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The metallic cavity has been recognized as the promising structure to realize the subwavelength nanolasers with the dimensions of mode volumes considerably smaller than the optical diffraction limit. However, the current nanolasers based on metallic cavity are realized in near-infrared ranges, since the high optical loss from metal makes the metallic lasing at the visible wavelength challenging. Here, we propose an innovative approach to fabricate metallic cavity plasmonic nanolaser based on Au-coated perovskite nanowires synthesized by an in situ solution method. The intrinsic ohmic loss of metal could be overcome by the high gain of the perovskite. The laser presents a prominent lasing behavior in the visible range at 548 nm. The mode area is reduced to λ2/48, the Purcell factor reaches up to 108, and the physical dimension is only 150 nm. To be noted, the competition between plasmonic modes and photonic modes was observed for the first time in the metallic cavity nanolasers. This work promotes the application of perovskite composite nanostructures to photonic devices.

Recently, hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), an ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor, has attracted considerable attention owing to its excellent properties. In thin films grown on metal catalysts, contamination and damage induced by a transfer process cannot be avoided. Therefore, synthesizing h-BN films on non-catalytic dielectric substrates is desirable for electronic applications. In this study, we demonstrate the direct growth of high-quality h-BN films with a controllable thickness on sapphire substrates by using the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. The effects of the deposition conditions and laser parameters on the growth of the h-BN films are systematically investigated by evaluating their characteristic Raman peaks. Among the various growth parameters studied, the substrate temperature has the greatest influence on the crystalline quality of the h-BN films, and the optimal pressure varies depending on the target-substrate distance. The h-BN film grown under optimal conditions exhibits a narrow Raman line width of ∼30 cm−1, indicating a high crystalline quality. The photodetectors fabricated from the PLD-grown h-BN films exhibit superior deep-ultraviolet detection performance with a large on/off ratio of >104, high photoresponsivity, and a sharp cut-off wavelength of 220 nm. This study presents the possibility of producing high-quality h-BN films by applying PLD on dielectric substrates for optoelectronic applications.

Objective To identify the potential biomarkers of interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome (IC), a chronic syndrome of bladder-centric pain with unknown etiology that has an adverse impact on quality of life, we analyzed the urine and serum metabolomes of a cohort of IC patients and non-disease controls (NC). Methods Home collection of serum and urine samples was obtained from 19 IC and 20 NC females in the Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System. IC was diagnosed independently by thorough review of medical records using established criteria. Biostatistics and bioinformatics analyses, including univariate analysis, unsupervised clustering, random forest analysis, and metabolite set enrichment analysis (MSEA), were then utilized to identify potential IC biomarkers. Results Metabolomics profiling revealed distinct expression patterns between NC and IC. Random forest analysis of urine samples suggested discriminators specific to IC; these include phenylalanine, purine, 5-oxoproline, and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid. When these urinary metabolomics-based analytes were combined into a single model, the AUC was 0.92, suggesting strong potential clinical value as a diagnostic signature. Serum-based metabolomics did not provide potential IC discriminators. Conclusion Analysis of serum and urine revealed that women with IC have distinct metabolomes, highlighting key metabolic pathways that may provide insight into the pathophysiology of IC. The findings from this pilot study suggest that integrated analyses of urinary metabolites, purine, phenylalanine, 5-oxoproline, and 5-HIAA, can lead to promising IC biomarkers for pathophysiology of IC. Validation of these results using a larger dataset is currently underway.

Optical deep learning based on diffractive optical elements offers unique advantages for parallel processing, computational speed, and power efficiency. One landmark method is the diffractive deep neural network (D2NN) based on three-dimensional printing technology operated in the terahertz spectral range. Since the terahertz bandwidth involves limited interparticle coupling and material losses, this paper extends D2NN to visible wavelengths. A general theory including a revised formula is proposed to solve any contradictions between wavelength, neuron size, and fabrication limitations. A novel visible light D2NN classifier is used to recognize unchanged targets (handwritten digits ranging from 0 to 9) and targets that have been changed (i.e., targets that have been covered or altered) at a visible wavelength of 632.8 nm. The obtained experimental classification accuracy (84%) and numerical classification accuracy (91.57%) quantify the match between the theoretical design and fabricated system performance. The presented framework can be used to apply a D2NN to various practical applications and design other new applications.

