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Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) witnesses human creativity and wisdom in long histories, composed of a variety of immaterial manifestations. The rapid development of digital technologies accelerates the record of ICH, generating a sheer number of heterogenous data but in a state of fragmentation. To resolve that, existing studies mainly adopt approaches of knowledge graphs (KGs) which can provide rich knowledge representation. However, most KGs are text-based and text-derived, and incapable to give related images and empower downstream multimodal tasks, which is also unbeneficial for the public to establish the visual perception and comprehend ICH completely especially when they do not have the related ICH knowledge. Hence, aimed at that, we propose to, taking the Chinese nation-level ICH list as an example, construct a large-scale and comprehensive Multimodal Knowledge Graph (CICHMKG) combining text and image entities from multiple data sources and give a practical construction framework. Additionally, in this paper, to select representative images for ICH entities, we propose a method composed of the denoising algorithm (CNIFA) and a series of criteria, utilizing global and local visual features of images and textual features of captions. Extensive empirical experiments demonstrate its effectiveness. Lastly, we construct the CICHMKG, consisting of 1,774,005 triples, and visualize it to facilitate the interactions and help the public dive into ICH deeply.

Backgroud The role of epigenetic modifications in tumorigenesis has been widely reported. However, the role and mechanism of H3K4me3 modification in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) are rarely reported systematically. We, therefore, sought to analyze the characteristics of LUAD associated with H3K4me3 modification, build an H3K4me3-lncRNAs score model to predict the prognosis of patients with LUAD and clarify the potential value of H3K4me3 in immunotherapy of LUAD. Methods We evaluated H3K4me3-lncRNA patterns and H3K4me3-lncRNA scores of 477 LUAD samples based on 53 lncRNAs closely correlated to H3K4me3 regulators and comprehensive analyzed the role of these patterns in tumorigenesis and tumor immunity. Using Gene set variation analysis (GSVA), we systematically evaluated the H3K4me3 level of every sample and deeply analyzed the effect of H3K4me3 on the prognosis of LUAD. In addition, we included two independent immunotherapy cohorts to study the impact of high H3K4me3 score on the prognosis of patients. We also used an independent cohort with 52 matched paraffin specimens of LUAD to verify the impact of high H3K3me3 expression on the prognosis of patients. Results We identified three H3K4me3-lncRNA patterns that exhibited specific immune characteristics. Characterized by immunosuppressive and increased TGFβ-mediated epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), patients with high H3K4me3-lncRNA score had a poor overall survival and decreased H3K4me3 score. H3K4me3 score was significantly positively correlated with CD4+T-cell and CD8+T-cell activation, programmed cell death and immune checkpoints (ICs) expression, and was negatively correlated with MYC pathway, TP53 pathway, and cell proliferation. Patients with high H3K4me3 score showed elevated expression of ICs, potentiated CD4 T-cell and CD8 T-cell activation, increased programmed cell death, and suppressed cell proliferation and TGFβ-mediated EMT. Patients with high H3K4me3 score and high expression of CTLA4, ICOS, TIGIT, PDCD1LG2, IDO1, CD274, PDCD1, LAG3, or HAVCR2 had the best survival advantage. Two independent immunotherapy cohorts verified that patients with high H3K4me3 score showed an increased inflamed tumor microenvironment (TME) phenotype and enhanced anti-PD-1/L1 immunotherapy response. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) data from 52 matched paraffin specimens of LUAD confirmed that the protein level of H3K4me3 in tumor was significantly lower than that of paracancerous tissues and H3K4me3 brought significant survival benefits to patients with LUAD. Conclusions We build an H3K4me3-lncRNAs score model to predict the prognosis of patients with LUAD. More importantly, this study revealed characteristics of H3K4me3 modification in LUAD and clarified the important potential role of H3K4me3 on tumor immunotherapy and patients’ survival.

The Shanghai laser electron gamma source (SLEGS) is a powerful tool for exploring photonuclear physics, such as giant dipole resonance (GDR) and pygmy dipole resonance, which are the main mechanisms of collective nuclear motion. The goal of the SLEGS neutron time-of-flight (TOF) spectrometer is to measure GDR and specific nuclear structures in the energy region above the neutron threshold. The SLEGS TOF spectrometer was designed to hold 20 sets of EJ301 and $${\hbox {LaBr}_{3}}$$ LaBr 3 detectors. Geant4 was used to simulate the efficiency of each detector and the entire spectrometer, which provides a reference for the selection of detectors and layout of the SLEGS TOF spectrometer. Under the events of $$^{208}\hbox {Pb}$$ 208 Pb , implementations of coincidence and time-of-flight technology for complex experiments are available; thus, $$\gamma $$ γ and neutron decay events can be separated. The performance of SLEGS TOF spectrometer was systematically evaluated using offline experiments, in which the time resolution reached approximately 0.9 ns.

This study identified QTLs associated with the functional stay green trait by a high-density genetic map. Two large effect QTLs, QSg.sau-2B.1 and QSg.sau-6A.2, were identified in multiple years and one of them was successfully validated. The functional stay green phenotype enables wheat to acclimate to stressful environments and prolongs the effectiveness of photosynthesis during the end-of-crop season. Despite the fact that stay green mutants in wheat have been reported, our knowledge of loci for the functional stay green trait remains limited. In this study, an RIL population containing 371 lines genotyped using the Wheat55K SNP array was used to map QTLs controlling the functional stay green trait in multiple years. In total, 21 and 19 QTLs were mapped using the BIP or MET modules of the ICIM method, respectively. Among them, two QTLs, QSg.sau-2B.1 and QSg.sau-6A.2, were considered large effect QTLs for the stay green trait and explained 11.43% and 15.27% of phenotypic variation on average, respectively. Two KASP markers were developed and tightly linked to QSg.sau-2B.1 and QSg.sau-6A.2, respectively, and the genetic effects of different genotypes in the RIL population were successfully confirmed. QSg.sau-2B.1 was also validated by linked KASP marker in different genetic backgrounds. QSg.sau-2B.1 and QSg.sau-6A.2 may influence heredity of the stay green trait and also exhibited a positive effect on the grain filling content. In the interval where QSg.sau-2B.1 and QSg.sau-6A.2 were located on the Chinese Spring and T. turgidum ssp. dicoccoides reference genomes, several genes associated with the leaf senescence process were identified. Altogether, our results identified two QTLs associated with the functional stay green trait and will be useful for the fine mapping and cloning of genes for stay green in the future.

