algal growth in this lake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The kernel minimum squared error (KMSE) expresses the feature extractor as a linear combination of all the training samples in the high-dimensional kernel space. To extract a feature from a sample, KMSE should calculate as many kernel functions as the training samples. Thus, the computational efficiency of the KMSE-based feature extraction procedure is inversely proportional to the size of the training sample set. In this paper, we propose an efficient kernel minimum squared error (EKMSE) model for two-class classification. The proposed EKMSE expresses each feature extractor as a linear combination of nodes, which are a small portion of the training samples. To extract a feature from a sample, EKMSE only needs to calculate as many kernel functions as the nodes. As the nodes are commonly much fewer than the training samples, EKMSE is much faster than KMSE in feature extraction. The EKMSE can achieve the same training accuracy as the standard KMSE. Also, EKMSE avoids the overfitting problem. We implement the EKMSE model using two algorithms. Experimental results show the feasibility of the EKMSE model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many pattern recognition and machine learning methods have been used in cancer diagnosis. In this study, we propose a kernel orthogonal transform method for breast cancer diagnosis. We test our method using the widely used Wisconsin breast cancer diagnosis (WBCD) dataset. The performance of the method is evaluated in terms of the classification accuracy, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, as well as receiver-operating characteristic curve (ROC). The experimental results show that our method classifies more accurately than all of the previous methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of our study was to assess the efficacy of regional hyperthermia combined with intrapleural chemotherapy and to evaluate the effect on the immunologic cells and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in patients with malignant pleural effusion. Methods: The 102 patients with malignant pleural effusion were included in this study: 52 patients undergoing regional hyperthermia with intrapleural chemotherapy (HICT), and 50 patients treated with intrapleural chemotherapy (ICT). Chemotherapy was administered into the thoracic cavity weekly through a tube with CDDP (dose = 40 mg/m), and hyperthermia was performed twice a week for 60 minutes following the ICT. We evaluated the response rates and side-effects after 4 weeks. Before and after the treatment, T cell subsets and NK cells were detected by flow cytometry and VEGF was measured with ELISA kits. Results: Compared HICT to ICT, the overall response rates of the whole group, breast cancers and lung cancers were 80.8% vs 54% ( P < 0.01), 86.7% vs 56.3% ( P > 0.05) and 78.4% vs 52.9% ( P < 0.05) respectively. The ratios of CD4, CD4/CD8 and NK cells increased and the concentration of VEGF decreased more significantly after HICT. Conclusion: We concluded that combined regional hyperthermia with intrapleural chemotherapy could control the malignant pleural effusion effectively with mild toxicity. The levels of the T cell subset, NK cells and VEGF in both blood and effusion changed obviously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to explore expression and correlation of Ezrin and survivin in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Expression of Ezrin and survivin were detected and analyzed by Envision method of immunohistochemical staining in 86 NSCLC. The strong expression rate of Ezrin in NSCLC was 60.5% and significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis ( P < 0.05), but no associated with gender, histologic subtype, TNM stages, differentiation and smoking. Meanwhile, the positive expression rate of survivin in NSCLC was 65.1% and significantly correlated with TNM stages and lymph node metastasis ( P < 0.05), but no associated with gender, histologic subtype, differentiation and smoking. And expression of Ezrin and survivin were positively correlated in NSCLC ( r = 0.384). Ezrin and survivin may play synergetic roles in the process of carcinogenesis of NSCLC, and their expression may be significantly associated with NSCLC metastasis. Detection of Ezrin and survivin may be valuable for diagnosing lung cancer metastasis and providing evidence for clinical treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A vaccine derived from the outer membrane proteins of the Gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been shown to have immune modulatory properties. An inactivated mutant strain of P. aeruginosa with mannose sensitive hemagglutinin fimbria (PA-MSHA) has been used for adjuvant therapy for malignant cancer. In this study, the growth of human hepatocellular carcinoma Hep G2 and BEL-7402 cells is inhibited by PA-MSHA, but not by mannose-cleaved PA-MSHA. PA-MSHA-treated cells arrested in the S phase of the cell cycle and underwent apoptosis. We hypothesize that apoptosis induced by treatment of Hep G2 and BEL-7402 cells with PA-MSHA is mediated by the mannose residues of PA-MSHA and is propagated through the extrinsic apoptosis pathway directly through caspase-8. These data provide mechanistic details for the potential application of PA-MSHA-based treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When