BACKGROUND For advanced gastric cancer patients with pancreatic head invasion, some studies have suggested that extended multiorgan resections (EMR) improves survival. However, other reports have shown high rates of morbidity and mortality after EMR. EMR for T4b gastric cancer remains controversial. AIM To evaluate the surgical approach for pT4b gastric cancer with pancreatic head invasion. METHODS A total of 144 consecutive patients with gastric cancer with pancreatic head invasion were surgically treated between 2006 and 2016 at the China National Cancer Center. Gastric cancer was confirmed in 76 patients by postoperative pathology and retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into the gastrectomy plus en bloc pancreaticoduodenectomy group (GP group) and gastrectomy alone group (GA group) by comparing the clinicopathological features, surgical outcomes, and prognostic factors of these patients. RESULTS There were 24 patients (16.8%) in the GP group who had significantly larger lesions (P < 0.001), a higher incidence of advanced N stage (P = 0.030), and less neoadjuvant chemotherapy (P < 0.001) than the GA group had. Postoperative morbidity (33.3% vs 15.3%, P = 0.128) and mortality (4.2% vs 4.8%, P = 1.000) were not significantly different in the GP and GA groups. The overall 3-year survival rate of the patients in the GP group was significantly longer than that in the GA group (47.6%, median 30.3 mo vs 20.4%, median 22.8 mo, P = 0.010). Multivariate analysis identified neoadjuvant chemotherapy [hazard ratio (HR) 0.290, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.103–0.821, P = 0.020], linitis plastic (HR 2.614, 95% CI: 1.024–6.675, P = 0.033), surgical margin (HR 0.274, 95% CI: 0.102–0.738, P = 0.010), N stage (HR 3.489, 95% CI: 1.334–9.120, P = 0.011), and postoperative chemoradiotherapy (HR 0.369, 95% CI: 0.163–0.836, P = 0.017) as independent predictors of survival in patients with pT4b gastric cancer and pancreatic head invasion. CONCLUSION Curative resection of the invaded pancreas should be performed to improve survival in selected patients. Invasion of the pancreatic head is not a contraindication for surgery.

Objective To identify modifying genes that explains the risk of fragile X-associated primary ovarian insufficiency (FXPOI). Design Gene-based, case/control association study, followed by a functional screen of highly ranked genes using a Drosophila model. Setting Participants were recruited from academic and clinical settings. Patient(s) Women with a premutation (PM) who experienced FXPOI at the age of 35 years or younger (n = 63) and women with a PM who experienced menopause at the age of 50 years or older (n = 51) provided clinical information and a deoxyribonucleic acid sample for whole genome sequencing. The functional screen was on the basis of Drosophila TRiP lines. Intervention(s) Clinical information and a DNA sample were collected for whole genome sequencing. Main Outcome Measures A polygenic risk score derived from common variants associated with natural age at menopause was calculated and associated with the risk of FXPOI. Genes associated with the risk of FXPOI were identified on the basis of the P-value from gene-based association test and an altered level of fecundity when knocked down in the Drosophila PM model. Results The polygenic risk score on the basis of common variants associated with natural age at menopause explained approximately 8% of the variance in the risk of FXPOI. Further, SUMO1 and KRR1 were identified as possible modifying genes associated with the risk of FXPOI on the basis of an untargeted gene analysis of rare variants. Conclusions In addition to the large genetic effect of a PM on ovarian function, the additive effects of common variants associated with natural age at menopause and the effect of rare modifying variants appear to play a role in FXPOI risk.

Background Prophylactic drains have been used to remove intraperitoneal collections and detect complications early in open surgery. In the last decades, minimally invasive gastric cancer surgery has been performed worldwide. However, reports on routine prophylactic abdominal drainage after totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy are few. Aim To evaluate the feasibility performing totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy without prophylactic drains in selected patients. Methods Data of patients with distal gastric cancer who underwent totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy with and without prophylactic drainage at China National Cancer Center/Cancer Hospital from February 2018 to August 2019 were reviewed. The outcomes between patients with and without prophylactic drainage were compared. Results A total of 457 patients who underwent surgery for gastric cancer were identified. Of these, 125 patients who underwent totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy were included. After propensity score matching, data of 42 pairs were extracted. The incidence of concurrent illness was higher in the drain group (42.9% vs 31.0%, P = 0.258). The overall postoperative complication rates were 19.5% and 10.6% in the drain (n = 76) and no-drain groups (n = 49), respectively; there were no significant differences between the two groups (P > 0.05). The difference between the two groups based on the need for percutaneous catheter drainage was also not significant (9.8% vs 6.4%, P = 0.700). However, patients with a larger body mass index (≥ 29 kg/m2) were prone to postoperative complications (P = 0.042). In addition, the number of days from surgery until the first flatus (4.33 ± 1.24 d vs 3.57 ± 1.85 d, P = 0.029) was greater in the drain group. Conclusion Omitting prophylactic drainage may reduce surgery time and result in faster recovery. Routine prophylactic drains are not necessary in selected patients. A prophylactic drain may be useful in high-risk patients.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors; thus, brain epigenomic alterations may provide insights into AD pathogenesis. Multiple array-based Epigenome-Wide Association Studies (EWASs) have identified robust brain methylation changes in AD; however, array-based assays only test about 2% of all CpG sites in the genome. Here, we develop EWASplus, a computational method that uses a supervised machine learning strategy to extend EWAS coverage to the entire genome. Application to six AD-related traits predicts hundreds of new significant brain CpGs associated with AD, some of which are further validated experimentally. EWASplus also performs well on data collected from independent cohorts and different brain regions. Genes found near top EWASplus loci are enriched for kinases and for genes with evidence for physical interactions with known AD genes. In this work, we show that EWASplus implicates additional epigenetic loci for AD that are not found using array-based AD EWASs., Array-based epigenome-wide association studies only test about 2% of the CpG sites in the genome. Here, the authors describe EWASplus, a supervised machine learning strategy that extends EWAS coverage to the entire genome, and use it to identify novel brain CpGs associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

