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Human life expectancy increases as society becomes more developed. This increased life expectancy poses challenges associated with the rapid aging of the population. Sarcopenia, an age-related disease, has become a worldwide health issue. Patients with sarcopenia experience decreases in muscle mass and function, becoming frail and eventually bedridden. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is also a major health issue; the incidence of T2DM increases with aging. T2DM is associated with reduced muscle strength and poor muscle quality and may contribute to acceleration of the aging process, augmenting age-related sarcopenia. Recent studies indicate that elderly patients with diabetes are at an increased risk for sarcopenia. Therefore, these older diabetic patients with sarcopenia need specific anti-diabetic therapies targeting not only glycemic control but also sarcopenia, with the goal of preventing sarcopenia in pre-sarcopenic patients. Presently, various types of hypoglycemic drugs are available, but which hypoglycemic drugs are better suited for geriatric T2DM patients with sarcopenia remains undetermined. In this review, we discuss the association between diabetes and sarcopenia in geriatric patients, and how anti-diabetic drugs may influence sarcopenia outcomes. This review will guide clinical workers in the selection of drugs best suited for this patient population.

In the regional landscape pattern, woodland landscape patches are developed in a regular manner, showing a trend of agglomeration as a whole; the concentration and dominance of landscape patches of cultivated land, grassland, and unused land are decreasing, and the overall situation is fragmented; the water landscape pattern is also showing a regular development state to varying degrees. On the whole, the landscape of a certain area is scattered and fragmented, and the dominant landscape types dominate the overall landscape layout of the region. The diversity of land use landscape pattern shows positive autocorrelation as a whole. According to the Moran’s I index of the diversity of land use landscape patterns, the overall agglomeration effect of the region has increased, but the overall trend is in a balanced trend. The ecological service value of urban land use change continues to increase, but the regional differences are significant, the structure is simple, and it is mainly supported by ecosystems such as forest land, water area, and agricultural land. Based on the analysis of the spatiotemporal evolution of land use, an in-depth analysis of the urban water environment, atmospheric environment, soil environment, urban heat island, and other environmental issues of the urban land use in the study area is carried out. The calculation and analysis results of the ecological service value of urban land use change and its flow direction change show that the ecosystem service value has increased, and the regional difference and flow direction of the ecosystem service value have changed significantly.

A compact high-efficiency GW-level ${S}$ -band relativistic magnetron (RM) with TE11 mode output is proposed. In order to achieve high efficiency and high power, an eight-cavity slow wave system with rectangular vanes is adopted, which can provide a larger resonant system where the high-frequency energy is directly stored. All cavity axial extraction (ACAE) is applied with four 90° sector waveguides arranged azimuthally around the anode block. The four 90° sector waveguides play a significant role in converting sector waveguide TE11 mode to circular waveguide TE11 mode. The entire tube is designed without any increase in the radial dimension, which is propitious to a compact and lightweight magnet system design. In particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations, the proposed rectangular vane-type 8-cavity (R8) RM with ACAE can generate a microwave power of 2.1 GW with a pure TE11 mode at the frequency of 2.475 GHz when the applied voltage is 460 kV and the axial magnetic field is 0.46 T, and the power conversion efficiency is 68.4%.

This article mainly analyzes the clinical effects of magnetic resonance diagnosis in knee meniscus injury. Patients with knee meniscus injury were taken as the research object. All patients used magnetic resonance examination and surgery and arthroscopy examination, and surgery and arthroscopy examination as the control parameters. The analysis used magnetic resonance diagnosis results and the classification of meniscus injury diagnosed by magnetic resonance and surgery and arthroscopy. The results showed that the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of conventional MR1 sequence diagnosis of medial meniscus injury were 86.3%, 95.6%, and 92.4%, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of conventional MRI in diagnosing lateral meniscus injury of the knee joint were 91.3%, 94.5%, and 92.5% respectively. The sensitivity of MRI to medial and lateral meniscus injury was (χ2 = 0.07, P > 0.77), There were no significant differences in specificity χ2 = 0.01, P > 0.77) and accuracy χ2 = 0.01, P > 0.77). The knee meniscus injury has a greater impact on patients. The diagnostic effect of magnetic resonance imaging is better and the diagnostic accuracy is higher. It can help clinical judgment and treatment. The effect is obvious and worthy of clinical promotion.

The incidence of central nervous system (CNS) diseases is increasing with the aging population. However, it remains challenging to deliver drugs into the CNS because of the existence of a blood-brain barrier (BBB). Notably, rabies virus glycoprotein (RVG) peptides have been developed as delivery ligands for CNS diseases. So far, massive RVG peptide modified carriers have been reported, such as liposomes, micelles, polymers, exosomes, dendrimers, and proteins. Moreover, these drug delivery systems can encapsulate almost all small molecules and macromolecule drugs, including siRNA, microRNAs, DNA, proteins, and other nanoparticles, to treat various CNS diseases with efficient and safe drugs. In this review, targeted delivery systems with RVG peptide modified carriers possessing favorable biocompatibility and delivery efficiency are summarized.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has penetrated the field of education. Trust has long been regarded as a driver for the acceptance of technology. Netnography and interviews were used to investigate trust in AI-based educational systems from the perspective of users. We identified the factors influencing trust in AI-based educational systems and categorized them as being related to technology, context and individual. Technology-related factors encompass functionality, helpfulness, interpretability, dependability and interaction interface. Context-related factors encompass benevolence of educational organizations, data management, teachers? competencies, official norms and knowledge characteristics. Individual-related factors encompass perception of the nature of learning, propensity to interact with teachers, perception of AI and autonomy orientation. The results from this paper will contribute to the literature on trust in technology and AI ethics in education.

Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) remodelling is closely related to the pathogenesis of atrial fibrillation (AF). We investigated whether metformin (MET) prevents AF‐dependent EAT remodelling and AF vulnerability in dogs. A canine AF model was developed by 6‐week rapid atrial pacing (RAP), and electrophysiological parameters were measured. Effective refractory periods (ERP) were decreased in the left and right atrial appendages as well as in the left atrium (LA) and right atrium (RA). MET attenuated the RAP‐induced increase in ERP dispersion, cumulative window of vulnerability, AF inducibility and AF duration. RAP increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and nuclear factor kappa‐B (NF‐κB) phosphorylation; up‐regulated interleukin‐6 (IL‐6), tumour necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α) and transforming growth factor‐β1 (TGF‐β1) levels in LA and EAT; decreased peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) and adiponectin (APN) expression in EAT and was accompanied by atrial fibrosis and adipose infiltration. MET reversed these alterations. In vitro, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exposure increased IL‐6, TNF‐α and TGF‐β1 expression and decreased PPARγ/APN expression in 3T3‐L1 adipocytes, which were all reversed after MET administration. Indirect coculture of HL‐1 cells with LPS‐stimulated 3T3‐L1 conditioned medium (CM) significantly increased IL‐6, TNF‐α and TGF‐β1 expression and decreased SERCA2a and p‐PLN expression, while LPS + MET CM and APN treatment alleviated the inflammatory response and sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ handling dysfunction. MET attenuated the RAP‐induced increase in AF vulnerability, remodelling of atria and EAT adipokines production profiles. APN may play a key role in the prevention of AF‐dependent EAT remodelling and AF vulnerability by MET.

Aim: The connection between revascularization for coronary artery disease (CAD) and the incidence of recurrent events of atrial fibrillation (AF) after ablation is unclear. This study aimed to explore the relationship between coronary revascularization and AF recurrence in patients who underwent radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA).Methods: Four hundred and nineteen patients who underwent performed coronary angiography at the same time as RFCA were enrolled in this study. Obstructive CAD was defined as at least one coronary artery vessel stenosis of ≥75% and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was recommended. Non-obstructive CAD was defined as coronary artery vessel stenosis of Results: In total, 102, 95, and 212 patients were undergone coronary angiography and diagnosed as having obstructive CAD, Non-obstructive CAD, and Non-CAD, respectively. During the 24-month follow-up period, patients without obstructive CAD were significantly more likely to achieve freedom from AF than patients with obstructive CAD (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.72; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.23–2.41; P = 0.001). The recurrence rate of AF was significantly lower in patients who underwent PCI than in those who did not (HR: 0.45; 95% CI: 0.25–0.80; P = 0.007). The multivariate regression analysis showed that the other predictors of AF recurrence for obstructive CAD were multivessel stenosis (HR: 1.92; 95% CI: 1.04–3.54; P = 0.036) and left atrial diameter (HR: 2.56; 95% CI: 1.31–5.00; P = 0.006).Conclusions: This study suggests that obstructive CAD is associated with a higher rate of AF recurrence. Additionally, For patients with CAD, coronary revascularization is related to a lower recurrence rate of AF after RFCA.

A frequency-agile relativistic magnetron with axial tuning is presented. To achieve axial tuning, reentrant cavity which has two radial parts connected by a coupling hole had been introduced. Resonant frequency of this cavity configuration can be tuned by adjusting the axial length of each coupling hole without any variation of other parameters. Multi-antenna output technique had been integrated with the reentrant cavity chain to obtain high conversion efficiency in the whole tuning range. Simulation results showed that this tube had a tuning range between 1.23 GHz to 1.70 GHz, corresponding to relative bandwidth of 32% about a center frequency of 1.465 GHz. In this tuning range, the maximum output power is 1.81 GW at 1.605 GHz, corresponding to an efficiency of 54.5%. This axial tuning RM is a promising compact high power microwave source with wide tuning range.

Urban land ecological security plays an important role in alleviating human–land conflicts and in coordinating the development of natural and human resources and the environment. However, the subject of the present urban land ecological security is poorly studied. Given the circumstances, this paper presents a spatial exploring model for urban land ecological security (ULESM) based on the modified artificial bee colony algorithm (MABCA). The paper improves ABCA with a spatial grid, designed a grid-based ABCA calculation framework, ABCA's data structure, information-sharing mechanism and position selection strategy, introduces the model of spatial coupling and coordination degree for urban ecological security, and achieves spatial detection of ecologically hazardous areas. Taking Guangzhou as an example, this paper simulated the hazardous regions of the urban ecological land (assumed area: 50% of total area of Guangzhou), yielding favorable results. The results show that the ULESM based on MABCA exhibits an excellent global search and a rapid global-convergence speed, preventing a bee colony from being trapped in a local optimum. It can also effectively detect regions with urban land ecological hazards and provide intelligence-aided methods for decision making in urban ecological security and spatial planning

The study of the temporal and spatial evolution of wetland landscapes and its driving factors is an important reference for wetland ecological restoration and protection. This article utilized seven periods of land use data in Henan Province from 1980 to 2015 to extract the spatial distribution characteristics of wetlands and analyze the temporal and spatial changes of wetlands in Henan Province. Transfer matrix, landscape metrics, correlation analysis, and redundancy analysis were applied to calculate and analyze the transformation types and area of wetland resources between all consecutive periods, and then the main driving factors of wetland expansion/contraction were explored. First, the total wetland area in Henan Province increased by 28% from 1980 to 2015, and the increased wetland area was mainly constructed wetlands, including paddy field, reservoir and pond, and canal. Natural wetlands such as marsh, lake, and floodplain decreased by 74%. Marsh area declined the most during 1990–1995, and was mainly transformed into floodplain and “Others” because of agricultural reclamation, low precipitation, and low Yellow River runoff. The floodplain area dropped the most from 2005 to 2010, mainly converted to canals and “Others” because of reclamation, exploitation of groundwater, the construction of the South–to–North Water Transfer Project, and recreational land development. Second, the results of correlation analysis and redundancy analysis indicated that economic factors were positively correlated with the area of some constructed wetlands and negatively correlated with the area of some natural wetlands. Socioeconomic development was the main driving factors for changes in wetland types. The proportion of wetland habitat in Henan Province in 2015 was only 0.3%, which is low compared to the Chinese average of 2.7%. The government should pay more attention to the restoration of natural wetlands in Henan Province.