Multiple primary lung cancer (MPLC) with lymph node metastasis (LNM) is a rare phenomenon of multifocal lung cancer. The genomic landscapes of MPLC and the clonal evolution pattern between primary lung lesions and lymph node metastasis haven’t been fully illustrated. We performed whole-exome sequencing (WES) on 52 FFPE (Formalin-fixed Paraffin-Embedded) samples from 11 patients diagnosed with MPLC with LNM. Genomic profiling and phylogenetic analysis were conducted to infer the evolutional trajectory within each patient. The top 5 most frequently mutated genes in our study were TTN (76.74%), MUC16 (62.79%), MUC19 (55.81%), FRG1 (46.51%), and NBPF20 (46.51%). For most patients in our study, a substantial of genetic alterations were mutually exclusive among the multiple pulmonary tumors of the same patient, suggesting their heterogenous origins. Individually, the genetic profile of lymph node metastatic lesions overlapped with that of multiple lung cancers in different degrees but are more genetically related to specific pulmonary lesions. SETD2 was a potential metastasis biomarker of MPLC. The mean putative neo-antigen number of the primary tumor (646.5) is higher than that of lymph node metastases (300, p = 0.2416). Primary lung tumors and lymph node metastases are highly heterogenous in immune repertoires. Our findings portrayed the comprehensive genomic landscape of MPLC with LNM. We characterized the genomic heterogeneity among different tumors. We offered novel clues to the clonal evolution between MPLC and their lymphatic metastases, thus advancing the treatment strategies and preventions of MPLC with LNM.

Space Information Network (SIN) is a multi-purpose heterogeneous network. Due to the large-scale of SIN, its secure and stable operation is vulnerable to various threats. Much of current threat analysis for SIN is based on the network function or architecture. However, this approach cannot clearly divide the relation between threats and secure communication measures for a highly integrated network. Furthermore, it will lead to overlapping in segregation of secure duties. This paper presents a comprehensive review of threats and corresponding solutions in SIN from the perspective of network security attributes. In order to make the analysis applicable to more scenarios, the following three most essential attributes, confidentiality, integrity and availability, are selected as the threatened objectives. At the same time, for cross-reference with the analysis based on network function or architecture, this paper relates network layers to network security attributes through secure communication mechanisms. Specifically, the confidentiality includes confidential information-exchange and Authentication and Key Agreement (AKA), the integrity includes information identification and information restoration, and the availability includes link establishment, routing mechanism, and mobility management. According to above framework, this paper provides a cross-layer perspective for analyzing threat and enhancing the security and stability of SIN. Finally, this paper concludes with a summary of challenges and future work in SIN.

Objective This study aims to investigate the clinical application and feasibility of C2 subfacetal screws in patients with Klippel-Feil syndrome (KFS), narrow C2 pedicles, and high-riding vertebral arteries (HRVAs). Methods The clinical data of seven patients with KFS, atlantoaxial dislocation, narrow C2 pedicles, and HRVAs treated with C2 subfacetal screws were analyzed in this retrospective study. The internal height, isthmus height, and pedicle width of C2 vertebra were measured using preoperative computed tomography (CT). Subfacetal screws were inserted for 7 patients (12 sides). The position and length of the screws were observed using postoperative CT. Intraoperative dura mater and vertebral artery (VA) injuries were recorded. Bone fusion was observed using follow-up CT. Results The internal height was 10.5 ± 3.2 mm, the isthmus height was 3.7 ± 1.8 mm, the pedicle width was 3.0 ± 1.4 mm, and the screw length was 19.7 ± 1.5 mm. All patients had HRVAs and narrow pedicles. No injury to the dura mater and vertebral artery (VA) occurred in this group of patients. Bone fusion was achieved in all patients during follow-up. Conclusions In patients with KFS, HRVA, and a narrow C2 pedicle, there is sufficient space below the C2 articular surface for screw insertion. When the pedicle is narrow and the C2 pedicle screw is not suitable for placement due to possible injury to the VA, subfacetal screws are a feasible alternative.

The clinical significance and comprehensive features of chemokines and their receptors in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) have not been clarified. We aimed to characterize the expression profiles of chemokine and chemokine receptor family members and construct a chemokine- and chemokine receptor-based prognosis signature. A total of 1511 patients with LUAD from seven independent cohorts were included in the study. The training set collected from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database containing 468 cases. The validation was performed on the basis of six different cohorts downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. A five-chemokine- and chemokine receptor-(CXCL2, CXCL13, CCL26, CCL20, CX3CR1) based prognosis signature was constructed with TCGA dataset using LASSO Cox regression and Cox proportional hazards regression analysis. A multivariate analysis verified that this signature was an independent prognostic factor. The predictive value of this signature was further verified by other six independent cohorts and multiple clinical subtypes. We performed immune cell infiltration analysis and biological pathway analysis which provided more insight into this signature-related immune and inflammatory landscape and clarified the intrinsic molecular mechanism by which this signature could be used to predict clinical prognosis. Furthermore, we explored the close relationship between this signature and tumor mutation burden (TMB), neoantigen burden, PD-1, PD-L1, CTLA4, TIDE score, T cell-inflamed score. This signature provided a robust prognostic biomarker for LUAD and could serve as a predictor for immunotherapy response, which may be used as an important supplement to immunotherapy to achieve individualized tumor treatment by optimizing the prognostic management and immunotherapy for patients with LUAD.

