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Background Efforts to precisely assess tumor-specific T-cell immune responses still face major challenges, and the potential molecular mechanisms mediating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) microenvironment imbalance after incomplete radiofrequency ablation (iRFA) are unclear. This study aimed to provide further insight into the integrated transcriptomic and proteogenomic landscape and identify a new target involved in HCC progression following iRFA. Methods Peripheral blood and matched tissue samples were collected from 10 RFA-treated HCC patients. Multiplex immunostaining and flow cytometry were used to assess local and systemic immune responses. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were explored via transcriptomic and proteogenomic analyses. Proteinase-3 (PRTN3) was identified in these analyses. And then, the ability of PRTN3 to predict overall survival (OS) was assessed in 70 HCC patients with early recurrence after RFA. In vitro CCK-8, wound healing and transwell assays were conducted to observe interactions between Kupffer cells (KCs) and HCC cells induced by PRTN3. The protein levels of multiple oncogenic factors and signaling pathway components were detected by western blotting. A xenograft mouse model was built to observe the tumorigenic effect of PRTN3 overexpression on HCC. Results Multiplex immunostaining revealed no immediate significant change in local immune cell counts in periablational tumor tissues after 30 min of iRFA. Flow cytometry showed significantly increased levels of CD4+ T cells, CD4+CD8+ T cells, and CD4+CD25+CD127− Tregs and significantly decreased the levels of CD16+CD56+ natural killer cells on day 5 after cRFA (p Conclusions This study provides a comprehensive overview of the immune response and transcriptomic and proteogenomic landscapes of the HCC milieu induced by iRFA, revealing that PRTN3 promotes HCC progression after iRFA. Trial registration ChiCTR2200055606, http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=32588.

Focusing on the continuum meson bound-state problem, a novel method is used to calculate closed-form Bethe-Salpeter kernels that are symmetry consistent with any reasonable gluon-quark vertex, $\Gamma_\nu$, and therewith deliver a Poincar\'e-invariant treatment of the spectrum and decay constants of the ground- and first-excited states of $u$, $d$, $s$ mesons. The predictions include masses of as-yet unseen states and many unmeasured decay constants. The analysis reveals that a realistic, unified description of meson properties (including level orderings and mass splittings) requires a sound expression of emergent hadron mass in bound-state kernels; alternatively, that such properties may reveal much about the emergence of mass in the standard model., Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables. Eur. Phys. J. (Lett) in press

People as third-party observers, without direct self-interest, may punish norm violators to maintain social norms. However, third-party judgment and the follow-up punishment might be susceptible to the way we frame (i.e., verbally describe) a norm violation. We conducted a behavioral and a neuroimaging experiment to investigate the above phenomenon, which we call the “third-party framing effect”. In these experiments, participants observed an anonymous perpetrator deciding whether to keep her/his economic benefit while exposing a victim to a risk of physical pain (described as “harming others” in one condition and “not helping others” in the other condition), then they had a chance to punish that perpetrator at their own cost. Our results showed that the participants were more willing to execute third-party punishment under the harm frame compared to the help frame, manifesting a framing effect. Self-reported anger toward perpetrators mediated the relationship between empathy toward victims and the framing effect. Meanwhile, activation of the insula mediated the relationship between mid-cingulate cortex activation and the framing effect; the functional connectivity between these regions significantly predicted the size of the framing effect. These findings shed light on the psychological and neural mechanisms of the third-party framing effect.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are associated with cognitive dysfunctions, including mental time travel (MTT). However, findings on diminished MTT ability may be confounded by a number of factors, including the individuals’ language ability, factors related to the MTT task and the demographic factors of participants. The present study provided a meta-analysis of MTT ability in people with ASD. The results showed significant overall reductions in MTT ability in people with ASD. Moderator analyses revealed that the variables examined did not explain the reduction in MTT ability. These findings suggest that MTT ability is diminished in people with ASD and that the degree of this diminishment may not depend on the characteristics of measures or demographic variables of people with ASD.

