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The global diagnosis rate and mortality of gastric cancer (GC) are among the highest. Ferroptosis and iron-metabolism have a profound impact on tumor development and are closely linked to cancer treatment and patient's prognosis. In this study, we identified six PRDEGs (prognostic ferroptosis- and iron metabolism-related differentially expressed genes) using LASSO-penalized Cox regression analysis. The TCGA cohort was used to establish a prognostic risk model, which allowed us to categorize GC patients into the high- and the low-risk groups based on the median value of the risk scores. Our study demonstrated that patients in the low-risk group had a higher probability of survival compared to those in the high-risk group. Furthermore, the low-risk group exhibited a higher tumor mutation burden (TMB) and a longer 5-year survival period when compared to the high-risk group. In summary, the prognostic risk model, based on the six genes associated with ferroptosis and iron-metabolism, performs well in predicting the prognosis of GC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Desiccation cracking is a common deterioration that occurs in archaeological excavation sites and greatly threatens long-term preservation. The aim of this research is to comprehensively evaluate the development degree of desiccation cracking (DOC) and explore the relationships between soil properties and its development. Seven indicators are selected to comprehensively describe the DOC, and principal component analysis (PCA) is applied to calculate the weight of each indicator. Linear correlation analysis (LCA) is adopted to calculate the correlations of six soil properties and DOC. The results showed that each indicator has an influence on the DOC. The clay particle content, clay mineral content, and plasticity index showed a positive correlation with the DOC, and the moisture content showed a negative correlation. This research proposed a comprehensive evaluation method to describe the development degree of deterioration at the earthen site, and the results revealed the internal factors influencing desiccation cracking from a qualitative perspective, which can lay a foundation for further conservation research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recently emerged double-cable conjugated polymers have come into focus due to their significantly improved power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) in single-component organic solar cells (SCOSCs). In this work, the effect of chlorination in double-cable conjugated polymers with linear benzodithiophene backbone and pendant perylene bisimide on the photovoltaic performance in SCOSCs has been studied. After introducing chlorine atoms into conjugated side chains, the highest occupied molecular orbital level of the conjugated polymers is down-shifted, thus resulting in a higher open-circuit voltage. As a result, the chlorinated double-cable conjugated polymer exhibits improved photovoltaic performance from 3.46% to 3.57%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Guangyuan Thousand-Buddha grotto is of great value in researching the spread of Buddhism in China. To explore a scientific deterioration degree evaluation method, the authors selected 11 grottos from the middle Tang Dynasty in the Guangyuan Thousand-Buddha grotto as survey objects; a traditional deterioration investigation was undertaken, and an analytic hierarchy process (AHP method) was applied to build a system to calculate the weight of 15 deterioration criteria and evaluate the deterioration degree of the grotto. The results showed that 15 deteriorations can be classified into two categories: stability deterioration and weathering deterioration. Each deterioration has its own weight on affecting the preservation condition of the grotto. In contrast to realistic conditions, the calculation results can quantitatively reflect the preservation condition of the grotto. The results offer a quantitative basis for determining the priority of grotto conservation and verifying the feasibility of the AHP method in helping conservators identify major deteriorations or judge conservation orders. This research proposes a quantitative evaluation method for the deterioration degree of the grotto, which can lay the foundation for further conservation of the grotto. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In gut, Akkermansia muciniphila (A. muciniphila) probably exerts its probiotic activities by the positive modulation of mucus thickness and gut barrier integrity. However, the potential mechanisms between A. muciniphila and mucin balance have not been fully elucidated. In this study, we cultured the bacterium in a BHI medium containing 0% to 0.5% mucin, and transcriptome and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC–MS) analyses were performed. We found that 0.5% (m/v) mucin in a BHI medium induced 1191 microbial genes to be differentially expressed, and 49 metabolites to be changed. The metabolites of sorbose, mannose, 2,7-anhydro-β-sedoheptulose, fructose, phenylalanine, threonine, lysine, ornithine, asparagine, alanine and glutamic acid were decreased by 0.5% mucin, while the metabolites of leucine, valine and N-acetylneuraminic acid were increased. The association analysis between transcriptome and metabolome revealed that A. muciniphila gave strong responses to energy metabolism, amino sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism, and galactose metabolism pathways to adapt to high mucin in the medium. This