The Shanghai Laser Electron Gamma Source (SLEGS) is a powerful gamma source that provides MeV gamma-ray beams for nuclear science and technology. It was developed as one of the 16 beamline stations in the Phase II Project of the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility. The slant-scattering mode is for the first time systematically employed in laser Compton scattering at SLEGS to produce energy-tunable quasi-monoenergetic gamma-ray beams. The SLEGS officially completed its commissioning from July to December 2021. Gamma rays in the energy range of 0.25–21.7 MeV with a flux of 2.1 × 104–1.2 × 107 photons/s and an energy spread of 2–15% were produced during the test. This paper reports the results from commissioning the SLEGS beamline.

Magnetoelectric composites have attracted widespread attention during the past few decades due to their strong magnetoelectric coupling effect and potential applications above room temperature. Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4/Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3 composites have been prepared by the conventional high-temperature solid-state method and the effects of Al2O3 addition on their microstructure, dielectric, ferroelectric, and magnetic properties studied. x-Ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed the biphase structure of the composites. scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that addition of a certain amount of Al2O3 can enhance the density and promote uniform growth of particle size. The sample with 1 wt.% Al2O3 addition exhibited the largest dielectric constant and lowest dielectric loss ( 354°C). The sample with 3 wt.% Al2O3 addition presented the best ferroelectric properties, with the highest values of residual polarization (Pr = 2.2150 μC/cm2) and coercive field (Ec = 30.6527 kV/cm) among the specimens. The remanent magnetization (Mr) and saturated magnetization (Ms) decreased with increasing Al2O3 content. In short, addition of Al2O3 caused changes in the grain size, density, and defects, and addition of a certain amount of Al2O3 can improve the magnetoelectric properties.

To optimize the process parameters of calcium sulfate whisker (CSW) modified asphalt, the response surface methodology (RSM) was adopted to determine the optimum values of process parameters. Three influence factors, stirring time, stirring temperature, and development temperature (i.e., the temperature set by the forced-air oven to stabilize the internal structure of the modified asphalt sample after stirring), were selected to determine the process of modification. Three performances including high-temperature performance, low-temperature performance, and deformation resistance relating to the service of asphalt were analyzed as responses by testing in the Box–Behnken model. The results showed that, within the scope of this study, the optimum process parameters were stirring time of 32 min, stirring temperature of 175 °C, and development temperature of 175 °C, which have reliable accuracy compared with actual experimental results. In addition, the effect of three process parameters on asphalt performances was also researched, and it was found that stirring time has a more significant influence on the softening point, penetration at 25 °C and ductility at 10 °C interacting with other two factors.

This research studied the effect of freeze–thaw cycles on the thermal conductivity, water permeability and mechanical properties of asphalt mixtures in the cold region. Three types of asphalt mixtures, namely a stone mastic asphalt (SMA) mixture, dense graded asphalt concrete (AC), asphalt-treated base (ATB) mixture, were produced in the laboratory. The thermal conductivity test and water permeability test were used to study the thermal conductivity and water permeability of asphalt mixtures, respectively. Meanwhile, the uniaxial compression test and indirect tensile test were carried out to investigate the mechanical properties of asphalt mixtures. The results showed that with the increase in the number of freeze–thaw cycles, the thermal conductivity and mechanical properties of all asphalt mixtures were weakened, while the water permeability of them was improved. In addition, the effect of freeze–thaw cycles on the thermal conductivity and mechanical properties of ATB mixture was more significant than that of SMA mixture and AC.

β-galactosidases, commonly referred to as lactases, are used for producing lactose-free dairy products. Lactases are usually purified from microbial sources, which is a costly process. Here, we explored the potential that lies in using whole cells of a food-grade dairy lactic acid bacterium, Streptococcus thermophilus, as a substitute for purified lactase. We found that S. thermophilus cells, when treated with the antimicrobial peptide nisin, were able to hydrolyze lactose efficiently. The rate of hydrolysis increased with temperature; however, above 50 °C, stability was compromised. Different S. thermophilus strains were tested, and the best candidate was able to hydrolyze 80% of the lactose in a 50 g/L solution in 4 h at 50 °C, using only 0.1 g/L cells (dry weight basis). We demonstrated that it was possible to grow the cell catalyst on dairy waste, and furthermore, that a cell-free supernatant of a culture of a nisin-producing Lactococcus lactis strain could be used instead of purified nisin, which reduced cost of use significantly. Finally, we tested the cell catalysts in milk, where lactose also was efficiently hydrolyzed. The method presented is natural and low-cost, and allows for production of clean-label and lactose-free dairy products without using commercial enzymes from recombinant microorganisms. • Nisin-permeabilized Streptococcus thermophilus cells can hydrolyze lactose efficiently. • A low-cost and more sustainable alternative to purified lactase enzymes. • Reduction of overall sugar content. • Clean-label production of lactose-free dairy products.

Histone modification is an important form of epigenetic regulation. Thereinto, histone methylation is a critical determination of chromatin states, participating in multiple cellular processes. As a conserved histone methylation mark, histone 3 lysine 36 trimethylation (H3K36me3) can mediate multiple transcriptional-related events, such as the regulation of transcriptional activity, transcription elongation, pre-mRNA alternative splicing, and RNA m6A methylation. Additionally, H3K36me3 also contributes to DNA damage repair. Given the crucial function of H3K36me3 in genome regulation, the roles of H3K36me3 and its sole methyltransferase SETD2 in pathogenesis, especially malignancies, have been emphasized in many studies, and it is conceivable that disruption of histone methylation regulatory network composed of “writer”, “eraser”, “reader”, and the mutation of H3K36me3 codes have the capacity of powerfully modulating cancer initiation and development. Here we review H3K36me3-mediated biological processes and summarize the latest findings regarding its role in cancers. We highlight the significance of epigenetic combination therapies in cancers.

