Search

Abstract Background Spinal cord injury (SCI) is characterized by extensive demyelination and inflammatory responses. Facilitating the clearance of lipid droplets (LDs) within microglia contributes to creating a microenvironment that favors neural recovery and provides essential materials for subsequent remyelination. Therefore, investigating MicroRNAs (miRNAs) that regulate lipid homeostasis after SCI and elucidating their potential mechanisms in promoting LDs clearance in microglia have become focal points of SCI research. Methods We established a subacute C5 hemicontusion SCI model in mice and performed transcriptomic sequencing on the injury epicenter to identify differentially expressed genes and associated pathways. Confocal imaging was employed to observe LDs accumulation. Multi-omics analyses were conducted to identify differentially expressed mRNA and miRNA post-SCI. Pathway enrichment analysis and protein-protein interaction network construction were performed using bioinformatics methods, revealing miR-223-Abca1 as a crucial miRNA-mRNA pair in lipid metabolism regulation. BV2 microglia cell lines overexpressing miR-223 were engineered, and immunofluorescence staining, western blot, and other techniques were employed to assess LDs accumulation, relevant targets, and inflammatory factor expression, confirming its role in regulating lipid homeostasis in microglia. Results Histopathological results of our hemicontusion SCI model confirmed LDs aggregation at the injury epicenter, predominantly within microglia. Our transcriptomic analysis during the subacute phase of SCI in mice implicated ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (Abca1) as a pivotal gene in lipid homeostasis, cholesterol efflux and microglial activation. Integrative mRNA-miRNA multi-omics analysis highlighted the crucial role of miR-223 in the neuroinflammation process following SCI, potentially through the regulation of lipid metabolism via Abca1. In vitro experiments using BV2 cells overexpressing miR-223 demonstrated that elevated levels of miR-223 enhance ABCA1 expression in myelin debris and LPS-induced BV2 cells. This promotes myelin debris degradation and LDs clearance, and induces a shift toward an anti-inflammatory M2 phenotype. Conclusions In summary, our study unveils the critical regulatory role of miR-223 in lipid homeostasis following SCI. The mechanism by which this occurs involves the upregulation of ABCA1 expression, which facilitates LDs clearance and myelin debris degradation, consequently alleviating the lipid burden, and inhibiting inflammatory polarization of microglia. These findings suggest that strategies to enhance miR-223 expression and target ABCA1, thereby augmenting LDs clearance, may emerge as appealing new clinical targets for SCI treatment.

Abstract Heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) is overexpressed in numerous cancers, promotes the maturation of numerous oncoproteins and facilitates cancer cell growth. Certain HSP90 inhibitors have entered clinical trials. Although less than satisfactory clinical effects or insurmountable toxicity have compelled these trials to be terminated or postponed, these results of preclinical and clinical studies demonstrated that the prospects of targeting therapeutic strategies involving HSP90 inhibitors deserve enough attention. Nanoparticulate-based drug delivery systems have been generally supposed as one of the most promising formulations especially for targeting strategies. However, so far, no active targeting nano-formulations have succeeded in clinical translation, mainly due to complicated preparation, complex formulations leading to difficult industrialization, incomplete biocompatibility or nontoxicity. In this study, HSP90 and CD44-targeted A6 peptide functionalized biomimetic nanoparticles (A6-NP) was designed and various degrees of A6-modification on nanoparticles were fabricated to evaluate targeting ability and anticancer efficiency. With no excipients, the hydrophobic HSP90 inhibitor G2111 and A6-conjugated human serum albumin could self-assemble into nanoparticles with a uniform particle size of approximately 200 nm, easy fabrication, well biocompatibility and avoidance of hepatotoxicity. Besides, G2111 encapsulated in A6-NP was only released less than 5% in 12 h, which may avoid off-target cell toxicity before entering into cancer cells. A6 peptide modification could significantly enhance uptake within a short time. Moreover, A6-NP continues to exert the broad anticancer spectrum of Hsp90 inhibitors and displays remarkable targeting ability and anticancer efficacy both in hematological malignancies and solid tumors (with colon tumors as the model cancer) both in vitro and in vivo. Overall, A6-NP, as a simple, biomimetic and active dual-targeting (CD44 and HSP90) nanomedicine, displays high potential for clinical translation.

ABSTRACTBackground Tongue coating microbiota has aroused particular interest in profiling oral and digestive system cancers. However, little is known on the relationship between tongue coating microbiome and colorectal cancer (CRC).Methods Metagenomic shotgun sequencing was performed on tongue coating samples collected from 30 patients with CRC, 30 patients with colorectal polyps (CP), and 30 healthy controls (HC). We further validated the potential of the tongue coating microbiota to predict the CRC by a random forest model.Results We found a greater species diversity in CRC samples, and the nucleoside and nucleotide biosynthesis pathway was more apparent in the CRC group. Importantly, various species across participants jointly shaped three distinguishable fur types.The tongue coating microbiome profiling data gave an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.915 in discriminating CRC patients from control participants; species such as Atopobium rimae, Streptococcus sanguinis, and Prevotella oris aided differentiation of CRC patients from healthy participants.Conclusion These results elucidate the use of tongue coating microbiome in CRC patients firstly, and the fur-types observed contribute to a better understanding of the microbial community in human. Furthermore, the tongue coating microbiota-based biomarkers provide a valuable reference for CRC prediction and diagnosis.

Objective Nowadays, more than 90% of people over 50 years suffer from intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD), but there are exist no ideal drugs. The aim of this study is to identify a new drug for IDD. Methods An approved small molecular drug library including 2040 small molecular compounds was used here. We found that taurocholic acid sodium hydrate (NAT) could induce chondrogenesis and osteogenesis in mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Then, an in vivo mouse model of IDD was established and the coccygeal discs transcriptome analysis and surface plasmon resonance analysis (SPR) integrated with liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry assay (LC‐MS) were performed in this study to study the therapy effect and target proteins of NAT for IDD. Micro‐CT was used to evaluate the cancellous bone. The expression of osteogenic (OCN, RNX2), chondrogenic (COL2A1, SOX9), and the target related (ERK1/2, p‐ERK1/2) proteins were detected. The alkaline phosphatase staining was performed to estimate osteogenic differentiation. Blood routine and blood biochemistry indexes were analyzed for the safety of NAT. Results The results showed that NAT could induce chondrogenesis and osteogenesis in MSCs. Further experiments confirmed NAT could ameliorate the secondary osteoporosis and delay the development of IDD in mice. Transcriptome analysis identified 128 common genes and eight Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways for NAT. SPR‐LC–MS assay detected 57 target proteins for NAT, including MAPK3 (mitogen‐activated protein kinase 3), also known as ERK1 (extracellular regulated protein kinase 1). Further verification experiment confirmed that NAT significantly reduced the expression of ERK1/2 phosphorylation. Conclusion NAT would induce chondrogenesis and osteogenesis of MSCs, ameliorate the secondary osteoporosis and delay the progression of IDD in mice by targeting MAPK3.Furthermore, MAPK3, especially the phosphorylation of MAPK3, would be a potential therapeutic target for IDD treatment.

Objective Although it is an effective fixation technique for an unstable odontoid, anterior fixation remains challenging in pediatric populations. Our study measures the anatomical parameters of the odontoid to identify the feasibility of anterior fixation with a single screw for children. Methods We retrospectively collected data from 112 normal male and female children (aged between 2 and 18) in our institute from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022. Subjects were divided into a youth group (2–6 years old), a juvenile group (7–12 years old), and an adolescent group (13–18 years old). Sagittal and coronal computed tomography images of the upper cervical spine were used to measure the screw length, angle, and inner and outer diameters of the odontoid. One‐way analysis of variance with the Tukey test was used to analyze the parameters among the groups, while the t‐test was used to analyze gender differences. Correlations between parameters and age were assessed using Pearson's test. Results There were significant differences between male and female subjects in screw length and inner and outer diameters (of both sagittal and coronal views) but not in screw angle. The narrowest diameter of the odontoid was 4.0 ± 1.5 mm in the youth group, 5.5 ± 1.5 mm in the juvenile group, and 5.6 ± 1.1 mm in the adolescent group, respectively. There were significant differences among the three groups in screw length (p 4 mm. Screw length and inner and outer diameters in lateral view were positively correlated with age, and screw angle was negatively correlated with age. Conclusion It is feasible to insert a standard single screw (Φ 3.5 mm) into the odontoid of children aged 7–18 years old but not those aged 2–6 years old. How the anatomical parameters of the odontoid change with age, especially the narrowest diameters, is worthy of attention.