finding showed that only when mucin reached a certain concentration in a BHI medium, A. muciniphila could respond to the culture environment significantly at the level of genes and metabolites, and changed its metabolic characteristics by altering the effect on carbohydrates and amino acids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of deep learning theory and computer vision technology, text detection has been widely used in automatic navigation, product recognition and language translation. However, the results of the existing text detection methods on the surface of cylindrical-shape objects are not ideal; the main reason for their poor performance is that these methods only use the color, texture and deep learning feature and do not make full use of the spatial differences of text instances. In order to solve the problem of poor text detection on cylindrical-shape object such as bottles and jars, a novel method for text detection on the curved surface of cylindrical-shape objects based on 3D point cloud is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the captured multi-view images of cylinder-shaped objects such as bottles and jars are used to reconstruct the 3D point cloud. Secondly, the 2D grid of the point cloud is established by using the graph rendering technology, which is followed by the 2D grid pixels are filled with XYZ coordinates, RGB and SWT features to generate a pseudo-color image. Finally, the U-Net network is used to segment the generated pseudo-color image, and the detection result of the text instance is obtained after the post-processing. For verifying the effectiveness of this proposed method, extensive experiments are carried out on the 3D text point cloud dataset established by us. The Precision (P), Recall (R) and F-score average of our method are 87.1%, 79.4% and 83.1%, respectively. Compared with the classical algorithms such as PSENet and CRAFT, the accuracy is increased by 11.2% and 7.0%, respectively, and the average of F-score is increased by 2.7% and 2.2%, respectively. And compared to color images, the F-score was improved by 4.4% using 3D information, which further demonstrates the effectiveness of 3D position detection for text instances on bottles and jars. The ablation experiment also demonstrated the applicability of the generated pseudo-color images based on 3D information on different models. Thus, the experimental results show that the proposed method can accurately detect the text on the surface of cylindrical objects such as bottles and jars and can be well applied to the text recognition of pharmacies, supermarkets, and daily bottle and jar products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One new phenyl group dimeric compound, named polygamol A (1), together with two known compounds, 2,2-bis[4-(2,3-dihydroxypropoxy)phenyl]propane (2) and 1,3-di-O-[2′,2′-di-(p-phenylene)isopropylidene]-glycerol (3), were isolated from the roots of Polygonum amplexicaule var. sinense. The structures of these compounds were elucidated based on spectroscopic analysis. The new compound exhibited weak activity in vitro against the MGC-803, A549, SMMC-7721, and HT-29 cell lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The favorable mechanical property and regenerative capacity of bone graft are extremely important for the reconstruction of the large bone defect. Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) has tailored elastic modulus to natural cortical bone, while its application is limited by bio-inert surface. Tissue-engineered periosteum exhibits improved osteogenesis-inducing capacity. However, the present artificial periosteum is difficult to effectively anchor to bone grafts. The use of PEEK-based nanomembrane may be a promising candidate to integrate with PEEK bone graft without anchor problem, which has not been reported until now. In this work, a series of fluorinated PEEK polymers were successfully synthesized and electrospun into nanofibers. The chemical structure, morphology, thermal stability, wettability and mechanical strength of s-PEEK membranes were investigated. Then, a novel flexible nanocomposite membrane for tissue-engineered periosteum based on fibrous sulfonated PEEK (s-PEEK) and polycaprolactone (PCL) was prepared. The functional properties were evaluated accordingly. The s-PEEK/PCL composite membranes showed superior hydrophilic and better ductility than pure s-PEEK film. The capacity of protein adsorption was also evaluated, suggesting the elevated bioactivity of s-PEEK/PCL composite membranes. Finally, the composite membranes were successfully mineralized by a homogenous and thinner calcium phosphate layer, indicating its potential to improve the osteogenic response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modeling and analysis of target gangs' usual haunts plays a very important role in law enforcement and supervision. Existing localization and tracking schemes usually need to deploy a large number of monitoring devices or continue to move with the target, which lead to high cost. In this paper, a localization and tracking scheme based on big data of Wi-Fi locations is proposed. Firstly, the characteristic of the smart mobile device that continuously broadcasts probe request frames is used to obtain its MAC address and Wi-Fi connection history. Secondly, the service set identifier (SSID) in the Wi-Fi connection history of smart mobile devices held by the target gangs are queried from the Wi-Fi location database, and the target gangs' usual haunts are gained by statistical analysis. Lastly, monitoring