Background Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is one of the most lethal urological malignancies, but the pathogenesis and prognosis of ccRCC remain obscure, which need to be better understand. Methods Differentially expressed genes were identified and function enrichment analyses were performed using three publicly available ccRCC gene expression profiles downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. The protein-protein interaction and the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks were visualized by Cytoscape. Multivariate Cox analysis was used to predict an optimal risk mode, and the survival analysis was performed with the Kaplan-Meier curve and log-rank test. Protein expression data were downloaded from Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium database and Human Protein Atlas database, and the clinical information as well as the corresponding lncRNA and miRNA expression data were obtained via The Cancer Genome Atlas database. The co-expressed genes and potential function of candidate genes were explored using data exacted from the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia database. Results Of the 1044 differentially expressed genes shared across the three datasets, 461 were upregulated, and 583 were downregulated, which significantly enriched in multiple immunoregulatory-related biological process and tumor-associated pathways, such as HIF-1, PI3K-AKT, P53 and Rap1 signaling pathways. In the most significant module, 36 hub genes were identified and were predominantly enriched in inflammatory response and immune and biotic stimulus pathways. Survival analysis and validation of the hub genes at the mRNA and protein expression levels suggested that these genes, particularly complement component 3 (C3) and fibronectin 1 (FN1), were primarily responsible for ccRCC tumorigenesis and progression. Increased expression of C3 or FN1 was also associated with advanced clinical stage, high pathological grade, and poor survival in patients with ccRCC. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis qualified the expression levels of the two genes as candidate biomarkers for predicting poor survival. FN1 was potentially regulated by miR-429, miR-216b and miR-217, and constructed a bridge to C3 and C3AR1 in the ceRNA network, indicating a critical position of FN1. Conclusions The biomarkers C3 and FN1 could provide theoretical support for the development of a novel prognostic tool to advance ccRCC diagnosis and targeted therapy.

The (1 − x) Bi (Fe0.9Al0.05Yb0.05) O3–xBaTiO3 (BFAYO-x BTO) ceramics were synthesized by microwave sintering (MWS) and conventional sintering (CS) methods. The crystal structure, surface morphology, dielectric and ferroelectric properties were investigated. XRD patterns show that BTO tetragonal and BFO rhombohedral phases coexist in both MWS and CS samples, and that the diffraction peaks of MWS samples shift to lower angles due to the larger ionic radius of Ba2+ compared with Bi3+. The lattice constant of BFAYO-x BTO ceramics increases with the increase of BTO content. It was found that the average grain size of the MWS ceramic is much smaller than that of the CS ceramic. Dielectric measurements reveal that the dielectric loss and dielectric constant increase with BTO content increasing. The introduction of BTO into BFAYO-based ceramic contribute to the enhancement of the dielectric relaxation behavior. The P–E hysteresis loops demonstrate that the remnant polarization (Pr) and the coercive field (EC) of the MWS samples are smaller than those of the CS samples. Pr and EC first increase, then decrease and then increase again with the increase of BTO content. The maximum and minimum values of the remnant polarization were obtained at x = 0.25 and 0.3, respectively.

Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4/Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3 (NZFO/BST) magnetoelectric composites were synthesized through traditional solid-phase method, and effects of IrO2 addition on the microstructure, surface appearance and magnetoelectric properties were comparatively investigated. XRD patterns demonstrate a spinel structure of NZFO and tetragonal perovskite structure of BST, and the addition of IrO2 is conducive to improving the crystallinity of materials. SEM presents that a certain amount of IrO2 is beneficial to the growth of ceramic grains and the densification of ceramics. Through SEM and EDS analysis, it is found that the smaller grain size is BST, and its size is about 100 nm. Sample NZFO/BST-5% has the largest average grain size (~ 277.51), while sample NZFO/BST-1% has a relative density of 91.23%. The relaxation behavior is more obvious with the addition of a certain content of IrO2, which leads to the increase of dielectric constants. In the high temperature region (> 200 ℃), the sample exhibits a large dielectric loss, particularly, the more the content of IrO2, the more obvious this phenomenon is. The addition of IrO2 causes the larger leakage current of NZFO/BST composites so that samples NZFO/BST-3% and NZFO/BST-5% exhibit poor ferroelectricity, in addition, the magnetic properties of the sample are also weakened, and the NZFO/BST composites exhibited a soft ferromagnetic behavior.

Purpose: For the emerging pandemic Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), no clear description on its deaths’ clinical characteristics and causes of death is available. Hence, this study analyzed clinical characteristics of 77 COVID-19 deaths, providing data support to further understand this disease.Method: A retrospective analysis of 77 COVID-19 deaths in East Branch, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University from February 1 to March 7, 2020 was performed in clinical characteristics, laboratory results, causes of death, and subgroup comparison. Results: Totally 72.7% of the deaths (male-female ratio: 51:26, average age at death: 71, mean survival time: 17.4 days) had hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, chronic lung disease, and other comorbidities. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and sepsis were the main causes of death. Increases in C-reactive protein (CRP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), D-dimer and lactic acid (LAC), and decreases in lymphocyte, cluster of differentiation (CD) 4+ and CD8+ cells were common in laboratory results. Subgroup analysis showed: 1) Most female deaths had cough and diabetes. 2) The male proportion in young and middle-aged deaths was higher; while elderly deaths were more prone to myocardial injury and elevated CRP. 3) There was no statistical difference between short-term and non-short-term survival subgroups. 4) CRP and LDH increased and CD4+ and CD8+ cells decreased significantly in patients with hypertension.Conclusions: The majority of COVID-19 deaths are males, especially the elderly with underlying diseases. The main causes of death include ARDS and sepsis. Most female deaths have cough and diabetes. Myocardial injury is common in elderly deaths. Patients with hypertension are prone to increased inflammatory index, tissue hypoxia and cellular immune injury.Authors Kaige Wang and Zhixin Qiu contributed equally to this work.

