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Accurately estimated reference evapotranspiration (ET0) is essential to regional water management. The FAO recommends coupling the Penman–Monteith (P‐M) model with the Ångström–Prescott (A‐P) formula as the standard method for ET0 estimation with missing Rs measurements. However, its application is usually restricted by the two fundamental coefficients (a and b) of the A‐P formula. This paper proposes a new method for estimating ET0 with missing Rs by combining machine learning with physical‐based P‐M models (PM‐ET0). The benchmark values of the A‐P coefficients were first determined at the daily, monthly, and yearly scales, and further evaluated in Rs and ET0 estimates at 80 national Rs measuring stations. Then, three empirical models and four machine‐learning methods were evaluated in estimating the A‐P coefficients. Machine learning methods were also used to estimate ET0 (ML‐ET0) to compare with the PM‐ET0. Finally, the optimal estimation method was used to estimate the A‐P coefficients for the 839 regular weather stations for ET0 estimation without Rs measurement for China. The results demonstrated a descending trend for coefficient a from northwest to southeast China, with larger values in cold seasons. However, coefficient b showed the opposite distribution as the coefficient a. The FAO has recommended a larger a but a smaller b for southeast China, which produced the region's largest Rs and ET0 estimation errors. Additionally, the A‐P coefficients calibrated at the daily scale obtained the best estimation accuracy for both Rs and ET0, and slightly outperformed the monthly and yearly coefficients without significant difference in most cases. The machine learning methods outperformed the empirical methods for estimating the A‐P coefficients, especially for the sites with extreme values. Further, ML‐ET0 outperformed the PM‐ET0 with yearly A‐P coefficients but underperformed those with daily and monthly ones. This study indicates an exciting potential for combining machine learning with physical models for estimating ET0. However, we found that using the A‐P coefficients with finer time scales is unnecessary to deal with the missing Rs measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A watch-and-wait (WW) strategy or surgery for low to intermediate rectal cancer that has reached clinical complete remission (cCR) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (nCRT) or total neoadjuvant therapy (TNT) has been widely used in the clinic, but both treatment strategies are controversial. Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the oncologic outcomes of a watch-and-wait strategy or a surgical approach to treat rectal cancer in complete remission and to report the evidence-based clinical advantages of the two treatment strategies. Methods: Seven national and international databases were searched for clinical trials comparing the watch-and-wait strategy with surgical treatment for oncological outcomes in patients with rectal cancer in clinical complete remission. Results: In terms of oncological outcomes, there was no significant difference between the watch-and-wait strategy and surgical treatment in terms of overall survival (OS) (HR = 0.92, 95% CI (0.52, 1.64), P = 0.777), and subgroup analysis showed no significant difference in 5-year disease-free survival (5-year DFS) between WW and both local excision (LE) and radical surgery (RS) (HR = 1.76, 95% CI (0.97, 3.19), P = 0.279; HR = 1.98, 95% CI (0.95, 4.13), P = 0.164), in distant metastasis rate (RR = 1.12, 95% CI (0.73, 1.72), P = 0.593), mortality rate (RR = 1.62, 95% CI (0.93, 2.84), P = 0.09), and organ preservation rate (RR = 1.05, 95% CI (0.94, 1.17), P = 0.394) which were not statistically significant and on the outcome indicators of local recurrence rate (RR = 2.09, 95% CI (1.44, 3.03), P < 0.001) and stoma rate (RR = 0.35, 95% CI (0.20, 0.61), P < 0.001). There were significant differences between the WW group and the surgical treatment group. Conclusion: There were no differences in OS, 5-year DFS, distant metastasis, and mortality between the WW strategy group and the surgical treatment group. The WW strategy did not increase the risk of local recurrence compared with local resection but may be at greater risk of local recurrence compared with radical surgery, and the WW group was significantly better than the surgical group in terms of stoma rate; the WW strategy was evidently superior in preserving organ integrity compared to radical excision. Consequently, for patients who exhibit a profound inclination towards organ preservation and the evasion of stoma formation in the scenario of clinically complete remission of rectal cancer, the WW strategy can be contemplated as a pragmatic alternative to surgical interventions. It is, however, paramount to emphasize that the deployment of such a strategy should be meticulously undertaken within the ambit of a multidisciplinary team's management and within specialized centers dedicated to rectal cancer management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Morphing wing is one of the important development directions of future aircraft design, and the study of in-plane deformation of the morphing wing surface has received widespread attention. In this paper, four aspects in-cluding variable span length, variable sweep angle, variable chord length and combined deformation are analyzed to describe the current status of domestic and international research on in-plane morphing wings, summarize the defor-mation mechanism and its advantages and disadvantages, and analyze the future development trend of morphing wing. In view of the current research situation and the application requirements of the morphing wing, the key tech-nologies of the morphing wing are proposed, including the morphing skin technology, morphing mechanism, intelli-gent actuator, sensor and control network. The application requirements of each key technology and the existing problems are analyzed furthermore. The future development direction is summarized, which can provide some references for the design and application realization of in-plane morphing wings.

