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Probiotics effectively prevent and improve metabolic diseases such as diabetes by regulating the intestinal microenvironment and gut microbiota. However, the effects of probiotics in gestational diabetes mellitus are not clear. Here, we showed that probiotic supplements significantly improved fasting blood glucose in a gestational diabetes mellitus rat model. To further understand the mechanisms of probiotics in gestational diabetes mellitus, the gut microbiota were analyzed via 16S rRNA sequencing. We found that compared with the normal pregnant group, the gestational diabetes mellitus rats had decreased diversity of gut microbiota. Moreover, probiotic supplementation restored the diversity of the gut microbiota in gestational diabetes mellitus rats, and the gut microbiota structure tended to be similar to that of normal pregnant rats. In particular, compared with gestational diabetes mellitus rats, the abundance of Firmicutes and Actinobacteria was higher after probiotic supplementation. Furthermore, activating carbohydrate metabolism and membrane transport pathways may be involved in the potential mechanisms by which probiotic supplements alleviate gestational diabetes mellitus. Overall, our results suggested that probiotic supplementation might be a novel approach to restore the gut microbiota of gestational diabetes mellitus rats and provided an experimental evidence for the use of probiotic supplements to treat gestational diabetes mellitus.

AimLimited investigations on metabolic responses to exercise training in female adolescent volleyball athletes exist. The aim of this study was to obtain serum and urine metabolite markers in female adolescent volleyball athletes within 2-week strength-endurance training using a metabolomics approach coupled with biochemical analysis, which would be potential biomarkers for evaluating the physiological state of athletes.MethodsTwelve female adolescent volleyball athletes were recruited for 2-week strength-endurance training. Differential serum and urine metabolic profiles between the pre- and post-training group were obtained on gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and data subsequently underwent orthogonal partial least-squares analysis (OPLS).ResultsStrength-endurance training exerted a significant influence on the athletes' serum and urine metabolic profiles. The changed metabolites were primarily involved in energy metabolism, lipid metabolism and amino acids metabolism. Results support the hypothesis that female athletes displayed an increased propensity to oxidize lipids as the major energy source. Exposure to strength-endurance training also led to a significant increase in cortisol, but a decrease in testosterone, indicating disordered hormone adjustment. Exercise-induced oxidative stress occurred, as was evidenced by the decrease in reduced glutathione, and increases in blood malondialdehyde and oxidized glutathione. Since the muscle damage markers creatine kinase and lactate dehydrogenase did not show significant changes, the training might not cause cell membrane damage and the athletes did not cross the adaptive injury level.ConclusionBy measurement of endogenous metabolites, the metabolomics study has the potential to reveal the global physiological changes in response to exercise training.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been found to be associated with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) development, a maternal health disorder in pregnancy with negative effects that can extend beyond pregnancy. Studies that report on this association are difficult to summarize due to weak associations and wide confidence intervals. One way to advance this field is to sharpen the biologic theory on a causal pathway behind this association, and to measure it directly by way of molecular biomarkers. The aim of this review is to summarize the literature that supports a novel pathway between PFAS exposure and GDM development. Epidemiological studies demonstrate a clear association of biomarkers of thyroid hormones and glucose metabolism with GDM development. We report biologic plausibility and epidemiologic evidence that PFAS dysregulation of maternal thyroid hormones and thyrotropin (TSH) may disrupt glucose homeostasis, increasing the risk of GDM. Overall, epidemiological studies demonstrate that PFAS were positively associated with TSH and negatively with triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4). PFAS were generally positively associated with glucose and insulin levels in pregnancy. We propose dysregulation of thyroid function and glucose metabolism may be a critical and missing component in the accurate estimation of PFAS on the risk of GDM. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12940-021-00740-z.

In order to simultaneously measure the displacements of multiple targets, the laser self-mixing interference (SMI) measurement method based on variational mode decomposition (VMD) is proposed. The SMI signal containing the motion information of the external targets is detected by a photodiode. The VMD can non-recursively decompose the mixed SMI signal into SMI signals corresponding to different external targets. The displacement signals can be reconstructed by fringe counting method and interpolation method. The experimental results show that the displacement signals of different external targets can be reconstructed with half wavelength accuracy, which verifies the correctness and feasibility of this method. This method can improve the measurement efficiency, which offers an effective method for the multi-channel displacement measurement.

Background The study was performed to assess the diagnostic capability of ECG on the cardiogenic shock (CS) in acute myocarditis. A new score was derived from the combination of the ECG parameters and the diagnostic value was also evaluated. Methods Total 103 consecutive patients with acute myocarditis admitted in Nanjing Drum Hospital were enrolled in the current study. The cohort was divided into fulminant myocarditis group (FM, n = 20) and non fulminant myocarditis group (NFM, n = 83). The demographic features, results of electrocardiography (ECG) and ultracardiography were compared. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify the relevant factors in ECG parameters. We created a new variable called “ECG score” by certain combination of ECG parameters. The diagnostic capability of ECG score for CS was compared with the existing diagnostic indices using regression model and receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) analysis. Results There were several changes on ECG significantly different between the two groups. Multivariate regression analysis demonstrated PR + QRS interval (P = 0.008), ventricular arrhythmia (P = 0.001) and pathological Q wave (P = 0.003) were the independent relevant factors of CS. The derived variable “ECG score” was identified as a significant relevant factor of CS by multivariate regression model. ROC analysis showed PR + QRS interval, ventricular arrhythmia and pathological Q wave all had equivalent diagnostic capability to left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and shock index (SI). ECG score was equivalent to LVEF but superior to SI in diagnosing CS Conclusions ECG was valuable in diagnosing CS due to acute myocarditis. The ECG score was superior to the traditional diagnostic indices and could be used for an rapid recognition of CS.

Background. The relationship between fasting blood glucose (FBG) and microvascular obstruction (MVO) after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) remains unclear in nondiabetic patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). This study aimed to determine the predictive value of FBG in MVO in nondiabetic STEMI patients. Methods. A total of 108 nondiabetic STEMI patients undergoing primary PCI were enrolled in this study. The patients were classified into either the MVO group or non-MVO group based on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR). Results. FBG in the MVO group was higher than in the non-MVO group. Univariate analysis showed that FBG, peak high-sensitive troponin T (TnT), pre-PCI thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (pre-PCI TIMI) flow, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), infarction size, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDd), left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV), and global longitudinal strain (GLS) were likely predictive factors of MVO. After adjustment for other parameters, FBG, peak TnT, LVEF, and LVEDV remained independent predictors for MVO. Conclusion. FBG was independently associated with MVO in nondiabetic STEMI patients.