Self-supported Fe3N-Co2N nanoarray with high electric conductivity and large surface area was prepared for growth of MIPs and further constructing a sensitive and stable electrochemical sensor. For the evaluation of its performance, Fe3N-Co2N is used as sensing electrode material, and AMP is used as template molecule to construct the MIP electrochemical sensor. Under the optimized conditions, the developed MIPs electrochemical sensor detects AMP with a low detection limit of 3.65 × 10−10 mol L−1 and shows outstanding reproducibility and stability. When the MIPs electrochemical sensor was applied to detect AMP in milk samples via standard addition method, the recovery within 97.06–102.43% with RSD of 1.05–2.11% was obtained. The fabrication of MIPs electrochemical sensor is highly promising for sensitive and selective electrochemical measurement and food safety testing. This work can provide theoretical guidance for truly challenging problems.

Background Ureteral intussusception, a rarely reported unique condition, occurs primarily as a complication of ureteric tumours. Case presentation We present a case of ureteral intussusception accompanied with a large ureteral polyp periodically protruding into the bladder cavity occurring in a 56-year-old man who experienced vague flank pain and intermittent haematuria. The patient was successfully treated by ureteroscopic cauterization combined with partial ureterectomy with reanastomosis. Conclusions This is the first report that describes polyp-related ureteral intussusception using comprehensive and representative ureteroscopic images and video. Our findings suggest that ureteroscopy is vital for diagnosis. Extensive biopsies through ureteroscopy are less invasive, and make it easier to exclude the presence of ureteral malignancies. Ureteroscopic resection of the whole polyp with its stalk and intussusceptum using Holmium: YAG laser did not seem viable in this case. However, cauterization of partial polyp tissues followed by open surgery for segmental resection of the ureter with reanastomosis is helpful in controlling such patient well-being.

DNA methylation plays a significant role in many biological processes. Although some studies of DNA methylation have been performed in woody plant, none is known about the methylation patterns of mulberry (Morus alba). In this study, we performed whole genome bisulfite sequencing under drought stress to generate a methylated cytosines map and assessed the effects of the changes on gene expression combined with transcriptomics. We found that the percentage of methylated cytosines varied depending on the local sequence context (CG, CHG and CHH) and external treatment (control, CK; drought stress, DS). The methylation levels under DS were 8.64% higher than that of CK, and differences that were mainly due to the contribution of mCG (6.24%). Additionally, there were 3,243 different methylation and expression associated genes. In addition, methylated genes were enriched within GO subcategories including catalytic activity, cellular process, metabolic process, response to stimulus and regulation of biological process. This is the first study to comprehensively present methylation patterns in mulberry and reveal widespread DNA methylation changes in response to drought stress, which has the potential to enhance our understanding of links between DNA methylation and the modulation of gene expression in plants subjected to abiotic stresses.

A convenient one-pot method, called high-temperature high-energy mechanical force (HTHEMF), was successfully developed for the preparation of LiFePO4/C composites. Upon the combination of high-temperature with high-energy mechanical force, the whole synthesis process of this method is very simple and only involves two steps, the precursor preparation and the calcination step. The results of XRD, SEM, BET and electrochemical performance tests indicated that after calcination at 600 °C for 9 h, the LiFePO4/C composites have the best properties. The discharge capacity of the composites was 150.3mA h g-1 at 0.1 C. After 30 cycles test, the reversible capacity was 147 mA h g-1 and the retention ratio to the initial capacity was 97.8%. The results indicated that LiFePO4/C composites with good properties can be obtained by one-pot HTHEMF method.

In this paper, a generalized double shift-splitting (GDSS) preconditioner induced by a new matrix splitting method is proposed and implemented for nonsymmetric generalized saddle point problems having a nonsymmetric positive definite (1,1)-block and a positive definite (2,2)-block. Detailed theoretical analysis of the iteration matrix is provided to show the GDSS method, which corresponds to the GDSS preconditioner, is unconditionally convergent. Additionally, a deteriorated GDSS (DGDSS) method is proposed. It is shown that, with suitable choice of parameter matrix, the DGDSS preconditioned matrix has an eigenvalue at 1 with multiplicity n, and the other m eigenvalues are of the form $$1-\lambda $$ with $$|\lambda

A simple sensor ordered mesoporous carbon/glassy carbon electrode (OMC/GCE) is developed in this paper for melamine (Mel) detection, which is based on conversion of Mel from non-electroactive Mel to electroactive Cu-Mel complex under presence of copper ions in 0.1 M pH 9.0 borate buffer containing 20% methanol (v/v) as supporting electrolyte at the surface of OMC modified electrode. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra demonstrate that Mel interact with copper ions to form a complex through coordinate bond interaction. Surface feature of modified electrode was characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV). Several important parameters controlling performance of the sensor were investigated and optimized. In optimal conditions, the anodic peak of Cu-Mel complex is linear with concentration of Mel ranging from 1.0 × 10−8 to 5.0 × 10−7 M and 5.0 × 10−7 to 2.0 × 10−5 M, with limit of detection (LOD) (based on S/N = 3) of 2.0 × 10−9 M for Mel. This sensor was successfully applied to determination of Mel in milk products.

In order to achieve the best effects of water injection in coal seam, ANSYS software, which combines stress–strain relationship with computational fluid dynamics, was used to simulate the pressure and velocity field of coal seam under water injection pressures of 20 and 3 MPa for determining the optimal injection parameters. Simulation results showed that the high pressure could significantly enhance the wetting effect of coal, and that the water dilutive wet coal range under 20 MPa was about 1.93 times larger than that under 3 MPa. On this basis, the high and low pressure combined coal seam water injection technique was designed and applied to the #1305 fully mechanized top coal caving face in the Dongtan coal mine, and dust concentration and rock burst energy in the working face before and after water injection were statistically tested. It was found that the average reduction rates of total dust and respirable dust were 52.96 and 53.84% respectively, and that the released energy of a single rock burst was controlled within 105 J after adopting the combined technique. It is believed that the combined water injection technique has an obvious effect on dust control and rock burst prevention.

