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The aim of this paper is to study the changing law of filter media properties under high-pressure conditions, and for this purpose, an experimental setup was established to measure the properties of filter materials at a maximum pressure of 5 MPa. By observing the experimental phenomena produced under different pressures, combining the experimental data and experimental phenomena for qualitative and quantitative analyses, the filter media performance change pattern under different pressures was obtained. The experiments were carried out at a pressure of 1–5 MPa, and the detailed experiments were conducted on the pressure drop, saturation and the liquid distribution pattern of the first and last layers of the filter material. The experimental results show that the liquid film on the surface of the filter media becomes progressively thinner with increasing pressure, and the jump pressure drop becomes smaller while the saturation increases. The saturation of the first layer of the oleophilic filter media increased by 30% and the saturation of the last layer of the oleophobic filter media increased by 80% when the pressure was increased from 1 to 5 MPa. In addition, the results show that with increasing pressure, the surface tension of the droplets decreases and the surface tension of the DEHS decreases from 28.72 to 25.26 mN/m. The capillary force of filter media B was reduced from 0.20 to 0.13 mN, a 35% reduction in capillary force which changed the distribution of droplets on the fibres and enhanced the wettability of the filter material. This discovery is of great significance for understand ding the variation pattern of filter media performance under high-pressure conditions, and provides a basis for the design and manufacture of filter elements for high-pressure occasions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research of plant seeds has always been a focus of agricultural and forestry research, and seed identification is an indispensable part of it. With the continuous application of artificial intelligence technology in the field of agriculture, seed identification through computer vision can effectively promote the development of agricultural and forestry wisdom. Data is the foundation of computer vision, but there is a lack of suitable datasets in the agricultural field. In this paper, a seed dataset named LZUPSD is established. A device based on mobile phones and macro lenses was established to acquire images. The dataset contains 4496 images of 88 different seeds. This dataset can not only be used as data for training deep learning models in the computer field, but also provide important data support for agricultural and forestry research. As an important resource in this field, this dataset plays a positive role in modernizing agriculture and forestry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought-induced osmotic stress severely affects the growth and yield of maize. However, the mechanisms underlying the different responses of young and old maize leaves to osmotic stress remain unclear. To gain a systematic understanding of age-related stress responses, we compared osmotic-stress-induced changes in maize leaves of different ages using multi-omics approaches. After short-term osmotic stress, old leaves suffered more severe water deficits than young leaves. The adjustments of transcriptomes, proteomes, and hormones in response to osmotic stress were more dynamic in old leaves. Metabolic activities, stress signaling pathways, and hormones (especially abscisic acid) responded to osmotic stress in an age-dependent manner. We identified multiple functional clusters of genes and proteins with potential roles in stress adaptation. Old leaves significantly accumulated stress proteins such as dehydrin, aquaporin, and chaperones to cope with osmotic stress, accompanied by senescence-like cellular events, whereas young leaves exhibited an effective water conservation strategy mainly by hydrolyzing transitory starch and increasing proline production. The stress responses of individual leaves are primarily determined by their intracellular water status, resulting in differential transcriptomes, proteomes, and hormones. This study extends our understanding of the mechanisms underlying plant responses to osmotic stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sepsis is a major global health problem, causing a significant burden of disease and death worldwide. Risk stratification of sepsis patients, identification of severe patients and timely initiation of treatment can effectively improve the prognosis of sepsis patients. We procured gene expression datasets for sepsis (GSE54514, GSE65682, GSE95233) from the Gene Expression Omnibus and performed normalization to mitigate batch effects. Subsequently, we applied weighted gene co-expression network analysis to categorize genes into modules that exhibit correlation with macrophage activity. To pinpoint macrophage-associated genes (MAAGs), we executed differential expression analysis and single sample gene set enrichment analysis. We then established a prognostic model derived from four MAAGs that were significantly differentially expressed. Functional enrichment analysis and immune infiltration assessments were instrumental in deciphering the biological mechanisms involved. Furthermore, we employed principal component analysis and conducted survival outcome analyses to delineate molecular subgroups within sepsis. Four novel MAAGs—CD160, CX3CR1, DENND2D, and FAM43A—were validated and used to create a prognostic model. Subgroup classification revealed distinct molecular profiles and a correlation with 28-day survival outcomes. The MAAGs risk score was developed through univariate Cox, LASSO, and multivariate Cox analyses to predict patient prognosis. Validation of the risk score upheld its prognostic significance. Functional enrichment implicated ribonucleoprotein complex biogenesis, mitochondrial matrix, and transcription coregulator activity in sepsis, with an immune infiltration analysis indicating an association between MAAGs risk score and immune cell populations. The four MAAGs exhibited strong diagnostic capabilities for sepsis. The research successfully developed a MAAG-based prognostic model for sepsis, demonstrating that such genes can significantly stratify risk and reflect immune status. Although in-depth mechanistic studies are needed, these findings propose novel targets for therapy and provide a foundation for future precise clinical sepsis management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Intraventricular blood flow dynamics are associated with cardiac