Dietary consumption of ω-3 fatty acids is correlated with a reduced incidence of cardiovascular events. Here, we investigated the effect of dietary ω-3 fatty acids on atrial fibrillation (AF) vulnerability in a canine model of AF and explored the related mechanisms.Twenty four male beagle dogs (weight, 8-10 kg) were randomly divided into four groups: (a) sham-operated group (normal chow); (b) AF+FO [AF and normal chow supplemented with fish oil (FO): 0.6 g n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3 PUFA) /kg/day]; (c) AF group (normal chow); (d) sham-operated FO group (chow supplemented with FO: 0.6 g ω-3 PUFA/kg/day). AF was induced by rapid atrial pacing (RAP: 400 bpm for 4 weeks). Daily oral administration of FO was initiated 1 week before surgery and continued for 4 weeks post operation.Atrial electric remodeling was significantly attenuated and AF vulnerability were significantly reduced in AF+FO group compared to AF group. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-related protein expression levels of glucose-regulated protein78, C/EBP homologous protein, cleaved-Caspase12, and phosphorylation of protein kinase R-like ER kinase as well as inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α in left atrium (LA) were significantly downregulated in AF+FO group than in AF group (all p0.05). In addition, Masson staining revealed lower extent of LA interstitial fibrosis in AF+FO group than in AF group (p0.01). Myocardial apoptosis was also significantly reduced in AF+FO group than in AF group (p0.05).Dietary ω-3 fatty acids could significantly reduce RAP-induced AF vulnerability, possibly via attenuating myocardial ER stress, inflammation, and apoptosis in this canine model of AF.

Microplastics (MPs) have generated worldwide attention due to their global distribution in the environment, and their potential harmful effects on human and animal health. To analyze MPs-related scientific publications from a global point of view, we created a bibliometric profile, by searching the Web of Science Core Collection database for the topic &ldquo, microplastic* or (micro near/1 plastic*)&rdquo, in publications dated from 2004 to 2019. The results revealed an increasing trend in publication output, and identified contributions of different countries and their collaborations, as well as influential authors and productive journals in the field of MPs research. Using co-citation network analysis in VOSviewer, we mined cited references for knowledge bases about analytical methods, potential sources and spatial distributions of MPs, the impacts of MPs on organisms, and the interaction of MPs with contaminants, as well as microorganisms. We also identified four global hotspots for MPs related research, using author keywords co-occurrence network analysis of all extracted publications, as well as Essential Science Indicators highly cited papers from Clarivate Analytics. Results of this study provide a valuable reference for ongoing MPs-related research, which may be of intrigue and awesome noteworthiness for relevant researchers.

Background Previous studies demonstrated impaired lipid metabolism and augmented aerobic glycolysis in AF. The authors aimed to investigate whether the use of metformin, an AMPK activator, could reverse this metabolic remodeling in chronic AF and to explore the underlying mechanisms. Methods We conducted chronic AF animal models with 18 beagle dogs and divided them into SR (pacemaker implanted without pacing), AF (pacemaker implanted with sustained pacing at a frequency of 400 beats/min for 6 weeks), and metformin+AF group (daily oral administration of metformin was initiated 1 week before surgery and continued throughout the study period). After electrophysiological measurements, the left atrial appendage tissue samples were taken from the beating heart for further analysis. Protein expression, histological analysis, and biochemical measurements were conducted. Results The AF groups showed decreased expression of FAT/CD36, CPT-1, VLCAD, increased concentration of free fatty acid and triglyceride, and increased lipid deposition. The activation of AMPK/PGC-1α/PPARα pathway was decreased. The key factors of the Warburg effect, including HIF-1α, GLUT-1, PDK1, HK, and LDH, increased in AF group compared to SR group. The expression of PDH decreased significantly, accompanied by increased atrial lactate production. The extent of fibrosis increased significantly in the left atrial appendage of AF group. dERP, ∑WOV, and AF inducibility increased while ERP decreased in AF group compared to SR group. The use of metformin attenuated all these changes effectively. Conclusions Metformin improves lipid metabolism and reverses the Warburg effect in chronic AF via AMPK activation. It attenuates atrial electrical and structural remodeling.

The desire to have a more sustainable future, with lower emissions of carbon and sulfur to the atmosphere, a more appropriate reuse and valorization of wastes, and less dependency on oil has motivated the society to develop processes where renewable biomass is used as a feedstock for the production of fuels, chemicals, energy and materials. In addition, a bio-based economy has also potential to generate new jobs and new opportunities for entrepreneurship, with further benefits to the society. In view of this, great efforts have been done in order to develop efficient, sustainable and cost competitive bio-based processes able to be implemented in industrial scale. Although important advances were achieved and some processes are already available in a large scale, improvements are still needed to have a final product at a more competitive market price. In this sense, the strategy of integrating biorefineries to produce a variety of products from biomass has been considered as an important alternative to improve the financial performance. This paper highlights the most recent advances and opportunities in biomass conversion technologies and biorefineries for the development of a bio-based economy. Technological aspects including the hemicellulose integration and use of sugars for different products, lignin valorization, development of efficient and low-cost pretreatment technologies and development of highly efficient fermentation processes are also presented and discussed.