Objective To evaluate the biomechanical stability of anterior transarticular crossing screw (ATCS) and compare it with anterior transarticular screw (ATS) which may provide basic evidence for clinical application. Methods Eight human fresh cadaveric specimens (occiput-C4) were tested with 5 conditions including the intact status, the injury status (type II odontoid fracture), the injury+ATS fixation status (traditional bilateral ATS fixation); the injury+unilateral ATCS fixation status; and the injury+bilateral ATCS fixation status. Specimens were applied to a pure moment of 1.5 Nm in flexion-extension, lateral bending, and axial rotation, respectively. The range of motions (ROMs) and the neutral zones (NZs) of C1 to C2 segment were calculated and compared between 5 status. Results ATS and ATCS fixations significantly reduced the motions in all directions when compared with the intact and injury statues (p < 0.05). In flexion-extension, the ROMs of ATS, unilateral ATCS, and bilateral ATCS were 4.7° ±2.5°, 4.1° ±1.9°, and 3.2° ±1.2°, respectively. Bilateral ATCS resulted in a significant decrease in ROM in flexion-extension when compared with ATS and unilateral ATCS (p = 0.035 and p = 0.023). In lateral bending and axial rotation, there was no significant difference in ROM between the 3 fixations (p > 0.05). Three fixations resulted in similar NZs in all directions (p > 0.05). Conclusion ATCS is a biomechanically effective alternative or supplemental method for atlantoaxial instability.

Objective There is lack of an internal fixation following resection of a dumbbell tumor by hemi‐laminectomy and facetectomy that achieves adequate stability with less trauma. Unilateral fixation and reconstruction (unilateral pedicle screw and contralateral lamina screw fixation combined with lateral mass reconstruction, UPS + CLS + LM) may be an ideal technique to address this problem. A biomechanical comparison and a case report were designed to evaluate its spinal stability and clinical effect. Methods Seven fresh‐frozen human subcervical specimens were used for the biomechanical testing. The conditions tested were: (1) intact; (2) injured (single‐level hemi‐laminectomy and facetectomy); (3) unilateral pedicle screw (UPS) fixation; (4) UPS fixation combined with lateral mass (LM) reconstruction (UPS + LM); (5) UPS fixation and contralateral lamina screw fixation (UPS + CLS); (6) UPS + CLS + LM; (7) UPS fixation and contralateral transarticular screw fixation (UPS + CTAS); (8) bilateral pedicle screw (BPS) fixation. Range of motion (ROM) and neutral zone (NZ) were obtained at C5‐C7 segment under eight conditions. In addition, we report the case of a patient with a C7‐T1 dumbbell tumor that was treated by UPS + CLS + LM technique. Results Except left/right lateral bending and right axial rotation (all, p 0.05). There was no significant difference between UPS + CLS + LM and the UPS + CTAS condition in other directions of ROM (all, p > 0.05), except in left/right axial rotation (both, p 0.05). There was no significant difference between UPS + CLS + LM and UPS + CTAS condition in NZ in all directions (all, p > 0.05). Axial rotation NZ of UPS + CLS + LM condition was significantly reduced compared to UPS + CLS condition (p

ABSTRACTThe impact region of the dactyl club of mantis shrimp features a rare sinusoidally helicoidal architecture, contributing to its efficient impact-resistant characteristics. This study aims to attain bioinspired sinusoidally architected composites from a practical engineering way. Morphological features of plain-woven fabric were characterized, which demonstrated that the interweaving warp and weft yarns exhibited a sinusoidal architecture. Interconnected woven composites were thus employed and helicoidally stacked to achieve the desired structure. Quasi-static three-point bending and low-velocity impact tests were subsequently performed to evaluate their mechanical performance. Under three-point bending condition, the dominant failure mode gradually changed from fiber breakage to delamination with the increase in the pitch angle. Failure displacement and energy absorption of the helicoidal woven composites were, respectively, 43.89% and 141.90% greater than the unidirectional ones. Under low-velocity impact condition, the damage area of the helicoidal woven composites decreased by 49.66% while the residual strength increased by 10.10% compared with those of the unidirectional ones, exhibiting better damage resistance and tolerance. Also, effects of fiber architecture on mechanical properties were examined. This work will shed light on future design of the next-generation impact-resistant architected composites.

Drought stress is the key factor limiting soybean yield potential. Soybean seed formation involves a coordinated “subtending leaf-podshell-seed” process, but little is known about the assimilation and transport of photoassimilates in subtending leaves, podshells and seeds or their relationships with soybean seed formation under drought stress. To address these research gaps, two-year experiments with two soybean cultivars, Wandou 37 (drought tolerant) and Zhonghuang 13 (drought sensitive), were conducted under three soil water content (SWC) conditions in 2020 and 2021 based on the responses of their yield to drought. We analyzed the photosynthetic assimilation and translocation of photoassimilates in subtending leaves, podshells and seeds by stable isotope labeling. Compared with those under 75% SWC, 60% SWC and 45% SWC significantly decreased the Wandou 37 seed weight by 19.4% and 37.5%, respectively, and that of Zhonghuang 13 by 26.9% and 48.6%, respectively. Compared with those under 75% SWC, drought stress decreased the net photosynthetic rate and the activities of sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS) and sucrose synthase (SuSy), which in turn decreased the photosynthetic capacity of the subtending leaves. The podshells ensure the input of photoassimilates by increasing the SuSy activity, but the weakened source–sink relationship between podshells and seeds under drought stress leads to a decrease in the translocation of assimilates from podshells to seeds. The lack of assimilates under drought stress is an important factor restricting the development of soybean seeds. We conclude that the decrease in seed weight was caused by the decrease in the photosynthetic capacity of the subtending leaves and the decrease in the overall availability of photoassimilates; moreover, by a decrease in the translocation of assimilates from podshells to seeds.

Abstract This paper studies the blind recognition method of the sparse parity‐check matrices of low‐density parity‐check codes in noncooperative communication, which is critical to the reverse analysis of communication protocols using LDPC codes. In this paper, two improvements are made to the algorithm of Liu Qian et al. (2021) for this problem. Firstly, a Gaussian elimination method based on random column exchange and soft information is proposed to enhance the fault tolerance of the elimination process. Secondly, according to the sparse property of the parity‐check matrices of LDPC codes, a random extraction method is proposed to further improve the fault tolerance of the algorithm, and it is verified theoretically. Finally, simulations verify the superior performance of the algorithm proposed in this paper.

Under irrigation with saline wastewater, SO42−, Cl−, and Ca2+ aggregated in the topsoil, and Mg2+ was significantly higher in the deeper soil than in the topsoil and 40 cm soil layers. The abundance of Zoopagomycota, Ascomycota, Mortierellomycota, Basidiomycota, Chytridiomycota, Rozellomycota, Blastocladiomycota, Monoblepharomycota, Mucoromycota and Olpidiomycota in the surface soil was influenced by Mg2+, whereas Ca2+ affected the abundance of Zoopagomycota and Chytridiomycota. In the 40 cm soil layer, Mg2+ and Cl− promoted Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, Nitrospirae, Firmicutes, Entotheonellaeota, Myxococcota, Gemmatimonadota and Methylomirabilota, whereas they inhibited Planctomycetota, Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, Patescibacteria and Bacteroidota. In the 80 cm soil layer, SO42− and Cl− promoted Rozellomycota, Mortierellomycota, Chytridiomycota, Ascomycota, and Mucoromycota, but had a negative effect on Glomeromycota, Blastocladiomycota, Olpidiomycota and Monoblepharomycota. The increase in salinity significantly reduced the abundance of the Actinomycetes phylum and the Amoebozoa phylum. Both saprophytic and symbiotic fungi decreased with increasing salinity.