The brainstem, the core of the central nervous system, plays a vital role in controlling arterial blood pressure and its elevation of hypertension subtypes, especially essential hypertension. Integrative metabolic and proteomic profiling was performed on the brainstem samples of 11 week old spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) and age-matched normotensive Wistar rats, using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography quadrupole/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HILIC-Q/TOFMS) (PeptideAtlas: PASS01621) and nano-liquid chromatography-high-resolution-MS (nano-LC-high-resolution) combined with quantitative tandem mass tags (ProteomeXchange: PXD021210). The results showed a potentially significant measure of metabolic disorders in the brainstem of SHRs, including purine and pyrimidine metabolism and carnitine and acylcarnitine deficiency. By integrating the differential metabolites (VIP > 1 and p 1.2-fold and p < 0.05), the results revealed aberrant insulin signaling in the brainstem of SHRs, including reduced carnitine and acetylcarnitine; increased arginine; and increased flotillin-1 (FLOT1), hemoglobin subunit alpha-1/2, and hemoglobin subunit beta-2 proteins verified by the parallel reaction monitoring analysis (PeptideAtlas: PASS01622). The aberrant insulin signaling pathway in the brainstem of SHRs might help explain the correlation between essential hypertension and insulin resistance. These findings on the brainstem of SHRs could provide new insights into the dysregulation of the central nervous system in hypertension, especially as it relates to metabolite and protein levels.

Fatigue driving is one of the main factors which affect the safety of drivers and passengers in mountain freeway. To improve the driving safety, the application of fatigue driving detection system is a crucial measure. Accuracy, speed and robustness are key performances of fatigue detection system. However, most researches pay attention to one of them, instead of taking care of them all. It has limitation in practical application. This paper proposes a novel three-layered framework, named Real-time and Robust Detection System. Specifically, the framework includes three modules, called facial feature extraction, eyes regions extraction and fatigue detection. In the facial feature extraction module, the paper designs a deep cascaded convolutional neural network to detect the face and locate eye key points. Then, a face tracking sub-module is constructed to increase the speed of the algorithm, and a face validation submodule is applied to improve the stability of detection. Furthermore, to ensure the orderly operation of each sub-module, we designed a recognition loop based on the finite state machine. It can extract facial feature of the driver. In the second module, eyes regions of the driver were captured according to the geometric feature of face and eyes. In the fatigue detection module, the ellipse fitting method is applied to obtain the shape of driver's pupils. According to the relationship between the long and short axes of the ellipse, eyes state (opening or closed) can be decided. Lastly, the PERCLOS, which is defined by calculating the number of closed eyes in a period, is used to determine whether fatigue driving or not. The experimental results show that the comprehensive accuracy of fatigue detection is 95.87%. The average algorithm rate is 32.29 ms/f in an image of 640×480 pixels. The research results can serve the design of a new generation of driver fatigue detection system to mountain freeway.

Background: The ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) process in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) triggers an immune response, resulting in myocyte death. Krüppel-Like Factor 2 (KLF2), which is highly expressed in endothelial cells (ECs) under laminar flow, exerts anti-inflammatory effects. In this study, we explored the role of small extracellular vesicles (EVs) from KLF2-overexpressing ECs (KLF2-EVs) in the immunomodulation and its implications in myocardial I/R injury. Methods and Results: The small EVs were isolated from KLF2-overexpressing ECs' supernatant using gradient centrifugation. Mice were subjected to 45 min of ischemia followed by reperfusion, and KLF2-EVs were administrated through intravenous injection. KLF2-EVs ameliorated I/R injury and alleviated inflammation level in the serum and heart. We employed the macrophage depletion model and splenectomy and showed that Ly6Chigh monocyte recruitment from bone marrow was the main target of KLF2-EVs. miRNA-sequencing of KLF2-EVs and bioinformatics analysis implicated miRNA-24-3p (miR-24-3p) as a potent candidate mediator of monocyte recruitment and CCR2 as a downstream target. miR-24-3p mimic inhibited the migration of Ly6Chigh monocytes, and miR-24-3p antagomir reversed the effect of KLF2-EVs in myocardial I/R. Conclusion: Our data demonstrated that KLF2-EVs attenuated myocardial I/R injury in mice via shuttling miR-24-3p that restrained the Ly6Chigh monocyte recruitment. Thus, KLF2-EVs could be a potential therapeutic agent for myocardial I/R injury.

African swine fever (ASF) is an acute and highly contagious disease that causes severe economic losses to the swine industry. ASF is caused by infection of African swine fever virus (ASFV) in domestic pigs, leading to almost 100% mortality. However, no effective vaccines and pharmacologic treatment against ASF are available. ASF poses a severe threat to the swine industry and the economy. Here we summarize potential virus-host cell interaction mechanisms involving the suppression of innate and adaptive immune responses to ASFV entry and infection. These mechanisms include modulation of apoptosis, inhibition of inflammatory responses, reduction of IFN production, inhibition of autophagy, and suppression of MHC-I expression. Insights into immunoevasion strategies by ASFV may shed light on the development of vaccines, as well as preventive and therapeutic drugs.

Objective We aim to assess the left ventricular strain in patients with ventricular aneurysm(VA) after myocardial infarction(MI) using cardiac magnetic resonance-feature tracking (CMR-FT) and to evaluate its value for long term prognosis of patients.Methods Sixty-five patients who underwent CMR with VA after MI from January 2018 to December 2019 in Drum Tower Hospital Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University School of Medicine were selected for the study. They were divided into two groups based on New York Heart Association (NYHA): 25 cases of NYHA I as group A and 40 cases of NYHA II-IV as group B. CMR was performed in both groups to quantify the parameters of overall and segmental left ventricular myocardial strain in patients with aneurysm. 37 of whom underwent a second CMR 3-12 months after cardiac infarction to investigate the effects of aneurysm on patients' left ventricular strain and left ventricular cardiac function.Results Patients from group B have larger VA basilar transverse diameter and significant more impaired LV Global longitudinal strain(GLS)、Global circumferential strain(GCS)、Global radial strain(GRS) (-12.34±7.31 vs. -7.68±6.11;p=0.0072, -21.31±13.49 vs. -14.93±10.44;p=0.0361, 37.13±27.87 vs. 22.00±20.05;p=0.0135) without change in infarct size. GLS, GCS, GRS were significant indicators of NYHA classification after AMI by multivariate regression analysis.Conclusions Myocardial strain assessed by CMR-FT may be an independent predictor of NYHA of patients with aneurysm after MI and could be used for identifying high-risk patients with VA.

Facing the increasingly severe environmental problems, the development of a green and sustainable low-carbon economy has become an international trend. In China, the core issue of low-carbon economic development is effectively resolving the contradiction between the exploitation and utilization of fossil energy and greenhouse gas emissions (mainly carbon emissions). Based on the SAM matrix, we established a static Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model to simulate the impact of carbon tax policies on energy consumption, carbon emissions, and macroeconomics variables under 10, 20, and 30% emission reductions. Meanwhile, we analyze the impact of different carbon tax recycling mechanisms under the principle of tax neutrality. We find that the carbon tax effectively reduces carbon emissions, but it will negatively impact economic development and social welfare. A reasonable carbon tax recycling system based on the principle of tax neutrality can reduce the negative impact of carbon tax implementation. Among the four simulated scenarios of carbon tax cycle, the scenario of reducing residents’ personal income tax is most conducive to realizing the “double dividend” of carbon tax.