Background There is a little evidence for the effects of catheter ablation (CA) on hard endpoints in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure (HF). Methods PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) enrolling patients with AF and HF who were assigned to CA, rate control or medical rhythm control groups. This meta-analysis was performed by using random-effect models. Results Seven RCTs enrolling 856 participants were included in this meta-analysis. CA reduced the risks of all-cause mortality (risk ratio [RR] 0.52, 95% CI 0.35 to 0.76), HF readmission (RR 0.58, 95% CI 0.46 to 0.66) and the composite of all-cause mortality and HF readmission (RR 0.55, 95% CI 0.47 to 0.66) when compared with control. But there was no significant difference in cerebrovascular accident (RR 0.56, 95% CI 0.23 to 1.36) between two groups. Compared with control, CA was associated with improvement in left ventricular ejection fraction (mean difference [MD] 7.57, 95% CI 3.72 to 11.41), left ventricular end systolic volume (MD -14.51, 95% CI -26.84 to − 2.07), and left ventricular end diastolic volume (MD -3.78, 95% CI -18.51 to 10.96). Patients undergoing CA exhibited increased peak oxygen consumption (MD 3.16, 95% CI 1.09 to 5.23), longer 6-min walk test distance (MD 26.67, 95% CI 12.07 to 41.27), and reduced Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire scores (MD -9.49, 95% CI -14.64 to − 4.34) than those in control group. Compared with control, CA was associated with improved New York Heart Association class (MD -0.74, 95% CI -0.83 to − 0.64) and lower B-type natriuretic peptide levels (MD -105.96, 95% CI -230.56 to 19.64). Conclusions CA was associated with improved survival, morphologic changes, functional capacity and quality of life relative to control. CA should be considered in patients with AF and HF. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12872-018-0904-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The influence of collector plasma has been investigated for an L-band magnetically insulated line oscillator (MILO) with metal array cathode (MAC), which showed obvious performance degradation after 3000 shots in repetitive mode. Positive ion emission model is applied to simulate plasma generation from the collector surface. Different types of positive ions have been applied to simulate different collector materials. The simulation results reveal that the collector plasma has a significant influence on the output characteristics of the original MAC-MILO. The ladder cathode structure is introduced to reduce plasma formation rate on the collector surface. The simulation and experimental results show that the optimized structure reduces the influence of collector plasma successfully.

A trade-off between the carrier concentration and carrier mobility is an inherent problem of traditional transparent conducting oxide (TCO) films. In this study, we demonstrate that the electron concentration of TCO films can be increased without deteriorating the carrier mobility by embedding Ag nanoparticles (NPs) into Al-doped ZnO (AZO) films. An increment of Ag NP content up to 0.7 vol % in the AZO causes the electron concentration rising to 4 × 1020 cm–3. A dependence of the conductivity on temperature suggests that the energy barrier for the electron donation from Ag NPs at room temperature is similar to the Schottky barrier height at the Ag–AZO interface. In spite of an increase in the electron concentration, embedded Ag NPs do not compromise the carrier mobility at room temperature. This is evidence showing that this electron donation mechanism by Ag NPs is different from impurity doping, which produces both electrons and ionized scattering centers. Instead, an increase in the Fermi energy level o...

Objective This study was conducted to investigate the level of microRNA-155 (miRNA-155) in patients with heart failure (HF) after myocardial infarction (MI) and its clinical importance. Methods Serum miRNA-155 levels were measured using quantitative reverse transcription (qRT)-PCR. The left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), left ventricular posterior wall thickness, and left ventricular end-diastolic diameter were measured by echocardiography. Serum amino-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and other parameters were also analyzed. Results miRNA-155 levels in patients with HF were significantly higher than in control and MI groups. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of serum miRNA-155 in the diagnosis of HF after MI was 0.941, the cutoff value was 1.77, sensitivity was 92.73%, and specificity was 92.14%. NT-proBNP levels were significantly higher and LVEF was lower in patients with high versus low miRNA-155 expression. Conclusions Patients with HF after MI had elevated miRNA-155 levels and poor cardiac function, suggesting that determining miRNA-155 expression could be used to assess the severity of the disease.

Background Previous studies have shown that acetylation plays a critical role in regulating the progress of cardiovascular diseases by acetylated histone and non-histones protein. However, the global lysine acetylome during atrial fibrillation (AF) were not fully understood. Purpose The aim of the present study was to identify the underlying mechanisms of AF via profiling of the quantitative changes of global proteomics and lysine acetylome in the left atrial appendage (LAA) tissues from valvular heart disease patients with AF. Methods This study obtained LAA specimens from patients undergoing cardiac surgery for severe valvular heart disease. The LAA specimens were obtained from both 9 patients with AF and with sinus rhythm (SR). The changes of proteome and acetylome in the AF-LAA vs SR-LAA tissues were studied using dimethyl-labeling, HPLC fractionation, affinity enrichment, LC-MS/MS analysis, database Search and bioinformatic analysis. The acetylated levels of each lysine acetylated site were normalized on the basis of the corresponding protein abundance. Results The bioinformatic analysis indicates 294 up-regulated (AF/SR ratio >1.3) proteins and 169 down-regulated (AF/SR ratio Interaction network of Ac-proteins Conclusions This study details and expands our understanding of the changes of proteome and lysine acetylome in the LAA tissues from valvular heart disease patients with AF. The data suggest important expression differences of acetylated proteins related to energy metabolism and cardiac contraction which may be involved in the matrix of AF formation and maintainence. Acknowledgement/Funding This work was supported by the grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 81600273, no. 81570310, no.81770337 and no.81870258)

As tea is an important economic crop in many regions, efficient and accurate methods for remotely identifying tea plantations are essential for the implementation of sustainable tea practices and for periodic monitoring. In this study, we developed and tested a method for tea plantation identification based on multi-temporal Sentinel-2 images and a multi-feature Random Forest (RF) algorithm. We used phenological patterns of tea cultivation in China&rsquo, s Shihe District (such as the multiple annual growing, harvest, and pruning stages) to extracted multi-temporal Sentinel-2 MSI bands, their derived first spectral derivative, NDVI and textures, and topographic features. We then assessed feature importance using RF analysis, the optimal combination of features was used as the input variable for RF classification to extract tea plantations in the study area. A comparison of our results with those achieved using the Support Vector Machine method and statistical data from local government departments showed that our method had a higher producer&rsquo, s accuracy (96.57%) and user&rsquo, s accuracy (96.02%). These results demonstrate that: (1) multi-temporal and multi-feature classification can improve the accuracy of tea plantation recognition, (2) RF classification feature importance analysis can effectively reduce feature dimensions and improve classification efficiency, and (3) the combination of multi-temporal Sentinel-2 images and the RF algorithm improves our ability to identify and monitor tea plantations.