function. Accurate, noninvasive, and easy assessments of hemodynamic quantities (such as velocity, vortex, and pressure) could be an important addition to the clinical diagnosis and treatment of heart diseases. However, the complex time-varying flow brings many challenges to the existing noninvasive image-based hemodynamic assessments. The development of reliable techniques and analysis tools is essential for the application of hemodynamic biomarkers in clinical practice. Methods: In this study, a time-resolved particle tracking method, Shake-the-Box, was applied to reconstruct the flow in a realistic left ventricle (LV) silicone model with biological valves. Based on the obtained velocity, 4D pressure field was calculated using a Poisson equation-based pressure solver. Furthermore, flow analysis by proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) of the 4D velocity field has been performed. Results: As a result of the Shake-the-Box algorithm, we have extracted: (i) particle positions, (ii) particle tracks, and finally, (iii) 4D velocity fields. From the latter, the temporal evolution of the 3D pressure field during the full cardiac cycle was obtained. The obtained maximal pressure difference extracted along the base-to-apex was about 2.7 mmHg, which is in good agreement with those reported in vivo. The POD analysis results showed a clear picture of different scale of vortices in the pulsatile LV flow, together with their time-varying information and corresponding kinetic energy content. To reconstruct 95% of the kinetic energy of the LV flow, only the first six POD modes would be required, leading to significant data reduction. Conclusions: This work demonstrated Shake-the-Box is a promising technique to accurately reconstruct the left ventricle flow field in vitro. The good spatial and temporal resolutions of the velocity measurements enabled a 4D reconstruction of the pressure field in the left ventricle. The application of POD analysis showed its potential in reducing the complexity of the high-resolution left ventricle flow measurements. For future work, image analysis, multi-modality flow assessments, and the development of new flow-derived biomarkers can benefit from fast and data-reducing POD analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Complete mesocolic excision (CME) or D3 lymphadenectomy led to survival benefits for locally advanced right colon cancer, but with vague definitions in anatomy and debated surgical hazard in clinic. Aiming to achieve a precise definition of it in anatomy, we proposed laparoscopic right hemicolectomy (D3 + CME) as a novel procedure for colon cancer. However, the surgical and oncological results of this procedure in clinic were uncertain. Methods: We performed a cohort study involving prospective data collected from a single-center in China. Data from all patients who underwent right hemicolectomy between January 2014 and December 2018 were included. We compared the surgical and oncological outcomes between D3 + CME and conventional CME. Results: After implementation of exclusion criteria, a total of 442 patients were included. D3 + CME group performed better in lymph nodes harvested (25.0 [17.0, 33.8] vs. 18.0 [14.0, 25.0], P < 0.001) and the proportion of intraoperative blood loss ≥ 50 mL (31.7% vs. 51.8%, P < 0.001); no significant difference was observed in the complication rates between two groups. Kaplan–Meier analysis demonstrated that a better cumulative 5-year disease-free survival (91.3% vs. 82.2%, P = 0.026) and a better cumulative 5-year overall survival (95.2% vs. 86.1%, P = 0.012) were obtained in the D3 + CME group. Multivariate COX regression revealed that D3 + CME was an independent protective factor for disease-free survival (P = 0.026). Conclusion: D3 + CME could improve surgical and oncological outcomes simultaneously for right colon cancer compared to conventional CME. Large-scale randomized controlled trials were further required to confirm this conclusion, if possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper, a UWB-MIMO antenna with quintuple notched-band ability is proposed. Four CCSRR slots and a couple of C-like stub are engraved to avoid five frequency bands at 3.4–4 GHz, 5.2–5.7 GHz, 5.9–6.3 GHz, 7.5–7.9 GHz and 8.3–8.9 GHz. Thus the system has refusal ability at WiMAX, lower WLAN, upper WLAN, low side band of X-band and upside band of X-band. Mutual coupling was suppressed and the isolation was more than 20 dB by means of three decoupling methods(cutting a triangular shape on upper patch, etching a ground slot and adding a candied haws shaped stub). The entire UWB-MIMO antenna has a smart size of 30 × 44 mm2 and works in 3–11 GHz band. Design principles, parameter analysis are further studied. The result data of S-parameters, far-field E-plane and H-plane patterns, ECC, DG, gain, and efficiency indicate that the proposed antenna is a satisfactory candidate in practical use of UWB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Wall shear stress (WSS) is associated with the growth and rupture of an intracranial aneurysm. To reveal their underlying connections, many image-based computational fluid dynamics (CFD) studies have been conducted. However, the methodological validations using both in vivo medical imaging and in vitro optical flow measurements were rarely accompanied in such studies. Methods: In the present study, we performed a comparative assessment on the hemodynamics of a patient-specific intracranial saccular aneurysm using in vivo 4D Flow MRI, in silico CFD, in vitro stereoscopic and tomographic particle imaging velocimetry (Stereo-PIV and Tomo-PIV) techniques. PIV experiments and CFD were conducted under steady state corresponding to the peak systole of 4D Flow MRI. Results: The results showed that all modalities provided similar flow features and overall surface distribution of WSS. However, a large variation in the absolute WSS values was found. 