Nanofabrication schemes usually suffer challenges in direct growth on complex nanostructured substrates. We provide a new technology that allows for the convenient, selective growth of complex nanostructures directly on three-dimensional (3D) homogeneous semiconductor substrates. The nature of the selectivity is derived from surface states modulated electrochemical deposition. Metals, metal oxides, and compound semiconductor structures can be prepared with high fidelity over a wide scale range from tens of nanometers to hundreds of microns. The utility of the process for photoelectrochemical applications is demonstrated by selectively decorating the sidewalls and tips of silicon microwires with cuprous oxide and cobalt oxides catalysts, respectively. Our findings indicate a new selective fabrication concept applied for homogeneous 3D semiconductor substrates, which is of high promise in community of photoelectronics, photoelectrochemistry, photonics, microelectronics, etc.

Silicon carbide (SiC) detectors have great potential in nuclear fusion diagnosis and intense irradiation field measurement due to their outstanding irradiation resistance, high charge collection efficiency (CCE), and fast pulse response time. However, the irradiation resistance and the performance degradation of SiC detectors as a result of He ion irradiation remains unclear. In this article, SiC detectors based on 4H-type material with the p-i-n junction structure were prepared, and their I–V characteristics, $\alpha $ -particle spectra, and linearity of energy response were evaluated before and after He ion irradiation at fluences ranging from $1\times 10^{12}$ to $3 \times 10^{15}$ cm−2. The preirradiated SiC detector exhibited low dark current ( $1 \times 10^{12}$ cm−2, detector performance degradation was negligible, with no increase of dark current, CCE decreased to 85%, and a 2.2% degradation of energy resolution. At a fluence of $3 \times 10^{15}$ cm−2, CCE decreased to 19.3%, with an 8.57% degradation in energy resolution, but the dark current was still lower than 2 nA, with good spectra measurement capabilities and high linearity of energy response. These results indicate that the He ion irradiation resistance of 4H-SiC detectors is 104 times greater than silicon (Si) detectors.

Based on the classical bending rule that the plies composing the thinner region should be a subset of the ones of the thicker region for two adjacent laminates, a genetic algorithm–based dynamic boundary subset blending model is proposed to optimize the global stacking sequence of composite structures with ply-drops. Besides the stacking sequence chromosome of the guide laminate and ply number chromosome of each panel, a chromosome of a dynamic boundary subset factor is introduced for each panel to obtain a fully blended design. The lower and upper bounds of the dynamic boundary subset factor chromosome for each panel is determined by the ply number chromosomes of the panel and its adjacent panels. The stacking sequence of each panel can be determined by selection from combinations of various stacking sequences. The proposed blending model can solve the problem that laminates with identical thicknesses have the completely same layups even when they are not adjacent to each other. The optimal feasible designs outperform other published solutions for the 18-panel horseshoe configuration problem based on the classical bending rule.

At present, traditional facial expression recognition methods of convolutional neural networks are based on local ideas for feature expression, which results in the model’s low efficiency in capturing the dependence between long-range pixels, leading to poor performance for facial expression recognition. In order to solve the above problems, this paper combines a self-attention mechanism with a residual network and proposes a new facial expression recognition model based on the global operation idea. This paper first introduces the self-attention mechanism on the basis of the residual network and finds the relative importance of a location by calculating the weighted average of all location pixels, then introduces channel attention to learn different features on the channel domain, and generates channel attention to focus on the interactive features in different channels so that the robustness can be improved; finally, it merges the self-attention mechanism and the channel attention mechanism to increase the model’s ability to extract globally important features. The accuracy of this paper on the CK+ and FER2013 datasets is 97.89% and 74.15%, respectively, which fully confirmed the effectiveness and superiority of the model in extracting global features.

The COVID-19 pandemic was an unprecedented event that has caused incredible challenges in all areas of society. However, unlike previous global pandemics, modern advancements in technology and medicine have made it possible to respond much more rapidly. Within months, countries around the world developed diagnostic kits and smartphone applications to tackle the virus. Many of these diagnostic kits vary in what they target and have different uses. Smartphone applications have been developed to provide real-time information to users regarding potential exposure, statistics, updated news, etc. Depending on the country, resources and government policies have created a wide range of products and applications. This narrative review paper focuses on providing a general overview of diagnostic kits and smartphone applications in three major countries, the U.S., South Korea, and China. Smartphone applications were used for tracing person-to-person contact and preventing the spread of COVID-19. These tools allowed public health officials to quickly identify people who may have had exposure to COVID-19 and allows them to act accordingly. In addition to discussing the mechanisms behind diagnostic kits, topics in legislation and policy for contact tracing will also be discussed. As nations enter into the next phase of the pandemic, there are serious considerations to be made about how technology can be integrated into handling future healthcare crises.