We propose a new model for no-reference video quality assessment (VQA). Our approach uses a new idea of highly-localized space-time (ST) slices called Space-Time Chips (ST Chips). ST Chips are localized cuts of video data along directions that \textit{implicitly} capture motion. We use perceptually-motivated bandpass and normalization models to first process the video data, and then select oriented ST Chips based on how closely they fit parametric models of natural video statistics. We show that the parameters that describe these statistics can be used to reliably predict the quality of videos, without the need for a reference video. The proposed method implicitly models ST video naturalness, and deviations from naturalness. We train and test our model on several large VQA databases, and show that our model achieves state-of-the-art performance at reduced cost, without requiring motion computation., To appear in IEEE Transactions on Image Processing in Sep 2021

Archeologically attested human occupation on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) can be traced back to 160 thousand years ago (kya) via the archaic Xiahe people and 30∼40 kya via the Nwya Devu anatomically modern human. However, the history of the Tibetan populations and their migration inferred from the ancient and modern DNA remains unclear. Here, we performed the first ancient and modern genomic meta-analysis among 3,017 Paleolithic to present-day Eastern Eurasian genomes (2,444 modern individuals from 183 populations and 573 ancient individuals). We identified a close genetic connection between the ancient-modern highland Tibetans and lowland island/coastal Neolithic Northern East Asians (NEA). This observed genetic affinity reflected the primary ancestry of high-altitude Tibeto-Burman speakers originated from the Neolithic farming populations in the Yellow River Basin. The identified pattern was consistent with the proposed common north-China origin hypothesis of the Sino-Tibetan languages and dispersal patterns of the northern millet farmers. We also observed the genetic differentiation between the highlanders and lowland NEAs. The former harbored more deeply diverged Hoabinhian/Onge-related ancestry and the latter possessed more Neolithic southern East Asian (SEA) or Siberian-related ancestry. Our reconstructed qpAdm and qpGraph models suggested the co-existence of Paleolithic and Neolithic ancestries in the Neolithic to modern East Asian highlanders. Additionally, we found that Tibetans from Ü-Tsang/Ando/Kham regions showed a strong population stratification consistent with their cultural background and geographic terrain. Ü-Tsang Tibetans possessed a stronger Chokhopani-affinity, Ando Tibetans had more Western Eurasian related ancestry and Kham Tibetans harbored greater Neolithic southern EA ancestry. Generally, ancient and modern genomes documented multiple waves of human migrations in the TP's past. The first layer of local hunter-gatherers mixed with incoming millet farmers and arose the Chokhopani-associated Proto-Tibetan-Burman highlanders, which further respectively mixed with additional genetic contributors from the western Eurasian Steppe, Yellow River and Yangtze River and finally gave rise to the modern Ando, Ü-Tsang and Kham Tibetans. Published version This study was supported by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2021M691879), National Natural Science Foundation of China (31801040 and 31760309), Nanqiang Outstanding Young Talents Program of Xiamen University (X2123302), and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (ZK1144), Foundation for Humanities and Social Sciences Research of the Ministry of Education (18YJAZH116), Scientific Research Project of Colleges and Universities in Gansu Province (2017B-34), Gansu University of Political Science and Law Major Scientific Research Projects (2017XZD10), Lanzhou Talent Innovation and Entrepreneurship Project (2018-RC-113), and Gansu

Field-free molecular alignment can be induced by the strong ultrashort laser pulses. Here, the improvement of the alignment is completed by the coupled pulses of the ultrashort laser pulse and the strong broadband terahertz pulse. The gaseous CO molecules are aligned by such coupled pulses, and the evolution of its states are studied based on the rigid rotor approximation theory with the simulation method. The influences of the pulses parameters on the alignment are also discussed.

With the continuous development of advanced technologies such as the Internet of Things and big data, relying on the laying of composite cables and the erection of mobile phone signal network base stations, high-speed bandwidth has been brought to the tide inspection equipment, and the predictive maintenance of the tide inspection equipment has gradually changed from a concept to a reality. The tide gauge equipment online monitoring and fault intelligent diagnosis system can carry out real-time monitoring and big data analysis of various tide gauge equipment, judge the tide gauge equipment failures in advance, and then remotely service, check the hidden troubles in advance, so that the maintenance of the tide gauge equipment becomes Smarter and more reliable operations.

The gestational weight gain (GWG) range of Chinese women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) still remains unclear. Our objective was to identify the ranges of GWG in Chinese women with GDM, and to investigate the associations between pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), GWG and maternal-infant adverse outcomes. GDM Women delivering singleton from 2013 to 2018 in a tertiary public hospital were collected. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the joint effects of pre-pregnancy BMI and GWG on maternal-infant adverse outcomes. Finally, 14,578 women were collected. The ranges of GWG of Chinese women with GDM in the underweight, normal weight, overweight and obese groups were 5.95-21.95kg, 4.23-21.83kg, 0.88-21.12kg and-1.76-19.95kg, respectively. The risks of large for gestational age (LGA), macrosomia and cesarean delivery were significantly increased with the increase of pre-pregnancy BMI. Furthermore, the risks of LGA, macrosomia and cesarean delivery were significantly higher in normal weight group with GWG higher than the National Academy of Medicine’s (NAM) recommendation. Similarly, in overweight group with GWG higher than NAM recommendation, the risks of LGA were significantly higher, while, the risks of macrosomia were significantly lower. In conclusion, the ranges of GWG in GDM women were different with NAM recommendation.

Background To investigate the feasibility and indications of video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) in thymoma resection. Methods The clinical data of 103 patients undergoing thymoma resection via different approaches [including conventional lateral thoracotomy approach (LTA) in 41 cases, median sternotomy approach (MSA) in 40 cases, and right-sided VATS in 22 cases] were analyzed. Among them, 59, 13, 25, and 6 patients were in Masaoka stage I, II, III, and IV, respectively. Myasthenia gravis (MG) was also found in 54 cases. The patients were followed up for postoperative survival and the improvement in MG. The prognostic indicators of patients undergoing thymoma resection via different surgical approaches (i.e., LTA, MSA, and VATS) were statistically analyzed. Results Eight of 103 patients died. Six patients underwent unilateral sacral nerve resection, among whom 4 patients developed respiratory dysfunction, and 3 died. Two patients died of MG after surgery, 1 patient died of tumor recurrence and metastasis, 1 patient died of heart disease, and the cause of death was unknown in the remaining patient. The drainage time was shorter in VATS group than in open groups, along with smaller tumor size. The VATS group also had shorter hospital stay in the whole series and the subgroup without accompanying MG. The improvement in MG showed no significant difference among the three surgical groups. Both 5- and 10-year survival rates were 91% in the entire cohort. Conclusions VATS is like a conventional surgeries for improving MG in thymoma patients with accompanying MG. VATS resection can still be considered for thymoma that only invades the mediastinal pleura. For thymomas that have intact capsules and have not invaded mediastinal pleura, MSA surgery shall be performed to ensure patient safety if the anteroposterior diameters of the tumors are large and the masses have produced severe compression of the innominate vein, even if the tumors are still in the Masaoka stage II. For thymomas with large left-to-right diameters and with most parts of the tumors located in the left thoracic cavity, a left-sided approach (either VATS or an open approach) may be used in the absence of MG; if MG accompanies the condition, an MT approach or a bilateral VATS may be considered. In patients with unilateral pericardial phrenic nerve and/or local pericardial involvement, right-sided VATS thymectomy may be considered for thymomas located at the right side and bilateral VATS surgery can be performed for tumors located at the left side. In summary, VATS is feasible for the treatment of thymoma complicated by MG. VATS can be performed in patients with Masaoka stage I, II and (a certain portion of) III thymoma; for some patients with Masaoka stage II thymoma, especially those with compression of the innominate vein, the use of VATS should be cautious.