Resumo Fundamento Muitos estudos clínicos confirmaram que a legumain está intimamente relacionada à aterosclerose. Infelizmente, chegaram-se a conclusões diferentes e ainda faltam análises e estudos sobre as características da placa aterosclerótica em pacientes com níveis plasmáticos aumentados de legumain. Objetivos Este estudo teve como objetivo investigar a correlação entre as características da legumain e da placa aterosclerótica coronariana. Métodos Um total de 81 pacientes com doença cardíaca aterosclerótica coronariana (DCAC), incluindo 43 pacientes com angina instável (AI) e 38 pacientes com angina estável (AE), foram examinados por angiografia coronária. Foi realizado ultrassom intravascular (IVUS) para avaliar as características das placas ateroscleróticas coronarianas, e os níveis plasmáticos de legumain também foram medidos. Valores de p < 0,05 foram considerados significativos. Resultados A concentração de legumain foi significativamente maior nos dois subgrupos de doença coronariana do que no grupo controle (todos p

Abstract Background There are many reports on the treatment of sacroiliac joint dysfunction by manipulation of oblique pulling (MOP). However, the specific mechanism of MOP on the sacroiliac joint remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effect of MOP on the biomechanics of the sacroiliac joint and the effect of the anterior sacroiliac ligament on the stability of the sacroiliac joint. Methods First, MOP-F1 (F: force) and MOP-F2 were applied to nine cadaveric pelvises. Then, segmental resection of the anterior sacroiliac ligament was performed. The range of motion of the sacroiliac joint was observed in all procedures. Results Under MOP-F1 and F2, the average total angles were 0.84° ± 0.59° and 1.52° ± 0.83°, and the displacements were 0.61 ± 0.21 mm and 0.98 ± 0.39 mm, respectively. Compared with MOP-F1, MOP-F2 caused greater rotation angles and displacements of the sacroiliac joint (p = 0.00 and p = 0.01, respectively). In addition, the rotation angles and displacements of the sacroiliac joint significantly increased after complete resection of the anterior sacroiliac ligament (p = 0.01 and p = 0.02, respectively). The increase was mainly due to the transection of the upper part of the anterior sacroiliac ligament. Conclusions MOP-F2 caused greater rotation angles and displacements of the sacroiliac joint and was a more effective manipulation. The anterior sacroiliac ligament played an important role in maintaining the stability of the sacroiliac joint; the upper part of the anterior sacroiliac ligament contributed more to the stability of the joint than the lower part.

Abstract As one of the key technologies of modern communication, a linear scrambler is a technique to randomize the data to be transmitted at the bit layer to improve the timing recovery and confidentiality of the transmitted data. Therefore, the reconstruction of scramblers under non‐cooperative communication conditions has attracted extensive research interest. Existing efficient reconstruction methods are implemented by traversing the primitive polynomial of all orders, leading to extremely high computational complexity. Here, a fast reconstruction method for feedback polynomials of synchronous scramblers is proposed. The order of the feedback polynomial is first estimated by a hypothesis testing method, and then the primitive polynomial of the corresponding order is traversed to reduce the traversal range of the primitive polynomial, which greatly reduces the computational complexity of the reconstruction method. The simulation results verify the performance of the scheme.

IntroductionBariatric surgery is one of the most effective methods for treating obesity. It can effectively reduce body weight and reduce the incidence of obesity-related breast cancer. However, there are different conclusions about how bariatric surgery changes breast density. The purpose of this study was to clarify the changes in breast density from before to after bariatric surgery.MethodsThe relevant literature was searched through PubMed and Embase to screen for studies. Meta-analysis was used to clarify the changes in breast density from before to after bariatric surgery.ResultsA total of seven studies were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis, including a total of 535 people. The average body mass index decreased from 45.3 kg/m2 before surgery to 34.4 kg/m2 after surgery. By the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System score, the proportion of grade A breast density from before to after bariatric surgery decreased by 3.83% (183 vs. 176), grade B (248 vs. 263) increased by 6.05%, grade C (94 vs. 89) decreased by 5.32%, and grade D (1 vs. 4) increased by 300%. There was no significant change in breast density from before to after bariatric surgery (OR=1.27, 95% confidence interval (CI) [0.74, 2.20], P=0.38). By the Volpara density grade score, postoperative volumetric breast density increased (standardized mean difference = -0.68, 95% CI [-1.08, -0.27], P = 0.001).DiscussionsBreast density increased significantly after bariatric surgery, but this depended on the method of detecting breast density. Further randomized controlled studies are needed to validate our conclusions.

Shear thickening fluid (STF) is a nano-smart material that exhibits an instantaneous increase in viscosity when subjected to specific external loads. Notably, its viscosity response does not necessitate external energy input, making it widely applicable in vibration control, energy absorption, and vibration reduction. This paper first presents an introduction and analogy to the evolution of the thickening mechanism of STF. It then discusses factors that influence the rheological properties of STF, including the dispersed phase, dispersion medium, additives, and external environment. Furthermore, it explores various calculation models of STF in engineering applications, considering their advantages, disadvantages, and applicability. The paper later reviews the progress of STF utilization in vibration reduction and energy consumption, specifically focusing on improving mechanical properties in STF sandwich panels. Finally, it delves into the feasibility of STF application in vibration control by detailing the dynamic mechanical properties and applicability of vibration reduction equipment and calculation models based on STF.

In this study, a 3D model of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) with crossed channels and an ultra-thin membrane is developed to investigate the feasibility of self-humidification; experiments utilizing a PEMFC stack with identical configurations are conducted to validate the simulation results and further investigate the effects of various operating conditions (OCs) on self-humidification. The results indicate that the crossed flow channel leads to enhanced uniformity of water distribution, resulting in improved cell performance under low/no humidification conditions. External humidifiers for the anode can be removed since the performance difference is negligible (≤3%) between RHa = 0% and 100%. Self-humidification can be achieved in the stack at 90 °C or below with an appropriate back pressure among 100–200 kPa. As the current density increases, there is a gradual convergence and crossing of the voltage at low RH with that at high RH, and the crossover points are observed at 60–80 °C with suitable pressure when successful self-humidification is achieved. Below the current density of the point, the stack’s performance is inferior at lower RH due to membrane unsaturation, and conversely, the performance is inferior at higher RH due to flooding; this current density decreases with higher pressure and lower temperature.

Abstract Background The nucleotide-binding domain, leucine-rich repeat, and pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome has been reported to be involved in the pathological process of osteoarthritis (OA) inflammation. Here, we investigated the ketogenic diet (KD), which has been previously demonstrated to inhibit NLRP3 inflammasome activation, to elucidate its protective mechanism against OA in rats. Methods Anterior cruciate ligament transaction (ACLT) together with partial medial meniscectomy was used to create a rat knee joint OA model. After treatment with KD or standard diet (SD) for 8 weeks, the knee specimens were obtained for testing. Results The KD significantly increased the content of β-hydroxybutyrate (βOHB) in rats. Compared to the SD group, the KD significantly reduced the damage caused by OA in the articular cartilage and subchondral bone. The NLRP3 inflammasome and inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1 β (IL-1β) and IL-18 were significantly increased in the SD group compared with the sham group, while their expression was significantly decreased in rats treated with the KD. In addition, MMP13 was significantly decreased in the KD group compared to that in the SD group, while COL2 was significantly increased. Conclusions KD can protect the articular cartilage and subchondral bone in a rat OA model by inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome activation and reducing the OA inflammatory response.

IntroductionHeterosis is a critical phenomenon in crop improvement. Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) and Restorer gene (Rf) systems are essential components for heterosis-based breeding. However, the molecular mechanism underlying CMS remains largely unclear in soybean.MethodsWe integrated a morphological investigation with comparative analyses of transcriptomic and proteomic changes in pollen from the CMS line W931A and its maintainer line, W931B, at the uninucleate microspore (UM) and binucleate pollen (BP) stages.ResultsCompared to W931B, which had healthy, oval pollen grains, W931A showed shrunken or degraded pollen grains with an irregularly thickened endothelium and decreased starch accumulation. Transcriptomic comparisons revealed a total of 865 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in W931A over the two stages. These genes were primarily associated with pentose and glucuronate interconversions, sphingolipid metabolism, and glycerolipid metabolism. Proteomic analysis revealed 343 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs), which were mainly involved in carbon metabolism, glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, and nitrogen metabolism. Consistently, Gene Ontology (GO) biological process terms related to pollen development were enriched among DEGs at the UM and BP stages. Notably, four genes with demonstrated roles in pollen development were differentially expressed, including AGAMOUS-LIKE 104, PROTEIN-TYROSINE-PHOSPHATASE 1, and PHOSPHOLIPASE A2. A total of 53 genes and the corresponding proteins were differentially expressed in W931A at both the UM and BP stages, and many of these were pectinesterases, polygalacturonases, peroxidases, and ATPases.DiscussionThe results of this study suggest that pollen development in W931A is likely regulated through suppression of the identified DEGs and DEPs. These findings increase our understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying CMS in soybean, aiding future research into soybean fertility and promoting the efficient use of heterosis for soybean improvement.