Sonic hedgehog (SHH) signaling pathway and glioma-associated oncogene homolog 1 (GLI1) play important roles in the initiation and progression of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). GS homeobox 2 (GSX2, formerly GSH2) is a downstream target of SHH signaling, but its role in pancreatic cancer remains unclear. This study evaluates the role of GSH2 in the development and drug resistance of pancreatic cancer. Both cell culture and xenograft mouse model were used. Immunohistochemistry, Western blotting and quantitative RT-PCR were used to examine the expression of GSH2 and other related molecules. CCK8 assay was used to test the cell proliferation, and flow cytometry used to examine cell apoptosis upon gemcitabine treatment. It was found that GSH2 is overexpressed in human pancreatic cancer tissues and cells. The expression of SHH and GLI1 was reversely correlated with GSH2 in pancreatic cancer cells. SHH and GLI1 have protein-protein interactions with GSH2. GSH2 silencing in pancreatic cancer cells inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion, increased cell apoptosis and sensitized pancreatic cancer cells to gemcitabine treatment. Furthermore, in vivo study demonstrated that silencing GSH2 increased the efficacy of gemcitabine-based treatment. Our results indicate that GSH2 is overexpressed in pancreatic cancer. GSH2 silencing in pancreatic cancer alleviates gemcitabine resistance by activating SHH/GLI1 pathway. Thus, targeting GSH2 in PDAC could be a novel cancer therapeutic strategy.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease. Spreading pattern and time interval of spreading are getting more and more attention. The aim of present study was to investigate spreading pattern in bulbar onset ALS patients and to explore the relationship between time interval of spreading and survival. ALS patients with bulbar onset diagnosed at Chinese PLA General Hospital from January 2015 to December 2018 were recruited. Clinical features including gender, onset age, diagnostic delay, the second involved region (SIR), time of symptoms beyond the bulbar region, forced vital capacity (FVC), ALSFRS-R score, electromyography results, and survival time were retrospectively collected. A total of 96 bulbar onset ALS patients were collected. Overall patients showed female predominance. Median age at onset was 56 years. Median diagnostic delay was 8.5 months. Median time of symptoms beyond the bulbar region (TBBR) was 7 months. Median ALSFRS-R score at baseline was 40. Fifty-six (58.3%) patients’ SIR were upper limb, 6 (6.3%) patients’ SIR were lower limb, 3 (3.1%) patients’ SIR were upper and lower limbs, and 5 (5.2%) patients’ SIR were thoracic region. Twenty-six (27.1%) patients did not report SIR. The median survival time of patients with TBBR ≥ 7 months was significantly longer than that with TBBR

Mutations in the SH3TC2 gene cause Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease type 4C (CMT4C), characterized by inherited demyelinating peripheral neuropathy. CMT4C is a common form of CMT4/autosomal recessive (AR) CMT1. This study examined the SH3TC2 variants, investigated genotype–phenotype correlations and explored the frequency of CMT4C in Chinese patients. A total of 206 unrelated patients of Chinese Han descent clinically diagnosed with CMT were recruited. All patients underwent detailed history-taking, neurological examination, laboratory workups, and electrophysiological studies. Genetic analysis was performed via high-throughput target sequencing (NGS). Three patients, one male and two females, were found to carry five SH3TC2 mutations: patient 1 (c.3154C > T, p.R1054X; c.929G > A, p.G310E); Patient 2 (c.2872_2872del, p.S958fs; c.3710C > T, p.A1237V) and Patient 3 (c.2782C > T, p.Q928X; c.929G > A, p.G310E). The c.2872_2872del, c.3710C > T and c.2782C > T variants were not reported before. CMT4C caused by SH3TC2 mutation is a very common type of CMT4/AR CMT1. Three novel mutations, c.2872_2872del, c.3710C > T and c.2782C > T, were found in this study. Combination of clinical phenotype, nerve conduction studies, genetic analysis and bioinformatics analysis are of vital importance in patients suspected as CMT.

The electrochemical corrosion behavior of the dental Ti50Zr alloy with and without nanocrystalline (TiZr)N coating was comparatively investigated in artificial saliva solutions with different pH values and fluoride ion concentrations. The chemical stability of the passive films on the coated and non-coated Ti50Zr alloy was evaluated by calculating passive film thickness. The chemical compositions and valence structures of the passive films were analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results show that the (TiZr)N-coated alloy displays distinctly decreased corrosion rate and increased impedance compared with Ti50Zr alloy in non-fluoridated and fluoridated acidic solutions. Particularly, in the solution of pH = 3.9 and 0.15% NaF-containing, the corrosion protection efficiency of (TiZr)N coating reaches 90%. The excellent corrosion resistance of the coated alloy is attributed to that the nanocrystallines in (TiZr)N coating decreases micropores and crack defects, which strongly impedes the corrosive ions diffusion and electrode process at Ti substrate/coating interface. Meanwhile, (TiZr)N coating shows good passivation behavior in acidic solution and active–passive transition behavior in fluoridated acidic solution. The coated Ti50Zr alloy with high chemical stability has potential application prospect for dental implants.