Objective To investigate the expression level and potential mechanism of hypoxia‐inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF‐1α) in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Methods Immunohistochemistry (IHC) techniques were used to examine the protein expression of HIF‐1α in paraffin‐embedded myeloid tissues from 82 patients with MDS and 33 controls (patients with lymphoma that is not invading myeloid tissues). In addition, the associations between the protein expression of HIF‐1α and clinical parameters were examined. To further investigate the significance of HIF‐1α expression in MDS patients, the researchers not only extracted the data about HIF‐1α expression from MDS‐related microarrays but also analyzed the correlation between the level of HIF‐1α expression and MDS. The microRNA (miRNA) targeting HIF‐1α was predicted and verified with a dual luciferase experiment. Results Immunohistochemistry revealed that the positive expression rate of HIF‐1α in the bone marrow of patients with MDS was 90.24%. This rate was remarkably higher than that of the controls (72.73%) and was statistically significant (P, The up‐regulated expression of hypoxia‐inducible factor 1 alpha was examined in the myeloid tissues of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) patients. In terms of immunohistochemistry staining intensity, the MDS cohort (Figures B&D) displayed more intense staining than the controls (Figures A&C).

A 203-m-high gravity dam being built in earthquake-prone areas needs to be investigated very carefully to determine its dynamic responses, damage mechanism, and safety evaluation. The dynamic characteristics, seismic responses, failure mode, and safety evaluation of the above structure are presented through dynamic fracture test for small-scale model on shaking table. Because the strength of the model material is very low, the traditional strain gauge is also not easy to be glued to the surface of model. It is difficult to measure the accurate strain data of small-scale model during testing. Therefore, Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) strain sensor is presented to obtain the strain of small-scale model during testing, due to its high sensitivity. The dynamic strain and residual strain are obtained with the FBG sensors embedded in model. The FBG sensor is adhered to model material completely and shows advantages of ease for installation, high sensitivity, and reliability compared with traditional resistance strain gauge. The model during testing is submitted with earthquake wave from the Chinese Code. In the experiment, the peak ground acceleration (PGA) of the first crack in the model indicates the safety level of the gravity dam. The crack locations and forms determine the damageable part of gravity dam under intense earthquake. After the final analysis, the safety evaluation result of the gravity dam under strong earthquake is given in order to guide the implementation of the project.

Aerogels with multiple advantages have been developed for various requirements, but aerogels tend to be fragile and easy to break when bent or compressed. Herein, high-aspect-ratio cotton-derived n...

The interaction and the coupling between the plasma filaments introduce some ultrafast phenomena, which not only reveal deep physical mechanisms, but also provide clues to develop the plasma filament-based applications. In this paper, the terahertz (THz) radiation from two plasma filaments with opposite directions, which are produced by focusing two counter propagating femtosecond laser pulses with a pair of off-axis-parabolic mirrors, is measured using electro-optic sampling detection method. The experimental results show that the pre-plasma weakens the THz radiation in the cases of with and without an external biased field. The lifetime of the plasma filament is estimated using the time evolution of the THz peaks. It is found that the THz radiation keeps weaker even when one pump pulse is 300 ps before the other one, which indicates that the lifetime of the plasma filament is longer than 300 ps. In addition, the THz pulses have similar shapes at different time delays between two pump laser pulses. Its underlying physical mechanisms are discussed as well.

Soluble Nogo66 receptor-Fc protein (sNgR-Fc) enhances axonal regeneration following central nervous system injury. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the effects of sNgR-Fc on the proliferation and differentiation of neural progenitor cells. The photothrombotic cortical injury model of ischemic stroke was produced in the parietal cortex of Sprague-Dawley rats. The rats with photothrombotic cortical injury were randomized to receive infusion of 400 μg/kg sNgR-Fc (sNgR-Fc group) or an equal volume of phosphate-buffered saline (photothrombotic cortical injury group) into the lateral ventricle for 3 days. The effects of sNgR-Fc on the proliferation and differentiation of endogenous neural progenitor cells were examined using BrdU staining. Neurological function was evaluated with the Morris water maze test. To further examine the effects of sNgR-Fc treatment on neural progenitor cells, photothrombotic cortical injury was produced in another group of rats that received transplantation of neural progenitor cells from the hippocampus of embryonic Sprague-Dawley rats. The animals were then given an infusion of phosphate-buffered saline (neural progenitor cells group) or sNgR-Fc (sNgR-Fc + neural progenitor cells group) into the lateral ventricle for 3 days. sNgR-Fc enhanced the proliferation of cultured neural progenitor cells in vitro as well as that of endogenous neural progenitor cells in vivo, compared with phosphate-buffered saline, and it also induced the differentiation of neural progenitor cells into neurons. Compared with the photothrombotic cortical injury group, escape latency in the Morris water maze and neurological severity score were greatly reduced, and distance traveled in the target quadrant was considerably increased in the sNgR-Fc group, indicating a substantial improvement in neurological function. Furthermore, compared with phosphate-buffered saline infusion, sNgR-Fc infusion strikingly improved the survival and differentiation of grafted neural progenitor cells. Our findings show that sNgR-Fc regulates neural progenitor cell proliferation, migration and differentiation. Therefore, sNgR-Fc is a potential novel therapy for stroke and neurodegenerative diseases, The protocols were approved by the Committee on the Use of Live Animals in Teaching and Research of the University of Hong Kong (approval No. 4560-17) in November, 2015.