In this paper, an improved block splitting preconditioner for a class of complex symmetric indefinite linear systems is proposed. By adopting two iteration parameters and the relaxation technique, the new preconditioner not only remains the same computational cost with the block preconditioners but also is much closer to the original coefficient matrix. The theoretical analysis shows that the corresponding iteration method is convergent under suitable conditions and the preconditioned matrix can have well-clustered eigenvalues around (0,1) with a reasonable choice of the relaxation parameters. An estimate concerning the dimension of the Krylov subspace for the preconditioned matrix is also obtained. Finally, some numerical experiments are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the presented preconditioner.

This study provides new insights that alternative splicing participates with transcriptional control in defense responses to Colletotrichum sublineola in sorghum In eukaryotic organisms, alternative splicing (AS) is an important post-transcriptional mechanism to generate multiple transcript isoforms from a single gene. Protein variants translated from splicing isoforms may have altered molecular characteristics in signal transduction and metabolic activities. However, which transcript isoforms will be translated into proteins and the biological functions of the resulting proteoforms are yet to be identified. Sorghum is one of the five major cereal crops, but its production is severely affected by fungal diseases. For example, sorghum anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum sublineola greatly reduces grain yield and biomass production. In this study, next-generation sequencing technology was used to analyze C. sublineola-inoculated sorghum seedlings compared with mock-inoculated control. It was identified that AS regulation may be as important as traditional transcriptional control during defense responses to fungal infection. Moreover, several genes involved in flavonoid and phenylpropanoid biosynthetic pathways were found to undergo multiple AS modifications. Further analysis demonstrated that non-conventional targets of both 5'- and 3'-splice sites were alternatively used in response to C. sublineola infection. Splicing factors were also affected at both transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. As the first transcriptome report on C. sublineola infected sorghum, our work also suggested that AS plays crucial functions in defense responses to fungal invasion.

(1 − x)BaTiO3–xBiAlO3 relaxor ferroelectric ceramics were prepared by the conventional sintering (CS) and the microwave sintering (MWS) methods, respectively. The microstructure, the dielectric properties, the relaxation characteristic, the ferroelectric and the energy storage properties were investigated in detail. The results show that a single perovskite phase exists in ceramic samples sintered by CS and MWS. The addition of BiAlO3 into BaTiO3 and the MWS method result in the reduction of the grain size and the porosity of BaTiO3 ceramic. This leads to the enhanced diffuse transition and frequency dispersion. The dielectric constant and loss decrease with increasing the BiAlO3 content, and the temperature and the frequency stabilities are enhanced by introducing BiAlO3 into BaTiO3. The remnant polarization (Pr) increases initially and then decreases with the increase of BiAlO3 content, the maximum values of Pr (9.5 μC/cm2 for CS and 7.27 μC/cm2 for MWS) are obtained at x = 0.02. The addition of BiAlO3 can elevate the variation of polarization ΔP (Pmax − Pr), its maximum values (12.56 μC/cm2 for CS ceramic and 12.2 μC/cm2 for MWS ceramic) are acquired at x = 0.04, 0.08, respectively. The energy storage properties indicate that the energy storage density (Wrec) increases, while the energy storage efficiency (η) firstly decreases and then increases with the increase of x.

Chiari I malformation has been shown to present different cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow patterns at the cranial-vertebral junction (CVJ). Posterior fossa decompression is the first-line treatment for symptomatic Chiari I malformation. However, there is still controversy on the indication and selection of decompression procedures. This research aims to investigate the clinical indications, outcomes, and complications of the decompression procedures as alternative treatments for Chiari I malformation, based on the different CSF flow patterns at the cranial-vertebral junction. In this study, 126 Chiari I malformation patients treated with the two decompression procedures were analyzed. According to the preoperative findings obtained by using cine phase-contrast MRI (cine PC-MRI), the abnormal CSF flow dynamics at the CVJ in Chiari I malformation was classified into three patterns. After a preoperative evaluation and an intraoperative ultrasound after craniectomy, the two procedures were alternatively selected to treat the Chiari I malformation. The indication and selection of the two surgical procedures, as well as their outcomes and complications, are reported in detail in this work. Forty-eight patients underwent subdural decompression (SDD), and 78 received subarachnoid manipulation (SAM). Ninety patients were diagnosed as having Chiari I malformation with a syrinx. Two weeks after the operation, the modified Japanese Orthopedic Association (mJOA) scores increased from the preoperative value of 10.67 ± 1.61 to 12.74 ± 2.01 (P

Due to their superior mechanical characteristics, nanoporous materials and structures have attracted increasing interest in the last decade. The mechanical and physical properties of the surface layer are different from the bulk material when the structural size is at nanoscale. In this work, a nanoporous model with periodically arranged cuboid-shaped pores is presented. Based on the surface elasticity, the expression of the effective Young’s modulus is obtained theoretically. For a given relative density, the influences of the surface effect on the nanoporous structure are examined. It is shown that the effective Young’s modulus grows with increasing surface Young’s modulus or decreasing inclination angle for the ligament. Moreover, it is suggested from the results that a negative effective Young’s modulus could be achieved when the residual surface stress is less than zero. In addition, the impact of the relative density on the proposed nanoporous material is also investigated.

Rhizoma Dioscoreae Collettii, is known as Huang Dioscorea collettii, Rhizoma Coptidis Brevisepalae or yellow ginger. It is neutral in nature and bitter in taste which is described to Gan (Liver) meridian, Wei (Stomach) meridian and Pangguang (Bladder) meridian. It was often used in the treatment of chyloid stranguria, gonorrhea, leucorrhagia, rheumatism arthralgia pain, joints disable, and lumbar knee pain syndrome in clinical.