In order to improve the marketing effect of e-commerce products, based on machine learning algorithms, this paper constructs an e-commerce product marketing model based on machine learning and SVM. Moreover, this paper studies the classic reinforcement learning algorithm Q-learning and proposes an improved Q-learning algorithm. In addition, this paper uses the method of mean standardization to reduce the noise impact of the reward signal caused by the unfixed time interval between decision points, further constructs a standardization factor for the deviation caused by the asynchronous update of the time interval in the iterative process of the Q value function and updates the standardization factor according to the update method of the value function, and proposes the Interval-Q algorithm. At the same time, in view of the fact that traditional reinforcement learning algorithms cannot effectively deal with the observable part of customer status in direct marketing scenarios, based on the deep reinforcement learning DQN model, this paper combines with the idea of hybrid model to propose a DQN model based on dual networks. Finally, this paper uses public data sets for model training and simulation environment construction and then evaluates the algorithm proposed in this paper from different angles and analyses model performance based on examples. From the research results, it can be seen that the precision marketing model constructed in this paper has a good effect and can be applied to practice.

The relationship between a balanced time perspective and life satisfaction has been demonstrated in previous studies, yet the potential mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear. The current study tested whether a latent factor “temporal negative affect” underlay anxiety and depression and whether this latent factor mediated the relationship between balanced time perspective and life satisfaction. To assess life satisfaction, time perspectives, anxiety and depression, a total of 995 university students aged from 17 to 25 years were recruited. Structural equation modelling analysis demonstrated that the latent factor “temporal negative affect” consisted of anxiety and depression and played a mediating role in the relationship between balanced time perspective and life satisfaction. These findings can deepen our understanding of how time perspectives potentially influence life satisfaction, offering new directions towards enhancing well-being in health and disease.

A symmetry-preserving regularisation of a vector$\times$vector contact interaction (SCI) is used to deliver a unified treatment of semileptonic transitions involving $\pi$, $K$, $D_{(s)}$, $B_{(s,c)}$ initial states. The framework is characterised by algebraic simplicity, few parameters, and the ability to simultaneously treat systems from Nambu-Goldstone modes to heavy+heavy mesons. Although the SCI form factors are typically somewhat stiff, the results are comparable with experiment and rigorous theory results. Hence, predictions for the five unmeasured $B_{s,c}$ branching fractions should be a reasonable guide. The analysis provides insights into the effects of Higgs boson couplings via current-quark masses on the transition form factors; and results on $B_{(s)}\to D_{(s)}$ transitions yield a prediction for the Isgur-Wise function in fair agreement with contemporary data., Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, 3 tables

A sensitive and turn-on fluorescence nanoprobe based on core-shell Ag@Au nanoparticles (Ag@AuNPs) as a fluorescence receptor and red emissive graphene quantum dots (GQDs) as a donor was fabricated. They were conjugated together through π-π stacking between the GQDs and single-strand DNA modified at the Ag@AuNPs surface. The absorption spectrum of the receptor significantly overlapped with the donor emission spectrum, leading to a strong Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) and thus a dramatic quenching. The sensing mechanism relies on fluorescence recovery following DNA cleavage by •OH produced from Fenton-like reaction between the peroxidase-like Ag nanocore and H2O2. The red emissive feature (Ex/Em, 520 nm/560 nm) provides low background in physiological samples. The •OH production, great spectrum overlapping, and red emission together contributes to good sensitivity and living cell imaging capability. The fluorescence assay (intensity at 560 nm) achieves a low detection limit of 0.49 μM H2O2 and a wide linear range from 5 to 200 μM, superior to most of the reported fluorescent probes. The RSD value for 100 μM H2O2 was 1.4%. The nanoprobe exhibits excellent anti-interferences and shows low cytotoxicity. The recovery of 100 μM standard H2O2 in a cancer cell lysate was 85.8%. Most satisfactorily, it can realize monitoring and imaging H2O2 in living cells. This study not only presents a sensitive H2O2 probe but also provides a platform for detecting other types of reactive oxygen species.

An individual's economic valuation of a given object is biased by the moral status of the persons to whom the object is attached. The neural basis for how such "moral bias" occurs, especially how it is maintained in the resting state, are largely unknown. In the current study, we explored this question by correlating the functional connectivity with participants' behavioral performance measured in a novel task which captured how the economic valuation was influenced by given moral information. Seed-based FC analysis showed that the functional connectivity between the mPFC and the orbital mPFC (omPFC), the mPFC and the precuneus, the mPFC and the left anterior cingulum, were significantly associated with the behavioral index of morality effect on economic valuation. Multivariate machine learning-based regression analysis showed that connections in the mPFC network, as well as in the putamen network could well predict the behavior performance, indicating that this mPFC network and the putamen network were crucial for this moral bias. Our results further revealed that the individuals' personal trait of moral sensitivity served as a mediator between the rsFC of mPFC network and the behavioral index of morality effect on economic valuation.