Lu Yang,1,* Ming Xu,2,* Chuan-Bao Cui,1 Peng-Hai Wei,1 Shu-Zhi Wu,1 Zuo-Jie Cen,1 Xing-Xing Meng,1 Qiong-Guang Huang,1 Zhi-Chun Xie1 1Department of Epidemiology, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530021, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Human Anatomy and Histology and Embryology, Qilu Medical University, Zibo 255213, Shandong Province, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Background: The current study aims at using the whole genome expression profile chips for systematically investigating the diagnostic and prognostic values of excision repair cross-complementation (ERCC) genes in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Materials and methods: Whole genome expression profile chips were obtained from the GSE14520. The receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve, survival analysis, and nomogram were used to investigate the diagnostic and prognostic values of ERCC genes. Investigation of the potential function of ERCC8 was carried out by gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and genome-wide coexpression analysis.Results: ROC analysis suggests that six ERCC genes (ERCC1, ERCC2, ERCC3, ERCC4, ERCC5, and ERCC8) were dysregulated and may have potential to distinguish between HBV-related HCC tumor and paracancerous tissues (area under the curve of ROC ranged from 0.623 to 0.744). Survival analysis demonstrated that high ERCC8 expression was associated with a significantly decreased risk of recurrence (adjusted P=0.021; HR=0.643; 95% CI=0.442–0.937) and death (adjusted P=0.049; HR=0.631; 95% CI=0.399–0.998) in HBV-related HCC. Then, we also developed two nomograms for the HBV-related HCC individualized prognosis predictions. GSEA suggests that the high expression of ERCC8 may have involvement in the energy metabolism biological processes. As the genome-wide coexpression analysis and functional assessment of ERCC8 suggest, those coexpressed genes were significantly enriched in multiple biological processes of DNA damage and repair. Conclusion: The present study indicates that six ERCC genes (ERCC1, ERCC2, ERCC3, ERCC4, ERCC5, and ERCC8) were dysregulated between HBV-related HCC tumor and paracancerous tissues and that the mRNA expression of ERCC8 may serve as a potential biomarker for the HBV-related HCC prognosis. Keywords: HBV, hepatocellular carcinoma, diagnosis, prognosis, ERCC

The nuclides inhaled during nuclear accidents usually cause internal contamination of the lungs with low activity. Although a parallel-hole imaging system, which is widely used in medical gamma cameras, has a high resolution and good image quality, owing to its extremely low detection efficiency, it remains difficult to obtain images of inhaled lung contamination. In this study, the Monte Carlo method was used to study the internal lung contamination imaging using the MPA-MURA coded-aperture collimator. The imaging system consisted of an adult male lung model, with a mosaicked, pattern-centered, and anti-symmetric MURA coded-aperture collimator model and a CsI (Tl) detector model. The MLEM decoding algorithm was used to reconstruct the internal contamination image, and the complementary imaging method was used to reduce the number of artifacts. The full width at half maximum of the I-131 point source image reconstructed by the MPA-MURA coded-aperture imaging reached 2.51 mm, and the signal-to-noise ratio of the simplified respiratory tract source (I-131) image reconstructed through MPA-MURA coded-aperture imaging was 3.98 dB. Although the spatial resolution of MPA-MURA coded-aperture imaging is not as good as that of parallel-hole imaging, the detection efficiency of PMA-MURA coded-aperture imaging is two orders of magnitude higher than that of parallel-hole collimator imaging. Considering the low activity level of internal lung contamination caused by nuclear accidents, PMA-MURA coded-aperture imaging has significant potential for the development of lung contamination imaging.

Background A transthoracic impedance (TTI) signal is an important indicator of the quality of chest compressions (CCs) during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). We proposed an automatic detection algorithm including the wavelet decomposition, fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering, and deep belief network (DBN) to identify the compression and ventilation waveforms for evaluating the quality of CPR. Methods TTI signals were collected from a cardiac arrest model that electrically induced cardiac arrest in pigs. All signals were denoised using the wavelet and morphology method. The potential compression and ventilation waveforms were marked using an algorithm with a multi-resolution window. The compressions and ventilations in these waveforms were identified and classified using the FCM clustering and DBN methods. Results Using the FCM clustering method, the positive predictive values (PPVs) for compressions and ventilations were 99.7% and 95.7%, respectively. The sensitivities of recognition were 99.8% for compressions and 95.1% for ventilations. The DBN approach exhibited similar PPV and sensitivity results to the FCM clustering method. The time cost was satisfactory using either of these techniques. Conclusions Our findings suggest that FCM clustering and DBN can be utilized to effectively and accurately evaluate CPR quality, and provide information for improving the success rate of CPR. Our real-time algorithms using FCM clustering and DBN eliminated most distortions and noises effectively, and correctly identified the compression and ventilation waveforms with a low time cost.

Archeologically attested human occupation on the Tibet Plateau (TP) can be traced back to 160 thousand years ago (kya, Xiahe) via archaic people and 30~40 kya via anatomically modern human in Nwya Devu. However, the past human movements and peopling of the TP keep in its infancy in the modern/ancient DNA studies. Here, we performed the first modern/ancient genomic meta-analysis among 3,017 Paleolithic to present-day eastern Eurasian genomes (2,444 modern individuals from 183 populations (including 98 Ü-Tsang/Ando/Kham Tibetans) and 573 ancients (including 161 Chinese ancients first meta-analyzed here)). Closer genetic connection between ancient-modern highland Tibetans and lowland island/coastal Neolithic northern East Asians was identified, reflecting the main ancestry of high-altitude Tibeto-Burman speakers originated from the ancestors of Houli/Yangshao/Longshan ancients in the middle and lower Yellow River basin, consistent with the common North-China origin of Sino-Tibetan language and dispersal pattern of millet farmers. Although the shared common northern East Asian lineage between Tibetans and lowland East Asians, we still identified genetic differentiation between Highlanders and lowland northern East Asians, the former harboring more deeply diverged Hoabinhian/Onge ancestry and the latter possessing more modern Neolithic southern East Asian and Siberian ancestry, which suggested the co-existence of Paleolithic and Neolithic ancestries in modern and Neolithic East Asian Highlanders. Tibetans from Ü-Tsang/Ando/Kham Tibetan regions showed strong population stratifications consistent with their cultural backgrounds and geographic terrains (showed as barriers for human movements): stronger Chokhopani affinity in Ü-Tsang Tibetans, more western Eurasian ancestry in Ando and greater Neolithic southern East Asian ancestry in Kham Tibetan. Modern combined ancient genomes documented multiple waves of human migrations in TP past: the first layer of local Hunter-Gatherer mixed with Qijia Farmer arose the Chokhopani-associated Proto-Tibetan-Burman, admixture with the additional genetic materials from the western Eurasian steppe, Yellow River and Yangtze River respectively gave rise to modern Ando, Ü-Tsang and Kham Tibetans.

Terahertz (THz) air coherent detection is a broadband coherent detection technique, which has been used widely in the THz science and technology. In this paper, a frequency-dependent response function of THz air coherent detection is defined based on the nonlinear polarization of gas molecules induced by the ultrashort laser pulses and the THz pulses. Calculations show that the response function of this technique has a half of Gaussian-like profile, which has a high sensitivity in the low frequency range and low sensitivity in the high frequency range of THz waves. Two fitted functions are given based on the calculated results, which can provide a good reference bandwidth when using the air coherent detection with a given probe laser pulse. The distortions of THz pulses induced by the air coherent detection in the detection process are discussed as well. This study will help to understand the response bandwidth and the limitation of detection bandwidth of the air coherent detection technique.