4D Flow MRI estimated a 2- to 4-fold lower peak WSS (3.99 Pa) and a 1.6- to 2-fold lower mean WSS (0.94 Pa) than Tomo-PIV, Stereo-PIV, and CFD. Bland-Altman plots of WSS showed that the differences between PIV-/CFD-based WSS and 4D Flow MRI-based WSS increase with higher WSS magnitude. Such proportional trend was absent in the Bland-Altman comparison of velocity where the resolutions of PIV and CFD datasets were matched to 4D Flow MRI. We also found that because of superior resolution in the out-of-plane direction, WSS estimation by Tomo-PIV was higher than Stereo-PIV. Conclusions: Our results indicated that the differences in spatial resolution could be the main contributor to the discrepancies between each modality. The findings of this study suggest that with current techniques, care should be taken when using absolute WSS values to perform a quantitative risk analysis of aneurysm rupture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: There are indicates that raphe nuclei may be involved in the occurrence of chronic pain in Parkinson's disease (PD). In the study, we investigated the functional connectivity pattern of raphe nuclei in Parkinson's disease with chronic pain (PDP) to uncover its possible pathophysiology.Methods: Fifteen PDP, who suffered from pain, lasted longer than 3 months, sixteen Parkinson's disease patients with no pain (nPDP) and eighteen matched normal health controls (NCs) were recruited. All subjects completed the King's Parkinson's Pain Scale (KPPS) besides Parkinson-related scale and demographics. We performed a seed-based resting-state analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging to explore whole-brain functional connectivity of the raphe nuclei. Multiple regression model was used to explore the related factors of pain including disease duration, disease severity, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, age, sex, levodopa equivalent dose and the strength of network functional connectivity.Results: Compared with the nPDP, the PDP group showed stronger functional connectivity between raphe nuclei and pain-related brain regions, including parietal lobe, insular lobe, cingulum cortex and prefrontal cortex, and the functional connectivity values of those areas were significantly positively correlated with KPPS independent of the clinical variables. Compared with NCs, the combined PD groups showed decreased functional connectivity including prefrontal cortex and cingulum cortex.Conclusions: Abnormal functional connectivity model of raphe nuclei may be partly involved in pathophysiological mechanism of pain in PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) have a higher risk of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). However, the relationship between CRSwNP and OSA remains unclear. The aim of this research study was to evaluate the association of multiple single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) variations in CRSwNP with sleep- and breath-related parameters in men with OSA. Methods: We included eight CRSwNP SNPs in 2320 participants after strict screening. For each participant, the genetic risk score (GRS) was calculated based on the cumulative effect of multiple genetic variants of CRSwNP. A bivariate correlation analysis was used to assess the relationship between CRSwNP genetic polymorphisms and polysomnography parameters in men with OSA. Logistic regression analyses were used to assess the relationship between the risk of OSA and CRSwNP genetic polymorphisms. Results: In moderate OSA, rs28383314 was related to the oxygen desaturation index, and rs4807532 was positively associated with the microarousal index (r = 0.09, P = 0.03 and r = 0.11, P = 0.01, respectively). The CRSwNP GRS was positively correlated with the oxygen desaturation index and cumulative time percentage with SpO2 < 90% in moderate OSA (r = 0.13, P < 0.001 and r = 0.1, P = 0.01, respectively). There was no association between the CRSwNP GRS and the risk of OSA (OR = 1.007; 95% CI, 0.973–1.042; P = 0.702). Conclusion: In men with moderate OSA, single CRSwNP genetic variations correlated with sleep-related parameters, and the cumulative effects of CRSwNP genetic variations were associated with the hypoxic index. CRSwNP may be a predisposing condition for sleep disorders in men with moderate OSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Tissue miRNA can discriminate between esophageal adenocarcinoma (EA) and normal epithelium. However, no studies have examined a comprehensive panel of circulating miRNAs in relation to EA diagnosis and survival. Methods: We used all 62 EA cases from the US Multi-Center case–control study with available serum matched 1:1 to controls. Cases were followed for vital status. MiRNAs (n = 2064) were assessed using the HTG EdgeSeq miRNA Whole Transcriptome Assay. Differential expression analysis of miRNAs in relation to case–control status was conducted. In cases, Cox regression models were fit to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for all-cause mortality. P values were adjusted using the Benjamini–Hochberg (BH) procedure for false discovery rate control. Predictive performance was assessed using cross-validation. Results: Sixty-eight distinct miRNAs were significantly upregulated between cases and controls (e.g., miR-1255b-2-3p fold change = 1.74, BH-adjusted P = 0.01). Assessing the predictive performance of these significantly upregulated miRNAs yielded 60% sensitivity, 65% specificity, and 0.62 AUC. miR-4253 and miR-1238-5p were associated with risk of mortality after EA diagnosis (HR = 4.85, 95% CI: 2.30–10.23, BH-adjusted P = 0.04 and HR = 3.81, 95% CI: 2.02–7.19, BH-adjusted P = 0.04, respectively). Conclusions: While they require replication, these findings suggest that circulating miRNAs may be associated with EA diagnosis and survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patients with akinetic-rigid Parkinson's disease (AR-PD) are more prone to cognitive decline and depressive symptoms than tremor-dominant PD (TD-PD) patients. The right fronto-insular cortex (rFIC), as a key node of salience network, plays a critical role in the switching between central executive network and default mode network. In this study, we explored the functional connectivity mode of rFIC with triple-brain networks, namely default mode network, salience network, and central executive network, in two motor subtypes of PD. Methods: We recruited 44 PD patients (including the TD-PD group and AR-PD group) and 18 age-matched healthy controls (HCs). We performed functional connectivity (FC) analysis of resting-state functional MRI. Results: Compared with TD-PD, decreased FC were found in the right insular cortex and bilateral anterior cingulate gyrus in AR-PD. Compared with HCs, decreased FC in the bilateral insula, the anterior cingulate gyrus, the precentral gyrus, and the right medial frontal gyrus were found; therein, the FC value of rFIC-precentral gyrus was positively correlated with the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale-II score in AR-PD (p = 0.0482, r = 0.4162). While TD-PD showed decreased FC in the left insula as well as bilateral anterior cingulate gyrus when compared with HCs, and the FC value of the rFIC-left insula was positively correlated with its Hamilton Depression Rating Scale score (p = 0.02, r = 0.50). Conclusion: The functional connectivity mode of rFIC in AR-PD differed from that in TD-PD. The decreased rFIC FC with the other nodes of salience network might be a potential indicator for AR-PD patients prone to develop cognitive decline and depressive symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liver fibrosis, with the characterization of progressive accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM), is the common pathologic feature in the process of chronic liver disease. Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) which are activated and differentiate into proliferative and contractile myofibroblasts are recognized as the main drivers of fibrosis. Obesity-related adipocytokine dysregulation is known to accelerate liver fibrosis progression, but the direct fibrogenic effect of mature adipocytes on HSCs has been rarely reported. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the fibrogenic effect of adipocyte 3T3-L1 cells on hepatic stellate LX-2 cells. The results showed that incubating LX-2 cells with the supernatant of 3T3-L1 adipocytes triggered the expression of ECM related proteins, such as α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), type I collagen (CO-I), and activated TGF β/Smad2/3 signaling pathway in LX-2 cells. In addition, 3T3-L1 cells inhibited insulin sensitivity, activated endoplasmic reticulum stress and autophagy to promote the development of fibrosis. These results supported the notion that mature adipocytes can directly activate hepatic stellate cells, and the establishment of an in vitro model of adipocytes on HSCs provides an insight into screening of drugs for liver diseases, such as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nano-TiO2/polyacrylate-styrene composite miniemulsions were synthesized from in-situ free-radical copolymerization of nano-TiO2, butyl methacrylate, styrene, and N,N-dimethyl hexadecyl vinylbenzyl ammonium chloride (VDAC). The miniemulsions were characterized via transmission electron microscopy, laser particle analysis, X-ray diffraction, and an apparent viscometer. The effects of the surfmer VDAC on the performances of the emulsions were studied, including conversion rate, morphology, particle size and distribution, Zeta potential and apparent viscosity. It was found VDAC significantly improved the compatibility and dispersity between nano-TiO2 and polyacrylate-styrene emulsions. The conversion rate at the VDAC dosage of 0.38% and the modified nano-TiO2 dosage of 2.5% versus no addition of VDAC was above 89%, the apparent viscosity declined from 969.8 to 55.0 mPa s, the particle sizes of emulsions decreased from 163.6 to 108.1 nm, PDI was below 0.3, and the emulsions were monodisperse with Zeta potential rising from 20.5 to 43.2 mV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seedling quality is important for subtropical tree species endangered by the degradation of natural habitats in southern China. At present, the cultural regime for raising these seedlings involving fertilizer levels and size of container is not clear. In this study, seedlings of three endangered species, red-seed tree (Ormosia hosiei), Zhejiang phoebe (Phoebe chekiangensis), and Zhejiang camphor (Cinnamomum japonicum) were evaluated along with red-bark oak (Cyclobalanopsis gilva) as a reference, a species which is not endangered. Seedlings were raised in 2.8, 3.6, 5.1, and 6.3 L containers and fertilizer applied at 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0 kg m−3. Seedling height and leaf biomass increased in response to higher fertilizer levels while larger containers resulted in greater stem and root biomass. Root biomass of endangered species seedlings did not respond to neither treatments. Zhejiang phoebe seedlings responded to nitrogen and phosphorus uptake but red-seed tree seedlings were unaffected by any nutrient levels. Red-bark oak seedlings had high nitrogen-use efficiency. Based on the results, it is recommended using at least 5.1 L containers to culture Zhejiang phoebe and Zhejiang camphor seedlings with fertilizer at 3.0 kg m−3. Red-bark oak and red-seed tree seedlings should be cultured with 2.0 kg m−3 in smaller containers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3Kaplan-Meier curves for a disease-free survival and b overall survival in all cases; Kaplan-Meier curves for c disease-free survival and d overall survival in AJCC pathological stage II and III cases. a P = 0.026; b P = 0.012; c P = 0.038; d P = 0.012 The original article has been corrected. Additionally, in the KM curves for Stage II-III, there should be 95 people in the D3 + CME group instead of 94 people. In the original version of the figure, one sample was mistakenly grouped in the loaded data for the plotting of the Kaplan-Meire curves. [Extracted from the article]

Because luminescence can be enhanced by energy transfer from Sm3+ to Eu3+ ions, Eu3+, Sm3+-codoped phosphors have attracted much attention recently. In addition, Na+ ions can enhance the emission of Eu3+ in some Eu3+-doped phosphors. In order to obtain a red phosphor that can be efficiently excited by near-ultraviolet light, a series of triple-metal ions-codoped phosphors, (La0.8Y0.2)PO4: Sm3+, Eu3+, Na+, were obtained by high-temperature solid-state method. The products were characterized by XRD, SEM, PLE&PL and TG/DTG. The thermal decomposition process of the precursor was studied by non-isothermal method. Then, the kinetics of the thermal decomposition reaction process and the formation mechanism of the phosphor during calcination were obtained with Z(α) master plots method. The results demonstrate that Na+-doping effect on R (the intensity ratio of 5D0 → 7F2 to 5D0 → 7F1) and PL intensity (591 nm) is exactly opposite, of which the former is a minor negative effect, while the latter is a major positive effect. Furthermore, the results indicate that the thermal decomposition of the precursor is a single-step kinetic process, and the most probable mechanism function is g(α) = [(1−α)^(−1/3)−1]^2, which belongs to the mechanism of three-dimensional diffusion. The optimal sample is (La0.8Y0.2)PO4: 0.012Sm3+, 0.03Eu3+, 0.036Na+, and its PL intensity (591 nm) is as high as 1.84 times of that without Na+, indicating the optimal sample is a promising red-emitting phosphor for WLEDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Silybin is the major biologically active compound of silymarin, the standardized extract of the milk thistle (Silybum marianum). Increasing numbers of studies have shown that silybin can improve nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in animal models and patients; however, the mechanisms underlying silybin's actions remain unclear.Methods: Male C57BL/6 mice were fed a methionine-choline deficient (MCD) diet for 8 weeks