Grinding force is an important factor to consider in the field of precision manufacturing. In this study, a model of the thread grinding force in inner thread grinding that takes into account the thread helix angle and effect of grains overlapping is presented. The average undeformed chip thickness of a single abrasive grain can be obtained based on the Rayleigh probability density function. The contact length is assumed to be the arc contact length and is calculated based on the movement of an active grain. In addition, the effective grain overlap coefficient can be defined as the ratio of the effective area removed by a single grain to the cutting area without overlapping grains. The normal force is generated by material deformation and friction. Similarly, the tangential force is produced by material deformation and tangential friction. The normal and tangential forces can be calculated by considering a micro abrasive grain. Experiments were conducted to calculate the coefficients of the grinding force model in order to validate the model. Scanning electron microscopy was performed to determine the relationship between the normal force and the largest pit on the inner thread surface. Normal and tangential forces were analyzed under different spindle speeds, workpiece speeds, grinding depths, and thread helix angles. The numerical results suggest that grinding force is affected by the thread helix angle and friction forces; moreover, grain overlap cannot be ignored. Finally, a linear relationship between the normal force and the largest pit diameter was derived and used to determine the optimal normal force for generating improved inner thread surfaces. The proposed model provides a theoretical basis for the optimization of high-speed high-precision inner thread grinding.

A contact interaction is used to calculate an array of pion twist-two, -three and -four generalised transverse light-front momentum dependent parton distribution functions (GTMDs). Despite the interaction's simplicity, many of the results are physically relevant, amongst them a statement that GTMD size and shape are largely prescribed by the scale of emergent hadronic mass. Moreover, proceeding from GTMDs to generalised parton distributions (GPDs), it is found that the pion's mass distribution form factor is harder than its electromagnetic form factor, which is harder than the gravitational pressure distribution form factor; the pressure in the neighbourhood of the pion's core is commensurate with that at the centre of a neutron star; the shear pressure is maximal when confinement forces become dominant within the pion; and the spatial distribution of transversely polarised quarks within the pion is asymmetric. Regarding transverse momentum dependent distribution functions (TMDs), their magnitude and domain of support decrease with increasing twist. The simplest Wigner distribution associated with the pion's twist-two dressed-quark GTMD is sharply peaked on the kinematic domain associated with valence-quark dominance; has a domain of negative support; and broadens as the transverse position variable increases in magnitude., Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures, 1 table

As one of the most typical fault characteristic gases in transformer oil, the content of H2 is an important criterion for judging the operation state of power transformers; while online monitoring of such species through gas sensing technology could effectively detect latent faults and avoid accidents. Zinc oxide is a popular sensing material in recent years with limited sensitivity, selectivity and stability for gas detection, while zeolite imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8), one kind of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) materials, possesses adjustable porosity, huge specific surface areas and good thermal stability, so it could perfectly remedy those defects. This paper studied gas-sensing properties of ZnO rods encapsulated by ZIF-8 (ZnO@ZIF-8) for H2. The morphologies, structures, and composition were characterized in detail by means of X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and energy disperse spectroscopy. H2 gas sensing properties of pure ZnO and ZnO@ZIF-8 composites were implemented based on gas sensing platform. Results suggested that the ZnO@ZIF-8 showed better sensitivity, selectivity and stability than pure ZnO rods, and meanwhile possessed lower optimum operating temperature upon H2 detection. Meanwhile the gas-sensing mechanism was analyzed comprehensively from three aspects of sensitivity, selectivity and stability. Our aim of this work is to propose a novel core–shell material with enhanced performance for H2 sensing and provide a new idea for developing high-performance materials to detect fault characteristic gases.