BackgroundThe comparative performances of transcatheter aortic-valve replacement (TAVR) with balloon-expandable valves (BEV) and self-expanding valves (SEV) in severe aortic stenosis remain unclear.PurposeTo compare the early (30-day) and midterm (1-year) mortality and cardiovascular outcomes of BEV with SEV.Data SourcesPubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library from inception until February 13, 2020.Study Selection3 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and 12 propensity-score matched (PSM) studies, with 37,958 patients.Data Extraction2 reviewers independently extracted study data and rated study quality. Data Synthesis: Compared with SEV, BEV was associated with significantly lower mortality at 30 days (OR 0.77, 95% CI 0.71–0.83, P<0.00001, I2=0) and a trend toward lower mortality at 1 year (OR 0.88, 95% CI 0.78–1.00, P=0.05, I2=15.8%), mainly driven from PSM studies, but regardless of valve generations and SEV types. 30-day and 1-year cardiovascular mortality, 30-day incidences of moderate to severe paravavular leak, procedural contrast agent volume and procedure time were lower, but transvalvular pressure gradient was higher in BEV than SEV. 30-day incidences of permanent pacemaker implantation (PPI), acute kidney injury, stroke, major bleeding, major vascular complications and rehospitalization were not statistically different between BEV and SEV. Early-generation SEV was associated with a higher 30-day PPI risk than corresponding BEV comparators. PPI risk was lower in ACURATE neo but higher in Evolut R SEV, both compared with SAPIEN 3 BEV.LimitationsStudy-level but not patient-level data; residual confounders in PSM studies; study designs and patient characteristics were heterogeneous.ConclusionsCompared with SEV, BEV might be associated with lower early and midterm mortality. Results from adequately powered RCTs with long-term follow-up are critically needed to confirm these findings.RegistrationPROSPERO (CRD42020172889).Funding SourceNational Natural Science Foundation of China (NO. 81600312).

The goal of this study was to compare in-hospital and long-term events between bailout rotational atherectomy (RA) and planned RA. In this retrospective study, All patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) using RA at Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital from November 2011 to December 2018 were enrolled in this study. Planned RA was defined as RA performed immediately before balloon pre-dilation, while bailout RA was defined as RA after failure to expand the balloon or perform any other procedure. In-hospital and long-term major adverse cardiac events (MACE, defined as cardiac mortality, myocardial infarction (MI), target vessel revascularization (TVR) and stroke) were compared between the two groups. After statistical analysis, a total of 211 patients underwent PCI with RA during the study period: 153 in the planned RA group, and 58 in the bailout group. The incidence of coronary dissection was significantly higher in the bailout RA group than in the planned RA group (22.4% vs. 6.5%, P = 0.001). However, no significant difference in in-hospital MACE was found between the two groups (12.1% vs. 13.7%, P = 0.752). There was no difference in all-cause mortality (9.1% vs. 12.5%, P = 0.504) or long-term MACE (13.8% vs. 17.1%, P = 0.560) between the groups. Bailout RA was associated with a significantly longer procedural time (139.86 ± 56.24 min vs. 105.56 ± 36.71 min, P < 0.001) than planned RA. Therefore, compared with bailout RA, planned RA is associated with shorter procedural time and reduced incidence of coronary dissection, with no difference in MACE or mortality.

Purpose There has been a resurgence of interest in the tumor stroma in recent years. Whether the relative abundance of various stromal cells can be used as a classification system for muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) remain elusive.Methods We applied single-cell RNA-sequence (scRNA-seq) data from two MIBCs to identify stromal cell (CD45 negative cells) clusters and the marker gene set of each cell cluster. The single sample gene set enrichment analysis method is used to estimate the relative abundance of the cell clusters in each MIBC sample from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Subsequently, k-means clustering was performed to cluster the MIBCs. Prognosis, oncogenic pathway enrichment score, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) score, gene mutation frequency, and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) were compared among the stromal component-based types of MIBC.ResultsIn the scRNA-seq analysis, a total of nine cell clusters mainly composed of four types of cells were identified. Cell clusters 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 were considered as bladder epithelial cells, the cells in clusters 5 and 8 were mainly recognized as stem cells and fibroblasts, and the cell cluster 6 was recognized were endothelial cells. The 408 MIBC samples were classified into three types. Type 1 and 3, the “stromal-sufficient” type I and II with higher stromal cells, and Type 2, the “stromal-desert” type with lower stromal cells. The stromal-desert type had significantly better overall survival. As the tumor progresses, the stromal component of the stromal-desert type increases and change into the stromal-sufficient type. Increased stromal cells may come from EMT. The enrichment scores of multiple oncogenic pathways in stromal-sufficient types were significantly higher than those in stromal-desert type. More TILs were found in stromal-sufficient type, but their function may be inhibited by stromal cells. In addition, the three stromal types of MIBC may have specific gene mutation characteristics.Conclusions We proposed a novel stromal component-based classification system to divided into MIBC three phenotype. The three types of MIBC differ in various biological characteristics. The progress of MIBC may be summarized as the process of gradually increasing stromal components and constructing a microenvironment suitable for cancer cells.

We propose a new prototype model for no-reference video quality assessment (VQA) based on the natural statistics of space-time chips of videos. Space-time chips (ST-chips) are a new, quality-aware feature space which we define as space-time localized cuts of video data in directions that are determined by the local motion flow. We use parametrized distribution fits to the bandpass histograms of space-time chips to characterize quality, and show that the parameters from these models are affected by distortion and can hence be used to objectively predict the quality of videos. Our prototype method, which we call ChipQA-0, is agnostic to the types of distortion affecting the video, and is based on identifying and quantifying deviations from the expected statistics of natural, undistorted ST-chips in order to predict video quality. We train and test our resulting model on several large VQA databases and show that our model achieves high correlation against human judgments of video quality and is competitive with state-of-the-art models., Comment: Accepted and to be published at IEEE MMSP (International Workshop on Multimedia Signal Processing) 2020

To evaluate the clinical efficacy of concentrated growth factors (CGFs) combined with mineralized collagen (MC) in guided bone regeneration (GBR). A retrospective study involving 29 patients treated with GBR technique, which was performed either CGF and MC complexes or MC alone. Implants were inserted simultaneously and cone-beam computed tomography was taken immediately, at 3 and 6 months postoperation. Questionnaires were completed by all patients so as to evaluate the main symptoms and daily activities during the first week after surgery. The outcomes of the two groups were statistically compared. All implants healed uneventfully. Patients in both groups suffered from different levels of discomfort for the reason of swelling, pain and chewing impairment on 1–2 days. Meanwhile, swelling of the Trial group was weaker than the Control group. When compared with the Control group, pain levels in Trial group were more rapidly reduced and patients took fewer analgesics from Day 3. Furthermore, the reconstitution mean value of the graft was thicker at 3 and 6 months in Trial group. CGFs complex with MC were beneficial to relieve the clinical symptoms, promote the peri-implant bone regeneration and shorten the healing time.