to induce the NASH model, and silybin was orally administered to the NASH mice. The effects of silybin on lipid accumulation, hepatic fibrosis, oxidative stress, inflammation-related gene expression and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) activities were evaluated by biochemical analysis, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, quantitative real-time PCR and western blot.Results: Silybin treatment significantly alleviated hepatic steatosis, fibrosis and inflammation in MCD-induced NASH mice. Moreover, silybin inhibited HSC activation and hepatic apoptosis and prevented the formation of MDBs in the NASH liver. Additionally, silybin partly reversed the abnormal expression of lipid metabolism-related genes in NASH. Further study showed that the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) signaling pathway played important roles in the silybin-derived antioxidant effect, as evidenced by the upregulation of Nrf2 target genes in the silybin treatment group. In addition, silybin significantly downregulated the expression of inflammation-related genes and suppressed the activity of NF-κB signaling.Conclusions: Silybin was effective in preventing the MCD-induced increases in hepatic steatosis, fibrosis and inflammation. The effect was related to alteration of lipid metabolism-related gene expression, activation of the Nrf2 pathway and inhibition of the NF-κB signaling pathway in the NASH liver. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change brings uncertain risks of climate-related natural hazards. The US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA in Climate change: long-term trends and their implications for emergency management, 2011. https://www.fema.gov/pdf/about/programs/oppa/climate_change_paper.pdf) has issued a policy directive to integrate climate change adaptation actions into hazard mitigation programs, policies, and plans. However, to date there has been no comprehensive empirical study to examine the extent to which climate change issues are integrated into state hazard mitigation plans (SHMPs). This study develops 18 indicators to examine the extent of climate change considerations in the 50 SHMPs. The results demonstrate that these SHMPs treat climate change issues in an uneven fashion, with large variations present among the 50 states. The overall plan quality for climate change considerations was sustained at an intermediate level with regard to climate change-related awareness, analysis, and actions. The findings confirm that climate change concepts and historic extreme events have been well recognized by the majority of SHMPs. Even though they are not specific to climate change, mitigation and adaptation strategies that can help reduce climate change risks have been adopted in these plans. However, the plans still lack a detailed assessment of climate change and more incentives for collaboration strategies beyond working with emergency management agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Liver re-resection plays a paramount role in treatment of patients with posthepatectomy hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurrence. Laparoscopic liver resection has been a feasible alternative to open surgery. However, whether laparoscopic liver re-resection for posthepatectomy HCC recurrence is better than open liver re-resection remains unknown.Method: From January 2008 to December 2015, 30 patients with recurrent HCC after prior liver resection underwent laparoscopic liver re-resection in our center. To minimize any confounding factors, a propensity score matching study using a patient ratio of 1:1 was conducted to compare the short- and long-term outcomes of patients who underwent laparoscopic or open liver re-resection.Result: With the open surgery group compared laparoscopic group, operative time was 207.50 versus 200.5 min (p = 0.903), blood loss was 400 versus 100 ml (p = 0.000196), blood transfusion rate was 43.3 versus 0.0% (p = 0.000046), complication rates were 30.0 versus 6.7% (p = 0.01), and hospital stay was 13.5 versus 9.5 days (p = 0.000008). The median follow-up was 35 months. The 1-year, 3-year, 5-year disease-free survival rates were 79.0, 51.0, and 31.9%, versus 78.3, 57.4, and 43.0%, respectively (p = 0.474). The 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year overall survival rates were 89.4, 75, and 67.5%, versus 96.7, 85.0, and 74.4%, respectively (p = 0.413).Conclusion: Laparoscopic liver re-resection for patients with posthepatectomy HCC recurrence provided comparable perioperative and oncological outcomes as open liver re-resection and can be a safe alternative to open procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electron backscatter diffraction was used to reveal high- and low-angle grain boundaries (HAGBs, with misorientation ≥15 deg, and LAGBs, <15 deg) in pure titanium (ASTM grade 2) subjected to equal channel angular pressing. Comprehensive paradigms were developed to present relations of yield strength vs HAGB grain diameter, and LAGB contribution vs LAGB linear intercept. Incorporating grain orientations (against loading axis) into the Hall-Petch relation, we quantitatively investigated the strength contributions by HAGBs and LAGBs, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gold (Au) nanoparticles were introduced into thin films of layered cobaltites to decrease the sheet resistance and improve the transparent conducting performance of the films. c-axis-oriented BiSrCoO thin films dispersed with Au particles with diameters of about 5-10 nm were obtained by pulsed laser ablation of a BiSrCoO ceramic target on which a piece of fan-shaped Au foil was attached. The resulting BiSrCoO/Au composite thin films, with the Au concentration of about 1.6 at.