An ultrasensitive enzyme-free electrochemical sandwich DNA biosensor is described for the detection of ssDNA oligonucleotides. A DNA sequence derived from the genom of Helicobacter pylori was selected as a model target DNA. The DNA assay was realized through catching target DNA on capture DNA immobilized gold electrode; then labeling the target DNA with reporter DNA (rpDNA) and initiator DNA (iDNA) co-modified gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). The high density of iDNAs serves as one of the amplification strategies. The iDNA triggers hybridization chain reaction (HCR) between two hairpins. This leads to the formation of a long dsDNA concatamer strand and represents one amplification strategy. The electrochemical probe [Ru(NH3)5L]2+, where L stands for 3-(2-phenanthren-9-ylvinyl)pyridine, intercalated into dsDNA chain. Multiple probe molecules intercalate into one dsDNA chain, serving as one amplification strategy. The electrode was subjected to differential pulse voltammetry for signal acquisition, and the oxidation peak current at −0.28 V was recorded. On each AuNP, 240 iDNA and 25 rpDNA molecules were immobilized. Successful execution of HCR at the DNA-modified AuNPs was confirmed by gel electrophoresis and hydrodynamic diameter measurements. Introduction of HCR significantly enhances the DNA detection signal intensity. The assay has two linear ranges of different slopes, one from 0.01 fM to 0.5 fM; and one from 1 fM to 100 fM. The detection limit is as low as 0.68 aM. Single mismatch DNA can be differentiated from the fully complementary DNA. Conceivably, this highly sensitive and selective assay provides a general method for detection of various kinds of DNA.

Microalgae are excellent biocatalyst candidates for photo-biocatalytic-asymmetric reduction of prochiral ketones to produce enantiomer alcohols. In the biocatalysis asymmetric reduction of carbonyl group process, the cofactor, NADPH, plays a key role. So the current study focused on the effect of NADPH availability on the reduction. Photosynthesis is a main pathway for NADPH regeneration in microalgae, and the ferredoxin-NADP+ oxidoreductase (FNR) is the key enzyme in this process. In this work, we constructed an engineered cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC6803::Ω-PpetE-petH to overexpress FNR gene petH to strengthen NADPH regeneration. The results show that the intracellular NADPH content was increased 80.8% compared to the wild type. Applying the Synechocystis sp. PCC6803::Ω-PpetE-petH to catalyze the model asymmetric reduction reaction (reduction of acetophenone to S-phenylethanol), the yield was improved 61.2% compared to the wild-type. This work makes the microalgal biocatalysis asymmetric reduction process become more preponderant via providing a new route to enhance the regeneration of cofactor NADPH. Putative metabolic process of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) regeneration and the photo-biocatalytic-asymmetric reduction reaction of prochiral ketones in microalgal cells.

Two hypotheses have been proposed regarding the response that is triggered by observing others' pain: the "empathizing hypothesis" and the "threat value of pain hypothesis." The former suggests that observing others' pain triggers an empathic response. The latter suggests that it activates the threat-detection system. In the present study, participants were instructed to observe pictures that showed an anonymous hand or foot in a painful or non-painful situation in a threatening or friendly social context. Event-related potentials were recorded when the participants passively observed these pictures in different contexts. We observed an interaction between context and picture in the early automatic N1 component, in which the painful pictures elicited a larger amplitude than the non-painful pictures only in the threatening context and not in the friendly context. We also observed an interaction between context and picture in the late P3 component, in which the painful pictures elicited a larger amplitude than the non-painful pictures only in the friendly context and not in the threatening context. These results indicate that specific social contexts can modulate the neural responses to observing others' pain. The "empathic hypothesis" and "threat value of pain hypothesis" are not mutually exclusive and do not contradict each other but rather work in different temporal stages.

Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) lacks validated biomarkers to predict the prognosis and treatment response. This study investigated whether circulating tumor cells (CTCs) detectable could reminder high risk of distant metastasis, provide prognostic information, and early indicate the response to the conventional therapy in patients with advanced NSCLC. In this single-center prospective study, blood samples for CTC analysis were obtained from 59 patients with previously untreated, stage III or IV NSCLC both before and after administration of two cycles of chemotherapy. CTCs took in peripheral blood were measured by Cell Search detect technique. Carcino-embryonic antigen and count of metastatic sites were positively related to CTC count analyzed by multiple linear regression (P

It is of ongoing interest to develop new approaches for efficient and selective modification of cysteine residues on biomolecules. Here we present a comprehensive study on a newly developed isoxazolinium-mediated cysteine modification of peptides and proteins. Using a stoichiometric amount of isoxazolinium reagents generated in situ from a catalytic amount of silver salts, cysteine-containing peptides can be efficiently modified to afford products in nearly complete conversions. With the optimized conditions, free cysteine containing proteins HSA and BSA, as well as a site-directed mutated therapeutic protein (BCArg) can be efficiently and selectively labelled using small amounts of the isoxazolinium reagents. We find that the phenylacyl thioether linkage bearing an alkyne moiety can be rapidly cleaved under irradiation of UV-A light, giving the formation of a thioaldehyde moiety, which can be converted back to cysteine by reduction. Selective labeling of biomolecules is a powerful technology for chemical biology. Here a silver-catalysed chemoselective modification of cysteine residues by isoxazolinium reagents is described.