Co-clustering simultaneously performs clustering on the sample and feature dimensions of the data matrix, so it can obtain better insight into the data than traditional clustering. Adjustment learning extracts valuable information from chunklets for unsupervised cluster learning in specific scenarios, but in fact it can be easily extended to semi-supervised and supervised learning situations. In this paper, we propose a novel co-clustering framework, named co-adjustment learning for co-clustering (CALCC), and CALCC can be simultaneously used in unsupervised, semi-supervised and supervised learning situations. A novel co-adjustment learning (CAL) model is proposed to extract meaningful representations in both sample space and feature space for co-clustering. CAL can not only perform the sample projection as well as feature projection under the guidance of chunklet information, it can also transform the original data into another space with improved separability. We can obtain the row partition matrix and column partition matrix by performing the clustering process on the representations learned by the CAL model. In order to prove the availability of our framework, an unsupervised case of CALCC is introduced to make an extensive comparison with several related methods (specifically including the classic co-clustering methods and the state-of-the-art methods closely related to our work) on several image and real data sets. The experimental results show the superior performance of the CAL model in discovering discriminative representations and demonstrate the effectiveness of the CALCC framework. The proposed CALCC framework, as demonstrated in the experiments, is more effective superior to the related methods. In addition, the chunklet information can be effective to enhance the expression ability of the learned representations.

Purpose Using a quick electroretinography (ERG) protocol for rapid assessment of the retinal function of wild giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) performed in field conditions to demonstrate the range of ERG recordings in giant pandas of unknown retinal status. Animals studied Nine free range giant pandas. Procedure All the giant pandas were anesthetized using an intramuscular dexMTZ injection, which is a combination of dexmedetomidine and tiletamine-zolazepam. After 20 mins of dark adaptation, scotopic ERGs were obtained by using three flash intensities: -25 dB (0.0087 cd·s/m2 ), 0 dB (2.75 cd·s/m2 ), and +5 dB (8.7 cd·s/m2 ). Next, photopic ERGs were acquired using a single flash protocol with a flash intensity of 3.0 cd·s/m2 after 10 minutes of light adaptation. Results In scotopic ERG at 0.0087 cd·s/m2 , mean b-wave amplitude and peak time were 82.26 µV (SD ± 16.65 and 95% CI 68.33-96.18) and 66.97 ms (SD ± 10.86 and 95% CI 57.90-76.05), respectively. This flash intensity was below a-wave threshold and resulted in b waves with greater peak times compared to those with higher intensities. At 2.75 cd·s/m2 , the mean a-wave amplitude and peak time were 53.95 µV (SD ± 11.63 and 95% CI 44.23-63.67) and 16.13 ms (SD ± 2.62 and 95% CI 13.94-18.31), and mean b-wave amplitude and peak time were 119.57 µV (SD ± 15.54 and 95% CI 106.57-132.56) and 32.00 ms (SD ± 6.47 and 95% CI 26.59-37.41). At 8.7 cd·s/m2 , the mean a-wave amplitude and peak time were 58.85 µV (SD ± 14.90 and 95% CI 46.39-71.31) and 15.59 ms (SD ± 2.63 and 95% CI 13.40-17.79), and the mean b-wave amplitude and peak time were 132.97 µV (SD ± 22.11 and 95% CI 114.48-151.46) and 32.66 ms (SD ± 6.87 and 95% CI 26.91-38.40). In photopic ERG at 2.75 cd·s/m2 , the mean a-wave amplitude and peak time were 62.08 µV (SD ± 16.61 and 95% CI 48.19-75.97) and 16.28 ms (SD ± 0.90 and 95% CI 15.53-17.03), and the mean b-wave amplitude and peak time were 214.93 µV (SD ± 70.41 and 95% CI 156.07-273.80) and 33.09 ms (SD ± 1.27 and 95% CI 32.03-34.15). Conclusion Using a portable ERG system with a brief ERG protocol to perform electroretinographies in wild giant pandas is a practical, useful, and reliable method for the rapid assessment of their retinal function.

Radiation detection based on scintillators is widely utilized for medical diagnosis and security checks. Recently, two-dimensional (2D) halide perovskites have been demonstrated as highly promising scintillators due to their high exciton binding energy, their moisture stability and low-temperature fabrication. Herein, a solution temperature-lowering (STL) growth method is used to fabricate 2D butylammonium lead bromide (BA2PbBr4) perovskite microcrystals. The BA2PbBr4 microcrystals exhibit a highly competitive radioluminescence emission at 427 nm, a fast decay time of 2.52 ns, a low detectable limit of 318.3 nGyair per s, a moderate light yield of about 7000 photons per MeV and outstanding moisture stability. Additionally, it is of note that the light yield of BA2PbBr4 microcrystals is sixfold higher than that of the plastic scintillator EJ228 under alpha excitation. These results indicate that BA2PbBr4 microcrystals show great potential as a versatile scintillator.

Prostatic stromal tumor of uncertain malignant potential (STUMP) is a rare disease that may coexist with prostate stromal sarcoma (PSS). We aimed to analyze the histological and clinical features of STUMP.Twenty-three patients diagnosed with STUMP from 2008 to 2019 were included. Clinicopathological and follow-up information was collected. In the subgroup analysis, we divided the patients into a pure STUMP group (N = 18) and a mixed STUMP (STUMP coexisting with PSS) group (N = 5). Student's t test was used to compare the 2 groups.Patients had a mean age of 55.5 ± 19.4 years and an average follow-up time of 42.3 months. The mean prostate volume was 109.2 ± 73.5 cm3, and the mean prostate-specific antigen was 8.03 ± 10.5 ng/mL. In the subgroup analysis, 16.7% (2/12) of pure STUMP patients had disease progression, while 100% (3/3) of mixed STUMP patients suffered from recurrence. Compared with the pure STUMP group, the mixed STUMP group was younger (37.2 vs. 60.6 years, p = 0.013) and had lower expression of estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor (p = 0.004 and p0.001, respectively).STUMP is a rare disease with a relatively good prognosis. However, there is still a possibility of disease progression or coexistence with stromal sarcoma. Timely diagnosis and regular monitoring may be helpful in improving treatment outcomes.