devices are deployed in these places, and most of the target gangs' activity pattern are known with only a small number of monitoring devices. The results of the related experimental tests demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dietary proteins can alter gut microbial diversity. However, little is known about how gut bacteria respond to dietary proteins during short-term feeding. In the present study, PCR-DGGE analysis was performed to compare changes in gut microbial composition in rat caecum after rats were fed proteins from soy, pork, beef, chicken, fish and casein (control) for 2, 7 and 14 days. On day 2, differences were observed in microbial composition between groups of red meat (pork and beef) and white meat (chicken and fish) proteins. For a certain diet group, microbial composition showed a great change with feeding time. Principle component analysis indicated that the soy protein group showed a good separation in microbial composition from the casein and meat protein groups on days 7 and 14. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The south of western Qaidam Basin depositional environment was mainly a saline lacustrine basin in the Cenozoic. Great breakthroughs have been made in this area. Previous achievements indicated that saline environment improves the conversion rate of hydrocarbons, which was beneficial for hydrocarbon generation, but there is still not much research on the alteration of reservoirs in saline environment. This experiment simulates physical-chemical reflection between fluid and rock in geological conditions, and further study is made on the influence of saline water on reservoirs. By analysis of reservoir properties and capillary pressure alteration pre-post interaction, it is possible to study the negative effect that saline environment has on reservoirs. The mechanism is as below: The precipitation of saline minerals has negative effects on reservoir properties; the saline minerals occupied part of intergranular pore, which reduced reserve attributes; thinner pore throats are more easily blocked, which increases deviation of pore structure and permeability. The fluids of saline basin were rich in potassium ions, which have an inhibiting effect on dissolution of feldspathic, and are unfavorable for the formation of dissolved pores. The saline fluids contained a large number of potassium ions to provide material conditions for the reaction where the smectite and andreattite changed into illite. The higher ionic concentration of potassium ion, the more slender illite was generated. These slender minerals more easily blocked throats and pore, which in turn lowers the permeability of rock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Qaidam is a plateau saline lacustrine basin in China. The Eocene in western Qaidam mainly consists of lacustrine carbonate, and the sedimentary rocks mainly include micrite, bioclastic limestone, algal limestone, dolomicrite, algal dolomite and so on. Among these rocks, dolomite is the most important petroleum reservoir rock, which mainly includes algal dolomite and dolomicrite. The pores of carbonate are mainly the intercrystalline pores, and there are dissolution pores locally. The analysis based on electronic probe energy spectrum scanning instrument shows that the enrichment region of element Mg in the algal dolomite is highly consistent with the distribution of algal laminas, which means the algal dolomite is a biogenic primary dolomite, because the microbial activities can overcome the kinetic obstacles and create a favorable microenvironment for the formation of dolomite. The analysis based on X-ray diffraction instrument shows that most dolomicrite includes clastic particles and argillaceous components because of the combined sedimentation of clastic materials brought from the peripheral fan delta deposit. The rock composition analysis based on the electronic probe shows that the average content of FeO in the dolomicrite is 0.942 %, and that of MnO is 0.052 %, which are obviously lower than the average contents of Fe and Mn in the hydrothermal dolomite. Meanwhile, due to the high contents of SiO and AlO, it is considered that the dolomicrite has a penecontemporaneous metasomatic formation mechanism. This type of dolomicrite generated a lot of disseminated intercrystalline pores during the metasomatism. The pore radius is small and the pore number is enormous, which are the main cause of relatively high porosity and relatively low permeability. The type of dolomicrite is a good petroleum reservoir in the study area, so adequate attention shall be given to the dolomicrite during the oil and gas exploration in the carbonate rock reservoir of Eocene in Qaidam Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Qaidam Basin is a large salt lake basin on the Tibetan Plateau where oil and gas flow has recently been discovered in lacustrine clastic reservoir; the organic acids released during the evolution of organic matter in saline lacustrine basins could improve reservoirs in certain cases. The alteration of clastic rock reservoirs by the acid fluids is a complicated physical and chemical process. This experiment simulated interactions between the organic acids and the minerals in reservoir rocks in underground temperature and pressure conditions, and analyzed the influences of interactions on pore properties and pore structures and their formation mechanisms. These influences and alterations are divided into dissolution and precipitation interactions. Feldspar, gypsum, ankerite are likely to be dissolved, and