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Copyright of Rare Metals is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Rare Metals is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Studies have shown that hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) constitutes a unique subgroup with distinct clinical features. It still leaves open the question of whether the integration of HBV DNA into the B-cell genome is a causal mechanism in the development of lymphoma. Methods: Using the hybridisation capture-based next generation sequencing and RNA sequencing, we characterised the HBV integration pattern in 45 HBV-associated B-cell NHL tumour tissues. Results: A total of 354 HBV integration sites were identified in 13 (28.9%) samples, indicating the relatively low integration frequency in B-cell NHLs. High plasma HBV DNA loads were not associated with the existence of HBV integration. The insertion sites distributed randomly across all the lymphoma genome without any preferential hotspot neither at the chromosomal level nor at the genetic level. Intriguingly, most HBV integrations were nonclonal in B-cell NHLs, implying that they did not confer a survival advantage. Analysis of the paired diagnosis-relapse samples showed the unstable status of HBV integrations during disease progression. Furthermore, transcriptomic analysis revealed the limited biological impact of HBV integration. Conclusion: Our study provides an unbiased HBV integration map in B-cell NHLs, revealing the insignificant role of HBV DNA integration in B-cell lymphomagenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore the molecular mechanism by which curcumin affects renal interstitial fibrosis (RIF) progression by regulating ADAM metallopeptidase with thrombospondin type 1 motif 18 (ADAMTS18) methylation. Methods: NRK-49F cells RIF model were induced with transforming growth factor β 1 (TGF- β 1). Effects of different concentrations of curcumin (0, 10, 20, and 30 μmol/L) on cell proliferation, cell cycle, cell apoptosis as well as cyclin D1 expression were analyzed by cell counting kit-8, flow cytometry and Western blot, respectively. ADAMTS18 methylation levels were determined by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction. ADAMTS18, fibronectin (FN), type I collagen (Col- I) and alpha-smooth muscle actin (α -SMA) mRNA and protein expressions were analyzed by real-time PCR (RT-PCR) and Western blot, respectively. Meanwhile, cells were treated with 50 mmol/L 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine (5-aza-dC, demethylation agent) for 72 h. Effect of curcumin on extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition was evaluated by immunochemical staining and Western blot. NRK-49F cells were transfected with ADAMTS18 small interfering RNA and grouped into a normal control, ADAMTS18-knock-out (KO), and ADAMTS18-KO+ 30 μmol/L curcumin groups, and whether curcumin can reverse the effect of ADAMTS18 knockdown on RIF was evaluated. Results: Compared with the control group, TGF-β 1 significantly inhibited the proliferation of NRK-49F cells, blocked the G1/G0 phase, promoted cell apoptosis and inhibited cyclin D1 expression (P<0.01). Among the different concentrations of curcumin, 30 μmol/L curcumin significantly reversed these processes (P<0.01). Immunochemical staining and Western blot results showed that curcumin significantly inhibited the deposition of FN, Col- I and α-SMA (P<0.01). Curcumin and 5-zaz-dC had synergistic effects, promoting ADAMTS18 expression, removing ADAMTS18 methylation, and reducing ECM deposition. ADAMTS18 knockdown promoted ECM accumulation, and curcumin reversed this process (P<0.01). Conclusion: TGF-β 1-induced fibrosis in NRK-49F cells. Curcumin promoted ADAMTS18 expression, reduced ECM accumulation, and alleviated RIF progression by inhibiting ADAMTS18 methylation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Islamist group ISIS has been particularly successful at recruiting Westerners as terrorists. A hypothesized explanation is their simultaneous use of two types of propaganda: Heroic narratives, emphasizing individual glory, alongside Social narratives, which emphasize oppression against Islamic communities. In the current study, functional MRI was used to measure brain responses to short ISIS propaganda videos distributed online. Participants were shown 4 Heroic and 4 Social videos categorized as such by another independent group of subjects. Persuasiveness was measured using post-scan predictions of recruitment effectiveness. Inter-subject correlation (ISC) was used to measure commonality of brain activity time courses across individuals. ISCs in ventral striatum predicted rated persuasiveness for Heroic videos, while ISCs in mentalizing and default networks, especially in dmPFC, predicted rated persuasiveness for Social videos. This work builds on past findings that engagement of the reward circuit and of mentalizing brain regions predicts preferences and persuasion. The observed dissociation as a function of stimulus type is novel, as is the finding that intersubject synchrony in ventral striatum predicts rated persuasiveness. These exploratory results identify possible neural mechanisms by which political extremists successfully recruit prospective members and specifically support the hypothesized distinction between Heroic and Social narratives for ISIS propaganda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We aimed to study the impact of operative time on textbook outcome (TO), especially postoperative complications and length of postoperative stay in minimally invasive esophagectomy. Methods: Patients undergoing esophagectomy for curative intent within a prospectively maintained database from 2016 to 2022 were retrieved. Relationships between operative time and outcomes were quantified using multivariable mixed-effects models with medical teams random effects. A restricted cubic spline (RCS) plotting was used to characterize correlation between operative time and the odds for achieving TO. Results: Data of 2210 patients were examined. Median operative time was 270 mins (interquartile range, 233–313) for all cases. Overall, 902 patients (40.8%) achieved TO. Among non-TO patients, 226 patients (10.2%) had a major complication (grade ≥ III), 433 patients (19.6%) stayed postoperatively longer than 14 days. Multivariable analysis revealed operative time was associated with higher odds of major complications (odds ratio 1.005, P < 0.001) and prolonged postoperative stay (≥ 14 days) (odds ratio 1.003, P = 0.006). The relationship between operative time and TO exhibited an inverse-U shape, with 298 mins identified as the tipping point for the highest odds of achieving TO. Conclusions: Longer operative time displayed an adverse influence on postoperative morbidity and increased lengths of postoperative stay. In the present study, the TO displayed an inverse U-shaped correlation with operative time, with a significant peak at 298 mins. Potential factors contributing to prolonged operative time may potentiate targets for quality