Abstract The recent concept of contextual information in error correcting code (ECC) can significantly improve the capacity of the blind recognition of codes with deep learning (DL) approaches. However, the fundamental challenges of existing DL‐based methods are inflexible structure and limited kernel size which bring great difficulties to exploit the characteristics of contextual information in ECC. To handle this problem, in this paper, a state‐of‐the‐art framework for natural language processing (NLP), bidirectional encoder representation from transformers (BERT), is utilized in ECC classification scenarios. To strengthen the effectiveness of contextual information, the BERT model is improved by weighted relative positional encoding and error bit embedding. The proposed approach achieves higher classification accuracy than the methods based on Gauss‐Jordan elimination and traditional deep learning schemes. Further simulation results show that the classification accuracy is affected by block length and the employment of weighted relative positional encoding and error bit embedding to a large extent.

Abstract Background B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy has obtained promising results in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (R/R MM), while some patients do not response, or relapse in short term after treatment. Combining with anti-CD38 might solve the problem of targeting BCMA alone. We aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of BCMA and CD38 (BCMA-CD38) bispecific CAR-T cells in R/R MM patients. Methods We did a single-center, single-arm clinical study at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Yangtze University in China. Patients meeting with the inclusion criteria were administered with fludarabine and cyclophosphamide before CAR-T cells infusion. Response and adverse events were assessed after infusion. This study was registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registration Center (ChiCTR1900026286). Results First, we found BCMA-CD38 CAR-T cells exhibited enhanced killing effect on BCMA+CD38+ cells in vitro, compared to BCMA CAR-T and CD38 CAR-T cells. We further demonstrated its anti-tumor activity in vivo. Then, we enrolled 16 R/R MM patients for safety and efficacy analyses. Of the 16 evaluable patients, 14 (87.5%) respond to the treatment, including 13 stringent complete response (sCR) and one partial response (PR), while two patients did not respond. At a median follow-up of 11.5 months, of the 13 patients who achieved sCR, 76.9% (10/13) did not relapse or progress during follow-up. Relapse occurred in 3 patients (Patient 2, 3 and 4) after achieving sCR. In sum, four patients died, of which one died of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis syndrome secondary to severe cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and three died of disease progression or relapse. The 1-year progression-free survival rates was 68.8%. The 1-year overall survival rate was 75.0%. Extramedullary lesions were eliminated in 62.5% (5/8) patients. The most common symptoms after CAR-T infusion were cytopenia (16, 100%), fever (10, 62.5%), fatigue (8, 50.0%) and myalgias (8, 50.0%). Twelve patients (75.0%) were observed with various grades of CRS, of which five patients (31.3%) got serious CRS (Grade ≥ 3). The CAR+ cell expansion levels were associated with the severity of CRS. Transient clonal isotype switch was observed after CAR-T infusion. Conclusion Our results confirm that BCMA-CD38 CAR-T cells therapy is feasible in treating R/R MM patients, with high response rate, low recurrence rate and manageable CRS, which will be a promising treatment option for R/R MM. Trial registration ChiCTR1900026286, registered on September 29, 2019, retrospectively registered, URL: https://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=43805

Objective: Imatinib mesylate (IM), a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, exhibits clinically prominent effects against chronic myeloid leukemia (CML); however, a few patients have shown resistance to IM treatment, resulting in disease progression. Smad4 is a tumor inhibitor that transduces TGF-β signaling and modulates genomic stability. Previous studies have indicated that decreased Smad4 expression played a bidirectional role in chemosensitivity in many types of cancers. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the association between IM sensitivity and decreased Smad4 expression in human CML K562 cells. Methods: Bone marrow (BM) samples were acquired from the patients prior to treatment. qRT-PCR, Western Blotting (WB), colony formation assay (CFA), and apoptosis assay were used to detect relevant indices. Results: Smad4 expression was downregulated in the bone marrow and plasma of patients with multidrug-resistant CML as well as IM-resistant K562 (K562R) cells compared with samples collected from CML patients and K562 cells. Smad4 overexpression inhibited IM-treated K562R cell proliferation and augmented apoptosis, whereas Smad4 silencing promoted viability and inhibited apoptosis in IM-treated K562 cells. In addition, Smad4 expression was inversely correlated with laminin subunit gamma 1 (LAMC1) expression. The upregulation or downregulation of LAMC1 expression partially abolished the effect of Smad4 overexpression or silencing on the IM resistance of CML cells. Conclusion: The downregulation of Smad4 expression might induce drug resistance in CML cells and displayed a possible mechanism through which Smad4 modulates CML cell survival and apoptosis upon IM treatment.

Abstract Background BCMA-specific chimeric antigen receptor-T cells (CAR-Ts) have exhibited remarkable efficacy in refractory or relapsed multiple myeloma (RRMM); however, primary resistance and relapse exist with single-target immunotherapy. Bispecific CARs are proposed to mitigate these limitations. Methods We constructed a humanized bispecific BM38 CAR targeting BCMA and CD38 and tested the antimyeloma activity of BM38 CAR-Ts in vitro and in vivo. Twenty-three patients with RRMM received infusions of BM38 CAR-Ts in a phase I trial. Results BM38 CAR-Ts showed stronger in vitro cytotoxicity to heterogeneous MM cells than did T cells expressing an individual BCMA or CD38 CAR. BM38 CAR-Ts also exhibited potent antimyeloma activity in xenograft mouse models. In the phase I trial, cytokine release syndrome occurred in 20 patients (87%) and was mostly grade 1–2 (65%). Neurotoxicity was not observed. Hematologic toxicities were common, including neutropenia in 96% of the patients, leukopenia in 87%, anemia in 43% and thrombocytopenia in 61%. At a median follow-up of 9.0 months (range 0.5 to 18.5), 20 patients (87%) attained a clinical response and minimal residual disease-negativity (≤ 10–4 nucleated cells), with 12 (52%) achieving a stringent complete response. Extramedullary plasmacytoma was eliminated completely in 56% and partially in 33% and of 9 patients. The median progression-free survival was 17.2 months. Two relapsed patients maintained BCMA and CD38 expression on MM cells. Notably, BM38 CAR-Ts cells were detectable in 77.8% of evaluable patients at 9 months and 62.2% at 12 months. Conclusion Bispecific BM38 CAR-Ts were feasible, safe and significantly effective in patient with RRMM. Trial registration: Chictr.org.cn ChiCTR1800018143.

This article presents a method to calibrate a 16-channel 40 GS/s time-interleaved analog-to-digital converter (TI-ADC) based on channel equalization and Monte Carlo method. First, the channel mismatch is estimated by the Monte Carlo method, and equalize each channel to meet the calibration requirement. This method does not require additional hardware circuits, every channel can be compensated. The calibration structure is simple and the convergence speed is fast, besides, the ADC is worked in background mode, which does not affect the conversion. The prototype, implemented in 28 nm CMOS, reaches a 41 dB SFDR with an input signal of 1.2 GHz and 5 dBm after the proposed background offset and gain mismatch calibration. Compared with previous works, the spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) and the effective number of bits (ENOB) are better, the estimation accuracy is higher, the error is smaller and the faster speed of convergence improves the efficiency of signal processing.