calcite can be precipitated by weakly acidic solutions, which occupies some reservoir space. For the gypsum-containing clastic reservoirs, gypsum is more likely to be dissolved and the supersaturated Ca generated with gypsum dissolution leads to the precipitation of calcite. The chemical process of ankerite dissolution provides iron ions and magnesium ions to the chlorite forming reaction and the chlorite can easily block the pore throats, leading to decline of permeability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biogenic methane is a variety of metabolites generated by methane bacteria, consuming a simple-nutrition organic substrate under anaerobic conditions. Due to the shallow depth at which it is generally produced, biogenic methane is easily released into the atmosphere, becoming a significant contributor to the greenhouse effect. However, if suitable collection methods are employed, biogenic methane can be gathered and used as a clean and efficient energy source. The Qaidam Basin is a large saline lake basin in the Tibetan Plateau, which is rich in biogenetic gas. During the Quaternary period, the area's sedimentary center moved to the east of the Qaidam Basin. This resulted in the deposition of thick lacustrine sedimentary strata in the basin. Lacustrine mudstone is the primary source rock for biogenetic gas, and as a result, the gas is mostly found in the lacustrine strata of siltstone. In addition, evaporated lacustrine saline calcareous mudstone forms an effective covering layer for the gas. These lacustrine sedimentary strata provide both a favorable hydrocarbon accumulation environment and good preservation conditions for biogenic gas. As such, they could be converted into structural or lithologic gas reservoirs, through biogenic methane lateral migration with a suitable reservoir-cap configuration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared with marine carbonate, lacustrine carbonate is limited in distribution globally; moreover, as an unconventional kind of carbonate, it cannot be evaluated and identified with conventional methods, so less attention has been paid and fewer studies have been made on it. However, according to exploration experiences all over the world, lacustrine carbonate can be an important source rock and reservoir rock in some cases. Qaidam basin, a large salt-water lake basin, had the lacustrine mixed deposition setting to form complex carbonate reservoirs. The recently found Neogene lacustrine algal limestone is an exploration target worthy of attention. The author has used drilling and well logging data to identify lacustrine algal limestone. The method is of great significance for the exploration and development of lacustrine carbonate in other areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared to marine carbonate around the world, lacustrine carbonate is relatively scarce. Much less attention has been paid to it. Lacustrine carbonate, a product of mixed deposition of continental clastics and carbonate under special conditions, can be both important source rocks, and oil and gas reservoir rocks. Qaidam Basin is a large salt lake basin on the Tibetan Plateau where oil and gas flow has recently been discovered in lacustrine algal limestone. Study of the algal limestone is a potentially valuable target of exploration, and is of great significance to the exploration and development of mixed carbonate formations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exact solution to geodesic equation in the braneworld black hole spacetime is found by method of Jacobian elliptic function, and the angle of perihelion precession is obtained by the zero point of Jacobian elliptic function for Mercury. Comparing numerical result with observation data, we give the value range of tidal charge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking WKB approximation to solve the scalar field equation in the Schwarzschild black hole spacetime, we can get the classical momenta. Substituting the classical momenta into state density equation corrected by the modified dispersion relation, we will obtain the number of quantum states with energy less than ω. Then, it is used to calculate the statistical-mechanical entropy of the scalar field in the Schwarzschild black hole spacetime. By taking exact method, we obtained the leader term of entropy which is proportional to the event horizon area and correction terms take the forms of ln A, Aln A, A and so on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the effects of Nb contents (0.05 ~ 0.50wt%) and hot rolling temperatures (1000 ~ 1200 °C) on microstructure and mechanical properties of high-silicon electrical steel were studied. The results show that adding a small amount of Nb can significantly improve the plasticity of high-silicon electrical steel. Compared with the specimens without Nb, the three-point bending load–deflection curves of the alloys with Nb contents of 0.05 ~ 0.50wt% after warm rolling showed obvious plastic stage. The average fracture deflection increases from 4.5 to 9.9 mm with the Nb content increasing from 0.05 to 0.50wt%. When the hot rolling temperature is 1000 °C, the Nb-containing high-silicon electrical steel has a layered microstructure along the thickness direction. The surface layer is equiaxed grains with dynamic recrystallization, while the center of the thickness is a long strip structure with dynamic recovery. The mechanism of Nb microalloying to improve plasticity includes three aspects: Firstly, the layered structure hinders the propagation of cracks and delays the