metrics and risk-adjustment process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2022, two novel classification systems for myelodysplastic syndromes/neoplasms (MDS) have been proposed: the International Consensus Classification (ICC) and the 2022 World Health Organization (WHO-2022) classification. These two contemporary systems exhibit numerous shared features but also diverge significantly in terminology and the definition of new entities. Thus, we retrospectively validated the ICC and WHO-2022 classification and found that both systems promoted efficient segregation of this heterogeneous disease. After examining the distinction between the two systems, we showed that a peripheral blood blast percentage ≥ 5% indicates adverse survival. Identifying MDS/acute myeloid leukemia with MDS-related gene mutations or cytogenetic abnormalities helps differentiate survival outcomes. In MDS, not otherwise specified patients, those diagnosed with hypoplastic MDS and single lineage dysplasia displayed a trend of superior survival compared to other low-risk MDS patients. Furthermore, the impact of bone marrow fibrosis on survival was less pronounced within the ICC framework. Allogeneic transplantation appears to improve outcomes for patients diagnosed with MDS with excess blasts in the ICC. Therefore, we proposed an integrated system that may lead to the accurate diagnosis and advancement of future research for MDS. Prospective studies are warranted to validate this refined classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reactive uptake of dinitrogen pentaoxide (N2O5) into aqueous aerosols is a major loss channel for NOx in the troposphere; however, a quantitative understanding of the uptake mechanism is lacking. Herein, a computational chemistry strategy is developed employing high-level quantum chemical methods; the method offers detailed molecular insight into the hydrolysis and ammonolysis mechanisms of N2O5 in microdroplets. Specifically, our calculations estimate the bulk and interfacial hydrolysis rates to be (2.3 ± 1.6) × 10−3 and (6.3 ± 4.2) × 10−7 ns−1, respectively, and ammonolysis competes with hydrolysis at NH3 concentrations above 1.9 × 10−4 mol L−1. The slow interfacial hydrolysis rate suggests that interfacial processes have negligible effect on the hydrolysis of N2O5 in liquid water. In contrast, N2O5 ammonolysis in liquid water is dominated by interfacial processes due to the high interfacial ammonolysis rate. Our findings and strategy are applicable to high-chemical complexity microdroplets.The authors report a computational strategy to simulate the hydrolysis and ammonolysis of N2O5 in aerosols using high-level quantum chemical methods. The computational results reveal a complete picture of the reactive uptake of N2O5 by atmospheric aerosols with or without NH3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diagnosis of adult-onset immunodeficiency syndrome associated with neutralizing anti-interferon γ autoantibodies (AIGA) presents substantial challenges to clinicians and pathologists due to its nonspecific clinical presentation, absence of routine laboratory tests, and resemblance to certain lymphoma types, notably nodal T follicular helper cell lymphoma, angioimmunoblastic type (nTFHL-AI). Some patients undergo lymphadenectomy for histopathological examination to rule out lymphoma, even in the absence of a preceding clinical suspicion of AIGA. This study aimed to identify reliable methods to prevent misdiagnosis of AIGA in this scenario through a retrospective case–control analysis of clinical and pathological data, along with immune gene transcriptomes using the NanoString nCounter platform, to compare AIGA and nTFHL-AI. The investigation revealed a downregulation of the C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 9 (CXCL9) gene in AIGA, prompting an exploration of its diagnostic utility. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) targeting CXCL9 was performed on lymph node specimens to assess its potential as a diagnostic biomarker. The findings exhibited a significantly lower density of CXCL9-positive cells in AIGA compared to nTFHL-AI, displaying a high diagnostic accuracy of 92.3% sensitivity and 100% specificity. Furthermore, CXCL9 IHC demonstrated its ability to differentiate AIGA from various lymphomas sharing similar characteristics. In conclusion, CXCL9 IHC emerges as a robust biomarker for differentiating AIGA from nTFHL-AI and other similar conditions. This reliable diagnostic approach holds the potential to avert misdiagnosis of AIGA as lymphoma, providing timely and accurate diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the soil liquefaction risk of the Taipei Basin using a reliable pre-liquefaction borehole database. To this, the study collected over ten thousand boreholes from several sources, and a rigorous screening process was adopted to delete less reliable boreholes in order to guarantee the reliability of the database. Only about 5 thousand boreholes survived. The established database was then used to determine the factor of safety against soil liquefaction by several simplified methods subject to the design earthquake of the Taipei Basin. To consider the surface manifestation of liquefaction, the liquefaction potential index (PL) was calculated. Since the ground surface of the Taipei Basin commonly has a several meters of non-liquefiable clay, a the further consideration of the thickness of the surface non-liquefiable crust proposed by the Japanese researchers was used to adjust the PL of each borehole according to the assumption of this study. Finally, the results by different simplified methods and the surface manifestation of liquefaction evaluation frameworks are compared and a brief summary is given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mn3+-ions doped Ba(MnxBi1−x)O3 (x = 0.0, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08 and 0.1) ceramic block samples are prepared by traditional solid-state method. The phase structures of these ceramic systems are analyzed, in which the XRD analysis results show the ceramic systems can be formed the solid solutions as the relatively lower Mn-adding content of x ≤ 0.4, and the ceramic blocks appear the additional diffraction peak belonging to the MnO2 second phase with the increase of x value (≥ 0.6). Combined with the acceptor atom-doping conduction model theory and XPS analysis results, the main conductive forms of these Ba(MnxBi1−x)O3 thermistors include in the following three kinds: the movable holes formed by the acceptor Mn-doping, the 2Bi4+ → Bi3+ + Bi5+ disproportionation reaction, and the [Mn3+/Mn4+] small polaron jump. For the electrical properties test results, the NTC thermal properties for the x = 0.02 and x = 0.06 samples are relatively superior: ρ25 − 690 Ω cm, B25/85 − 3150 K and ρ25 ~ 940 Ω cm, B25/85 − 3080 K, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore the effect of curcumin on the proliferation of renal cell carcinoma and analyze its regulation mechanism. Methods: In RCC cell lines of A498 and 786-O, the effects