The management and treatment of contaminated sediment is a worldwide problem and poses major technical and economic challenges. Nowadays, various attempts have been committed to investigating a cost-effective way in contaminated sediment restoration. Among the remediation options, in situ capping turns out to be a less expensive, less disruptive, and more durable approach. However, by using the low adsorption capacity materials, traditional caps do not always fulfill the reduction of risks that can be destructive for human health, ecosystem, and even natural resources. Active caps, therefore, are designed to employ active materials (activated carbon, apatite, zeolite, organoclay, etc.) to strengthen their adsorption and degradation capacity. The active capping technology promises to be a permanent and cost-efficient solution to contaminated sediments. This paper provides a review on the types of active materials and the ways of these active materials employed in recent active capping studies. Cap design considerations including site-specific conditions, diffusion/advection, erosive forces, and active material selection that should be noticed in an eligible remediation project are also presented.

Background S100A9 protein, which is recently classified as a novel damage associated molecular pattern, is released from stressed cells undergoing necrosis or secreted by living cells undergoing a stress that act as endogenous danger signal associated with infection, tissue damage and cancer. Here, we evaluated the relationship of serum S100A9 with viral replication and liver necroinflammation in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection. Methods A total of one hundred and eighty-three recruited patients with CHB infection underwent liver biopsy for grading of necroinflammation (G) and staging of fibrosis (S). Forty-nine healthy individuals were included as healthy controls (HCs). Serum S100A9 levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Correlations of serum S100A9 with viral replication and liver necroinflammation were analyzed. The receiver operating characteristic curve was used to assess the discriminating power of serum S100A9 to grade liver necroinflammation (G). Liver normal L02 cells were transfected with a HBV plasmid, and S100A9 levels were determined. Results Serum S100A9 levels were increased in CHB patients compared to HCs. Intrahepatic immunoreactivity for S100A9 was enhanced in liver sample from CHB patients. Infection of HBV also resulted in an elevated S100A9 expression in L02 cells. Serum S100A9 was correlated with the serum HBV DNA levels. CHB patients with moderate-to-severe liver necroinflammation (G ≥ 2) showed significantly higher serum S100A9 levels than those without or with mild necroinflammation (G

Chronic alcohol intoxication impairs multiple cognitive functions. According to the dual system model (DSM), the development of alcohol dependence (AD) involves the imbalance between the automatic-affective system and the reflective system. However, the cognitive functions of non-AD hazardous drinkers (HDs) remain unclear. The present study aimed to explore how the HDs process facial expressions differently from the healthy subjects. Sixteen HDs and seventeen control subjects (CSs) completed an emotional working memory (WM) task while the electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded. We found that there was no significant group difference in behavioral performance between the two groups. In the ERP data, relative to the CSs, the HDs showed delayed latencies of P1 and N170. Moreover, the CSs showed significant differences between the amplitudes of neural/fear and disgust expressions while these differences were insignificant in the HDs. The current results suggest that the main deficits in the processing of facial expression in HDs existed in the early automatic-affective system instead of in the reflective system.

We study the QCD chiral phase transition at finite temperature and finite quark chemical potential within the two flavor Nambu–Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model, where a generalization of the proper-time regularization scheme is motivated and implemented. We find that in the chiral limit the whole transition line in the phase diagram is of second order, whereas for finite quark masses a crossover is observed. Moreover, if we take into account the influence of quark condensate to the coupling strength (which also provides a possible way of how the effective coupling varies with temperature and quark chemical potential), it is found that a CEP may appear. These findings differ substantially from other NJL results which use alternative regularization schemes, some explanation and discussion are given at the end. This indicates that the regularization scheme can have a dramatic impact on the study of the QCD phase transition within the NJL model.

A new self-compensation method is proposed in this paper. The impedance of a quartz tuning fork changes along with the temperature. A digital driving circuit is designed so that the frequency can be adjusted by controlling the phase. The relationship between the driving amplitude and the temperature is captured in a digital circuit, which can reflect the temperature information. As the relationship is nonlinear, after third-order fitting, the temperature has a precision of 2.356 °C. Finally, the bias stability is optimized and the drift decreases to 1.7 %.