BACKGROUND: Steroids have strong anti-inflammatory, anti-emetic and analgesic effects and are widely used in perioperative analgesia. Studies have shown that periarticular injection of steroid-containing cocktail analgesic therapy in knee arthroplasty can relieve postoperative pain, improve knee activity, and reduce complications. However, the other studies show that steroids can increase the risk of postoperative infection, and tendon rupture. Therefore, the safety and efficacy of steroid-containing cocktail periarticular injection in knee arthroplasty is still controversial. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of steroid-containing cocktail periarticular injection after knee arthroplasty by meta-analysis. METHODS: The published literatures were searched on the databases of PubMed/Medline, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and EMBASE until April 2019. All randomized controlled trials of topical steroid analgesia after knee arthroplasty were collected and eligible articles were screened. Two researchers independently assessed the risk of bias and methodological quality of included studies by the Cochrane 5.0. The outcome data were extracted and a meta-analysis was conducted by Review Manager 5.2 software. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) A total of 10 randomized controlled articles involving 820 patients were included. (2) The meta-analysis showed that visual analogue scale score was lower in the steroid group than in the control group at postoperative 1 day [MD=-1.52, 95%CI(-2.94, -0.1 0}, P=0.04]. Motion range was higher in the steroid group than in the control group at postoperative 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 days [MD=11.57, 95%CI(9.85, 13.30}, P< 0.000 01; MD-9.03, 95%CI(6.67, 11.38}, P< 0.000 01; MD-5.73, 95%CI(0.85, 10.60}, P=0.02; MD-5.53, 95%CI(0.68, 10.38), P=0.03}; MD=5.90, 95%CI(0.87, 10.93), P=0.02]. Morphine use was less in the steroid group than in the control group [MD=-7.94, 95%CI(-14.35, -1.53), P=0.02]. Hospital stay was shorter in the steroid group than in the control group [MD=-<>.98, 95%CI(-1.25, -0.71 ), P < 0.000 01]. Straight leg raising took less time in the steroid group than in the control group [MD=0.65, 95%CI(-0.86, 0.44), P < 0.000 01]. Postoperative C-reactive protein level was lower in the steroid group than in the control group [WMD=-4.82, 95%CI(7.41, 2.23), P=0.000 3]. Knee society score and complication rate were not significantly different between the two groups. (3) To conclude, the periarticular injection of steroid-containing cocktails after knee arthroplasty is safe and effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Primary osteoarthritis (OA) is a polygenic disease. To investigate the gene expression profile of cartilage and synovium from osteoarthritis and healthy rats using cDNA microarray is beneficial to recognize the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis and provide evidence for gene therapy of osteoarthritis. Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the gene expression profile of the cartilage and synovium of chronic arthritis and healthy rats through cDNA microarray assay, and identify the differentially expressed genes. This study may be helpful for understanding the role of differentially expressed genes in osteoarthritis and the gene polymorphism of osteoarthritis. Methods: A total of 24 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into control group and osteoarthritis group (n == 12 per group). The synovial and cartilage were obtained and total RNA was extracted. cDNA microarray assay was performed to identify the differentially expressed genes, and cluster analysis was conducted. Results and Conclusion: A total of 82 differentially expressed genes were identified, among which 27 were up-regulated and 55 down-regulated. Gene microarray assay is effective to identify differentially expressed genes and may find out novel osteoarthritis associated genes. Multiple genes are involved in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis. The differentially expressed genes provide important information for further studies on the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis and gene therapy of osteoarthritis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to ceRNA theory, circular RNAs could regulate certain protein expression through targeting corresponding microRNAs to affect the progression of multiple diseases, including colorectal cancer. CircTP53 (hsa_circ_0107702), highly expressed in thyroid cancer tissues, could promote the proliferation of thyroid cancer. However, the function of circTP53 in colorectal cancer is still unclear. In our study, we found circTP53 was significantly up-regulated in colorectal cancer tissues from patients and in colorectal cell lines. Next, using colorectal cell lines, we confirmed that circTP53 promoted the proliferation, migration and invasion, and reduced the apoptotic rate. Furthermore, through bioinformatics analysis and experimental confirmation, we found circTP53 functioned as the sponge of miR-876-3p, and miR-876-3p reversed the phenotype of circTP53 on the facilitation of colorectal cancer. Additionally, we found circTP53 promoted the progression of colorectal cancer by elevating the expression of CDKL3. At last, we suggested that circTP53 knockdown could inhibit colorectal cancer progression in vivo. In conclusion, circTP53 was highly expressed in colorectal cancer tissues, and promoted colorectal cancer progression via modulating miR-876-3p/CDKL3 axis. • circTP53 was significantly up-regulated in colorectal cancer tissues. • circTP53 promoted the proliferation, migration and invasion, and reduced the apoptotic rate. • circTP53 promoted colorectal cancer progression via modulating miR-876-3p/CDKL3 axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]