Abstract Background Septic shock is characterized by an uncontrolled inflammatory response and microcirculatory dysfunction. There is currently no specific agent for treating septic shock. Anisodamine is an agent extracted from traditional Chinese medicine with potent anti-inflammatory effects. However, its clinical effectiveness remains largely unknown. Methods In a multicentre, open-label trial, we randomly assigned adults with septic shock to receive either usual care or anisodamine (0.1–0.5 mg per kilogram of body weight per hour), with the anisodamine doses adjusted by clinicians in accordance with the patients’ shock status. The primary end point was death on hospital discharge. The secondary end points were ventilator-free days at 28 days, vasopressor-free days at 28 days, serum lactate and sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score from days 0 to 6. The differences in the primary and secondary outcomes were compared between the treatment and usual care groups with the χ 2 test, Student’s t test or rank-sum test, as appropriate. The false discovery rate was controlled for multiple testing. Results Of the 469 patients screened, 355 were assigned to receive the trial drug and were included in the analyses—181 patients received anisodamine, and 174 were in the usual care group. We found no difference between the usual care and anisodamine groups in hospital mortality (36% vs. 30%; p = 0.348), or ventilator-free days (median [Q1, Q3], 24.4 [5.9, 28] vs. 26.0 [8.5, 28]; p = 0.411). The serum lactate levels were significantly lower in the treated group than in the usual care group after day 3. Patients in the treated group were less likely to receive vasopressors than those in the usual care group (OR [95% CI] 0.84 [0.50, 0.93] for day 5 and 0.66 [0.37, 0.95] for day 6). Conclusions There is no evidence that anisodamine can reduce hospital mortality among critically ill adults with septic shock treated in the intensive care unit. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov ( NCT02442440 ; Registered on 13 April 2015).

BackgroundTo curb the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic, the Chinese government shut down Wuhan city from January 23rd to April 8th, 2020. The COVID-19 epidemic not only leads to widespread illness but also affects the diagnosis and treatment of hematopoietic stem-cell transplant (HSCT) recipients.ObjectiveTo investigate the medical-seeking pattern and daily behavior changes in Hubei Province during the COVID-19 epidemic in Hubei Province during the lockdown.MethodsWe conducted a multicenter, cross-sectional, web-based investigation among 325 HSCT recipients by online questionnaires in Hubei Province during the COVID-19 epidemic.ResultsA total of 145 complete responses were collected both before and during the epidemic questionnaires. The participants from pre-epidemic group preferred to go to hospital (68.29%) when they experienced influenza-like symptoms. The majority of the patients elected to take oral drugs by themselves (40%) or consulted their attending physicians online or by telephone during the lockdown (23.33%). 64.83% had difficulties in purchasing drugs during the lockdown, which was significantly higher than the proportion of the pre-epidemic group (24.83%) (P < 0.05). The participants preferred to purchase drugs online (23.40%) and decrease or withdraw drugs (18.09%) during the epidemic. The number of participants received regular re-examinations during the epidemic decreased sharply. The proportion of wearing masks and isolating themselves at home increased significantly during the epidemic. No statistic difference was observed in the incidence of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD)complications in participants between the during the epidemic group and the pre-epidemic group. In our study, six patients were confirmed to have COVID-19, and half of them died due to COVID-19-related complications.ConclusionThe medical-seeking pattern and daily behavior of HSCT recipients changed during the lockdown; the methods of self-protection, online consultation and drug delivery can help patients receive necessary follow-up and reduce the occurrence of COVID-19.

YG8 is a common cemented carbide material with excellent mechanical properties and mechanical properties, so it is widely used in the actual industry. However, due to the active chemical properties and strong affinity of tungsten alloy steel, it is easy to produce bonding and peeling in application, resulting in an unstable process and short service life. In order to control and reduce the surface wear of YG8 cemented carbide, groove-textured surface (GS) and flocking surface (FS) were prepared on smooth surface (SS). The friction characteristics of the samples were studied under different applied load conditions. The results show that the average friction coefficient of SS, GS and FS is inversely proportional to the load in dry/oil environment. Compared with SS, FS exhibits the lowest friction coefficient, which is reduced by 30.78% (dry friction) and 13.13% (oil lubrication). FS effectively improves the tooth jump phenomenon of the sample and the amplitude of the friction coefficient, friction force and load, and has the best anti-friction characteristics. At the same time, the FS with the fastest contact angle drop at any time also showed excellent wetting ability, and the wear rate decreased by an order of magnitude. The implantation of fibers in the groove inhibits the spalling and furrow of wear track, which is attributed to the effect of fibers on damage repair. In the friction process, FS increases the content of the O element and induces the formation of oxides. The friction mechanism is mainly chemical wear. The excellent tribological properties of FS have a good guiding significance and theoretical support for improving the tribological properties of high hardness material surfaces.

Background/Objective: The deleterious effects of chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) on the skeleton in rats, especially the lower extremities, has been proved previously. However, the long-term skeletal changes after SCI in non-human primates (NHP) have been scarcely studied. This study aimed to evaluate the bone loss in limbs and vertebrae and the bone metabolic changes in NHP after unilateral cervical spinal cord contusion injury. Methods: Twelve Macaca fascicularis were randomly divided into the SCI (n=8) and the Sham (n=4) groups. The SCI models were established using hemi-contusion cervical spinal cord injury on fifth cervical vertebra (C5), and were further evaluated by histological staining and neurophysiological monitoring. Changes of bone microstructures, bone biomechanics, and bone metabolism markers were assessed by micro-CT, micro-FEA and serological kit. Results: The NHP hemi-contusion cervical SCI model led to consistent unilateral limb dysfunction and potential plasticity in the face of loss of spinal cord. Furthermore, the cancellous bone mass of ipsilateral humerus and radius decreased significantly compared to the contralateral side. The bone volume fraction of humerus and radius were 17.2% and 20.1% on the ipsilateral while 29.0% and 30.1% on the contralateral respectively. Similarly, the thickness of the cortical bone in the ipsilateral forelimbs was significantly decreased, as well as the bone strength of the ipsilateral forelimbs. These changes were accompanied by diminished concentration of osteocalcin and total procollagen type 1 N-terminal propeptide (t-P1NP) as well as increased level of β-C-terminal cross-linking telopeptide of type 1collagen (β-CTX) in serological testing. Conclusions: The present study demonstrated that hemi-SCI induced loss of bone mass and compromised biomechanical performance in ipsilateral forelimbs, which could be indicated by both muscle atrophy and serological changes of bone metabolism, and associated with a consistent loss of large-diameter cells of sensory neurons in the dorsal root ganglia. The Translational potential of this Article: Our study, for the first time, demonstrated the bone loss in limbs and vertebrae as well as the bone metabolic changes in non-human primates after unilateral spinal cord injury (SCI). This may help to elucidate the role of muscle atrophy, serological changes and loss of sensory neurons in the mechanisms of SCI-induced osteoporosis, which would be definitely better compared with rodent models.

Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS)-restorer system is a useful tool to exploit heterosis in soybean. The major restorer gene for the M-type CMS is known as Rf-m, located in the 162.4-kb region on chromosome 16. Sequence analysis has revealed that the Rf-m locus in Glycine max consists of seven pentatricopeptide repeat (GmPPR) genes. The deduced amino acid sequences contain 8 to 14 PPR motifs, and a phylogenetic analysis grouped these GmPPR proteins into two PPR subfamilies: Glyma.16G161800 belongs to the PLS subfamily, and the P subfamily consists of Glyma.16G161900, Glyma.16G162000, Glyma.16G162100, Glyma.16G162700, Glyma.16G162800, and Glyma.16G163100. The phylogenetic analysis of seven GmPPR proteins and 27 other plant PPR proteins also showed that proteins in the same subfamilies cluster together. Comparative sequence analysis was conducted using the seven Rf-m candidate GmPPR genes from the sterile line W931A, the maintainer line W931B, and the restorer line WR016, the result showed that Glyma.16G161900 had higher polymorphism than the other candidate genes. Based on real-time quantitative RT-PCR data, all seven GmPPR genes were differentially expressed but showed constitutive expression in roots, stems, leaves, and pollen grains. Additionally, the expression level of Glyma.16G161900 in the sterile line W931A was significantly higher in all tissues than in the restorer line WR016. Taken together, these results suggest that Glyma.16G161900 is the most likely candidate for the restorer gene Rf-m. This study is the first report and analysis of candidate fertility restorer (Rf) genes encoding PPR proteins in soybean.