The overlap between pain and reward processing pathways leds researchers to hypothesize that there are interactions between them in the human brain. Two hypotheses have been proposed. The “competition hypothesis” posits that reward can reduce pain-related neural activity and vice versa. The “salience hypothesis” suggests that the motivational salience of pain and reward can be mutually reinforced. However, no study has tested these two hypotheses from temporal perspective as we know. In the present study, pictures depicted other people in painful or non-painful situations were used to indicate the valence of outcomes in a gambling task. The event-related potential results revealed an interaction between another person’s pain and outcome valence in multiple time stages. Specifically, the amplitudes of the N1 and P3 were enhanced in the win condition compared with the loss condition when the outcome was indicated by painful picture. This interactions between pain and reward support the salience hypothesis but not the competition hypothesis. The present results provide evidence from human subjects that support the salience hypothesis, which claims that observing other people’s pain can enhance the salience of reward.

Morality and empathy are both crucial in building human society. Yet the relationship between them has been merely explored. The present study revealed how the morality influenced empathy for pain by comparing the ERPs elicited by pictures showing the targets’ in pain primed by different moral information about the targets. We found that when the target was a moral one or a neutral one, the painful pictures elicited significantly larger amplitude in N2 than the non-painful pictures, but when the target was an immoral one, the difference between the amplitudes of N2 component elicited by painful and non-painful pictures became insignificant. We proposed that this effect was induced by the decreased affective arousal when observing an immoral person in pain. The reduced neural response towards the immoral one’s pain can keep us alert when we face the potentially dangerous people thereby increasing our chance of survival. SLORTEA results showed the source of this difference in N2 localized in the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) areas.

The strategies for tumor-specific expression of suicide genes and target tumor angiogenesis have been tested in tumors. However, the anti-tumor efficacy of the combination of these two strategies, particularly, delivering suicide gene and anti-angiogenesis agent by nanoparticles, has not yet been evaluated in colon carcinoma. We constructed a cassette to silence VEGF-A expression and express a fused yCDglyTK gene driven by tumor-specific promoter (shVEGF-CDTK). The DNA carrying shVEGF-CDTK was delivered into colon carcinoma cells by calcium phosphate nanoparticles (CPNPs). Cell proliferation was measured by MTT assay, and apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry. The anti-tumor effect of the combined cassette was tested in xenograft animal model. With 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC), CPNP-delivered shVEGF-CDTK DNA (CPNP-shVEGF-CDTK) showed high expression of fused yCDglyTK gene and effectively silenced VEGF-A expression in vitro and in vivo, which significantly inhibited colon carcinoma cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in vitro. With 5-FC, the systemic delivery of CPNP-shVEGF-CDTK significantly inhibited tumor growth in the colon carcinoma xenograft animal model. The combined cassette is obviously effective in inhibiting tumor cell proliferation and inducing apoptosis in vitro and tumor growth in vivo than the CPNP-shVEGF or CPNP-CDTK alone. The combination of VEGF-A-silencing and tumor-specific expression of suicide gene is an effective strategy for colon carcinoma treatment.

A fundamental issue in optical burst switching (OBS) networks is to solve the burst contention for the core node. In this paper, a novel priority-based contention solution strategy for OBS networks is proposed. When the contention occurs, the burst priority is considered firstly, and then the burst segmentation method is used for the low priority bursts in this strategy. Ensuring the integrity of high priority bursts, part of the segmented bursts can be transmitted to the destination node via combining wavelength conversion and optical buffer method. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme not only ensures the integrity of high priority bursts, but also reduces the packet loss rate of the low priority bursts maximally, so that it can support good quality of service (QoS) for the network.

Using a battery of working memory span tasks and n-back tasks, this study aimed to explore working memory functions in early-school-age children with Asperger's syndrome (AS). Twelve children with AS and 29 healthy children matched on age and IQ were recruited. Results showed: (a) children with AS performed better in digit and word recall tasks, but worse in block recall task and variant-visual-patterns test; (b) children with AS took longer time in most conditions of n-back tasks, and showed larger effects of task load. These findings indicated imbalance of working memory development in AS children: they had advantage in the phonological loop storing, but disadvantage in the visuospatial sketchpad storing, and partial deficit in central executive.