Background The effects of β blockers on the primary prevention of anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity were controversial. Methods We searched PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library for randomized controlled trials of the comparison of β blockers versus placebo in patients undergoing anthracycline chemotherapy. This meta-analysis was performed by using random-effect models. Results Nine hundred forty participants from 11 trials were included in this meta-analysis. β blockers led to a significant reduction in symptomatic heart failure (risk ratio [RR] 0.29, 95% CI 0.10 to 0.85). Compared with placebo, β blockers were associated with improved left ventricular ejection fraction (mean difference [MD] 4.46, 95% CI 1.77 to 7.15) and s’ (MD 0.78, 95% CI 0.01 to 1.55) in parallel with reduced left ventricular diameter (left ventricular end systolic diameter, MD -3.19, 95% CI -6.17 to − 0.21; left ventricular end diastolic diameter, MD -2.28, 95% CI 4.50 to − 0.05). β blockers also improved strain and strain rate when compared with placebo. There were no significant differences in diastolic function variables between β blockers and placebo except e’ (MD 2.33, 95% CI 0.16 to 4.51). In addition, β blockers compared with placebo reduced the risk of cardiac troponin I elevation > 0.04 ng/ml (RR 0.60, 95% CI 0.42 to 0.85). There was no marked difference in adverse events (RR 0.94, 95% CI 0.56 to 1.59) between β blockers and placebo. Conclusions In cancer patients with anthracycline therapy, prophylactic β blockers were associated with reduced risk of heart failure, decreased left ventricular diameter, improved left ventricular systolic function, and alleviative cardiomyocyte injury.

Previous studies have suggested that proteomic modifications are closely associated with cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this study was to identify potential mechanisms by profiling the changes in succinylated protein expression in left appendage tissues from patients with valvular heart disease and atrial fibrillation (AF).Using dimethyl labeling for relative and absolute quantification-coupled high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, we analyzed the proteomics profiles and succinylation events in 18 left atrial appendage tissue samples from patients who underwent cardiac valvular surgery, including nine patients with permanent AF and nine patients with sinus rhythm (SR).In total, after setting the quantification ratio 1.3 and 1:1.3 representing the up- and downregulated cutoff values, respectively, 132 proteins were classified as targets of upregulation and 117 proteins as targets of downregulation. Within these proteins, 246 sites exhibited upregulated succinylation and 45 sites exhibited downregulated succinylation. Protein-protein interaction networks showed that the proteins exhibiting lysine succinylation and AF status were highly enriched in energy metabolism, extracellular matrix-related, and cellular structure-related proteins. These results were confirmed by western blot.The differences in succinylation level of energy metabolism-related proteins indicates the possible involvement of these proteins in AF of valvular heart disease patients, and provide insight for further analysis of their biological functions.

A soil erosion model is used to evaluate the conditions of soil erosion and guide agricultural production. Recently, high spatial resolution data have been collected in new ways, such as three-dimensional laser scanning, providing the foundation for refined soil erosion modelling. However, serial computing cannot fully meet the computational requirements of massive data sets. Therefore, it is necessary to perform soil erosion modelling under a parallel computing framework. This paper focuses on a parallel computing framework for soil erosion modelling based on the Hadoop platform. The framework includes three layers: the methodology, algorithm, and application layers. In the methodology layer, two types of parallel strategies for data splitting are defined as row-oriented and sub-basin-oriented methods. The algorithms for six parallel calculation operators for local, focal and zonal computing tasks are designed in detail. These operators can be called to calculate the model factors and perform model calculations. We defined the key-value data structure of GeoCSV format for vector, row-based and cell-based rasters as the inputs for the algorithms. A geoprocessing toolbox is developed and integrated with the geographic information system (GIS) platform in the application layer. The performance of the framework is examined by taking the Gushanchuan basin as an example. The results show that the framework can perform calculations involving large data sets with high computational efficiency and GIS integration. This approach is easy to extend and use and provides essential support for applying high-precision data to refine soil erosion modelling.

An L-band magnetically insulated transmission line oscillator (MILO) with metal array cathode (MAC) is presented. Metal plates with different radii and thicknesses are periodically arranged in the longitudinal direction to act as emitters. To ensure stability of the tube, higher order mode depressed structure is applied. Experimental results reveal that MAC-MILO works steadily at the fundamental mode. High-power microwave at the same power level as the velvet cathode is generated by the MAC-MILO. The MAC has a much longer lifetime and a much lower outgassing rate compared with the velvet. This tube brings a promising approach to repetitive operation of the MILO.

The Yellow River Basin has been affected by global climate change. Studying the spatial&ndash, temporal variability of the hydrothermal climate conditions in the Yellow River Basin is of vital importance for the development of technologies and policies related to ecological, environmental, and agricultural adaptation in this region. This study selected temperature and precipitation data observed from 118 meteorological stations distributed in the Yellow River Basin over the period of 1957&ndash, 2015, and used the Mann&ndash, Kendall, Pettitt, and Hurst indices to investigate the spatial&ndash, temporal variability of the hydrothermal climate conditions in this area. The results indicated: (1) the annual maximum, minimum, and average temperatures have increased. The seasonal maximum, minimum, and average temperatures for the spring, summer, autumn, and winter have also increased, and this trend is statistically significant (p &lt, 0.01) between 1957&ndash, 2015. The rate of increase in the minimum temperature exceeded that of the maximum temperature, and diurnal warming was asymmetric. Annual precipitation and the total spring, summer, and autumn precipitations declined, while the total winter precipitation increased, although the trend was non-significant (p &gt, 0.05). (2) Based on the very restrictive assumption that future changes will be similar to past changes, according to the Hurst index experiment, the future trends of temperature and precipitation in the Yellow River Basin are expected to stay the same as in the past. There will be a long-term correlation between the two trends: the temperature will continue to rise, while the precipitation will continue to decline (except in the winter). However, over the late stage of the study period, the trends slowed down to some extent.