of curcumin (2.5, 5, 10 µ mo/L) on the proliferation were analyzed by Annexin V+PI staining. Besides, A498 was inoculated into nude mice to establish tumorigenic models, and the model mice were treated with different concentrations of curcumin (100, 200, and 400 mg/kg), once daily for 30 days. Then the tumor diameter was measured, the tumor cells were observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining, and the protein expressions of miR-148 and ADAMTS18 were detected by immunohistochemistry. In vitro, after transfection of miR-148 mimics, miR-148 inhibitor or si-ADAMTS18 in cell lines, the expression of ADAMTS18 was examined by Western blotting and the cell survival rate was analyzed using MTT. Subsequently, Western blot analysis was again used to examine the autophagy phenomenon by measuring the relative expression level of LC3-II/LC3-I; autophagy-associated genes, including those of Beclin-1 and ATG5, were also examined when miR-148 was silenced in both cell lines with curcumin treatment. Results: Curcumin could inhibit the proliferation of RCC in cell lines and nude mice. The expression of miR-148 and ADAMTS18 was upregulated after curcumin treatment both in vitro and in vivo (P<0.05). The cell survival rate was dramatically declined upon miR-148 or ADAMTS18 upregulated. However, si-ADAMTS18 treatment or miR-148 inhibitor reversed these results, that is, both of them promoted the cell survival rate. Conclusion: Curcumin can inhibit the proliferation of renal cell carcinoma by regulating the miR-148/ ADAMTS18 axis through the suppression of autophagy in vitro and in vivo. There may exist a positive feedback loop between miR-148 and ADAMTS18 gene in RCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simplified methods for assessing soil liquefaction potential based on the standard penetration test (SPT) are prevalent in practice and widely accepted by several seismic design codes. When encountering sites that have not been investigated using SPT, such as offshore sites or sites with a high level of gravel content, engineers can only substitute the methods based on piezocone penetration test data (CPT-qc methods) or shear wave velocity measurements (VS-based methods); however, these two approaches perform inconsistently with methods based on SPT data (SPT-N methods). As a result, this paper exploits the datasets consisting of SPT, CPTU, and in situ seismic test measurements from 13 alluvium sites in the Taipei Basin to compare the performance of prevalent SPT-N, CPT-qc, and VS-based methods. The discrepancies (uncertainties) of these methods are characterized as Gaussian distribution models, which is believed to be a feasible strategy for predicting equivalent results for SPT-N methods when SPT data are not available. Finally, the application of the proposed models to liquefaction potential index evaluation is demonstrated using a real case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Numerous studies have suggested that age at first birth (AFB) is inversely associated with metabolic diseases, but positively associated with liver cancer in women. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a canonical example of metabolic dysfunction and inflammation-based liver disease, while the association between AFB and the risk of NAFLD remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the association between AFB and the odds of NAFLD in women. Methods: Women older than 20 years at the time of the survey were analyzed using National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data from 1999 to 2018 in the US. AFB was obtained with self-administered questionnaires. NAFLD was diagnosed as fatty liver index (FLI) ≥ 60. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using logistic regression models. Results: Of the 12,188 women included in this study, 5670 (46.5%) had NAFLD. Compared to individuals with AFB of 30–32 years old (reference group), the fully adjusted ORs and 95% CI in women with AFB < 18, 18–20, 21–23, and 24–26 years were 1.52 (95% CI 1.14, 2.03), 1.60 (95% CI 1.21, 2.11), 1.40 (95% CI 1.06, 1.84), and 1.33 (95% CI 1.01–1.76), respectively. Yet there was no significant difference between AFB of 27–29, 33–35, or > 35 years compared to the reference group. Conclusions: Women with younger AFB have higher odds of NAFLD in later life. Policymakers should consider focusing on those with earlier AFB for screening and prevention of NAFLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effusion-based lymphomas arising from pleural cavities are mostly B cell lymphomas. Non-B cell origins are very rare. These non-B cell lymphomas are usually disseminated and aggressive, and their underlying genetic changes are indeterminate. Here, we reported the first case of primary effusion anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) with exclusive involvement of a single body cavity, indolent initial presentation, and IRF4/DUSP22 rearrangement. This 73-year-old man had been in his usual health until he presented with exertional dyspnea for 1 month. Physical examination and whole-body imaging indicated isolated left pleural effusion without lymphadenopathies or tumors. Thoracentesis revealed anaplastic large lymphoid cells that were CD30 + , CD3 − , CD8 + , TIA1 + , CD138 − , Epstein–Barr virus–encoded small RNA − , human herpesvirus 8 − , and ALK −. Fluorescence in situ hybridization exhibited IRF4/DUSP22 rearrangement. A primary effusion ALK-negative ALCL was diagnosed. There was no evident progression without chemotherapeutics until 4 months after the diagnosis. Our findings expanded the spectrum of effusion-based lymphoma. Recognition of this disease could prevent misdiagnosis and guide treatment strategies for patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rare Metals is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A series of new systems of the SrCe1-xTixO3 and SrCe1−xZrxO3 (SCTx and SCZx, x = 0.0–0.1) ceramics have been prepared by the traditional solid-phase methods. The XRD patterns results show that an ABO3-type perovskite structure of the SrCeO3 ceramic can be obtained as x = 0.0. With the increase in Ti4+- and Zr4+-ions-doping content of x = 0.02–0.1, the SCTx and SCZx ceramics basically belong to the perovskite phase with the orthorhombic structure of the space group Pmcn (62), and the results of EDS analysis on the proportion of each element can also verify the correctness of the XRD analytical results. In addition, all the microstructures are dense for the SCTx and SCZx (x = 0.0–0.1) samples. The fitting results of complex plane impedance verified that the temperature stability of SCTx solid solution ceramics is more suitable for adjusting to the practical application range. Especially, the SCTx (x = 0.03) ceramics sintered at 1270 °C for 4 h can obtain the relatively excellent dielectric properties of εr = 50.16, Q × f = 8,940 GHz (at 5.91 GHz), and τf = + 0.08 ppm/°C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite increasing reliance on licensed practical nurses (LPNs) to provide health services in schools, we