%, showed a very low resistivity of about 3.0 mΩ cm at room temperature and a reasonable optical transmittance of about 48 % in the visible range, resulting in a high figure of merit of about 2270 MΩ. This value is comparable to those reported for the state-of-the-art p-type transparent conducting oxides and is about 1.7-fold higher than that of the pure BiSrCoO thin films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Newly synthesized proteins in eukaryotic cells can only function well after they are accurately transported to specific organelles. The establishment of protein databases and the development of programs have accelerated the study of protein subcellular locations, but their comparisons and evaluations of the prediction accuracy of subcellular location programs in plants are lacking. In this study, we built a random test set of maize proteins to evaluate the accuracy of six commonly used programs of subcellular locations: iLoc-Plant, Plant-mPLoc, CELLO, WoLF PSORT, SherLoc2, and Predotar. Our results showed that the accuracy of prediction varied greatly depending on the programs and subcellular locations involved. The programs using homology search methods (iLoc-Plant and Plant-mPLoc) performed better than those using feature search methods (CELLO, WoLF PSORT, SherLoc2, and Predotar). In particular, iLoc-Plant achieved an 84.9 % accuracy for proteins whose subcellular locations have been experimentally determined and a 74.3 % accuracy for all of the proteins in the test set. Regarding locations, the highest prediction accuracies for subcellular locations were obtained for the nucleus, followed by the cytoplasm, mitochondria, plastids, endoplasmic reticulum, and vacuoles, while the lowest were obtained for cell membrane, secreted, and multiple-location proteins. We discussed the accuracy of the six programs in this article. This study will assist plant biologists in choosing appropriate programs to predict the location of proteins and provide clues regarding their function, especially for hypothetical or novel proteins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quality-of-service (QoS) criteria (measured in terms of the minimum capacity requirement in this paper) are very important to practical indoor power line communication (PLC) applications as they greatly affect the user experience. With a two-way multicarrier relay configuration, in this paper we investigate the joint terminals and relay power optimization for the indoor broadband PLC environment, where the relay node works in the amplify-and-forward (AF) mode. As the QoS-constrained power allocation problem is highly non-convex, the globally optimal solution is computationally intractable to obtain. To overcome this challenge, we propose an alternating optimization (AO) method to decompose this problem into three convex/quasi-convex sub-problems. Simulation results demonstrate the fast convergence of the proposed algorithm under practical PLC channel conditions. Compared with the conventional bidirectional direct transmission (BDT) system, the relay-assisted two-way information exchange (R2WX) scheme can meet the same QoS requirement with less total power consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pollen coat, which covers the exine wall of pollen, is essential for initial sexual contact and thus successful fertilization in flowering plants. Pollen coat proteins (PCPs) not only mediate species specificity but are also needed for pollen-stigma recognition and pollen germination on the stigma. Maize ( Zea mays L.) is one of the most common cereal crops in the world. To date, only a few PCPs from maize have been identified and characterized. In the present study, we extracted the pollen coat fraction from maize inbred line B73 with chloroform and purified the PCPs via a phenol-based protocol prior to two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE). By proteomic analysis, 26 protein spots were successfully identified and classified into 12 unique proteins. The protein composition of the maize pollen coat is distinctly different from those of the dicot plants Arabidopsis and rapeseed. Of the proteins identified in this study, eight (including profilins, caleosin, Zea m 2, β-expansin-10, exopolygalacturonase, Rho GDP-dissociation inhibitor 1, Ras-related protein Rab-2-A, and putative subtilase) had not previously been observed in the maize pollen coat. Bioinformatic analysis showed that nine of the PCPs were secreted proteins and that most of them were extracellular. These PCPs are potentially involved in pollen germination and tube growth. The current study extracted and identified the pollen coat proteins of maize, one of the most important crops throughout the world. Proteome profiling of the maize pollen coat revealed many novel protein components potentially involved in pollen-stigma interactions and pollen germination. Our results provide basic knowledge and further the functional characterization of PCPs in wind-pollinated species such as maize. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complexes containing INTS3 and either NABP1 or NABP2 were initially characterized in DNA damage responses, but their biochemical function remained unknown. Using affinity purifications and HIV Integration targeting-sequencing (HIT-Seq), we find that these complexes are part of the Integrator complex, which binds RNA Polymerase II and regulates specific target genes. Integrator cleaves snRNAs as part of their processing to their mature form in a mechanism that is intimately coupled with transcription termination. However, HIT-Seq reveals that Integrator also binds to the 3′ end of replication-dependent histones and promoter proximal regions of genes with polyadenylated transcripts. Depletion of Integrator subunits results in transcription termination failure, disruption of histone mRNA processing, and polyadenylation of snRNAs and histone mRNAs. Furthermore, promoter proximal binding of Integrator negatively regulates expression of genes whose transcripts are normally polyadenylated. Integrator recruitment to all three gene classes is DSIF-dependent, suggesting that Integrator functions as a termination complex at DSIF-dependent RNA Polymerase II pause sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Similar histology and clinical behavior of both intraventricular central neurocytomas (CNs) and extraventricular neurocytomas (EVNs) may argue against the idea that EVNs were the distinct entity to distinguish from CNs in the 2007 World Health Organization classification. To explore respective characteristics and compare similarities and differences in CNs and EVNs, relevant clinical, radiological, operative and pathological data of 49 patients (35 CNs and 14 EVNs) in the Department of Neurosurgery at our hospital from 2005 to 2012 was reviewed and some comparisons between CNs and EVNs were conducted. The factors affecting posttreatment recurrence of CNs and EVNs were assessed by Cox regression analysis. In comparison, CNs showed a more typical clinical manifestation, and radiological and histopathological features, while EVNs demonstrated more malignant biological behavior, with higher MIB-1 index ( p = 0.006), higher rate of atypia ( p = 0.042), higher recurrence rate ( p = 0.028), and shorter time to recurrence ( p = 0.049). Subtotal resection was associated with higher rates of recurrence in both CNs (hazard ratio [HR] 6.16, p = 0.046) and EVNs (HR 5.26, p = 0.045), and atypia was also associated with a higher recurrence rate in CNs (HR 5.03, p = 0.042). CNs were thus easier to diagnose than EVNs, with typical