BACKGROUND Laparoscopic assisted total gastrectomy (LaTG) is associated with reduced nutritional status, and the procedure is not easily carried out without extensive expertise. A small remnant stomach after near-total gastrectomy confers no significant nutritional benefits over total gastrectomy. In this study, we developed a modified laparoscopic subtotal gastrectomy procedure, termed laparoscopic-assisted tailored subtotal gastrectomy (LaTSG). AIM To evaluate the feasibility and nutritional impact of LaTSG compared to those of LaTG in patients with advanced middle-third gastric cancer (GC). METHODS We retrospectively analyzed surgical and oncological outcomes and postoperative nutritional status in 92 consecutive patients with middle-third GC who underwent radical laparoscopic gastrectomy at Department of Pancreatic Stomach Surgery, National Cancer Center/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and Peking Union Medical College between 2013 and 2017. Of these 92 patients, 47 underwent LaTSG (LaTSG group), and the remaining underwent LaTG (LaTG group). RESULTS Operation time (210 ± 49.8 min vs 208 ± 50.0 min, P > 0.05) and intraoperative blood loss (152.3 ± 166.1 mL vs 188.9 ± 167.8 mL, P > 0.05) were similar between the groups. The incidence of postoperative morbidities was lower in the LaTSG group than in the LaTG group (4.2% vs 17.8%, P < 0.05). Postoperatively, nutritional indices did not significantly differ, until postoperative 12 mo. Albumin, prealbumin, total protein, hemoglobin levels, and red blood cell counts were significantly higher in the LaTSG group than in the LaTG group (P < 0.05). No significant differences in Fe or C-reaction protein levels were found between the two groups. Endoscopic examination demonstrated that reflux oesophagitis was more common in the LaTG group (0% vs 11.1%, P < 0.05). Kaplan–Meier analysis showed a significant improvement in the overall survival (OS) and disease free survival (DFS) in the LaTSG group. Multivariate analysis showed that LaTSG was an independent prognostic factor for OS (P = 0.048) but not for DFS (P = 0.054). Subgroup analysis showed that compared to LaTG, LaTSG improved the survival of patients with stage III cancers, but not for other stages. CONCLUSION For advanced GC involving the middle third stomach, LaTSG can be a good option with reduced morbidity and favorable nutritional status and oncological outcomes.

A distinctive subset of metastatic gastric cancer (MGC) is oligometastatic disease (OMD), which is characterized by metastatic lesions limited in number and location. Although growing evidence mainly based on retrospective analysis or single center case series has shown favorable prognosis in the management of OMD in gastric cancer with aggressive local treatment, no existing guidelines explicitely address the definition of OMD and there are still controversial opinions on how to proceed in a new era with more effective systemic therapy selection. In this review, we present the current advances and evidence as well as controversial on the management of OMD in MGC, including the definition, diagnosis, local aggressive treatments especially surgery, prognostic factors, current ongoing randomized clinical studied as well as challenges facing the field.

Mounting evidence shows a disproportionate COVID-19 burden among Blacks. Early findings indicate pre-existing metabolic burden (eg, obesity, hypertension and diabetes) as key drivers of COVID-19 severity. Since Blacks exhibit higher prevalence of metabolic burden, we examined the influence of metabolic syndrome on disparate COVID-19 burden. We analyzed data from a NIH-funded study to characterize metabolic burden among Blacks in New York (Metabolic Syndrome Outcome Study). Patients (n=1035) were recruited from outpatient clinics, where clinical and self-report data were obtained. The vast majority of the sample was overweight/obese (90%); diagnosed with hypertension (93%); dyslipidemia (72%); diabetes (61%); and nearly half of them were at risk for sleep apnea (48%). Older Blacks (age≥65 years) were characterized by higher levels of metabolic burden and co-morbidities (eg, heart disease, cancer). In multivariate-adjusted regression analyses, age was a significant (p≤.001) independent predictor of hypertension (OR=1.06; 95% CI: 1.04-1.09), diabetes (OR=1.03; 95% CI: 1.02-1.04), and dyslipidemia (OR=0.98; 95% CI: 0.97-0.99), but not obesity. Our study demonstrates an overwhelmingly high prevalence of the metabolic risk factors related to COVID-19 among Blacks in New York, highlighting disparate metabolic burden among Blacks as a possible mechanism conferring the greater burden of COVID-19 infection and mortality represented in published data.