do not know whether this is a cost-effective prevention strategy against student absenteeism. Therefore, we evaluated the costs and effectiveness of an LPN-based school nursing program for improving attendance and chronic absenteeism at a large, urban school district in the southeastern USA. We first identified a matched set of 46 elementary schools (23 nurse, 23 no-nurse) by using an optimal multilevel matching algorithm based on student- and school-level characteristics. We then conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis on the matched set, using the ingredients method to estimate societal costs and multilevel regression to estimate effects. The results indicated that despite substantial incremental costs of $68,228 per school, the presence of a full-time LPN was associated with at best negligible improvements, and at worst slight disimprovements, in attendance and chronic absenteeism. We recommend a careful review of the theory of change for LPN-based school nursing programs to clarify the specific inputs and activities that are expected to lead to improved student outcomes. Education agencies should develop explicit assignment, training, monitoring, and auditing plans to ensure LPNs are equitably distributed and that their activities are aligned with the theory of change. Education agencies should also explore whether expanded Medicaid billing can reduce their share of the nursing cost burden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Prognosis of metastatic BRAF V600E mutant colorectal cancer (CRC) is poor, and the prognostic implications of immune contextures in the tumour microenvironment (TME) for CRC remain elusive. Methods: We collected the primary tumour specimens and clinicopathological characteristics of patients with de novo metastatic microsatellite-stable BRAF V600E mutant CRC from two medical centres. Gene expression analysis was performed using the nCounterⓇ PanCancer Immune Profiling Panel. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used for analysing survival outcomes in association with immune gene expression and immune cells. Our complement score was defined on the basis of the average gene expression in the selected co-expression module. Results: High expression of classical and regulatory complement genes was significantly associated with poor prognosis (N = 54). A high complement score (defined as a score above the median value) indicated significantly shorter survival. The overall survival (OS) impact of the high score remained significant in multivariate analyses. Additionally, our complement score was strongly correlated with C4d expression in immunohistochemical staining and tumour-associated macrophage (TAM) M2 signatures. Conclusions: Complement activation in the TME was significantly associated with poor OS and was correlated with TAM M2 in patients with de novo metastatic BRAF V600E mutant CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rare Metals is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Rare Metals is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper examines the performance of shear wave velocity-standard penetration test (VS-SPT) models and shear wave velocity-piezocone penetration test (VS-CPTU) models developed in the literature and evaluates their transformation variabilities based on VS-SPT-CPTU datasets collected from thirteen alluvium sites in the Taipei Basin, Taiwan. These data show that VS is strongly correlated with the depth of soil (D) whereas it is weakly correlated with SPT-N or CPT-qc, which indicates that most of the transformation models in the literature are unsuitable to these sites since they are usually formulated without soil depth. Thus, VS-SPT and VS-CPTU empirical formulas and their transformation uncertainties for these sites in the Taipei Basin are re-calibrated in this paper, and they perform more unbiased with lower variability as shown in this paper, which indicates they provide a suitable approach to those sites for VS prediction. Finally, the application of these re-characterized models on VS30 prediction is demonstrated with a practical example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain is a major clinical problem with limited treatment options. Here, we show that metformin relieves bortezomib (BTZ)-evoked induction and maintenance of neuropathic pain by preventing the reduction in the expression of Beclin-1, an autophagy marker, in the spinal dorsal horn. Application of rapamycin or 3-methyladenine, autophagy inducer and inhibitor, respectively, affected the mechanical allodynia differently. Co-application of 3-methyladenine and metformin partially inhibited the effect of metformin in recovering Beclin-1 expression and in reducing the pain behavior in rats subjected to BTZ treatment. BTZ treatment also reduced the expression of AMPKa2 in the dorsal horn, which was recovered by metformin treatment. Overexpression of AMPKa2 attenuated the BTZ-evoked reduction in Beclin-1 expression and mechanical allodynia, whereas intrathecal injection of AMPKa2 siRNA decreased the Beclin-1 expression and induced mechanical allodynia in naive rats. Moreover, BTZ treatment increased the GATA3 expression in the dorsal horn, and GATA3 siRNA attenuated the AMPKa2 downregulation and mechanical allodynia induced by BTZ. Chromatin immunoprecipitation further showed that BTZ induced an increased recruitment of GATA3 to multiple sites in the AMPKa2 promoter region. Furthermore, decreased acetylation and increased methylation of histone H3 in the AMPKa2 promoter in the spinal dorsal horn was detected after BTZ treatment. Our findings suggest that metformin may regulate AMPKa2-mediated autophagy in the dorsal horn and alleviate the behavioral hypersensitivity induced by BTZ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the types of haemocytes involved in the immune response in insects, and the mechanism involved in determining that response, can provide a scientific reference for developing effective microbial insecticides. Therefore, the current study examined haemocytes from Agrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel) larvae infected with Escherichia coli in terms of their morphology, total counts, and relative proportions at different time points post-infection by optical microscopy technology. The results revealed six types of haemocytes (prohemocytes, plasmatocytes, granulocytes, spherule cells, oenocytoids, and cystocytes) in the haemolymph of sixth-instar larvae. Haemocyte deformation, disruption, nuclear changes, and vacuoles were recorded after infection with different dosages of E. coli. At each time period post-infection, the total haemocyte count was significantly higher than in the controls, peaking at 24 h post-infection and then decreasing by 48 h post-infection. The proportion of prohemocytes decreased significantly until 24 h post-infection, and then began to increase. By contrast, the proportions of plasmatocytes, granulocytes, spherule cells, oenocytoids, and cystocytes relatively increased, and peaked by 24 h post-infection, and then