clinical, radiological, and histopathological features, while the latter were more likely to show malignant biological behavior associated with atypia and recurrence. Total surgical resection is the optimal treatment choice for both CNs and EVNs, and patients with either CN or EVN with typical and/or totally resected lesions showed favorable clinical outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automated segmentation of touching or overlapping chromosomes in a metaphase image is a critical step for computer-aided chromosomes analysis. Conventional chromosome imaging methods acquire single-band grayscale images, and such a limitation makes the separation of touching or overlapping chromosomes challenging. In the multiplex fluorescence in situ hybridization (M-FISH) technique, each class of chromosomes can bind with a different combination of fluorophores. The M-FISH technique results in multispectral chromosome images, which has distinct spectral signatures. This paper presents a novel automated chromosome analysis method to combine the pixel-level geometric and multispectral information with decision-level pairing information. Our chromosome segmentation method uses the geometric and spectral information to partition the chromosome cluster into three regions. There will be ambiguity when combining these regions into separated chromosomes by using only spectral and geometric information. Then a graph-theoretical pairing method is introduced to resolve any remaining ambiguity of the aforementioned segmentation process. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed joint segmentation and pairing method outperforms conventional grayscale and multispectral segmentation methods in separating touching and overlapping chromosomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification of proteins involved in pollen germination and tube growth is important for fundamental studies of fertility and reproduction in flowering plants. We used 2-DE and MALDI-TOF-MS to identify differentially expressed proteins in mature (P0) and 1-h germinated (P1) maize pollen. Among about 470 proteins separated in 2D gels, the abundances of 26 protein spots changed (up- or down-regulation) between P0 and P1. The 13 up-regulated protein spots were mainly involved in tube wall modification, actin cytoskeleton organization, energy metabolism, signaling, protein folding and degradation. In particular, pectin methylesterase, inorganic pyrophosphatase, glucose-1-phosphate uridylyltransferase and rab GDP dissociation inhibitor α are highly up-regulated, suggesting their potential role in pollen tube growth. The down-regulated 13 protein spots mainly include defense-related proteins, pollen allergens and some metabolic enzymes. This study would contribute to the understanding of the changes in protein expression associated with pollen tube development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To identify specific proteins related to maize seed viability, seeds of Zhengdan 958 (one of the high-yield maize hybrids in China) were sorted based on viability evaluation with triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) assay and used for comparative proteomic analysis. After TTC staining, embryos of high-viability seeds were deep red (R type), while embryos of dead seeds were white (W type). Proteomic analysis revealed that 28 protein spots identified were differently expressed significantly between R and W embryos, of which 20 were up-regulated and 8 down-regulated in R embryos. Among them were proteins involved in stress response, protein folding, and stabilization, as wells as proteins related to nutrient reservoir and metabolism. Prominently, small heat shock proteins, late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins, and antioxidant enzymes were highly up-regulated, while two proteases were highly down-regulated in R embryos compared to W embryos. One of LEA proteins was EMB564, which declined in abundance during artificial aging of seeds. Our results suggested an association of EMB564 with maize seed viability. It would be of interest to use these small proteins to develop quick tests for seed quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the effect of intra-ischemic hypothermia on astroglial reactions in the hippocampus following cerebral ischemia. Mongolian gerbils were subjected to forebrain ischemia by bilateral carotid occlusion of 10 min at a) 30°C and b) 37°C followed by normothermic reperfusion ranging from 1 to 3 days (d). The astrocytes were visualized by immunostaining against glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), and neuronal injury was evaluated by using hematoxylin-eosin staining. In normothermic brains, reactive astrocytosis was noted in 1 and 2 d postischemic animals, becoming prominent in the 3 d postischemic group. Intense GFAP-positive cells with thickened processes were noted in all regions of the hippocampus, especially the CA1 region. These cells were seen to have migrated toward the stratum pyramidale which was normally devoid of such staining. Hypothermia significantly inhibited the GFAP-upregulation seen 3 d after normothermic ischemia. There was no significant neuronal damage in the 3 d hypothermic ischemic group. Since glial cell activation, as evidenced by GFAP-upregulation, precedes as well as accompanies neuronal damage, and since hypothermia, known to be neuroprotective, inhibits glial cell activation in the 3 d postischemic brain, it appears that glial cells play critical roles in neuronal survival or death following ischemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An error diffusion scheme for digital halftoning is proposed. The scheme is an iterative and isotropic error feedback process. Also, to compensate for the nonlinear tone reproduction by laser printers due to ink drop overlaps, we incorporate Pappas-Neuhoff's simplified printer model into the new error diffusion scheme. It appears that the proposed halftoning technique enhances the perceived tone continuity of halftone hard copies, and it alleviates the objectionable structured halftone textures of some existing methods. In addition, a mechanism is suggested to preview a halftone print on a gray-level CRT monitor. The user can interactively set the desired brightness of the halftone print and balance image contrast and tone continuity, which are two mutually exclusive subjective criteria for halftone reproduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A formal study of visual codings in user interface design is presented. Visual codings for maximum distinction of different objects in displayed images are formulated as a discrete optimization