hyperthermal atomic oxygen collides with a silicon surface, an ultrathin oxidation regime characterized by fractional atomic-oxygen anions having low diffusive and reactive barriers, along with their enhanced diffusion due to both the electric field and image potential, will form on the surface. In accordance with these properties, an attempt was made in the present study to modify the Almeida-Goncalves-Baumvol (AGB) model by setting the diffusivity and reaction rate constant to be diffusion-length dependence. According to the modified model, numerical parametric studies for oxidation thin growth were performed. The dependencies of the diffusion coefficient, the reaction rate constant, the attenuation length, and the adjustable parameter upon the translational kinetic energy, flux, temperature, and tangential flux of atomic oxygen were analyzed briefly via the fitting of the experimental data given by Tagawa et al. The numerical results confirmed the rationality of the modified diffusion-reaction model. The model together with the computer code developed in this study would be a useful tool for thickness evaluation of the protective film against the oxidation of atomic oxygen toward spacecraft surface materials in LEO environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liver cirrhosis is characterized by hepatic dysfunction, with extensive accumulation of fibrous tissue in the liver. Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are the major source of fibrillar matrix proteins and play an important role in the progress of liver cirrhosis. In our study, the growth of HSCs is inhibited by bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs). The inhibition is irreversible and is followed by apoptosis. The effect of BMSCs on the apoptosis of HSCs is possibly via the JNK pathway activated by nerve growth factor (NGF) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) secreted by BMSCs. Meanwhile, the apoptosis effect is enhanced by transforming growth factor-beta blocking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution of Al and F contents and the relationship between Al and F in tea plants and soils of 12 tea gardens in Central and Southwest China were investigated from October 31 to November 14, 2006. The results show that there were differences in pH, CEC, the contents of organic matter (OM), Al and F in the different soils of the tea gardens. The Al content ranged from 1196 to 7976mg/kg for old leaf, 370 to 2681mg/kg for young leaf and 285 to 525mg/kg for stem, whereas the content of F ranged from 221 to 1504mg/kg for old leaf, 49 to 602mg/kg for young leaf and 13.5 to 77.5mg/kg for stem. The concentrations of labile Al varied obviously in the different soils, but the distribution law of labile Al content for the same garden was Alexchangeable≈AlFe-Mn oxide>Alorganic>Alwater-soluble. The contents of different labile F fractions varied slightly in the different soils and the different soil layers, though the exchangeable F content was lowest among the labile F in the soils. The concentrations of Al and F in tea plants increased with increasing amount of water-soluble Al or F, especially the amount of water-soluble fractions in the soil layer of 0–20cm. The correlation between Al content and F content in the tea leaf was more significant than that in the tea stem. Furthermore, the correlation between Al content and F content in whole tea plant was strongly significant ( r=0.8763, p<0.01, n=36). There were evident tendency that Al concentration increased with the increase of F concentration in different soil layers. The correlation of water-soluble Al with water-soluble F in all soils was also strongly significant ( r=0.7029, p<0.01, n=34). The results may provide a proof that Al and F are jointly taken up by tea plants to some extent in natural tea gardens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we derive an $L^1$ error bound for the large time step, i.e. large Courant number, version of the Glimm scheme when used for the approximation of solutions to a genuinely nonlinear, i.e. convex, scalar conservation law for a generic class of piecewise constant data. We show that the error is bounded by $O(\Delta x^{1/2}\vert \log\Delta x\vert )$ for Courant numbers up to 1. The order of the error is the same as that given by Hoff and Smoller [5] in 1985 for the Glimm scheme under the restriction of Courant numbers up to 1/2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with polynomial decay rates of perturbations to stationary discrete shocks for the Lax-Friedrichs scheme approximating non-convex scalar conservation laws. We assume that the discrete initial data tend to constant states as $j\rightarrow \pm \infty$ , respectively, and that the Riemann problem for the corresponding hyperbolic equation admits a stationary shock wave. If the summation of the initial perturbation over $(-\infty, j)$ is small and decays with an algebraic rate as $|j|\rightarrow \infty$ , then the perturbations to discrete shocks are shown to decay with the corresponding rate as $n\rightarrow \infty$ . The proof is given by applying weighted energy estimates. A discrete weight function, which depends on the space-time variables for the decay rate and the state of the discrete shocks in order to treat the non-convexity, plays a crucial role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]