decreased. This revealed that strong immune response was stimulated in larva of A. ipsilon in a short time after infection with E.coli, and the results shed addition light on the cellular immune response of insects to pathogens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the real-world applications of machine learning and cybernetics, the data with imbalanced distribution of classes or skewed class proportions is very pervasive. When dealing with imbalanced data, traditional classification approaches might fail to learn a good classifier. In the phase of learning, these algorithms are greatly impacted by the skewed distribution of data. Consequently, the performance of classification drops drastically. In this study, we propose a novel two-in-one algorithm for classifying the imbalanced data by integrating metric learning and ensemble learning algorithms. Firstly, we design a new metric learning algorithm for imbalanced data, which is called Large Margin Nearest Neighbors Balance (called LMNNB). This method can minimize the distance between one sample and its similar neighbors which belong to the same class, and maximize the distance from its dissimilar neighbors which belong to different classes as well. Essentially, this beneficial effect can also be achieved even if the distribution of data is imbalanced. Through metric learning, the imbalance data can be used to learn a better classifier. Secondly, we propose an ensemble learning algorithm to further improve the performance of classification. This method combines multiple sub-classifiers and makes decisions by applying a soft voting strategy. Extensive experiments are conducted on real benchmark imbalanced datasets to demonstrate the effectiveness of LMNNB with ensemble algorithm (called LMNNB-E) in several evaluation measurements. The results show that LMNNB and LMNNB-E outperform the state-of-the-art methods in classifying imbalance data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Studies have reported a positive association between hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and follicular lymphoma (FL). Nevertheless, clinical information concerning chronic HBV infection in FL is sparse. Methods: This retrospective cohort study investigated the prognostic impact of HBsAg in immunocompetent patients with FL treated with frontline rituximab-containing chemoimmunotherapy in an HBV-endemic area between 2006 and 2016. Results: Among the 149 analyzed patients, 32 (21.5%) were HBsAg-positive. HBsAg positivity was positively associated with symptomatic splenomegaly, significant serous effusions, and peritreatment hepatic dysfunction. HBsAg-positive patients had a trend of lower complete remission rate (59.4% vs. 76.9%, P = 0.07), significantly poorer overall survival (hazard ratio for death, 2.68; 95% confidence interval, 1.21–5.92), and shorter progression-free survival than had HBsAg-negative patients. Multivariate analysis revealed that HBsAg is an independent adverse prognostic factor for overall survival. Intriguingly, HBsAg-positive patients had a higher incidence of progression of disease within 24 months (POD24) than had HBsAg-negative patients (cumulative incidence rate, 25.8% vs. 12.4%, P = 0.045). Conclusion: This study revealed that patients with FL and chronic HBV infection represent a distinct subgroup with a markedly poor prognosis. HBsAg was positively associated with POD24 and might serve as a new prognostic predictor of the survival of FL patients in endemic regions for HBV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We review the experimental progress on the study of the quarkoniumlike states, also known as XYZ states. We give a general review and then focus on the new experimental results on the , the , and , and the charged charmoniumlike and states. The observations suggest that we did observe hadronic molecules and we also observed hadronic states with some other quark configurations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rare Metals is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Rare Metals is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Vincristine is a common chemotherapeutic agent in cancer treatment, while it often causes chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy(CIPN), which brings patients a great disease burden and associated economic pressure. The mechanism under CIPN remains mostly unknown. The previous study has shown that cell-type-specific spinal synaptic plasticity in the dorsal horn plays a pivotal role in neuropathic pain. Downregulation of GABA transmission, which mainly acts as an inhibitory pathway, has been reported in the growing number of research. Our present study found that GAD67, responsible for > 90% of basal GABA synthesis, is down-regulated, while its relative mRNA remains unchanged in vincristine-induced neuropathy. Considering microRNAs (miRNAs) as a post-transcription modifier by degrading targeted mRNA or repressing mRNA translation, we performed genome-wide miRNA screening and revealed that miR-30d might contribute to GAD67 down-regulation. Further investigation confirmed that miR-30d could affect the fluorescence activity of GAD67 by binding to the 3 'UTR of the GAD67 gene, and intrathecal injection of miR-30d antagomir increased the expression of GAD67, partially rescued vincristine-induced thermal hyperalgesia and mechanical allodynia. In summary, our study revealed the molecule interactions of GAD67 and miR-30d in CIPN, which has not previously been discussed in the literature. The results give more profound insight into understanding the CIPN mechanism and hopefully helps pain control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: DeepDXA is a deep learning model designed to infer bone mineral density data from plain pelvis X-ray, and it can achieve good predicted value for clinical use. Purpose: Osteoporosis is defined as a systemic disease of the bone characterized by a decrease in bone strength and deterioration of bone structure at the microscopic level, leading to bone fragility and increased risk of fracture. Bone mineral density (BMD) is the preferred method for the diagnosis of osteoporosis, and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is the gold standard for diagnosing osteoporosis. Conventional radiography is more suited for the screening of osteoporosis rather than diagnosis, and osteoporosis can be detected on radiographs by experienced physicians only. This study explored the possibility of predicting BMD relative to DXA using patient radiographs. Methods: A deep learning algorithm of convolutional neural network (CNN) was used for the purpose. The method includes image segmentation, CNN learning, and a convolution-based regression model (DeepDXA) that links the isolated images of the femur bone to predict BMD value. Data were obtained in a single medical center from 2006 to 2018, with a total amount of 3472 pairs of pelvis X-ray and DXA examination within 1 year. Results: The proposed workflow successfully predicted BMD values of the femur bone with the correlation coefficient (R) of 0.85 (P < 0.001) and the accuracy of 0.88 for prediction osteoporosis, a finding that could be reliably ready for further clinical use. Conclusion: When suspicious osteoporosis is seen on plain films using the deep learning method we developed, further referral to DXA for the definite diagnosis of osteoporosis is indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The enhanced piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties of the tetragonal 0.67BiFeO3–0.33BaTiO3 (BF–33BT) ceramics without MnO2 doping or other dopants via tailoring sintering temperature (TS) and dwell time (td) are reported. All ceramics crystallized in a single tetragonal phase, independent of the adopted TS and td. As the TS or td is increased, the BF–33BT ceramics show an increase in grain size and in relative density, while TS > 980 °C or td > 6 h would result in more oxygen vacancies caused by Bi3+ evaporation and/or reduction of Fe3+ to Fe2+, along with a reduced relative density and an increased current leakage density. Because of the increased grain size, the higher relative density, and relatively less oxygen vacancies, high d33 = 151 pC/N and Pr = 25.9 μC/cm2 were achieved in tetragonal BF–33BT ceramics with TS = 980 °C and td = 6 h. In addition, large unipolar strain of 0.146% and d 33 ∗ =326 pm/V (40 kV/cm), as well as high TC = 427 °C were also obtained in the BF–33BT ceramics with TS = 980 °C and td = 6 h. Our studies indicate that the grain size, the relative density, and the oxygen vacancies play important roles for the piezoelectric properties of BF–33BT ceramics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "Narratives" collection aggregates a variety of functional MRI datasets collected while human subjects listened to naturalistic spoken stories. The current release includes 345 subjects, 891 functional scans, and 27 diverse stories of varying duration totaling ~4.6 hours of unique stimuli (~43,000 words). This data collection is well-suited for naturalistic neuroimaging analysis, and is intended to serve as a benchmark for models of language and narrative comprehension. We provide standardized MRI data accompanied by rich metadata, preprocessed versions of the data ready for immediate use, and the spoken story stimuli with time-stamped phoneme- and word-level transcripts. All code and data are publicly available with full provenance in keeping with current best practices in transparent and reproducible neuroimaging. Measurement(s) functional brain measurement Technology Type(s) functional magnetic resonance imaging Factor Type(s) story • native language Sample Characteristic - Organism Homo sapiens Machine-accessible metadata file describing the reported data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.14818587 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Application of chemotherapeutic oxaliplatin represses gene transcription through induction of DNA methylation, which may contribute to oxaliplatin-induced chronic pain. Here, Ddr1, which showed an increased methylation in the promoter, was screened from the SRA methylation database (PRJNA587622) after oxaliplatin treatment. qPCR and MeDIP assays verified that oxaliplatin treatment increased the methylation in Ddr1 promoter region and decreased the expression of DDR1 in the neurons of spinal dorsal horn. In addition, overexpression of DDR1 by intraspinal injection of AAV-hSyn-Ddr1 significantly alleviated the mechanical allodynia induced by oxaliplatin. Furthermore, we found that oxaliplatin treatment increased the expression of DNMT3b and ZEB1 in dorsal horn neurons, and promoted the interaction between DNMT3b and ZEB1. Intrathecal injection of ZEB1 siRNA inhibited the enhanced recruitment of DNMT3b and the hypermethylation in Ddr1 promoter induced by oxaliplatin. Finally, ZEB1 siRNA rescued the DDR1 downregulation and mechanical allodynia induced by oxaliplatin. In conclusion, these results suggested that the ZEB1 recruited DNMT3b to the Ddr1 promoter, which induced the DDR1 downregulation and contributed to the oxaliplatin-induced chronic pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP) represents a carcinogenesis pathway of colorectal cancer (CRC) and the association between CIMP CRC, molecular features and risk factors in East Asian population is less studied.Methods: We prospectively enrolled newly diagnosed CRC patients at the National Taiwan University Hospital. Clinicopathological data and risk factors for CRC were collected during interview. The tumour samples were subjected to CIMP, RAS/BRAF mutation and microsatellite instability tests. CIMP-high was determined when ≧3 methylated loci of p16, MINT1, MINT2, MINT31 and MLH1 were identified. Multivariate logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between risk factors and CIMP-high CRC.Results: Compared with CIMP-low/negative CRC, CIMP-high CRC was associated with more stage IV disease, BRAF V600E mutation and high body mass index (BMI ≧ 27.5 kg/m2) in younger patients (age < 50 y), and more right-sided tumour, BRAF V600E mutation, MSI-high and colorectal polyp in elder patients (age ≧ 50 y). Multivariate analyses showed that BMI ≧27.5 kg/m2 was significantly associated with CIMP-high CRC in younger patients.Conclusions: We identified distinct clinicopathological features for CIMP-high CRC among different age groups in Taiwan. Our data suggest the association between BMI ≧27.5 kg/m2 and CIMP-high CRC in patients younger than 50 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the popular database systems perform well on query optimization, they still face poor query execution plans when the join operations across multiple tables are complex. Bad execution planning usually results in bad cardinality estimations. The cardinality estimation models in traditional databases cannot provide high-quality estimation, because they are not capable of capturing the correlation between multiple tables in an effective fashion. Recently, the state-of-the-art learning-based cardinality estimation is estimated to work better than the traditional empirical methods. Basically, they used deep neural networks to compute the relationships and correlations of tables. In this paper, we propose a vertical scanning convolutional neural network (abbreviated as VSCNN) to capture the relationships between words in the word vector in order to generate a feature map. The proposed learning-based cardinality estimator converts Structured Query Language (SQL) queries from a sentence to a word vector and we encode table names in the one-hot encoding method and the samples into bitmaps, separately, and then merge them to obtain enough semantic information from data samples. In particular, the feature map obtained by VSCNN contains semantic information including tables, joins, and predicates about SQL queries. Importantly, in order to improve the accuracy of cardinality estimation, we propose the negative sampling method for training the word vector by gradient descent from the base table and compress it into a bitmap. Extensive experiments are conducted and