Nyquist signals with low roll-off factors pose a challenge for non-data-aided blind symbol rate estimation problems in long-haul applications. We adopted the nonlinear least squares (NLS) approach to estimate the symbol rate of low roll-off factor signals. This method tolerates chromatic dispersion and additive Gaussian noise. In addition, this method can operate below two samples per symbol, thus enabling low-power-consumption receivers. Simulation and experimental results show that the mean squared error is below $10^{-4}$ with only 3000 samples needed for polarization-division-multiplexed (PDM) quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK) or quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) systems with a roll-off factor below 0.1 for an optical signal-to-noise ratio greater than 12 dB. Compared with the maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) method, our proposed method has a more robust performance under low roll-off factor signals and in low-sampling-rate scenarios. The mean squared error remains the same for a nominal symbol rate (i.e., the ratio of the symbol rate to the sampling rate, also widely known as oversampling rate) ranging from 0.1 to 0.9.

Background: The vertebral endplate (VEP) was damaged after spinal instability induced by cervical muscle section (CMS). Whether CMS induces bone formation and mechanical loading change in the vertebra is still obscure. This study was aimed to explore mechanical loading change and endplate damage after CMS. Methods: Forty-eight rats were randomly divided into the CMS group and the sham group. The C6/7 segments were harvested at 4, 8, and 12 weeks after surgery. The microarchitectures of the C6 vertebra ​and the vertebral endplate lesions and intervertebral disc height of C6/7 were measured by micro–computed tomography. Micro–finite element analysis was used to evaluate biomechanical properties of the C6 vertebra. Bone remodelling of the C6 vertebra ​and the endplate ​sclerosis and intervertebral disc degeneration of C6/7 were evaluated by histological and immunohistochemical analyses. Results: CMS significantly induced bone formation of the C6 ventral vertebra ​and increased the biomechanical properties of mainly the ventral side at 4 weeks, which was gradually rebalanced throughout the rest of the study. CMS also significantly increased protein expression of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) and phosphorylated small mothers against decapentaplegic (pSmad)2/3 ​at 4 weeks. Moreover, tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase staining showed that osteoclast-positive cells were slightly in number decreased at 4 weeks, but were obviously increased at 8 weeks. The VEP of the ventral side was abraded earlier followed by calcification in situ later after CMS, consistent with the biomechanical enhancements observed. The degree of endplate degeneration was aggravated with time. Finally, CMS decreased intervertebral disc height and increased disc degeneration scores with time. Conclusions: Spinal instability induced by CMS increases bone mass and biomechanical loading of the ventral side of vertebra in the early stage, which might initiate VEP damage and cause intervertebral disc degeneration. The translational potential of this article: Our study indicates that vertebral trabecular changes may involve in intervertebral disc degeneration induced by spinal instability. This may help to elucidate the mechanisms by which disc degeneration occur.

Abstract A series of high solid content (30 wt%) epoxy resin (EP) composite coatings reinforced with differently sized cubic boron nitride (CBN) particles were fabricated successfully on 304L stainless steel. Polydopamine (PDA) was used to improve the dispersibility of CBN particles in EP. The structural and morphological features of the CBN particles and the composite coatings were characterized by Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Moreover, a UMT-3 tribometer and surface profiler were used to investigate the tribological behaviors of the as-prepared composite coatings. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and Tafel analysis were used to investigate the coatings’ anti-corrosion performance. The results demonstrated that the CBN fillers could effectively enhance the tribological and anti-corrosion properties of the EP composite coatings. In addition, when the additive proportion of the microsized (5 μm) and nanosized (550 nm) CBN particles was 1:1, the tribological property of the EP composite coatings was optimal for dry sliding, which was attributed to the load carrying capability of the microsized CBN particles and the toughening effect of the nanosized CBN particles. However, when the additive proportion of the microsized and nanosized CBN particles was 2:1, the tribology and corrosion resistance performance were optimal in seawater conditions. We ascribed this to the load-carrying capacity of the microparticles, which played a more important role under the seawater lubrication condition, and the more compact structure, which improved the electrolyte barrier ability for the composite coatings.

This paper proposed a method of modulation format identification using Radial Basis Function Artificial Neural Network (RBF-ANN) trained with Asynchronous Amplitude Histograms (AAHs). Compare with the traditional RBF-ANN, the proposed method is improved by applying Expectation Maximization (EM), which takes advantage of the statistical feature of AAHs, to select center vector for radial basis function. Assuming distribution of each bin in AAH as Gaussian mixture model (GMM), the mean values of the model can be exploited as the center vector which obtained using EM. This approach ensures that the center vector is unbiased and optimal. The center vector is implemented to RBF-ANN to identify different modulation formats. Numerical simulation results demonstrated that identification accuracy was about 99% for three commonly-used modulation formats within the OSNR between 40 ~ 10dB. And the CD tolerance was 1000ps/nm. In comparison, former center vector selection approaches include K-means and random selection were applied. The result showed that the EM method improved the identification accuracy by 2% to 4% when OSNR = 10dB and CD = 100ps/nm. Owing to its excellent performance, this method can be employed in the next generation optical transport network for auto-adaption modulation format identification.

In digital communication systems, error correction codes are used to recover data that has been disturbed in a noisy environment. Convolutional code is a commonly used error correction code. In non-cooperative communication systems, it is very meaningful to blindly identify the synchronization position and coding parameters of convolutional codes. Existing reference had proposed a blind recognition algorithm for coding parameters of k/n rate convolutional codes in a noisy environment, but it didn't take into account the case where the received code words were not synchronized. In this paper, this problem is improved by using the quasi-correlation between the receive sequence and the check matrix to estimate the synchronization position, while obtaining the check matrix. It implements blind recognition of the synchronization position and coding parameters of k/n rate convolutional codes in a noisy environment. Simulation experimental results show that the improved algorithm in this paper is effective.

In this study, a nonlinear prediction model of antislide pile top displacement is proposed. Based on the quantitative analysis of the rock mass structure characteristics of the soft and hard interbedded sliding bed in the Jurassic strata, the post-thrust force and geometric characteristics of the top of antislide pile displacement, and bending moment, the main controlling factors affecting the displacement of the top of antislide pile were determined by maximal information coefficient (MIC). Through orthogonal experiment design and 3DEC numerical experiment, a database of main controlling factors (sliding bedrock inclination, thrust size, embedded depth, and pile section size) of pile top displacement was established and a nonlinear prediction model of the displacement of the top of antislide pile based on the main controlling factors was proposed. Finally, two engineering examples were used to validate the performance of this model, with the comparisons of four prediction methods (SVR, MIC-SVR, LSTM, and ELMAN). The results show that the MIC-SVR model has a practical reference value for the prediction of the displacement of the top of an antislide pile in the Jurassic landslide in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area.

Objective: To investigate the neuroprotective effects of trihydroxyethyl rutin in rats with cervical spinal cord hemi-contusion.Methods: Adult male Sprague–Dawley rats were subjected to hemi-contusion at a stroke depth of 1.2 mm, and then intraperitoneally injected with 50 or 100 mg/kg trihydroxyethyl rutin per day for 12 weeks (T50 and T100 groups, respectively). Changes in somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs), motor evoked potentials (MEPs), and behavior were continuously monitored. At 12 weeks post-injury, immunohistochemical staining was performed to assess changes in cervical spinal cord microvascular morphology. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were performed to examine end-stage injury in the cervical spinal cord, and Eriochrome cyanine-stained slices of spinal cord tissue were evaluated for injury.Results: There were no significant differences in biomechanical parameters among the spinal cord injury, T50 and T100 rat groups. At 3 days-post-injury, there was a significant decrease in grip strength. At 12 weeks post-injury, grip strength recovery was significantly better in the T50 and T100 groups than in the injury group. Compared with the injury group, the total limb placement frequency was significantly higher in the T50 group at 2, 4, 6, 10, and 12 weeks post-injury and in the T100 group at 2, 6, 8, and 10 weeks post-injury. Ipsilateral SEPs and MEPs were dynamic, increasing in latency and decreasing in amplitude in the injury compared with sham group. MRI scanning demonstrated that the coronal, sagittal, and transversal lesion areas were smaller in the T50 and T100 groups than in the injury group. Microvascular density showed a greater reduction in the injury group compared with the T50 and T100 groups. Eriochrome cyanine staining showed that the ipsilateral side, residual parenchyma, and gray matter areas were larger in the T50 and T100 groups than in the injury group.Conclusion: Trihydroxyethyl rutin exhibits robust neuroprotective effects, improving limb motor function and nerve electrophysiological parameters after spinal cord injury, maintaining microvascular density, and reducing the area of injury and degree of demyelination.