Two-dimensional (2-D) layered metal-organic coordination (lead methacrylate (LDMA)) networks have been prepared in aqueous solution under mild conditions and their structure determined by single crystal diffraction. As the ligand used in our experiments is easily to polymerized, these metal-organic coordination layers are therefore employed as precursors to fabricate cross-linked polymer layered materials through γ-irradiated polymerization. The stabilities of the samples are significantly improved after γ-irradiation. To our knowledge, this is the first time that covalent bonded polymer layered structures have been fabricated without the assistance of added surfactant or template. Such layered polymer materials cannot only act as alternative to layered inorganic materials in some caustic environments, but also allows the generation of PbS nanoparticles (NPs) without aggregation in the polymer matrix. By exposing the polymer layer to H2S gas at room temperature, uniform PbS nanoparticles with an average size of about 6 nm are generated in situ. In addition, the resulting PbS NPs exhibit near-infrared (NIR) luminescent properties, which suggests the composite materials may be useful as active optical elements at communication wavelengths from 1300 to 1550 nm.

The precipitation behavior of Cr2N during isothermal aging in the temperature range from 700 °C to 950 °C in Fe-18Cr-12Mn-0.48N (in mass percent) high nitrogen austenitic stainless steel, including morphology and content of precipitate, was investigated using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The isothermal precipitation kinetics curve of Cr2N and the corresponding precipitation activation energy were obtained. The results show that Cr2N phase precipitates in a cellular way and its morphology is transformed from initial granular precipitates to lamellar ones in the cell with increasing aging time. The nose temperature of Cr2N precipitation is about 800 °C, with a corresponding incubation period of 30 min, and the ceiling temperature of Cr2N precipitation is 950 °C. The diffusion activation energy of Cr2N precipitation is 296 kJ/mol.

A gene-encoding imidase was isolated from Pseudomonas putdia YZ-26 genomic DNA using a combination of polymerase chain reaction and activity screening the recombinant. Analysis of the nucleotide sequence revealed that an open reading frame (ORF) of 879 bp encoded a protein of 293 amino acids with a calculated molecular weight of 33712.6 kDa. The deduced amino-acid sequence showed 78% identity with the imidase from Alcaligenes eutrophus 112R4 and 80% identity with N-terminal 20 amino-acid imidase from Blastobacter sp. A17p-4. Next, the ORF was subcloned into vector pET32a to form recombinant plasmid pEI. The enzyme was overexpressed in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity by Ni(2+)-NTA column, with 75% activity recovery. The subunit molecular mass of the recombinant imidase as estimated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was approximately 36 kDa, whereas its functional unit was approximately 141 kDa with four identical subunits determined by size-exclusion chromatography. The purified enzyme showed the highest activity and affinity toward succinimide, and some other substrates, such as dihydrouracil, hydantoin, succinimide, and maleimde, were investigated.

Platinum (Pt) nanoparticles were deposited at the surface of well-aligned multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) by potential cycling between +0.50 and −0.70 V at a scanning rate of 50 mV · s−1 in 5 mM Na2PtCl6 solution containing 0.1 M NaCl. The electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol at the nanocomposites of Pt nanoparticles/nanotubes (Ptnano/MWNTs) has been investigated using 0.2 M H2SO4 as supporting electrolyte. The effects of various parameters, such as Pt loading, concentration of methanol, medium temperature as well as the stability of Ptnano/MWNTs electrode, have been studied. Compared to glassy carbon electrode, carbon nanotube electrode significantly enhances the catalytic efficiency of Pt nanoparticles for methanol oxidation. This improvement in performance is due not only to the high surface area and the fast electron transfer rate of nanotubes but also to the highly dispersed Pt nanoparticles as electrocatalysts at the tips and the sidewalls of nanotubes.

By employing some modification to the normal NJL model, we discuss the Wigner solution of quark gap equation at finite temperature and chemical potential when the current quark mass m is nonzero. The discovery of the coexistence of the Nambu solution and the Wigner solution at finite temperature and chemical potential beyond the chiral limit is of great importance in the study of the chiral phase transition of QCD. Using the pressure difference between Nambu phase and Wigner phase (or in other words, the bag constant) as an order parameter for chiral phase transition, we draw a possible phase diagram based on our calculations.

We studied the distribution of soil nutrients, the number of soil microorganisms, soil enzyme activities, and their relationships in pure and mixed plantations. Soil enzyme activities, the number of soil microorganisms, and soil nutrients were measured in plantations of Chinese pine (Pinustabulaeformis), larch (Larix kaempferi), sharp tooth oak (Quercus aliena var. acuteserrata), Manchurian catalpa (Catalpa fargesii), and mixed plantations in the Qinling Mountains, China. Compared with pure plantations, the conifer-broad-leaved broadleaf mixed plantations increased total N, available N, total P, available K, and organic matter in the forest soil; promoted the activities of invertase and urease by 16.7% and 53.8%; and increased the total amount of soil microorganisms by 95.9% and the number of bacteria by 104.5% (p