the results show that the estimation quality of q-error of the proposed vertical scanning convolutional neural network based model is reduced by at least 14.6% when compared with the estimators in traditional databases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paclitaxel is a common chemotherapeutic agent in cancer treatment, while it often causes chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), which manifested as hyperalgesia and allodynia, and its mechanism remains largely unknown. The previous study has shown that matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) plays a pivotal role in spinal nerve ligation (SNL) induced neuropathic pain, but its function in CIPN and exact molecular mechanisms underlying upregulation is not explored. Our present study revealed that MMP-2 is also upregulated in paclitaxel induced neuropathic pain (NP), and knockdown it by siRNA can ameliorate mechanical allodynia. Since DNA methylation is closely related to gene transcription, we explored the methylation status of the MMP-2 gene and demonstrated that MMP-2 upregulation is related to the reduced methylation level of its promoter. DNA methylation is mediated by DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs), and previous studies suggested that three main types of DNMTs can undergo SUMOylation. Our next study revealed that SUMO1 modification of DNMT3b is significantly enhanced. Intrathecal administration of SUMOylation inhibitor, ginkgolic acid (GA), could reverse enhanced SUMO1 modification of DNMT3b and upregulation of MMP-2 in the model rats. Further investigation suggested that DNMT3b binding activity to the promoter region of the MMP-2 gene is significantly decreased in paclitaxel treated rats, and the administration of GA can reverse these effects, which is also accompanied by changes in the promoter methylation status of the MMP-2 gene. Our study demonstrates that MMP-2 up-regulation mediated by DNMT3b SUMOylation is essential for paclitaxel induced NP development, which brings us new therapeutic options for CIPN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the cellular wireless communication techniques grow rapidly, the cells become smaller than the traditional communication system, then the handover events are very frequent and need to support a large number of users, and handover detection has become a very active research direction in a mobile computing environment. In order to copy with the problem of frequent handover operations between base stations in current cellular communication networks as cybernetic systems, we propose a novel handover detection approach by integrating frequent trajectory patterns mining and location prediction techniques. The proposed model contains the following essential steps: (1) mining frequent trajectory patterns from large-scale historical trajectory databases by applying an improved Apriori-like rule-based machine learning algorithm, which finds the intersection of candidate items by applying the trajectory connection operation instead of calculating the support count of each trajectory patterns and the candidate items are considerably reduced; (2) discovering movement rules based on the frequent trajectory pattern set by finding the postfix items of given prefix items satisfying the minimum support threshold; (3) inferring the future locations of moving objects by applying the movement rules matching strategy; (4) determining whether or not to perform handover detection across base stations in a cellular network beyond the discovered prediction results, according to the coverage area of cellular networks. Extensive experiments were conducted on the mobile datasets and the experimental results demonstrate the advantages of the proposed algorithm from the following four aspects: (1) the accuracy of handover detection is above 95% at average which is a very satisfactory result in a mobile computing environment; (2) the time cost is less than 20 s when the number of movement rules and handover detection is 1000, which further shows the merit of the runtime performance of the proposed method; (3) the frequent-trajectory-patterns based handover detection algorithm can successfully avoid the ping-pong effect due to unnecessary handover operations; (4) and lastly significantly reduce the error rate of frequent handover decisions and the average unnecessary handover rate is lower than 0.05 when compared with the state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The BaFe0.9Sn0.1O3–BaCo0.02IICo0.04IIIBi0.94O3 composite thick films were prepared by screen printing. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirms that the composite films are still composed of BaCo0.02IICo0.04IIIBi0.94O3 and BaFe0.9Sn0.1O3 phases. For the prepared BaFe0.9Sn0.1O3–BaCo0.02IICo0.04IIIBi0.94O3 composite thick films, a linear relationship between the logarithmic resistivity and the reciprocal of the absolute temperature is observed, indicating an excellent NTC thermistor characteristic. The values of resistivity at 25 °C, thermistor constant and activation energy, decreasing with BaCo0.02IICo0.04IIIBi0.94O3 content increasing, are in the range of 8.9–92,990 Ω·cm, 1,126–3,777 K and 0.097–0.325 eV, respectively. Impedance analysis shows that at higher BaCo0.02IICo0.04IIIBi0.94O3 content, the electrical properties of the composite films are mainly attributed to the contribution of grains and grain boundaries. With the gradual decrease of BaCo0.02IICo0.04IIIBi0.94O3 content, the grain boundaries affect strongly the electrical properties of the composite films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intralymphatic spread is a rare finding and is associated with poor prognosis in diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Here, we report a case of relapsed DLBCL with mucosal intralymphatic spread. A 69-year-old man had been diagnosed with gastric DLBCL stage IIE at 57 years. He had a relapse with generalized lymphadenopathy and extranodal involvement at 61 years; then, second complete remission was achieved after salvage chemotherapy. He then had a second relapse with involvement of the terminal ileum, spinal cord, and left tonsil. The terminal ileum showed intralymphatic spread in the lamina propria of the intestinal villi, which was confirmed by D2–40 immunostaining. Eleven months later, another biopsy showed prominent intralymphatic spread in the mucosa of the terminal ileum. After salvage therapies, the spinal cord and tonsillar tumors resolved, but the intestinal tumors were refractory. The patient eventually died of progressive disease. In contrast to previously reported cases, the involved lymphatic vessels were observed in the mucosa, and the lymphoma cells expressed CD5 in the first colonoscopic biopsy. This rare case broadens the spectrum of intralymphatic spread in DLBCL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, CoCO3 has attracted enormous attention as anodes for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), benefiting from its high theoretical capacity and simple synthesis. However, the