The well-known reweighted zero-attracting least mean square algorithm (RZA-LMS) has been effective for the estimation of sparse system channels. However, the RZA-LMS algorithm utilizes a fixed step size to balance the steady-state mean square error and the convergence speed, resulting in a reduction in its performance. Thus, a trade-off between the convergence rate and the steady-state mean square error must be made. In this paper, utilizing the nonlinear relationship between the step size and the power of the noise-free prior error, a variable step-size strategy based on an error function is proposed. The simulation results indicate that the proposed variable step-size algorithm shows a better performance than the conventional RZA-LMS for both the sparse and the non-sparse systems.

Recently, Guo et al. proposed a modified SOR-like (MSOR-like) iteration method for solving the nonsingular saddle point problem. In this paper, we further prove the semi-convergence of this method when it is applied to solve the singular saddle point problems under suitable conditions on the involved iteration parameters. Moreover, the optimal iteration parameters and the corresponding optimal semi-convergence factor for the MSOR-like method are determined. In addition, numerical experiments are used to show the feasibility and effectiveness of the MSOR-like method for solving singular saddle point problems, arising from the incompressible flow problems.

A putative serine protease with a potential role in the plant biotic and abiotic stress response was purified from wheat leaf apoplastic fluid and partially characterized. Following two-dimensional electrophoresis a protein of Mr = 75 k and a pI of 4.2 to 4.5 was observed. This protein displayed in-gel protease activity and was specifically inhibited by phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride and partially inhibited by Ca2+ and Zn2+, but not by E-64 or leupeptin. An internal tryptic fragment of 13 amino acids was identified by MALDI QqTOF MS/MS, and this peptide showed a high level of homology (85–100 % identity) to a highly conserved region of known plant subtilisin-like proteases. We demonstrated that the protease activity increased until a late stage of wheat leaf development and increased in response to heat shock. In both cases Rubisco large subunit was degraded with time. Protease activity was also increased during biotic stress. Leaves challenged with leaf rust (Puccinia triticina), showed an approximately three fold increase in protease activity during an incompatible interaction, compared to activity in mock-inoculated leaves and to leaves in a compatible leaf rust interaction. These results suggest that the expression of this serine protease could be involved in the defense response against both abiotic and biotic stresses.

This study mapped QTLs associated with kernel-related traits by high-density genetic map. Five new major and stable QTLs for KL, KDR, SN, and KWPS were mapped in multiple environments. In the present study, a recombinant inbred line population including 371 lines derived from the cross of Chuannong18 and T1208 was genotyped using the Wheat55K single nucleotide polymorphism array. A novel high-density genetic map consisting of 11,583 markers spanning 4192.62 cM and distributed across 21 wheat chromosomes was constructed. QTLs for important kernel-related traits were mapped in multiple environments. A total of 96 and 151 QTLs were mapped by using the ICIM method and the MET method, respectively. And a total of 114 digenic epistatic QTLs were also detected across 21 chromosomes, and the epistatic effects of each trait were analyzed. BLAST analysis showed that 23 QTLs for different kernel-related traits were first time mapped and five of them were major and stable QTLs for kernel diameter ratio (121.34–126.83 cM on 4BS), spike number per square meter (71.32–73.84 cM on 2DS), kernel weight per spike (71.32–75.26 cM on 2DS), and kernel length (16.78–31.64 cM on 6A and 51.63–58.40 cM on 3D), respectively. Fifteen QTL clusters that contained 58 QTLs were also detected, and all most stable QTLs were contained in these QTL clusters. Significant correlations between different traits were detected and discussed. These results lay the foundation for fine mapping and cloning of the gene(s) underlying the stable QTLs detected in this study.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene expression accurately and effectively at the posttranscriptional level by repressing translation or directly degrading target mRNAs. Over 40 plant miRNA family genes have been associated with abiotic stress; however, few reports have identified miRNAs and their molecular functions under abiotic stress in woody plants. Mulberry trees are ecologically and economically important perennial woody plants, but few studies have examined the stress physiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology of mulberry miRNAs. Previously, we identified miR166f in Morus alba and found that its target genes encode homeobox-leucine zipper (HD-Zip) transcription factors and histone arginine demethylase, which are involved in responses to heat, cold, drought, and salt stresses. In this study, we further characterized miR166f from mulberry, and found that it targets HD-Zip induced by drought stress. We isolated, cloned, and identified pre-miR166f, the precursor of miR166f, from the leaves of mulberry (Morus multicaulis); pre-miR166f was 91 bp in length with a minimum folding free energy of − 51.70 kcal/mol. Bioinformatics analysis showed that the 3000-bp 5′ upstream region of miR166f contained not only TATA and CAAT boxes that functioned in transcription initiation, but also had many cis-acting elements for stress responses, such as MBS, HSE, ARE, TC-rich repeats, and several hormones response elements, such as AuxRR-core, CGTCA-motif, and P-box. This analysis suggested that miR166f might participate in abiotic and biotic stress responses by regulating the expression of stress-related genes in mulberry. We constructed a miR166f binary overexpression vector, pCAMBIA-35S-GUS-miR166f, and established a transient transformation system in mulberry. Histochemical β-glucuronidase (GUS) staining of miR166f-overexpression in transient transgenic mulberry leaves showed the best effect and highest GUS gene expression compared to the wild-type control plants at day four posttransformation using an optimized concentration of transformation liquid (OD600 = 0.7). The target genes of miR166f—two HD-Zips and one histone arginine demethylase gene (JMJD6)—showed markedly lower expression levels in miR166f-overexpression transient transgenic mulberry leaves. Further investigation showed that transient transgenic mulberry trees had higher relative water content, free proline content, soluble protein content, and superoxide dismutase and peroxidase activities, and lower malondialdehyde content compared to the wild-type control plants, which suggested that overexpression of miR166f in mulberry could enhance tolerance to drought stresses in transient transgenic mulberry. The results suggested that miR166f might function as a positive regulator of drought stress tolerance in mulberry.