The expansion of modern humans to the American continent after the Last Glacial Maximum led the way to the present-day distribution of American aborigines. Recent advances in autosomal DNA research and expanded testing of mtDNA lineages has provided a clearer picture of the number and timing of founding lineages. However, both autosomal DNA and mtDNA research have provided unresolved competing theories between the short-term and the long-term models of the Beringian standstill hypothesis. Further, the source of founding paternal lineages of American aborigines and their relationship with ancient Siberia populations remains ambiguous. In this study, we reanalyzed a 7.0 Mbp region of 132 paternal Y-chromosome sequences, including 39 newly reported ones, of male samples from American aborigines and Eurasian populations. Among Eurasian samples, we identified Y-chromosome branches that are most closely related to known American aborigine founding lineages, that is, Q1-L804 links to Q1-M3, Q1-L330 links to Q1-Z780, Q1-M120 links to Q1-B143, and C2-F1756 links to C2-P39. The revised phylogenetic tree and age estimates indicate a narrow timeframe (~15.3–14.3 kya) for the upper time limit of human entry to the American continent. Our analysis suggests that the in situ differentiation of Q-M242 in Central Eurasia and South Siberia region gave rise to numerous sub-lineages older than 15.3 kya, and the founding of Paleo-Indian paternal lineages is part of the great Q1-L53 diffusion throughout the Eurasia after the Last Glacial Maximum. The results of our study will assist in future studies of the history of modern populations in Eurasia and the Americas.

In order to identify the role of the port backup service elements in the development of the container port, the paper puts forward a system dynamics model between the container port and the port ba...

Purpose Neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) are important vision-threatening diseases worldwide. For effective treatment, the risk factors for the diseases merit investigation. This study aimed to compare the risk factors for nAMD vs. PCV in Chinese patients. Methods A total of 946 participants were recruited in this case-control study, including 281 patients with nAMD, 306 patients with PCV, and 359 controls. All participants underwent comprehensive ophthalmic examinations. Information on risk factors were collected by questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate the difference in risk factors between nAMD and PCV. In a subgroup of subjects, serum lipid data were obtained and analyzed. Results Risk factors for nAMD included older age (OR 1.03, P = 0.001), male gender (OR 1.55, P = 0.020), asthma (OR 2.50, P = 0.028), smoking (OR 1.92, P = 0.001), and family history (OR 6.82, P = 0.001), while smoking (OR 1.67, P = 0.013) was the only risk factor for PCV. Compared to patients with PCV, patients with nAMD were more likely to be older and suffer from hyperlipidemia, coronary artery disease, rheumatism, and tumor. Interestingly, higher levels of high-density lipoprotein were positively associated with PCV in the subgroup analysis (OR 7.74, P = 0.011). Besides, results were quite different between the combination of patients with nAMD and PCV and patients with nAMD or PCV alone. Conclusions The risk factors for nAMD and PCV is varying with the exception of smoking. Our findings suggest that different strategies might be applied in the clinical management and scientific research on nAMD and PCV.

Background: High platelet reactivity (HPR) during clopidogrel treatment predicts postpercutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) ischemic events strongly and independently. Tongxinluo capsules (TCs) are a traditional Chinese medicine formulation used as antiplatelet treatment. However, its efficacy against HPR is not known. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of TCs in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients with HPR. Methods: This multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study prospectively analyzed 136 ACS patients with HPR who underwent PCI. The patients were enrolled from November 2013 to May 2014 and randomized to receive placebo or TCs in addition to standard dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) with aspirin and clopidogrel. The primary end points were the prevalence of HPR at 30 days and the mean change in P2Y12reaction units (PRUs) between baseline and 30 days. Survival curves were constructed with Kaplan-Meier estimates and compared by log-rank tests between the two groups. Results: Both groups had a significantly reduced prevalence of HPR at 30 days versus baseline, but the TC group, compared with the placebo group, had greater reduction (15.8% vs. 24.8%, P = 0.013), especially among patients with one cytochrome P450 2C19 loss of function (LOF) allele (χ2 = 2.931, P = 0.047). The TC group also had a lower prevalence of HPR (33.3% vs. 54.2%, t = 5.284, P = 0.022) and superior performance in light transmittance aggregometry and higher levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), but the composite prevalence of ischemic events did not differ significantly (χ2 = 1.587, P = 0.208). Conclusions: In addition to standard DAPT with aspirin and clopidogrel, TCs further reduce PRU and hsCRP levels, especially in patients carrying only one LOF allele. The data suggest that TCs could be used in combination therapy for ACS patients with HPR undergoing PCI.

High mobility group box-1 (HMGB-1), a typical damage-associated molecular pattern protein released from various cells, was first identified in 1973. It is usually stored in the nuclei of cells. Several modifications of HMGB-1 promote its translocation to the cytosol, and it is actively or passively released from cells. When outside of the cells, HMGB-1is crucial in inflammation. It exerts its biological functions via interaction with its receptors, including receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) and Toll-like receptor 4(TLR4). A large number of studies showed a close link between inflammation and thrombosis. This review demonstrated the increased expression of HMGB-1 in thrombosis-related diseases, including coronary artery disease, stroke, peripheral arterial disease, disseminated intravascular coagulation, and venous thrombosis. Besides, it summarized the current understanding of the emerging link between HMGB-1 and thrombosis from three aspects: platelet, NETs, and coagulation and fibrinolysis factors. Finally, it explored the possible therapeutic strategies targeting HMGB-1 for treating thrombosis-related diseases.

Background: Very few data have been reported for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) caused by unprotected left main coronary artery (ULMCA) occlusion, and very little is known about the results of this subgroup of patients who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The aim of this study was to determine the clinical features and outcomes of patients with STEMI who underwent primary PCI for acute ULMCA occlusion. Methods: From January 2000 to February 2014, 372 patients with STEMI caused by ULMCA acute occlusion (ULMCA-STEMI) who underwent primary PCI at one of two centers were enrolled. The 230 patients with non-ST-segment elevation MI (NSTEMI) caused by ULMCA lesion (ULMCA-NSTEMI) who underwent emergency PCI were designated the control group. The main indexes were the major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) in-hospital, at 1 month, and at 1 year. Results: Compared to the NSTEMI patients, the patients with STEMI had significantly higher rates of Killip class≥III (21.2% vs. 3.5%, χ2 = 36.253, P < 0.001) and cardiac arrest (8.3% vs. 3.5%, χ2 = 5.529, P = 0.019). For both groups, the proportions of one-year cardiac death in the patients with a post-procedure thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) flow grade 0.05) and TVR (all P > 0.05) in the intervals of 0–1 month as well as 1 month to 1 year. The results of Cox regression analysis showed that the differences in the independent predictors for MACE included the variables of Killip class ≥ III and intra-aortic balloon pump support for the STEMI patients and the variables of previous MI, ULMCA distal bifurcation, and 2-stent for distal ULMCA lesions for the NSTEMI patients. Conclusions: Compared to the NSTEMI patients, the patients with STEMI and ULMCA lesions still remain at a much higher risk for adverse events at 1 year, especially on 1 month. If a successful PCI procedure is performed, the 1-year outcomes in those patients might improve.