progress of fracture; secondly, a large number of fine Nb precipitates will hinder the grain growth and refine the grains; thirdly, the formation of the Nb-precipitated phase destroys the ordered rearrangement between adjacent Fe and Si atoms in the matrix, inhibits the ordered transformation and reduces the ordered degree of high-silicon electrical steel. When the hot rolling temperature is increased to 1100 °C or above, the layered structure disappears, the grain coarsens obviously, and the plasticity of the warm-rolled specimens is significantly reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was aimed to evaluate the differences in the composition of gut microbiota, tryptophan metabolites and short-chain fatty acids in feces between volunteers who frequently ate chicken and who frequently ate pork. Twenty male chicken-eaters and 20 male pork-eaters of 18 and 30 years old were recruited to collect feces samples for analyses of gut microbiota composition, short-chain fatty acids and tryptophan metabolites. Chicken-eaters had more diverse gut microbiota and higher abundance of Prevotella 9, Dialister, Faecalibacterium, Megamonas, and Prevotella 2. However, pork-eaters had higher relative abundance of Bacteroides, Faecalibacterium, Roseburia, Dialister, and Ruminococcus 2. In addition, chicken-eaters had high contents of skatole and indole in feces than pork-eaters, as well as higher contents of total short chain fatty acids, in particular for acetic acid, propionic acid, and branched chain fatty acids. The Spearman's correlation analysis revealed that the abundance of Prevotella 2 and Prevotella 9 was positively correlated with levels of fecal skatole, indole and short-chain fatty acids. Thus, intake of chicken diet may increase the risk of skatole- and indole-induced diseases by altering gut microbiota. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The attentional blink can be substantially reduced by delivering a task-irrelevant sound synchronously with the second target (T2) embedded in a rapid serial visual presentation stream, which is further modulated by the semantic congruency between the sound and T2. The present study extended the cross-modal boost during attentional blink and the modulation of audiovisual semantic congruency in the spatial domain by showing that a spatially uninformative, semantically congruent (but not incongruent) sound could even improve the discrimination of spatially unpredictable T2 during attentional blink. T2-locked event-related potential (ERP) data yielded that the early cross-modal P195 difference component (184–234 ms) over the occipital scalp contralateral to the T2 location was larger preceding accurate than inaccurate discriminations of semantically congruent, but not incongruent, audiovisual T2s. Interestingly, the N2pc component (194–244 ms) associated with visual-spatial attentional allocation was enlarged for incongruent audiovisual T2s relative to congruent audiovisual and unisensory visual T2s only when they were accurately discriminated. These ERP findings suggest that the spatially extended cross-modal boost during attentional blink involves an early cross-modal interaction strengthening the perceptual processing of T2, without any sound-induced enhancement of visual-spatial attentional allocation toward T2. In contrast, the absence of an accuracy decrease in response to semantically incongruent audiovisual T2s may originate from the semantic mismatch capturing extra visual-spatial attentional resources toward T2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Robust blind watermarking has become a vital means of copyright protection, and this paper presents a new optimal robust and blind watermarking method of grayscale images based on intertwining logistic map and a variant of particle swarm optimization (PSO) in a hybrid domain. In the proposed approach, firstly a host image is decomposed by discrete wavelet transform, and discrete cosine transform (DCT) is applied to insensitive LH and HL subbands according to human visual model. Then, optimum frequency spectra in the DCT domain are chosen to form a feature matrix for improving the robustness and transparency of watermark. Finally, a shuffled watermark image using the chaotic logistic map is inserted by modifying the largest singular values of a feature matrix pair in the singular value decomposition domain. An improved version of PSO is employed to perform multi-dimensional optimization for selection of the most qualified DCT coefficients and estimation of watermark embedding strength in terms of their significant influence on imperceptibility and robustness. The security of the proposed method is provided by intertwining logistic map. Experimental results on standard test images indicate that PSO searches efficiently optimal values of watermark embedding strength and the most suitable DCT subbands, and the proposed watermarking algorithm performs much better than the other compared schemes in imperceptibility and robustness objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel online two-dimensional supercritical fluid chromatography/reversed-phase liquid chromatography–triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry (2D SFC/RPLC–QQQ MS) method based on a vacuum solvent evaporation interface was developed for lipid profiling in human plasma, in which lipid classes were separated by the first-dimension SFC and different lipid molecular species were further separated by the second-dimension RPLC. All separation condition parameters were carefully optimized, and their