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Abstract Sialic acid‐binding immunoglobulin‐like lectin‐15 (Siglec‐15) has been identified as an immune suppressor and a promising candidate for immunotherapy of cancer management. However, the association between Siglec‐15 expression and clinicopathological features of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), especially the prognostic role, is not fully elucidated. In this present study, a serial of bioinformatics analyses in both tissue and cell levels were conducted to provide an overview of Siglec‐15 expression. Real‐time quantitative PCR (qPCR) test, western blotting assay, and immunohistochemistry (IHC) analyses were conducted to evaluate the expression of Siglec‐15 in LUAD. Survival analysis and Kaplan–Meier curve were employed to describe the prognostic parameters of LUAD. The results of bioinformatics analyses demonstrated the up‐regulation of Siglec‐15 expression in LUAD. The data of qPCR, western blotting, and IHC analyses further proved that the expression of Siglec‐15 in LUAD tissues was significantly increased than that in noncancerous tissues. Moreover, the expression level of Siglec‐15 protein in LUAD was substantially associated with TNM stage. LUAD cases with up‐regulated Siglec‐15 expression, positive N status, and advance TNM stage suffered a critical unfavorable prognosis. In conclusion, Siglec‐15 could be identified as a novel prognostic biomarker in LUAD and targeting Siglec‐15 may provide a promising strategy for LUAD immunotherapy.

Based on the fluid-efficient flow pattern global construction heat transfer enhancement mechanism, a novel evaporator, called the efficient flow pattern global construction evaporator (EFGE), is presented to improve the in-tube evaporation heat transfer at low quality. The numerical analysis and experimental study of EFGE's thermodynamic performance are performed. Results show that the temperature distribution characteristic of the fluid-efficient heat transfer flow pattern construction is better than that of the initial fluid. The evaporation heat transfer coefficient (HTC) of EFGE is 0.34–1.04 times that of a common parallel flow evaporator (PFE), and the pressure drop of EFGE is only 80%–116 % of that of a common PFE at the quality of 0.9. The theoretical nonuniformity of the evaporation HTC between low- and high-quality flow is approximately 12%–67 %, which is 55%–72 % of the pressure drop. The numerical analysis results agree with the finding that EFGE has better thermodynamic performance than PFE in terms of friction power reduction and minimum entropy generation number.

A novel double-row microchannel condenser used the actively-adjusting liquid–vapor mechanism and is then called the double-row liquid–vapor separation microchannel condenser (DLSMC). This study theoretically calculates the condensation heat transfer coefficient (HTC) and the pressure drop and ranks the in-tube thermodynamic performance of the DLSMCs. Then, the thermodynamic performance of the optimal DLSMC and a double-row parallel microchannel condenser (DPFMC) is studied experimentally. Results show that the tube number of a path affects the thermodynamic performance of the DLSMC, and the in-tube entropy generation difference between the optimal DLSMC and the other DLSMCs are approximately 0.7%–2.6%. Compared with the theoretical in-tube entropy generation of the DLSMC, the experimental in-tube entropy generation of the DLSMC is 0.9%–2.7% larger. Compared with the experimental in-tube entropy generation of the DPFMC, the experimental in-tube entropy generation of the DLSMC is 1.3%–4.4% lower. In addition, the HTC and the pressure drop of the first row are approximately 7.7%–9.5% and 13.3%–20.0% lower than those of the second row, respectively, indicating that both rows have different thermodynamic performance.

Abstract Background Cerebral embolism after lobectomy is a life-threatening complication during the early postoperative period. However, it is unclear if cerebral embolism can develop after segmentectomy. Case presentation We experienced a case of a 37-year-old man who demonstrated early symptom of acute ischemic stroke in early postoperative period after right upper posterior segmentectomy and performed intra-arterial mechanical thrombectomy (IAMT) successfully. Conclusions Long and irregular pulmonary vein stump (PVS) and endothelial injury caused by surgical procedure may lead to cerebral embolism after segmentectomy. We believe that doing preoperative pulmonary vascular assessment and using appropriate surgical procedure may reduce the rate of cerebral embolism.

Ketogenic diet (KD) has increasingly captured the attention of researchers due to its anti-tumor activity. Here, we found that KD treatment significantly enhanced tumor-reactive immune responses, including increased intratumoral CD8+ and CD4+ T cells and decreased FOXP3+/CD4+ Treg cells. Moreover, KD administration increased the Th1-related cytokines IL-2, IFN-γ, IL-1α and IL-12, while decreased Th2-related cytokines IL-4, IL-13 and COX-2, as well as reduced the expression of PD-L1 and CTLA4. Further evaluation revealed that tumor vascularization decreased dramatically after KD treatment. Furthermore, KD reversed the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in microenvironmental by up-regulation of E-cadherin, down-regulation of N-cadherin and vimentin. Additionally, KD decrease the expression of phosphorylated STAT1/STAT1, while promoting the expression of P53, Bax/Bcl-2 and caspase-3 in tumor tissues. Thus, our findings indicate that KD treatment can enhance the anti-tumor immunity and mitigate the tumor immunosuppression in the tumor microenvironment, as well as decrease the tumor vascularization.