Background: The prevalence, presentation, management, and prognosis of coronary heart disease differ according to sex. Greater understanding on the differences between men and women with acute aortic dissection (AAD) is needed. We aimed to investigate whether sex disparities are found in patients with AAD, and to study sex differences in complications, mortality in-hospital, and long-term. Methods: We included 884 patients enrolled in our institute between June 2002 and May 2016. Considering psychosocial factors, treatments, and the outcomes in men versus those in women with AAD, we explored the association of sex with psychosocial characteristics and mortality risk. For categorical variables, significant differences between groups were assessed with the Chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test, and continuous parameters were assessed with Student’s t-test. Univariate and stratified survival statistics were computed using Kaplan-Meier analysis. Results: A total of 884 patients (76.1% male, mean age 51.4±11.8 years) were included in this study. There were fewer current smokers in female compared with male (17.5% vs. 67.2%, χ2 = 160.06, P< 0.05). The percentage of men who reported regular alcohol consumption was significantly higher than that in women (40.6% vs. 3.8%, χ2 = 100.18, P< 0.05). About 6.2% (55 of 884) of patients with AAD died before vascular or endovascular surgery was performed, 34.4% (304 of 884) of patients underwent surgical procedures, and 52.7% (466 of 884) and 12.8% (113 of 884) of patients received endovascular treatment and medication. Postoperative mortality similar (6.0% vs. 5.6%, respectively, χ2 = 0.03, P = 0.91) between men and women. Follow-up was completed in 653 of 829 patients (78.8%). Adjustment for age, history of coronary disease, hypertension, smoking and drinking, Type A and use of beta-blocker, angiotensin II receptor blockers, angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, calcium-channel blockers and statins by multivariate logistic regression analysis suggested that age (odds ratios [ORs], 1.04; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01–1.07; P< 0.05), using of calcium-channel blockers (OR, 0.37; 95% CI, 0.18- 0.74; P< 0.05), at discharge were independent predictors of late mortality, ACE inhibitors (OR, 1.91; 95% CI, 1.03–3.54; P = 0.04) was independent risk factor of late mortality. Conclusions: In Chinese with AAD, sex is not independently associated with long-term clinical outcomes. Age, the intake of calcium-channel blockers at discharge might help to improve long-term outcomes. Key words: Aortic Dissection; Prognosis; Sex

This paper discusses design of a horizontal axis washing machine with a ball balancer and four Magnetorheological (MR) dampers. At first, the minimum motion space needed by the tub and the resistance force for preventing walking are derived for evaluating dynamic performances of the washer. Four MR dampers are designed, manufactured and tested. A multiple-ball model is built for the balancer and two acceleration phases are designed for the spin drying process. Then, simulations are carried out based on a fullfactorial experiment design and the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) method is used to evaluate the significance of six parameters. A cubic polynomial regression model is constructed and parametric optimization is carried out using a hybrid optimization scheme to obtain optimum parameter values. Several control strategies of the MR dampers for enhancing walking resistance capability of the washer are proposed. At last, experiments are done on a prototype of the horizontal axis washer with several conclusions validated.

This article is based on graphene and vanadium dioxide (VO2) to build a THz metamaterial absorber that can be exchanged in three modes: single-band, dual-band, and broadband. The change of the frequency band can be accomplished by changing the Fermi level of graphene and the state of VO2. When VO2 is in a metallike state, diverse single-band absorbers can be gotten, and after that, a dual-band absorber can be gotten by controlling the movement of VO2 from a metallike state to an insulation state. When VO2 is in a metallic state, the mutual coupling between graphene and VO2 expands the absorption bandwidth and realizes broadband absorption. Also, the broadband collector is not insensitive to the polarization point and occurrence point of TE polarization and TM polarization. Compared with the existing absorber, the absorber based on graphene and VO2 we outlined not only has a higher bandwidth but for most critically, can accomplish higher integration, compatibility, and a more adaptable adjustable range.

The complexity and diversity of information on rock mass surfaces leads to disparities in many image properties among different rock mass surface images, including image brightness , color, contrast and pixel distribution. As a result, there is currently no unified automatic approach for extracting the rock fracture skeleton from the images. In this paper, according to common features of rock surface images and curvilinearity of fractures which are set as the extraction targets, a dark region curvilinear structure enhancement (DRCSE) algorithm for automatic rock fracture skeleton extraction is proposed. This algorithm mainly relies on the curvilinear structure enhancement filter Frangi in image pre-processing stage. Through multiple image processing, dark region contrast of rock surface images is enhanced while noise is reduced. After this process, the effect of Frangi filtering can be significantly improved. Particularly, by using Homomorphic filtering coupled Gamma transforming (HCG) to enhance dark region contrast, a new edge-entropy (EE) index is proposed to describe the contrast-enhanced image quality. Particle swarm optimization (PSO) is utilized to calculate the value of Gamma transforming parameters that maximize the EE index. The test results show that it has great advantages compared to traditional methods for rock fracture skeleton extraction.

Hai-wei Liang,* Zhi-hua Ye,* Shu-ya Yin, Wei-jia Mo, Han-lin Wang, Jin-che Zhao, Guo-mei Liang, Zhen-bo Feng, Gang Chen, Dian-zhong Luo Department of Pathology, First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China *These authors contributed equally to this work Background: Studies which focused on the character of miR-144-3p in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are limited. This study aimed to explore the expression, clinical significance and the potential targets of miR-144-3p in HCC. Methods: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and a cohort of 95 cases of HCC were applied to investigate aberrant miR-144-3p expression in HCC. A meta-analysis was performed to accumulate data on miR-144-3p expression in HCC based on TCGA, quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). Additionally, the potential regulatory mechanisms of miR-144-3p in HCC were explored by bioinformatics. Results: MiR-144-3p expression was downregulated distinctly in HCC compared to para-HCC tissue both in TCGA data (8.9139±1.5986 vs 10.7721±0.9156, P

PURPOSE A retrospective study was performed to analyze the relationship between uridine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase 1A1 (UGT1A1) *6/*28 gene polymorphisms and adverse reactions associated with irinotecan (CPT-11)-based chemotherapy. The correlation between UGT1A1 polymorphisms and the clinical efficacy of CPT-11 was also analyzed, along with the influence of age and tumor type. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients administered a CPT-11-based regimen in the Beijing Cancer Hospital from April 2015 to September 2016 were included in our study (n=81). Blood samples for detecting UGT1A1 were collected from each patient after various administration regimens. RESULTS Colorectal cancer patients with the UGT1A1*6 mutant genotype had a significantly higher risk of severe delayed diarrhea than that of wild-type individuals when administered a CPT-11 dose ≥130 mg/m2 (P=0.042); the same phenomenon was observed when the UGT1A1*6 and UGT1A1*28 mutant genotypes were considered together (P=0.028). However, in lung cancer patients administered a low dose of CPT-11, UGT1A1*6/*28 variants were not significantly associated with severe neutropenia or delayed diarrhea. Furthermore, adult patients with the UGT1A1*6 mutation were more likely to develop severe delayed diarrhea than did wild-type adults (P=0.013); however, the difference was not significant in elderly patients. No significant differences in tumor response were found among the different genotypes (P>0.05). CONCLUSION Thus, age and tumor type influence our ability to predict adverse reactions based on UGT1A1 gene polymorphisms in cancer patients. Further, UGT1A1 gene polymorphisms are not correlated with the efficacy of CPT-11-based regimens.