influence on the chromatographic behavior of lipids is discussed. Finally, the recoveries of 11 lipid standards were all more than 88% for the interface. Besides, the limit of detection for these lipid standards was on the order of nanograms per milliliter, and the relative standard deviations of the peak area and retention time ranged from 1.54% to 19.85% and from 0.00% to 0.10%, respectively. The final 2D SFC/RPLC–QQQ MS method allowed the identification of 370 endogenous lipid species from ten lipid classes, including diacylglycerol, triacylglycerol, ceramide, glucosylceramide, galactosylceramide, lactosylceramide, sphingomyelin, acylcarnitine, phosphatidylcholine, and lysophosphatidylethanolamine, in human plasma within 38 min, which was used for screening potential lipid biomarkers in breast cancer. The 2D SFC/RPLC–QQQ MS method is a potentially useful tool for in-depth studies focused on complex lipid metabolism and biomarker discovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the correlation of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) taurine-upregulated gene 1 (TUG1) with clinicopathological feature and prognosis, and to explore its effect on cell proliferation and apoptosis as well as the relevant target genes in adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML). LncRNA TUG1 expression was detected in bone marrow samples from 186 AML patients and 62 controls. Blank mimic, lncRNA TUG1 mimic, blank inhibitor, and lncRNA TUG1 inhibitor lentivirus vectors were transfected in KG-1 cells. Rescue experiment was performed by transfection of lncRNA TUG1 inhibitor and aurora kinase A (AURKA) mimic lentivirus vectors. Cell proliferation, apoptosis, RNA, and protein expressions were determined by CKK-8, annexin V-FITC-propidium iodide, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and western blot assays. LncRNA TUG1 expression was higher in AML patients compared to controls and correlated with higher white blood cell counts, monosomal karyotype, FLT3-ITD mutation, poor-risk stratification, and poor prognosis, which independently predicted worse event-free survival and overall survival. In vitro, lncRNA TUG1 expression was higher in AML cell lines (KG-1, MOLM-14, HL-60, NB-4, and THP-1 cells) compared to controls. LncRNA TUG1 mimic promoted cell proliferation and decreased cell apoptosis rate, while lncRNA TUG1 inhibitor repressed cell proliferation and increased cell apoptosis rate. Rescue experiment showed that AURKA attenuated the influence of lncRNA TUG1 on AML cell proliferation and apoptosis. In conclusion, lncRNA TUG1 associates with advanced disease and worse prognosis in adult AML patients, and it induces AML cell proliferation and represses cell apoptosis via targeting AURKA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By combining petrologic, structural and geochemical methods, the origins and characteristics of two sorts of lacustrine dolomite form are described and demonstrated in the Western Qaidam basin. The first lacustrine dolomite is the native biogenic algal dolomite, which is not abundant in the area. The analysis results of electron probe energy spectrum scan shows that the Mg element enrichment zone and the algal layer distribution are highly consistent, and have microbiological characteristics in the Western Qaidam basin, because microbial activity can overcome dynamics obstacles and have a favorable microenvironment for dolomite production. The second lacustrine dolomite is penecontemporaneous metasomatism micritic dolomite, which is widely distributed in the study area. Polarizing microscope and X-ray diffraction analysis reveal that most of the dolomicrite contain detrital grains and argillaceous components. This is because the mixed sedimentary detritus was brought from the periphery in the fan delta sediment. The electron microprobe analysis results on the rock components demonstrated that the average content of FeO is 0.942 % and that of MnO is 0.052 %, which is significantly lower than that of hydrothermal dolomite. In addition, SiO and AlO content is very rich, which clearly shows that dolomite belongs to penecontemporaneous metasomatic sediment. The results of this research have great significance for the carbonate exploration of oil and gas in the Qiadam basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on petrology, mineralogy, carbon and oxygen isotope composition, trace element composition, geochemical characteristics of carbonate rocks are systematically analyzed in the saline lacustrine basin environment in the Qaidam Basin, northwestern China. The results show that: (1) The carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions show carbonate rocks were deposited between open lake and closed lake environment; (2) the Sr/Ba ratio is greater than 1 with an average of 2.01; the Sr/Cu ratio is greater than 5 with an average of 109.04; the U/Th average value ratio is less than 1 with an average of 0.62. These data indicated the carbonate rocks deposited in an salinization, drought, and reducing lacustrine environments; (3) ΣREE values range from 39.41 to 162.67 ppm with an average of 87.67 ppm, and negative anomaly of Eu occurs in REE distribution patterns; and (4) lithologies of carbonate rocks are mainly composed of dark gray or black carbonates, commonly associated with salts deposition due to different lacustrine facies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The principle hydrocarbon source in West Qaidam Basin, China, is the Xiaganchaigou formation, which charges a series of Cenozoic large reservoirs. We