Fen Qin,1,* Quan Wang,2,* Chunlian Zhang,1 Caiyun Fang,1 Liping Zhang,1 Hailin Chen,1 Mi Zhang,3 Fei Cheng3 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, Hubei, China; 2Department of Stomatology, Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, Hubei, China; 3Department of Cardiology, Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, Hubei, China *These authors contributed equally to this work Purpose: Antifungal drugs are used frequently in the treatment of vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC), but have shown controversial results. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of different antifungal drugs in the treatment of VVC and to provide an evidence-based reference for clinical use.Methods: The published studies on the effectiveness of antifungal drugs in the treatment of VVC (up to April 2018) were retrieved from PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov. We sifted through the literature according to Patients, Interventions, Comparisons and Outcomes principle, extracted data on the basic characteristics of the study, and evaluated the quality of included studies. We used R software for statistical analysis.Results: In total, 41 randomized controlled trials were included in this meta-analysis. The relative risk of VVC associated with ten drugs, including placebo, fluconazole, clotrimazole, miconazole, itraconazole, ketoconazole, econazole, butoconazole, terbinafine, and terconazole, was analyzed. The following drugs appeared to show more efficacy than placebo in the treated patients: fluconazole (OR =6.45, 95% CrI 4.42–9.41), clotrimazole (OR =2.99, 95% CrI 1.61–5.55), miconazole (OR =5.96, 95% CrI 3.17–11.2), itraconazole (OR =2.29, 95% CrI 1.21–4.33), ketoconazole (OR =2.40, 95% CrI 1.55–3.71), butoconazole (OR =1.18, 95% CrI 1.06–1.31), and terconazole (OR =5.60, 95% CrI 2.78–11.3). The value of surface under the cumulative ranking curve of each drug was as follows: placebo (0.5%), fluconazole (91.5%), clotrimazole (61.8%), miconazole (33.8%), itraconazole (50.5%), ketoconazole (42.8%), econazole (46.8%), butoconazole (82.2%), terbinafine (20.9%), and terconazole (65.0%).Conclusion: Antifungal drugs are effective in the treatment of VVC. Fluconazole appeared to be the best drug for the treatment of VVC according to our analysis. Keywords: vulvovaginal candidiasis, antifungal drugs, randomized controlled trials, network meta-analysis

Background: It was under debate whether chronic total occlusion (CTO) patients could benefit from percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We sought to compare clinical outcomes of PCI and optimal medical therapy (OMT) in these patients. Methods: PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library were searched for studies enrolling patients with CTO who accepted PCI or OMT. The meta-analysis was performed by using a random-effect model. In addition, subgroup analyses were performed, including patients after propensity-matching and patients with CTO in infarct-related artery (IRA), respectively. Results: We identified 5 studies enrolling 4,761 participants in this meta-analysis. In the main analysis, when compared with OMT, PCI was associated with significant improvement in all-cause death [risk ratio (RR) 0.41, 95% CI: 0.35–0.48], cardiac death (RR 0.44, 95% CI: 0.35–0.55) and major adverse cardiac events (MACE) (RR 0.64, 95% CI: 0.43–0.97). But there were no differences in myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke. The results of the propensity-matched subgroup were somewhat consistent with those of the main analysis (all-cause death: RR 0.57, 95% CI: 0.26–0.89; MI: RR 0.54, 95% CI: 0.32–0.77; and MACE: RR 0.76, 95% CI: 0.33–1.18). In IRA subgroup, PCI reduced risks of mortality (all-cause death: RR 0.41, 95% CI: 0.34–0.49; cardiac death: RR 0.44, 95% CI: 0.35–0.56) and MACE (RR 0.71, 95% CI: 0.46–1.10). But no difference was observed in MI. Conclusions: PCI was associated with improved survival and reduced MACE relative to OMT.

Background To distinguish left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) from right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) origin in idiopathic outflow tract premature ventricular contractions (IOT-PVCs) patients with precordial R/S transition at lead V3 is still a challenge. We sought to develop a new electrocardiography (ECG) method for distinguishing LVOT from RVOT origin in IOT-PVCs patients with precordial R/S transition at lead V3. Methods We analyzed the surface 12-lead ECG characteristics and the difference of coupling interval variability (CIV) of PVCs between distinct origin sites in a retrospective cohort of IOT-PVCs patients with precordial R/S transition at lead V3 who underwent successful radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) to develop a new diagnostic method, then validated it in a prospective cohort. Results A total of 196 consecutive patients (41 ± 15 years, 36.7% male) underwent RFCA of IOT-PVCs between January 2014 and August 2016. Among them, 68 patients (34.7%, 23 male) with precordial R/S transition at lead V3 constituted the retrospective cohort. Based on the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs), a CIV > 100 ms with the largest value of AUC was selected to develop a new diagnostic method with a specificity of 93.9% and an accuracy of 92.6%. It correctly identified the origin site of 38 from 41 patients in the prospective cohort, demonstrating a 96.8% specificity and 92.7% accuracy. Conclusions We presented a new simple method, a CIV > 100 ms which could reliably distinguish LVOT from RVOT origin in IOT-PVCs patients with precordial R/S transition at lead V3.

Synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator (OPO) at degeneracy is ideal for generating ultrafast laser pulses. Normally, however, group velocity mismatch (GVM) is ubiquitous among the interacting pulses at widely separated wavelengths. A versatile quasi-phase-matching (QPM) technique is proposed for temporal synchronizing of the signal and idler pulses relied on a less common Type-II QPM (oe-o interaction). The proposed group-velocity regulation technology is advantageous to constructing a degeneracy-analogous femtosecond OPO for dual-wavelength operation. Qualitative prediction for the proposed design is conducted based on a commercial femtosecond pump source at 1064 nm while the signal/idler wavelengths are 3.2 μm and 1.59 μm respectively. Compared with the conventional Type-0 QPM based counterpart (ee-e interaction), the uncompensated temporal distortion caused by temporal walk-off is strongly suppressed while the idler spectrum gets significantly broader. The versatility of the proposed scheme is also clearly demonstrated by its fairly stable performance within a broad tuning range of 2.9-3.5 μm and 1.68-1.53 μm. The demonstrated configuration might be promising for synchronously obtaining dual-wavelength ultrafast pulses with higher spectral and temporal qualities.