In this paper, we propose an Extended Kalman Filtering with phase noise reconstruction (EKF-PC) scheme to enhance the carrier recovery capability for probabilistic shaping of coherent optical communication systems with various shaping factors. We first investigate the weights of the shaping factor and the noise rejection window length of EKF-PC for PS-64QAM at a fixed signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). After that, we jointly optimize the shaping factor and the noise rejection window length to obtain the maximum achievable information rate at a variety of SNRs. Then, we numerically analyze the carrier recovery performance of the EKF-PC for different linewidths and SF conditions. Finally, we conduct simulation experiments to compare EKF-PC, PCPE, and other currently available Kalman CPE algorithms with the SFs of 0.02, 0.025, 0.03, and 0.035 under back-to-back (B2B) scenarios. The experimental results show that EKF-PC obtains an average SNR improvement of 0.13–0.5 dB compared to PCPE and an average performance improvement of 0.5–1 dB compared to other Kalman algorithms.

Affine mortality models are well suited for theoretical and practical application in pricing and risk management of mortality risk. They produce consistent, closed-form stochastic survival curves allowing for the efficient valuation of mortality-linked claims. We model USA age-cohort mortality data using five multi-factor affine mortality models. We focus on three-factor models and compare four Gaussian models along with a model based on the Cox–Ingersoll–Ross (CIR) process, allowing for Gamma-distributed mortality rates. We compare and assess the Gaussian Arbitrage-Free Nelson–Siegel (AFNS) mortality model, which incorporates level, slope and curvature factors, and the canonical Gaussian factor model, both with and without correlations in the factor dynamics. We show that for USA mortality data, the probability of negative mortality rates in the Gaussian models is small. Models are estimated using discrete time versions of the models with age-cohort data capturing variability in cohort mortality curves. Poisson variation in mortality data is included in the model estimation using the Kalman filter through the measurement equation. We consider models incorporating factor dependence to capture the effects of age-dependence in the mortality curves. The analysis demonstrates that the Gaussian independent-factor AFNS model performs well compared to the other affine models in explaining and forecasting USA age-cohort mortality data.

The improvement of rural living standards in developing countries and the continuous upgrading of the rural industrial economy have prompted the diversification of rural areas and residential forms. Thus, an integrated rural sewage treatment process has gradually become the mainstream technology for rural sewage treatment. Numerous studies have reported the effects of ecological wastewater treatment. Meanwhile, the relevant process technologies, evaluations, and operating models of the integrated rural sewage treatment process have yet to be thoroughly summarized. This review aims to fill these gaps. First, the applicability of artificial wetland, soil infiltration, stabilization pond, and integrated rural sewage treatment process technology in rural sewage treatment are outlined and compared. Second, the process flow, technical characteristics, and economic indicators of typical integrated sewage treatment processes (i.e., Anoxic/Oxic (A/O) process, Membrane Bio-Reactor (MBR) process, biological contact oxidation process, Sequencing Batch Reactor Activated Sludge (SBR) process) are introduced. The engineering application effects of the integrated rural sewage treatment process in different countries are also described. Third, the practical and effective evaluation methods of the integrated rural sewage treatment process are introduced. Bearing in mind the current operation and maintenance management modes of the integrated rural sewage treatment process in developed and developing countries, combined with the national conditions of developing countries, the prospect section provides development proposals for further optimization and improvement of the integrated rural sewage treatment process in developing countries.

Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) are a group of emerging persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which have been ubiquitously detected in the environmental media. However, national scale investigations on their occurrence and distribution in drinking water are still insufficient. In this study, we detected the 17 priority PFAAs in drinking water from 79 cities of 31 provincial-level administrative regions throughout China, and investigated their occurrence and distribution. Additionally, we also analyzed the influencing factors on their profiles, such as the existence of industrial sources, socioeconomic factors (population density and GDP), and assessed levels of risk associated with contaminated drinking water. On the national scale, the sum concentrations of the 17 PFAAs (∑17PFAAs) in drinking water was in a range of 4.49–174.93 ng/L with a mean value of 35.13 ng/L. Among the 17 individual PFAAs, perfluorobutanoic acids (PFBA) was the most abundant individual PFAAs with the median concentration of 17.87 ng/L, followed by perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA, 0.74 ng/L), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA, 0.40 ng/L) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS, 0.25 ng/L). The geographic distribution characteristic of ∑17PFAAs in drinking water was in a descending order of Southwestern China (57.67 ng/L) > Eastern coastal China (32.85 ng/L) > Middle China (29.89 ng/L) > Northwestern China (28.49 ng/L) > Northeastern China (22.03 ng/L), and in general, the existence of the industrial sources could positively affect the contamination levels of PFAAs in drinking water. The pollution level of PFAAs in drinking water also varied among the three different city levels (medium-sized city > big city > town). In towns, the positive correlations were observed between the population density and the ∑17PFAAs (R2 = 0.45, p

In a digital communication system, forward error correction (FEC) codes and interleavers are implemented to code the data so as to improve the error performance, which is hindered by random and burst errors. In the context of noncooperative communication, interleaver parameter recognition, which is the prerequisite for frame synchronization, channel coding recognition subsequently, is of vital significance. Methods of blindly recognizing convolutional interleaver parameters have been proposed in published literature, but the accuracy of recognition decreases significantly when bit error rate (BER) is high. To improve the performance of the algorithm, the effect of error bits on Gauss-Jordan elimination through pivoting (GJTEP) algorithm is analyzed in this paper. The following conclusion is drawn: error bits on the principal diagonal of data storage matrix will exert a great impact on the recognition accuracy. Based on the conclusion, an improved blind recognition method with denoising, the core principle of which is reducing error bits on the principal diagonal of data storage matrix, is proposed in this paper. The simulation experiment results demonstrate that the performance on error resilience is markedly improved.

Protecting white matter is one of the key treatment strategies for spinal cord injury (SCI), including alleviation of myelin loss and promotion of remyelination. Rapamycin has been shown neuroprotective effects against SCI and cardiotoxic effects while enhancing autophagy. However, specific neuroprotection of rapamycin for the white matter after cervical SCI has not been reported. Therefore, we aim to evaluate the role of rapamycin in neuroprotection after hemi-contusion SCI in mice. Forty-six 8-week-old mice were randomly assigned into the rapamycin group (n = 16), vehicle group (n = 16), and sham group (n = 10). All mice of the rapamycin and vehicle groups received a unilateral contusion with 1.2-mm displacement at C5 followed by daily intraperitoneal injection of rapamycin or dimethyl sulfoxide solution (1.5 mg⋅kg–1⋅day–1). The behavioral assessment was conducted before the injury, 3 days and every 2 weeks post-injury (WPI). The autophagy-related proteins, the area of spared white matter, the number of oligodendrocytes (OLs) and axons were evaluated at 12 WPI, as well as the glial scar and the myelin sheaths formed by Schwann cells at the epicenter. The 1.2 mm contusion led to a consistent moderate–severe SCI in terms of motor function and tissue damage. Rapamycin administration promoted autophagy in spinal cord tissue after injury and reduced the glial scar at the epicenter. Additionally, rapamycin increased the number of OLs and improved motor function significantly than in the vehicle group. Furthermore, the rapamycin injection resulted in an increase of Schwann cell-mediated remyelination and weight loss. Our results suggest that rapamycin can enhance autophagy, promote Schwann cell myelination and motor function recovery by preserved neural tissue, and reduce glial scar after hemi-contusive cervical SCI, indicating a potential strategy for SCI treatment.