Although hemodynamics changes occur in heart failure (HF) and generally influence vascular function, it is not clear whether various HF models will affect the conduit vessels differentially or whether local hemodynamic forces or systemic factors are more important determinants of vascular response in HF. Here, we studied the hemodynamic changes in tachycardia or volume-overload HF swine model (created by either high rate pacing or distal abdominal aortic-vena cava fistula, respectively) on carotid, femoral, and renal arteries function and molecular expression. The ejection fraction was reduced by 50% or 30% in tachycardia or volume-overload model in four weeks, respectively. The LV end diastolic volume was increased from 65 ± 22 to 115 ± 78 ml in tachycardia and 67 ± 19 to 148 ± 68 ml in volume-overload model. Flow reversal was observed in diastolic phase in carotid artery of both models and femoral artery in volume-overload model. The endothelial function was also significantly impaired in carotid and renal arteries of tachycardia and volume-overload animals. The endothelial dysfunction was observed in femoral artery of volume-overload animals but not tachycardia animals. The adrenergic receptor-dependent contractility decreased in carotid and femoral arteries of tachycardia animals. The protein expressions of NADPH oxidase subunits increased in the three arteries and both animal models while expression of MnSOD decreased in carotid artery of tachycardia and volume-overload model. In conclusion, different HF models lead to variable arterial hemodynamic changes but similar vascular and molecular expression changes that reflect the role of both local hemodynamics as well as systemic changes in HF.

An increase in pulse pressure (PP) is highly associated with hypertension. The goal of this study was to determine the effect of increased aortic stiffness on PP and endothelial dysfunction as precursors to hypertension. A rat model of suddenly increased aortic stiffness by use of a nonconstrictive restraint (glue coating) on aortic surface was created to investigate the change of PP and mean arterial pressure (MAP). Group I (n = 16) underwent aorta restraint for 4 wk. Group II (n = 12) underwent aortic restraint for 4 wk, followed by restraint removal to evaluate extent of reversibility for additional 4 wk. The aortic and peripheral endothelial function was assessed by ACh-stimulated endothelium- dependent vasodilation. The level of nitrate/nitrite (NOx), endothelin-1 (ET-1), and prostacyclin (PGI2) were measured in the serum and artery tissue. We found that aortic stiffening causes a significant increase in PP and MAP (P < 0.05). The endothelial function was markedly blunted (P < 0.05) in both aorta and small peripheral artery. After removal of the restraint, the impaired endothelium function persisted in the aorta likely due to sustained deterioration of aortic wall, but was partially restored in peripheral artery. The endothelial dysfunction was correlated with a decrease in NOx and PGI2 (P < 0.05) and an increase in ET-1 (P < 0.05). Our results show that aortic stiffening results in widening of PP, which affected endothelium function through changes in synthesis of NOx, ET-1, and PGI2. These findings suggest that increased aortic stiffness may be a cause of increased PP and a precursor to hypertension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Slow moving blood flow and changes in flow direction, e.g., negative wall shear stress, can cause increased superoxide (O2.-) production in vascular endothelial cells. The mechanism by which shear stress increases O2.- production, however, is not well established. We tested the hypothesis that actin depolymerization, which occurs during flow reversal, mediates 2.- production in vascular endothelial cells via NADPH oxidase, and more specifically, the subunit p47phox . Using a swine model, we created complete blood flow reversal in one carotid artery, while the contralateral vessel maintained forward blood flow as control. We measured actin depolymerization, NADPH oxidase activity, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in the presence of various inhibitors. Flow reversal was found to induce actin depolymerization and a 3.9 ± 1.0-fold increase in ROS production as compared with forward flow. NADPH oxidase activity was 1.4 ± 0.2 times higher in vessel segments subjected to reversed blood flow when measured by a direct enzyme assay. The NADPH oxidase subunits gp91phox (Nox2) and p47phox content in the vessels remained unchanged after 4 h of flow reversal. In contrast, p47phox phosphorylation was increased in vessels with reversed flow. The response caused by reversed flow was reduced by in vivo treatment with jasplakinolide, an actin stabilizer (only a 1.7 ± 0.3-fold increase). Apocynin (an antioxidant) prevented reversed flow-induced ROS production when the animals were treated in vivo. Cytochalasin D mimicked actin depolymerization in vitro and caused a 5.2 ± 3.0-fold increase in ROS production. These findings suggest that actin filaments play an important role in negative shear stress-induced ROS production by potentiating NADPH oxidase activity, and more specifically, the p47phox subunit in vascular endothelium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corrosion and protection of offshore wind turbines is one of the difficulties in the development of offshore wind power. In this paper, the corrosion status of offshore wind power was analyzed, the relationship between offshore wind turbine structure and marine corrosion environment was expounded, and the corrosion characteristics and corrosion types of wind turbine components were described. Besides, dealing with offshore wind power corrosion from two aspects including corrosion protection and corrosion monitoring was analyzed. As for anti - corrosion of offshore wind power, the design criteria, standard requirements and control methods for corrosion control of offshore wind power were proposed. As for offshore wind power corrosion monitoring and inspection, the corrosion detection technology and monitoring technology were introduced, the main components and basic principles of online corrosion monitoring technology of wind power were emphatically described, and finally, the future online corrosion monitoring work was prospected.