problem of maximum-distance graph-coloring. The formulation is a generalization of the classical coloring problem in graph theory. Having pointed out that maximum-distance graph-coloring is NP-complete, we develop new, fast approximation algorithms for optimal visual codings. The proposed algorthms run in O (M N) time, where M is the number of visual codes used and N is the number of objects to be encoded. Besides being efficient, the algorithms are simple and easy to implement. Our experiments showed that geographic maps automatically colored by the new algorithms were preferred to those colored by the previous graph-theoretical approach and they are competitive, if not better, in terms of the visual distinction of different regions than those drawn by hand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we consider the following problem. Given ( r, r, ..., r) ∈ R, for any I= ( I, I,..., I) ∈ Z, let E=( e), where e=( r−r)−( I−I), find I ∈ Z such that | E| is minimized, where |·| is a matrix norm. This problem arises from optimal curve rasterization in computer graphics, where minimum distortion of curve dynamic context is sought. Until now, there has been no polynomial-time solution to this computer graphics problem. We present a very simple O(n lg n)-time algorithm to solve this problem under various matrix norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have studied the propagation of radially polarized first-order chirped Airy Guassian beams (RPCAiGBs) in uniaxial crystals orthogonal to the optical axis. The intensity distribution, the maximum intensity, the propagation trajectory and velocity of the beams in different view planes are investigated in this paper. We find that for the x component (RPCAiGXBs) and the y component (RPCAiGYBs) of the RPCAiGBs, the intensity first propagates along the x and y directions, respectively. Later, the intensity of these two components flows into the side lobes along the x direction. We also examine the effects on the trajectory, the velocity and the focused performance of the RPCAiGBs caused by the distribution factor ( χ 0 ), the first-order chirp parameter (β ) and the ratio of the extraordinary refractive index ( n e ) to the ordinary refractive index ( n o ) ( n e / n o ). Thus, by choosing appropriate χ 0 , n e / n o and β , we are able to adjust these characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seeds store lipids in the form of lipid bodies (LBs) for germination and early seedling growth. LBs can be easily isolated by the established floating-extraction method from oleaginous seeds containing a large quantity of LBs. Compared to oleaginous seeds, maize and other cereal seeds contain a small quantity of LBs, so it is difficult to isolate a sufficient quantity of LBs from their embryos for 2DE-based proteomic analysis. At present, only a limited number of LBs-associated proteins in maize embryos have been identified. We here reported a modified floating-extraction method using polyvinylidene difluoride disc to collect floating LBs from maize embryo extracts. The LBs-associated proteins were resolved with two-dimensional electrophoresis and identified with mass spectrometry. As a result, several well-known LBs proteins were identified in the purified LBs fraction, such as oleosin, caleosin, and steroleosin. We also identified another two LBs proteins, corticosteroid 11-β-dehydrogenase 1 and 11-β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-like 5. In particular, steroleosin, corticosteroid 11-β-dehydrogenase 1, 11-β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-like, and hydroxyproline-rich glycoprotein were found as the most abundant protein components in maize LBs. The data set of maize LBs subproteome would provide insights into functional research of LBs-associated proteins during seed development and germination. Additionally, the protocol developed here is expected to be applicable for isolating LBs in other seeds or tissues containing a low quantity of LBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DNA phosphorothioate (PT) modification, in which the non-bridging oxygen of the sugar-phosphate backbone is substituted by sulfur, occurs naturally in diverse bacteria and archaea and is regulated by the DndABCDE proteins. DndABCDE and the restriction cognate DndFGHI constitute a new type of defense system that prevents the invasion of foreign DNA in Salmonella enterica serovar Cerro 87. GAAC/GTTC consensus contexts across genomes were found to possess partial PT modifications even in the presence of restriction activity, indicating the regulation of PT. The abundance of PT in cells must be controlled to suit cellular activities. However, the regulatory mechanism of PT modification has not been characterized. The result here indicated that genomic PT modification in S. enterica is controlled by the transcriptional regulator DndB, which binds to two regions in the promoter, each possessing a 5′-TACGN10CGTA-3′ palindromic motif, to regulate the transcription of dndCDE and its own gene. Site-directed mutagenesis showed that the Cys29 residue of DndB plays a key role in its DNA-binding activity or conformation. Proteomic analysis identified changes to a number of cellular proteins upon up-regulation and loss of PT. Considering the genetic conservation of dnd operons, regulation of PT by DndB might be widespread in diverse organisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The manufacturing of autologous chimaeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells largely relies either on fed-batch and manual processes that often lack environmental monitoring and control or on bioreactors that cannot be easily scaled out to meet patient demands. Here we show that human primary T cells can be activated, transduced and expanded to high densities in a 2 ml automated closed-system microfluidic bioreactor to produce viable anti-CD19 CAR T cells (specifically, more than 60 million CAR T cells from donor cells derived from patients with lymphoma and more than 200 million CAR T cells from healthy donors). The in vitro secretion of cytokines, the short-term cytotoxic activity and the long-term persistence and proliferation of the cell products, as well as their in vivo anti-leukaemic activity, were comparable to those of T cells produced in a gas-permeable well. The manufacturing-process intensification enabled by the miniaturized perfusable bioreactor may facilitate the analysis of the growth and metabolic states of CAR T cells during ex vivo culture, the high-throughput optimization of cell-manufacturing processes and the scale out of cell-therapy manufacturing., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)