Conflicting results identifying the association between tooth loss and cardiovascular disease and stroke have been reported. Therefore, a dose-response meta-analysis was performed to clarify and quantitatively assess the correlation between tooth loss and cardiovascular disease and stroke risk. Up to March 2017, seventeen cohort studies were included in current meta-analysis, involving a total of 879084 participants with 43750 incident cases. Our results showed statistically significant increment association between tooth loss and cardiovascular disease and stroke risk. Subgroups analysis indicated that tooth loss was associated with a significant risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke in Asia and Caucasian. Furthermore, tooth loss was associated with a significant risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke in fatal cases and nonfatal cases. Additionally, a significant dose-response relationship was observed between tooth loss and cardiovascular disease and stroke risk. Increasing per 2 of tooth loss was associated with a 3% increment of coronary heart disease risk; increasing per 2 of tooth loss was associated with a 3% increment of stroke risk. Subgroup meta-analyses in study design, study quality, number of participants and number of cases showed consistent findings. No publication bias was observed in this meta-analysis. Considering these promising results, tooth loss might provide harmful health benefits.

Background: Recent animal studies have found that the osteocalcin secreted by osteoblasts could participate in glucose and lipid metabolism. Our study aimed to investigate the relationship between serum osteocalcin concentration and glucose and lipid metabolism in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods: 985 patients with type 2 diabetes were divided into the male group (n = 495) and the postmenopausal female group (n = 490). The average ages were 54.42 ± 10.535 and 64.93 ± 9.277, respectively. We collected the parameters of age, duration, fasting plasma glucose, HbA1c, fasting insulin, fasting C peptide, blood lipid, 25 (OH) VD3, parathyroid hormone (PTH), Alkaline phosphatase (ALP), procollagen type 1 N-terminal propeptide (P1NP), β-C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (β-CTx), osteocalcin, HOMA-IR, HOMA-β, body mass index (BMI), and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR). The relationship of osteocalcin and these parameters were analyzed by Pearson/Spearman correlation analysis and stepwise multiple regression analysis. Results: Osteocalcin was negatively correlated with HbA1c (p < 0.05) and it was also an independent relevant factor affecting HbA1c in both groups. Osteocalcin was positively correlated with HOMA-β and it was an independent relevant factor affecting HOMA-β in male group (p < 0.01). Conclusions: These findings indicate the association between serum osteocalcin and glucose metabolism and beta cell function. No relationship was found between osteocalcin and insulin resistance and lipid metabolism in type 2 diabetes.

Experimental results of an L band all cavity axial extraction relativistic magnetron (RM) working at 1.57 GHz is presented. In this 6-cavity RM configuration, microwave from two adjacent cavities is coupled into an axially oriented coaxial sector waveguide through radial slots on the cavities. This configuration is more compact because only three sector waveguides are added outside the magnetron cavity without increasing the radial dimension significantly. Simulation results reveal that this tube could generate a microwave power of 700 MW at the frequency of 1.57 GHz, corresponding to a power conversion efficiency of 50% when employing an electron beam of 350 kV and 4.0 kA. This tube is tested on a compact Marx generator in our lab. In experiment, this tube could generate a microwave power of over 500 MW at 1.57 GHz when employing guiding magnetic field of 0.22 T and input beam voltage of 345 kV and current of 4.8 kA, with a corresponding efficiency of about 30%. Experimental results reveal that this tube is a preferred configuration for a compact relativistic magnetron with relatively high power conversion efficiency.

An important application of 'Internet+' in publication is 'crowd-funding publishing'. However, the development of crowd-funding publishing has encountered some bottlenecks nowadays, such as lacking of commitment to return, higher credit risk and so on. Weigongyi has made it transparent and known to public in financial management, which can make donors see the operation of the entire project funds and the progress of project implementation at any time, its high credibility let more people participate in donation more times. Kickstarter is a website with perfect business model, which has received more money so that more excellent selection of books can obtain funds to publish. It also allows investors to benefit at the same time and makes investment for many times. This paper analyzes the experience of the two in fund management in details, and put forward a new mode of crowd-funding publishing management suitable to China's book publishing. This model will improve the investors' right to know and the transparency of capital operation, it will also enhance the reliability of the funds to use.

β-Glucan dietary fiber rich food systems hold a great potential for improving human health. Here, we evaluate the extractability and quality of β-glucan liquid formulations from eight different barley genotypes varying in β-glucan content and molecular structure using Termamyl® SC (T), Attenuzyme® (A) and Attenuzyme® Flex (AF) amylolytic enzymes in combinations. Extracts from barley lines Lys5f, KVL408, KVL1104 and CDC Fibar exceeded 4 g β-glucan/l, providing European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended amounts (3 g β-glucan/day) from three portions. TAF extracts of Lys5f and KVL408 grains reached extraordinary high concentrations of 8–9 g β-glucan/l. The β-glucan molecular mass decreased with enzyme treatment T

Multilayer MoOx/Ag/MoOx (DMD) films are found to be transparent conducting electrodes for use in extremely stable and highly bendable flexible perovskite solar cells (PSCs). The optical transparency and electric properties of DMD and its role as a top electrode of PSCs were studied by changing the thickness of the MoOx layer. Although the MoOx thickness was shown to have a negligible effect on the sheet resistance of DMD, the transmittance of visible light, selective carrier transport capability, and long-term stability of a device considerably depend on this factor. The sandwich structure of a 20-nm-thick MoOx, 7-nm-thick Ag, and 20-nm-thick MoOx exhibits a high transmittance and large photon–electron conversion rate of PSCs. In addition, PSCs using the DMD top electrode maintain 92% of their initial current density after 24 h of continuous operation owing to a UV light cut-off of the top illumination. Moreover, the overall structure of DMD blocks the diffusion of water and oxygen molecules from real environmental conditions. At the same time, the underlying/upper MoOx layer retards the degradation through a chemical reaction between Ag and the halide ions inside the cells, as well as foreign ions from outside the polluted atmosphere. When DMD is applied to flexible PSCs on Ti foil, the PCE reaches 14.5%, and mechanical integrity of the PSCs is maintained at a bending radius of 4 mm.