modest electronic conductivity and structural instability over cycling hinder its wider applications. To well address the intrinsic issues, we explored a precipitant-free hydrothermal methodology for mass production of spindle-like CoCO3/reduced graphene oxide (S-CoCO3/rGO) toward advanced LIBs as a hybrid anode. The dimethylformamide plays a significant role of "two birds (i.e., solvent and precipitant) with one stone" in the formation of the S-CoCO3/rGO, greatly improving its practical applicability. The purposeful introduction of rGO nanosheets as a two-dimensional flexible conductive network enhances the conductivity and stability of the S-CoCO3. It is the structural and compositional merits for LIBs that endow the S-CoCO3/rGO with remarkable lithium-storage performance in terms of enhanced interfacial storage capacity, high-rate reversible capacities (803 mAh·g−1 at 2.0 A·g−1) and long-duration capacity retention of 82.1% over 2000 consecutive cycles at 2.0 A·g−1. More significantly, the simple yet efficient avenue here promises enormous commercial prospect of the S-CoCO3/rGO in next-generation LIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seed deterioration due to ageing strongly affects both germplasm preservation and agricultural production. Decelerating seed deterioration and boosting seed viability become increasingly urgent. The loss of seed viability is inevitable even under cold storage. For species with short-lived seed or for regions with poor preservation infrastructure where cold storage is not readily available, seed enhancement is more reliable to increase seed viability and longevity. Antioxidant priming as a way of seed enhancement usually improves seed germination. As for post-priming survival, however, significant uncertainty exists. The controversy lies particularly on seeds of high germination percentage (GP > 95%) whose viability is hardly improvable and the benefits of priming depend on prolonging seed longevity. Therefore, this study timed antioxidant priming to prolong the longevity of high-viability seeds under artificially accelerated ageing (AAA). Rice (Nipponbare) seeds (GP > 97%) under room-temperature-storage (RTS) for 6 months. were resistant to AAA first with little viability loss for a certain period, the resistant stage. This resistance gradually vanished without GP change, during a prolonged RTS period which was named the vulnerable stage. According to the results, although antioxidant priming severely curtailed the resistant stage for seeds with a long plateau in the survival curve, it decelerated viability loss for seeds in the vulnerable stage. In complement to seed storage, priming potentially retains high seed GP which would decrease without seed enhancement. To maximize the benefits of priming for high-GP seeds, two time points are advised as the start of a time window for priming: (1) just at the end of the resistant stage without notable viability loss, which is hard to grasp by GP monitoring; (2) slight but identifiable GP decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Causal discovery is crucial to obtain a deep understanding of the actual mechanism behind the online social network, e.g., identifying the influential individuals and understanding the interaction among user behavior sequences. However, detecting causal directions and pruning causal redundancy of online social networks are still the great challenge of existing research. This paper proposed a constraint-based approach, minimal causal network (MCN), to mine hidden non-redundant causal relationships behind user behavior sequences. Under the MCN, the transfer entropy with the adaptive causal time lag is used to detect causal directions and find causal time lags, while a permutation-based significance test is proposed to prune redundant edges. Experiments on simulated data verify the effectiveness of our proposed method. We also apply our approach to real-world data from Sina Weibo and reveal some interesting discoveries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sterol O-acyltransferase 1 (SOAT1) is an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) resident, multi-transmembrane enzyme that belongs to the membrane-bound O-acyltransferase (MBOAT) family. It catalyzes the esterification of cholesterol to generate cholesteryl esters for cholesterol storage. SOAT1 is a target to treat several human diseases. However, its structure and mechanism remain elusive since its discovery. Here, we report the structure of human SOAT1 (hSOAT1) determined by cryo-EM. hSOAT1 is a tetramer consisted of a dimer of dimer. The structure of hSOAT1 dimer at 3.5 Å resolution reveals that a small molecule inhibitor CI-976 binds inside the catalytic chamber and blocks the accessibility of the active site residues H460, N421 and W420. Our results pave the way for future mechanistic study and rational drug design targeting hSOAT1 and other mammalian MBOAT family members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is widely accepted that global warming, which results from the increase of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, has a negative impact on human beings. Forests are the largest terrestrial ecosystem and play an important role in carbon sequestration. Many studies have documented that a mixed-species forest can sequester more carbon than single species forests, depending on the site conditions. Therefore, uneven-aged mixed-species forest management has been receiving more and more attention. In 2008, an experiment with five silvicultural models for Pinus massoniana (Chinese red pine) plantation, i.e., four transformation treatments (A1-A4) and one control treatment (A5) was conducted in the Experimental Center of Tropical Forestry of Chinese Academy of Forestry in Pingxiang City, in southwestern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, southern China. The four transformation treatments (A1-A4) enriched Castanopsis hystrix, Manglietia glance, Erythrophleum fordii and Quercus griffithii with differed richness and composition after thinning (removed 70% of trees), while no silvicultural treatment was used in the control treatment A5. In this study, we compared the carbon sequestration capacity of these five silvicultural models based on periodic annual increment and growth rate. Our results indicated that all the transformation treatments performed significantly better in carbon sequestration than the control treatment. A significant difference was also observed amongst the transformation treatments. Moreover, the transformation treatment A1 with enrichment species Castanopsis hystrix (350 trees·ha−1) and Manglietia glance (350 trees·ha−1) was determined to be the optimal model for maximum carbon sequestration because of its high tree-level growth rate and high economic value of enriched plantings, which could be popularized in other places. Our results further confirmed that management using mixed-species forests is a better approach to combat climate change than using monoculture forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]