The dysregulation of alternative splicing (AS) has emerged as a mechanism of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). However, the prognostic impact of AS events remains under-explored in AML. Here we report the prognostic value of AS events and associated splicing factors based on three datasets of AML patients. We defined the landscape of AS events in AML and identified 7033 AS events associated with the survival of AML patients. Based on these events, we further developed a composite 15 AS event-based prognostic signature, which was independent of the cytogenetic risk stratification and patient age, and showed a better performance than known gene expression signatures. More importantly, our new signature markedly improved the European LeukemiaNet (ELN) risk classification, indicating a broad applicability in the clinical management of AML. Furthermore, the splicing-regulatory network established the correlations between prognostic AS events and associated splicing factors. The finding was validated by CRISPR-based data, which indicated that the increased expression of RBM39 contributed to the higher exon inclusion of SETD5 and conferred a poor outcome. Together, AS events may serve as a novel assortment of prognosticators for AML and could refine the ELN risk stratification. The splicing regulatory network provides clues regarding the splicing factor-mediated mechanisms of AML.

The severe challenges of the fast aging population and the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases highlight the needs for effective solutions supporting more accurate and affordable medical diagnosis and treatment. Recent advances in cloud computing have inspired numerous designs of cloud-based health care services. In this paper, we developed a cloud-computing platform monitored by physicians, which can receive 12-lead ECG records and send back diagnostic reports to users. Aiming to lessen the physicians’ workload, we implemented an analysis algorithm that can identify abnormal heart rate, irregular heartbeat, abnormal amplitude, atrial fibrillation and abnormal ECG in it. A large number of testing samples were used to evaluate performance. Our algorithm achieved a TPR95 (specificity under the condition of negative predictive value being equal to 95 percent) of 68.5 percent and 0.9317 AUC (area under the ROC curve) for classification of normal and abnormal ECG records and a sensitivity of 98.51 percent and specificity of 98.26 percent for atrial fibrillation classification, comparable to the state-of-the-art results for each subject. The proposed ECG cloud computing service has been applied in Hunan Jinshengda Aerial Hospital Network and it now can receive and analyze ECG records in real time.

Multiple ANRIL transcriptional isoforms, such as lncANRIL and circANRIL have been identified. We sought to explore their diagnostic value in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). First, we selected six target ANRIL isoforms and measured their expression in CAD patients and controls in the peripheral blood. Their diagnostic values were evaluated. circANRIL(exon14-4) was identified as the best potential biomarker. Afterwards, we validated its diagnostic value and evaluated its prognostic value in a larger clinical cohort. Among six tested ANRILs, lncANRIL(exon1) and lncANRIL(exon4-6) in the CAD patients were significantly increased, while circANRIL(exon14-4) was downregulated. circANRIL(exon14-4) had the highest diagnostic value among the three isoforms. The combination of circANRIL(exon14-4) and other factors resulted in a more accurate differentiation of CAD patients. Moreover, lower expression of circANRIL(exon14-4) was associated with higher incidence of MACE. circANRIL(exon14-4) is closely associated with CAD risk and severity, which provides a promising circulating biomarker for CAD diagnosis and prognosis.

In this article, we fabricated and tested a series of extrinsic fiber Fabry–Perot interferometric acoustic sensors based on the corrugated silver diaphragms. These diaphragms were fabricated through a simple and low-cost method. The corrugations were first etched on the silicon surface permanently and then transferred to the silver diaphragm with the help of photoresist as the sacrificial layer. The sensors with different corrugation depths were fabricated. The experimental results showed the same trend with the theoretical results on the mechanical sensitivities of the fabricated corrugated diaphragms, which first increased and then decreased with the increase in the corruption’s depth. Other characteristics of the fabricated optical acoustic sensors based on the corrugated silver diaphragms were also tested in detail. The proposed fabrication method of the corrugated diaphragm showed the advantages of simplicity and low cost, and the acoustic sensors showed high sensitivity, which was suitable for weak acoustic’s sensing.

Recently, the deep ultraviolet (DUV) photodetectors fabricated from two-dimensional (2D) hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) layers have emerged as a hot research topic. However, the existing studies show that the h-BN-based photodetectors have relatively poor performance. In this work, C doping is utilized to modulate the properties of h-BN and improve the performance of the h-BN-based photodetectors. We synthesized the h-BN atomic layers with various C concentrations varying from 0 to 10.2 atom % by ion beam sputtering deposition through controlling the sputtering atmosphere. The h-BN phase remains stable when a small amount of C is incorporated into h-BN, whereas the introduction of a large amount of C impurities leads to the rapidly deteriorated crystallinity of h-BN. Furthermore, the DUV photodetectors based on C-doped h-BN layers were fabricated, and the h-BN-based photodetector with 7.5 atom % C exhibits the best performance with a responsivity of 9.2 mA·W-1, which is significantly higher than that of the intrinsic h-BN device. This work demonstrates that the C doping is a feasible and effective method for improving the performance of h-BN photodetectors.