Compared with H.264/AVC, the latest video standard High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) known as H.265 improves the coding efficiency by adopting the quadtree splitting structure which is flexible in representing various textural and structural information in images. However, the computational complexity is dramatically increased, especially in the intra-mode decision process owing to supporting more partitions and modes. In this paper, we propose a low-complexity algorithm for HEVC intra-coding, which consists of a fast coding unit (CU) size decision (FCUSD) method and a fast prediction unit (PU) mode decision (FPUMD) method. In FCUSD, unnecessary CU sizes are skipped early according to the depth level of neighboring CUs and the rate distortion (RD) cost threshold derived from the former coded frame. In FPUMD, the PU mode and RD cost correlations between different depth levels are utilized to terminate unnecessary candidate modes. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can achieve about 50.99 % computational complexity reduction on average with 1.18 % BD-rate increase and 0.08 dB BD-psnr loss.

A new halocadmium/methyl viologen hybrid (MV)4(Cd2I6)(Cd2I7)2 (1) (MV2+ = methyl viologen) has been structurally determined. In 1, two kinds of dimeric halocadmium clusters constructed from edge/vertex-sharing CdI4 tetrahedra respectively, i.e., Cd2I6 2− and Cd2I7 − dimmers were observed, which were templated by methyl viologen cation (MV2+). A highly interesting feature of 1 is the presence of mixed type dimeric halocadmium clusters in one crystal lattice templated by one kind of cation. 1 displays photoluminescences, and its thermochromism behavior is observed, whose mechanism was verified by theoretical calculations.

For non-Hermitian saddle point linear systems, Pan, Ng and Bai presented a positive semi-definite and skew-Hermitian splitting (PSS) preconditioner (Pan et al. Appl. Math. Comput. 172, 762---771 2006), to accelerate the convergence rate of the Krylov subspace iteration methods like the GMRES method. In this paper, a relaxed positive semi-definite and skew-Hermitian (RPSS) splitting preconditioner based on the PSS preconditioner for the non-Hermitian generalized saddle point problems is considered. The distribution of eigenvalues and the form of the eigenvectors of the preconditioned matrix are analyzed. Moreover, an upper bound on the degree of the minimal polynomial is also studied. Finally, numerical experiments of a model Navier-Stokes equation are presented to illustrate the efficiency of the RPSS preconditioner compared to the PSS preconditioner, the block diagonal preconditioner (BD), and the block triangular preconditioner (BT) in terms of the number of iteration and computational time.

Alterations of the autophagy-lysosomal pathway (ALP) and autophagy have been involved in lung ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. However, dynamic imaging of ALP function under lung I/R injury particularly is not fully understood. Here we depicted the live-cell fluorescence imaging of autophagosome to monitor ALP activation and autophagy function. The pAsRed2-N1-LC3 vectors were transfected into CRL-2192 NR8383 (an alveolar macrophage cell line) and CCL149 (an alveolar epithelial cell line) successfully. 0-h, 2-h, 4-h, and 6-h hypoxia/0-h, 2-h, 4-h, and 6-h reoxygenation were then induced with an ALP inhibitor (3-MA) or activator (rapamycin) in the culture of transfected cells separately. ALP activation was conformed by up-regulating AMPK and beclin1 expression. Apoptosis was not obvious in 2-h hypoxia/2-h reoxygenation. pAsRed2-N1-LC3 CCL149 and pAsRed2-N1-LC3 NR8383 cells revealed gradually enhanced AsRed2 from 2-h to 6-h hypoxia/reoxygenation. AsRed2 varied sensitively to 3-MA and rapamycin interventions during 2-h hypoxia/reoxygenation. Our data provides a simple method of autophagosome imaging to monitor ALP activation and autophagy function in lung I/R injury.

The current paper presents a novel Pb(II) ion-imprinted silica-supported organic–inorganic hybrid sorbent functionalized with chelating S,N-donor atoms by coupling a surface imprinting technique with a sol–gel process for the selective adsorption of Pb(II) ions from aqueous solution. Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms were used to characterize the Pb(II)-imprinted hybrid sorbent. The results revealed that the Pb(II)-imprinted hybrid sorbent had high adsorption capacity (54.9 mg g−1), fast adsorption equilibrium rate within 30 min, wide pH range (3.5–6.5) for constant adsorption capacity, high selectivity, and good regeneration performance.

The current paper presents a novel Pb(II) ion-imprinted silica-supported organic–inorganic hybrid sorbent functionalized with Schiff base by coupling a surface imprinting technique with a sol–gel process for the selective removal of Pb(II) ions from aqueous solution. Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms and thermogravimetric analysis were used to characterize the Pb(II)-imprinted hybrid sorbent. The adsorption equilibrium was finished with 30 min. The experiment value of maximum adsorption capacity was found to be 54.9 mg g−1. There were not significantly influence on the adsorption capacity of Pb(II) in the range of pH 3.5–6.5. The equilibrium data were fitted very well to the Langmuir isotherm model and pseudo-first-order kinetics model. Under competitive adsorption conditions, the Pb(II)-imprinted hybrid sorbent was 3.09, 4.73, 3.34 and 4.96 times more selective than the corresponding non-imprinted sorbent for the systems of Pb(II)/Cu(II), Pb(II)/Cd(II), Pb(II)/Ni(II) and Pb(II)/Zn(II), respectively. The thermodynamic results demonstrated that the adsorption of Pb(II) onto the Pb(II)-imprinted hybrid sorbent took place by a spontaneous and endothermic process with further increase in the degree of freedom at the solid–solution interface.