A Ku-band magnetically insulated transmission line oscillator is investigated numerically and experimentally for the first time. The magnetically insulated transmission line oscillator (MILO) is optimized in particle-in-cell simulation software. Reflect cavities are introduced to reduce the field intensity between cathode and anode. In the particle-in-cell simulation, the Ku-band MILO generates microwave with power of 2.48 GW and frequency of 12.5 GHz, whereas the voltage is 478 kV and the current is 48.9 kA. Based on the structure in simulation, an experiment system is designed and the measure method and system are introduced. After the collector improved, Ku-band microwave with frequency of 12.9 GHz is generated, whereas the voltage is 539 kV and current is 57 kA. The peak power is 89 MW and pulse width is 15 ns. The radiation mode is TM01 mode.

Access control policy is utilized to ensure that the available resources aren't accessed unintentionally. Traditional access control policy approaches generally describe the core elements as a holistic, which has high coupling, thus it leads to a limited flexibility and lower dynamic of the policy. To solve this issue, we proposed a dynamic access control policy which is based on hierarchical description method. In our approach, we firstly use attributes to describe the subject, operation, and object by predication, and the relationship of these by layered matching rules. Next, we develop an algorithm in order to dynamically calculate the rules and produce the relations between the subject, operation, object and other elements. It can be seen as a timely and efficiently response to the request of the access control policy, thus realizing the dynamic access control. Finally, our experimental results show that our policy is effective.

We present the repetitive operation research results of an L-band magnetically insulated transmission line oscillator with metal array cathode (MAC-MILO) in this paper. To ensure a more uniform emission of electrons emitted from the cathode, metal plates with different outer radii and thicknesses are periodically arranged in longitudinal direction on the cathode substrate to act as emitters. The higher order mode depressed MILO (HDMILO) structure is applied to ensure stability of the tube. Comparison experiments are carried out between velvet cathode and MAC MILO driven by a 20 GW/40 Ω/40 ns/20 Hz pulse power system. Experimental results reveal that the MAC has much lower outgassing rate, much longer life time, and higher repetitive stability. The MAC-MILO could work stably with a rep-rate up to 20 Hz at a power level of 550 MW when employing a 350 kV/35 kA electric pulse. The TE11 mode radiation pattern in the farfield region reveals the tube works steadily on the dominant mode. More than 2000 shots have been tested in repetitive mode without any obvious degradation of the detected microwave parameters.

Ultra wide band (UWB) technologies in wireless body area networks (WBAN) attract more and more attention in researches such as on-body medical healthcare. Meanwhile, body mounted sensors in WBAN with UWB signals are required to be located appropriately to collect data. Thus, making sure the sensors are at their proper locations is a critical issue in WBAN. Time of arrival (TOA) based ranging technique is applicable to do this. However, TOA measurement and analysis in real world is costly and time consuming while the feasibility of simulation results are skeptical. Thus, in this paper, we conduct both real measurements and simulations and compare their results to validate the capability of software simulation. Besides the comparison, accuracy of TOA measurements and simulations is analyzed, coming up with a Cramer-Rao lower bound which is treated as the performance guide line.

An S-band magnetically insulated line oscillator (MILO) tube working at 2.4 GHz is presented based on an existing L-band ladder cathode MILO tube (working at 1.2 GHz) where all dimensions are divided by a factor of 2. Higher-order-mode depressed MILO structure is introduced to depress generation of higher order modes in this tube. The dispersion curve is numerically calculated, and 3-D particle-in-cell simulations are carried out. Employing an electron beam of 830 kV, a transverse electromagnetic mode (TEM) high-power microwave with output power of 6.2 GW and a frequency of 2.48 GHz is obtained.

A novel magnetically insulated transmission line oscillator with stable frequency and high efficiency is put forward by slotting plates to introduce a 2-D periodic slow-wave structure in the interaction field between the beam and microwave. In this kind of magnetically insulated line oscillator (MILO), the symmetrical and low-level dissymmetrical modes have the same working frequency, which makes the frequency of the microwave stable during modes competition. At the same time, efficiency is increased for the interaction distance is increased after the beam crosses the gap on the plates. A particle-in-cell simulation indicates that high-power microwave with pure frequency of 1.22 GHz and multimodes of TEM, TE11, and TE21, is generated and the average output power is increased to 2.8 GW from 2.4 GW compared with the original MILO when the beam voltage is 450 kV and current is 43 kA. The frequency can also keep stable after asymmetrically exciting.

Spectral distortion is one of the most significant problems in the field of remote sensing image fusion. In former studies, we found the fusion method based on independent component analysis (ICA) could solve this problem effectively, and attain a better balance between spectral and spatial information of fused image. However, this method may lead to spectral distort in a few local regions unavoidably. In this paper, an improved ICA fusion method is proposed. Improvement mainly includes two aspects. Firstly, a convenient way which uses negentropy to measure the nongaussianity of IC is presented to select main body independent component (MBIC); secondly, in order to avoid too much spatial information caused by replacing MBIC with panchromatic (PAN) image directly, a wavelet decomposition is applied to extract the detail information of PAN image. The results show that the proposed method can have a better trade-off between spectral and spatial information. Moreover, compared with ICA fusion method, it can not only improve the spatial resolution of fused image, but also eliminate the drawback of spectral distortion of ICA fusion method in some local regions.