To evaluate the efficacy of a new technique of percutaneous vertebral augmentation (PVA): drill rotation-cement injected under vacuum aspiration (DR-CIVAS) for vertebral compression fractures (OVCFs) with intravertebral vacuum cleft (IVC) sign. A retrospective study was conducted in 46 consecutive patients with OVCFs and IVC signs, who underwent PVA using DR-CIVAS (n = 22, DR-CIVAS group) or traditional technique without DR-CIVAS (n = 24, control group). The pre- and postoperative vertebral height and wedge angle change and visual analog scale (VAS), the volume of cement injected, incidences of cement leakage, and subsequent new vertebral compression fractures were evaluated between the two groups. No significant difference was found in cement leakage incidences, pre- and postoperative VAS scores, vertebral height, and wedge angle change between the two groups. The mean cement volume was significantly higher (P

Purpose: Pioglitazone, an antihyperglycemic drug, is widely used in diabetes mellitus patients with insulin resistance. Although pioglitazone is known to have a potential link to bladder cancer (BC), there have been contradictory results. This present study is designed to understand the regulatory mechanisms that drive the effects of pioglitazone on the bladder epithelial cells.Methods: Labeled liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry-based proteomics profiling characterized the global proteomes of normal human bladder epithelial cells treated with or without pioglitazone.Results: This approach detected approximately 5,769 proteins in total. Of those 5,769 proteins, 124 were identified as being differentially expressed due to pioglitazone treatment. Further analysis identified 95 upregulated and 29 downregulated proteins (absolute log2 fold change >0.58 and P-value

Axial diffraction-limited multiple foci are a kind of investigated focal field for trapping multiple nano-particles. We first experimentally generated diffraction-limited axial double foci by optimization-free binary planar lens and theoretically demonstrated it, which can be applied in multi-particle trapping. The proposed binary planar lens was analytically designed. The BPL has a numerical aperture of 0.9 and a focal length of 150 μm. The focal field of the binary planar lens, which is composed of diffraction-limited axial double foci, was first experimentally validated. The measured maximum lateral full widths at half maximum of the two generated focal spots were diffraction-limited and consistent with the theoretical. The axial double foci formed two stable optical traps that can trap two Rayleigh dielectric particles simultaneously. The radial, azimuthal and axial optical forces of the double optical traps are in good uniformity, which are 0.98, 0.99 and 0.96, respectively.

OBJECTIVE We aimed to investigate whether Chinese endoscopists without narrow-band imaging (NBI) experiences could achieve high accuracy in the real-time diagnosis of colorectal polyps using NBI International Colorectal Endoscopic (NICE) classification after web-based training. METHODS Altogether 15 endoscopists from five centers with no NBI experiences followed a short, web-based training program on the NICE classification and took web-based test. Their performances were compared with 15 matched experienced endoscopists with no NBI experience who received no NBI training. These 15 trained endoscopists then made real-time diagnoses of colorectal neoplasia. A logistic regression was used to assess potential predictors of diagnostic performance. RESULTS Compared with those who received no training, trained endoscopists achieved comparable overall accuracy (85.3% vs 83.1%, P = 0.408) and accuracy at a high-confidence level (87.0% vs 86.0%, P = 0.670), but had a higher confidence rate (86.1% vs 83.7%, P = 0.004) for the diagnosis of neoplasia. Real-time diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity and specificity were 94.3% (95% confidence interval [CI] 91.5%-96.2%), 96.2% (95% CI 93.4%-97.9%) and 85.3% (95% CI 74.8%-92.1%) at high-confidence level. The high-confidence level was the strongest predictor of real-time diagnostic accuracy (odds ratio 12.66, P

Although numerous denitrifying bacteria have been isolated and characterized, their capacity is seriously compromised by traditional inoculant addition and environmental stress in open bioreactors for wastewater treatment. In this study, a biocompatible material, chitosan, was used as a carrier to immobilize a simultaneously heterotrophic nitrifying–aerobic denitrifying bacterium Klebsiella sp., KSND, for continuous nitrogen removal from domestic wastewater in an open purification tank. The results showed that immobilization had no significant effect on cell viability and was beneficial for the reproduction and adhesion of cells. The entrapped KSND exhibited a slightly higher nitrogen removal efficiency of 90.09% than that of free KSND (87.69%). Subsequently, repeated batch cultivation experiments and analysis of the effects of organic contaminants and metal ions were performed using artificial wastewater and domestic wastewater. The findings revealed that the immobilized KSND beads presented desirable biophysical properties with good mechanical stability, cell viability, and enrichment, remarkable stability in organic contaminants and metal ions, and high efficiency nitrogen removal capacity. In conclusion, the developed immobilized denitrifying bacteria system has great potential for continuous wastewater treatment in open bioreactors.

To date, plasmonic nanowire lasers mostly adopt hybrid plasmonic waveguides, while there is a lack of study in terms of the confinement effect and the corresponding ultrafast dynamics of non-hybridized plasmonic lasers. Here, we report ultrafast plasmonic nanowire lasers composed of a single CH3NH3PbBr3 nanowire on a silver film without any insulating layer at room temperature. The non-hybridized plasmonic nanowire lasers exhibit ultrafast lasing dynamics with around 1.9 ps decay rate and 1 ps peak response time. Such values are among the best ones ever reported. Interestingly, the threshold of the non-hybridized plasmonic nanowire lasers is in the same order as that of their hybrid counterparts. The low threshold is due to the ultra-flat single-crystal silver films and high-quality single-crystal perovskite nanowires. The non-hybridized plasmonic lasing in CH3NH3PbBr3 nanowires originates from the stimulated emission of an electron-hole plasma based on our experiments. This work deepens the understanding of non-hybridized plasmonic lasers and paves the way to design electric pump plasmonic lasers by getting rid of insulating layers.