This paper proposes a novel and efficient low-complexity chromatic dispersion equalizer (CDE) based on finite impulse response (FIR) filter architecture for polarization-multiplexed coherent optical communication systems. The FIR filter coefficients are optimized by weights to reduce the energy leakage caused by the truncation effect, and then quantization is used uniformly to reduce the number of real number additions and real number multiplications by utilizing the diversity of the quantized coefficients. Using Optisystem 15 to build a coherent optical communication system for simulation and experimental demonstration, the results show that after the filter coefficients are optimized by weights. Compared with the time-domain chromatic dispersion equalizer (TD-CDE), the proposed design has a lower bit error rate (BER) and better equalization effect. When the transmission distance is 4000 km and the system quantization stages M = 16, the multiplication operation and addition operations reduce computing resources by 99% and 43%, and the BER only increases by 5%. Compared with frequency-domain chromatic dispersion equalizer (FD-CDE), widely used in long-distance communication, the multiplication operation reduces computing resources by 30%. The proposed method provides a new idea for high-performance CDE in long-distance coherent optical communication systems.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of ketogenic metabolism on macrophage polarization, inflammation inhibition, and function recovery after acute spinal cord injury (SCI) in rats.MethodsSixty-four adult male Sprague–Dawley rats were randomly and equally divided into sham, standard diet (SD), ketone diet (KD), and 1, 3-butanediol (BD) groups. All animals underwent C5 unilateral laminectomy, whereas the SD, KD, and BD groups underwent C5 spinal cord hemi-contusion. The impact rod with a diameter of 1.5 mm was aligned 22.5° to the left and 1.4 mm to the midline, and then triggered to deliver a set displacement of 1.5 mm at a speed of 100 mm/s. The gene expression of inflammatory factors as well as the protein expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase, arginase-1, and inflammatory factors were measured at 1 week post-injury. Serum ketone and behavior were evaluated every second week for 12 weeks. Then, histological analyses of the gray and white matter at the epicenter were conducted at 12 weeks post-injury.ResultsThe serum ketone levels of the KD and BD groups were significantly increased when compared with the SD group. The gene and protein expression of TNF-α and IL-1β tended to increase after the SCI, but were inhibited in the KD and BD groups. The protein expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase, marker of M1 macrophage, was inhibited in the KD and BD groups; on the other hand, the expression of arginase-1, marker of M2 macrophage, was boosted in the KD and BD groups. The usage of the ipsilateral forelimb was higher in the KD group than in the SD group. The hemi-contusive injury resulted in an obvious ipsilateral lesion area at the epicenter, and there was no significant difference between groups regarding the lesion size. However, the spared gray matter area was significantly greater in the KD group than in the SD and BD groups.ConclusionThe present study suggests that ketogenic metabolism promotes macrophage polarization to M2, inhibits an inflammatory response, and alleviates the loss of gray matter after SCI. A higher ketone level, such as that induced by the ketogenic diet, seems to benefit function recovery after SCI.

Gear pump is the key component in hydraulic drive system, and it is very significant to fault diagnosis for gear pump. The combination of sparsity empirical wavelet transform and adaptive dynamic least squares support vector machine is proposed for fault diagnosis of gear pump in this article. Sparsity empirical wavelet transform is used to obtain the features of the vibrational signal of gear pump, the sparsity function is potential to make empirical wavelet transform adaptive, and adaptive dynamic least squares support vector machine is used to recognize the state of gear pump. The experimental results show that the diagnosis accuracies of sparsity empirical wavelet transform and adaptive dynamic least squares support vector machine are better than those of the empirical wavelet transform and adaptive dynamic least squares support vector machine method or the empirical wavelet transform and least squares support vector machine method.

Chromatic dispersion equalization (CDE) in coherent optical communication systems is extremely critical for subsequent digital signal processing (such as frequency offset estimation and carrier phase recovery). Various methods mentioned in the published literature are not satisfactory when the signal bandwidth is limited. This paper proposes a way of using singular value decomposition least square (SVDLS) to obtain the optimal tap weight of the CDE filter and a method to introduce the adaptive mutation particle swarm optimizer (AMPSO) algorithm into the CDE. We show that the two proposed approaches are based on the best approximation of the frequency domain response of the designed and ideal CDE filter. Compared with the traditional CDE method, which needs to be implemented in the full frequency band, the two methods can be implemented in the narrow frequency band. The simulation shows that the effective bandwidth of the baseband signal is limited by squared-root-raised-cosine (SRRC) pulse shaping with a roll-off factor of 0.25 in different modulation formats (DP-QPSK, DP-16 QAM, DP-64 QAM) when the number of taps of the filter is 131, which is 37.5% less than the full frequency band. The designed filter is superior to the existing filter in terms of filtering effect and implementation complexity.

In optical communication systems, coherent detection is a standard method. The received signal enters the digital domain after passing through a time-interleaved analog-to-digital converter (TI-ADC). However, the time delay of the ADC brings noise into the signal, which decreases the signal quality; therefore, ADC calibration is essential. At present, there are many calibration methods for time delay, but their performances are not satisfactory at a high sampling frequency. This paper presents a method of time delay estimation and calibration in a coherent optical communication system. First, the expected maximum (EM) method is used to roughly estimate the time delay and then transfer the estimated value into the trained back propagation (BP) neural network to generate more accurate results. Second, the sampled signal is reconstructed, and then a finite impulse response (FIR) filter is designed to compensate for the time delay. There are several advantages of the proposed method compared with previous works: the convergence with a BP network is faster, the estimation accuracy is higher, and the calibration does not affect the sample operation of the ADC working in the background mode. In addition, the proposed calibration method does not need additional circuits and its low power consumption provides more sources for dispersion compensation, error correction, and other subsequent operations in the coherent optical communication system. Based on the quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) system, the proposed method was implemented in a 16-channel/8-bit, 40-GS/s ADC. After estimation and calibration, the relative error of estimation was below 1%, the signal noise distortion rate (SNDR) reached 55.9 dB, the spurious free dynamic range (SFDR) improved to 61.2 dB, and the effective number of bits (ENOB) was 6.7 bits. The results demonstrate that the proposed method has a better calibration performance than other methods.

As optical performance monitoring (OPM) requires accurate and robust solutions to tackle the increasing dynamic and complicated optical network architectures, we experimentally demonstrate an end-to-end optical signal-to-noise (OSNR) estimation method based on the convolutional neural network (CNN), named OptInception. The design principles of the proposed scheme are specified. The idea behind the combination of the Inception module and finite impulse response (FIR) filter is elaborated as well. We experimentally evaluate the mean absolute error (MAE) and root-mean-squared error (RMSE) of the OSNR monitored in PDM-QPSK and PDM-16QAM signals under various symbol rates. The results suggest that the MAE reaches as low as 0.125 dB and RMSE is 0.246 dB in general. OptInception is also proved to be insensitive to the symbol rate, modulation format, and chromatic dispersion. The investigation of kernels in CNN indicates that the proposed scheme helps convolutional layers learn much more than a lowpass filter or bandpass filter. Finally, a comparison in performance and complexity presents the advantages of OptInception.

This paper introduces the high-speed electrical multiple unit (EMU) life cycle, including the design, manufacturing, testing, and maintenance stages. It also presents the train control and monitoring system (TCMS) software development platform, the TCMS testing and verification bench, the EMU driving simulation platform, and the EMU remote data transmittal and maintenance platform. All these platforms and benches combined together make up the EMU life cycle cost (LCC) system. Each platform facilitates EMU LCC management and is an important part of the system.

Symbol rate and chromatic dispersion (CD) are very important for optical performance monitoring. The CD, however, hinders the symbol rate detection. In this paper, we proposed a joint estimation of symbol rate and chromatic dispersion. We show that, when the signal conjugates and multiplies with the delayed replica, the spectral line can be restored. The proposed method provides a fast and simple solution for joint estimation as traditional tentative CD scanning is time consuming. The simulation shows that the root-mean-squared error (RMSE) for CD was 39.5 ps/nm and the symbol rate was 2.4 MHz. For the squared-root-raised-cosine (SRRC) pulse shape with a roll-off factor of 0.1, the experimental results show that 25,000 input samples were needed for an error-free estimation. The RMSE is 105.6 ps/nm and 63.5 kHz for CD and symbol rate, respectively.