identified a series of organic-rich intervals within a sequence of Oligocene-age Xiaganchaigou evaporites in southwest Qaidam. By analyzing 2D and 3D seismic tomography and gamma ray well logs, we defined the distribution and extent of these source rocks. We also characterized their composition with trace element analysis and carbon and oxygen isotope measurements. Our data demonstrated distinctive characteristics of these source rocks with high salinity, abundant organic material, high hydrocarbon generation efficiency, and low maturity, which are associated with relatively rapid and productive hydrocarbon generation. Using high-pressure and high temperature experiments to simulate pyrolysis in samples of the source rocks, we investigated what enabled these young salt-rich source rocks to generate such an abundance of hydrocarbons. Our results highlighted the key role of saline and radioactive minerals in catalyzing accelerated pyrolysis of hydrocarbons during diagenesis and catagenesis. Salt catalysis clearly played an important role in hydrocarbon generation within lower maturity formations and also significantly improved and redefined the source rocks distribution and the extent of probable reserves in the southwest Qaidam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acinetobacter baumannii is a frequent cause of the nosocomial infections. Herein, a novel isothermal amplification technique, multiple cross displacement amplification (MCDA) is employed for detecting all A. baumannii strains and identifying the strains harboring blaOXA-23-like gene. The duplex MCDA assay, which targets the pgaD and blaOXA-23-like genes, could identify the A. baumannii isolates and differentiate these isolates harboring blaOXA-23-like gene. The disposable lateral flow biosensors (LFB) were used for analyzing the MCDA products. A total of sixty-eight isolates, include fifty-three A. baumannii strains and fifteen non-A. baumannii strains, were employed to optimize MCDA methods and determine the sensitivity, specificity and feasibility. The optimal reaction condition is found to be 63 °C within 1 h, with limit of detection at 100 fg templates per tube for pgaD and blaOXA-23-like genes in pure cultures. The specificity of this assay is 100%. Moreover, the practical application of the duplex MCDA-LFB assay was evaluated using clinical samples, and the results obtained from duplex MCDA-LFB method were consistent with conventional culture-based technique. In sum, the duplex MCDA-LFB assay appears to be a reliable, rapid and specific technique to detect all A. baumannii strains and identify these strains harboring blaOXA-23-like gene for appropriate antibiotic therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Longju temple, located in Guanghan County, Sichuan province of China, is a Buddhist temple with great cultural significance. It has preserved polychrome relics since 1466 of the Ming dynasty. The deterioration of these ancient colored paintings is posing an extremely serious issue, it is exceptionally critical to propose an appropriate protection plan. In this paper, pigments and binding media were analyzed from ten polychrome samples collected from the central hall of Longju temple. A series of analysis methods were adopted, including the Raman spectrum, scanning electron microscopy–energy disperse spectrometer (EDS–SEM), and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results demonstrate the existence of atacamite, azurite, carbon black, cinnabar, and gold in the color layer of the samples. Egg white, animal glue, and casein were found to be used as binders in the colored paintings. This study not only offered essential data for the follow-up protection and repair projects but also provided a reference to further explore the polychrome relics of other Buddhist temples in the Ming dynasty of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decidualization is crucial for successful pregnancy in mice and humans. Although many essential molecular modulators have been identified during decidualization, the precise molecular mechanism of uterine decidualization remains largely unknown. Our previous research indicates that luman recruiting factor (LRF) is strongly expressed in decidual uteri of mice on days 6-8 of pregnancy. In this study, our aim is to determine the biological functions of LRF during decidualization in mice. We used the shLRF lentivirus to attenuate the expression of LRF, which significantly reduced the weight and size of implantation sites on days 7-8 of pregnancy. In a stromal cell culture model, LRF mRNA and protein levels increased significantly during stromal cell decidualization induced by estrogen and progesterone. LRF silencing resulted in the decidual markers decidual prolactin-related protein, insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 1 and progesterone receptor being dramatically reduced, and the decidual process was significantly inhibited. Cell-cycle analysis and cell apoptosis analysis revealed that, although no obvious apoptosis occurred in shLRF-lentivirus-infected stromal cells during decidualization, proliferation was inhibited via S-phase cell-cycle arrest, and the mitotic activity of uterine stromal cells was inhibited. An examination of cell-cycle regulatory factors indicated that the mRNA expression levels of cyclin A and cyclin B1 were significantly down-regulated after treatment with shLRF lentivirus. Thus, LRF seems to be involved in the regulation of decidualization during pregnancy by modulating the expression of the key cell-cycle regulatory factors cyclin A and cyclin B1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction is presented regarding the typographical error in the spelling of the author Chunbao Li and error in Figure 8 of the article "Meat, Dairy and Plant Proteins Alter Bacterial Composition of Rat Gut Bacteria".

Life on Earth developed under the influence of normal gravity (1 g). With evidence from previous studies, scientists have suggested that normal physiological processes, such as the functional integrity of muscles and bone mass, can be affected by microgravity during spaceflight. During the life span, bone not only develops as a structure designed specifically for mechanical tasks but also adapts for efficiency. The lack of weight-bearing forces makes microgravity an ideal physical stimulus to evaluate bone cell responses. One of the most serious problems induced by long-term weightlessness is bone mineral loss. Results from in vitro studies that entailed the use of bone cells in spaceflights showed modification in cell attachment structures and cytoskeletal reorganization, which may be involved in bone loss. Humans exposed to microgravity conditions experience various physiological changes, including loss of bone mass, muscle deterioration, and immunodeficiency. In vitro models can be used to extract valuable information about changes in mechanical stress to ultimately identify the different pathways of mechanotransduction in bone cells. Despite many in vivo and in vitro studies under both real microgravity and simulated conditions, the mechanism of bone loss is still not well defined. The objective of this review is to summarize the recent research on bone cells under microgravity conditions based on advances in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nociceptor sensory neurons are specialized to detect potentially damaging stimuli, protecting the organism by initiating the sensation of pain and eliciting defensive behaviours. Bacterial infections produce pain by unknown molecular mechanisms, although they are presumed to be secondary to immune activation. Here we demonstrate that bacteria directly activate nociceptors, and that the immune response mediated through TLR2, MyD88, T cells, B cells, and neutrophils and monocytes is not necessary for Staphylococcus aureus-induced pain in mice. Mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia in mice is correlated with live bacterial load rather than tissue swelling or immune activation. Bacteria induce calcium flux and action potentials in nociceptor neurons, in part via bacterial N-formylated peptides and the pore-forming toxin α-haemolysin, through distinct mechanisms. Specific ablation of Nav1.8-lineage neurons, which include nociceptors, abrogated pain during bacterial infection, but concurrently increased local immune infiltration and lymphadenopathy of the draining lymph node. Thus, bacterial pathogens produce pain by directly activating sensory neurons that modulate inflammation, an unsuspected role for the nervous system in host-pathogen interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of present study was to explore the possibility of Tec kinase as a mediator for IL-8 transcription in monocytes stimulated with LPS. Plasmids of mouse Tec kinase IV or Tec kinase IV with inactivating point mutations generated with QuikChange site-directed mutagenesis were co-transfected with IL-8 promoter driven luciferase construct into RAW264.7 cells, then luciferase activity was measured with a luminometer. The results shown Tec kinase could significantly enhance IL-8 transcription. Furthermore, point inactivating mutation in SH2, PH or PTK domain almost completely abolish the effects of Tec kinase on the transcription of IL-8. In the transfection experiment, PD98059, a MEK1 inhibitor, decreased the transcription of IL-8 in a dose dependent pattern. When siRNA for Tec kinase was transfected into THP-1 cells, it could efficiently block the production of IL-8 from THP-1 cells ( p < 0.01) stimulated with LPS. In conclusion, Tec kinase may mediate the transcription of IL-8 in monocyte stimulated with LPS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endothelial dysfunction, which is caused by endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) uncoupling, is an initial step in atherosclerosis. This study was designed to explore whether Chinese medicine xin-mai-jia (XMJ) recouples eNOS to exert anti-atherosclerotic effects. Pretreatment of XMJ (25, 50, 100 μg/ml) for 30 minutes concentration-dependently activated eNOS, improved cell viabilities, increased NO generations, and reduced ROS productions in human umbilical vein endothelial cells incubated with H2O2 for 2 hours, accompanied with restoration of BH4. Importantly, these protective effects produced by XMJ were abolished by eNOS inhibitor L-NAME or specific eNOS siRNA in H2O2-treated cells. In ex vivo experiments, exposure of isolated aortic rings from rats to H2O2 for 6 hours dramatically impaired acetylcholine-induced vasorelaxation, reduced NO levels and increased ROS productions, which were ablated by XMJ in concentration-dependent manner. In vivo analysis indicated that administration of XMJ (0.6, 2.0, 6.0 g/kg/d) for 12 weeks remarkably recoupled eNOS and reduced the size of carotid atherosclerotic plaque in rats feeding with high fat diet plus balloon injury. In conclusion, XMJ recouples eNOS to prevent the growth of atherosclerosis in rats. Clinically, XMJ is potentially considered as a medicine to treat patients with atherosclerosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]