The vulnerability of current face recognition systems to presentation attacks significantly limits their application in biometrics. Herein, we present a passive presentation attack detection method based on a complete plenoptic imaging system which can derive the complete plenoptic function of light rays using a single detector. Moreover, we constructed a multi-dimensional face database with 50 subjects and seven different types of presentation attacks. We experimentally demonstrated that our approach outperforms the state-of-the-art methods on all types of presentation attacks.

Restricted Boltzmann machines (RBMs) and their variants are usually trained by contrastive divergence (CD) learning, but the training procedure is an unsupervised learning approach, without any guidances of the background knowledge. To enhance the expression ability of traditional RBMs, in this paper, we propose pairwise constraints restricted Boltzmann machine with Gaussian visible units (pcGRBM) model, in which the learning procedure is guided by pairwise constraints and the process of encoding is conducted under these guidances. The pairwise constraints are encoded in hidden layer features of pcGRBM. Then, some pairwise hidden features of pcGRBM flock together and another part of them are separated by the guidances. In order to deal with real-valued data, the binary visible units are replaced by linear units with Gausian noise in the pcGRBM model. In the learning process of pcGRBM, the pairwise constraints are iterated transitions between visible and hidden units during CD learning procedure. Then, the proposed model is inferred by approximative gradient descent method and the corresponding learning algorithm is designed in this paper. In order to compare the availability of pcGRBM and traditional RBMs with Gaussian visible units, the features of the pcGRBM and RBMs hidden layer are used as input 'data' for K-means, spectral clustering (SP) and affinity propagation (AP) algorithms, respectively. A thorough experimental evaluation is performed with sixteen image datasets of Microsoft Research Asia Multimedia (MSRA-MM). The experimental results show that the clustering performance of K-means, SP and AP algorithms based on pcGRBM model are significantly better than traditional RBMs. In addition, the pcGRBM model for clustering task shows better performance than some semi-supervised clustering algorithms., Comment: 13pages

Snapshot channeled imaging spectropolarimetry (SCISP), which can achieve spectral and polarization imaging without scanning (a single exposure), is a promising optical technique. As Fourier transform is used to reconstruct information, SCISP has its inherent limitations such as channel crosstalk, resolution and accuracy drop, the complex phase calibration, et al. To overcome these drawbacks, a nonlinear technique based on neural networks (NNs) is introduced to replace the role of Fourier reconstruction. Herein, abundant spectral and polarization datasets were built through specially designed generators. The established NNs can effectively learn the forward conversion procedure through minimizing a loss function, subsequently enabling a stable output containing spectral, polarization, and spatial information. The utility and reliability of the proposed technique is confirmed by experiments, which are proved to maintain high spectral and polarization accuracy.

Background: The modified systemic inflammation score (mSIS), which is calculated by a composite score of the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio and the albumin content in serum, is identified as the new score to predict the prognosis for various cancers. However, its significance for patients with adenocarcinoma of esophagogastric junction (AEJ), who receive surgery, remains unclear.Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed 317 patients with AEJ receiving surgery between September 2010 and December 2016. The associations between the mSIS and the clinicopathological features, overall survival (OS), as well as relapse-free survival (RFS), were assessed. In addition, the time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (t-ROC) curve analysis was performed for comparing the value of those scoring systems in predicting patient prognosis.Results: Of the 317 cases, 119 were rated as mSIS 0, 123 as mSIS 1, and 75 as mSIS 2. Besides, mSIS was significantly related to age and tumor size. On multivariate analysis, mSIS was identified as a predictor to independently predict OS (p < 0.001) along with RFS (p < 0.001), and a significantly strong correlation was observed at the advanced pTNM stages based on the mSIS system. In the subgroup analysis of adjuvant chemotherapy and surgery alone, mSIS was still the predictor for independently predicting patient OS (p < 0.001) together with RFS (p < 0.001) for the two groups. T-ROC analysis showed that mSIS was more accurate than controlling nutritional status score in predicting OS and RFS.Conclusions: The mSIS can serve as an easy, useful scoring system to independently predict the preoperative survival for AEJ cases undergoing surgery.

Simple Summary Dexmedetomidine, on account of its potent sedative and analgesic properties, is commonly used in balanced anesthesia of small animal anesthesia; however, concerns regarding its cardiovascular effects prevent its full adoption into veterinary clinical practice. We conducted this meta-analysis to determine the effects of dexmedetomidine on sedation, analgesia, cardiovascular and adverse reactions in dogs compared to other premedications. The outcomes included sedation score, pain score, heart rate, systolic arterial blood pressure, mean arterial blood pressure and the incidence of adverse effects. Thirteen studies were included in this meta-analysis. The results showed that dexmedetomidine provides a satisfactory sedative and analgesic effect in balanced anesthesia of dogs. After dexmedetomidine premedication, dogs experienced lower heart rate and higher blood pressure within an acceptable range. The combinations in balanced anesthesia and routes of delivering drugs would affect heart rate, systolic arterial blood pressure, and mean arterial blood pressure of dogs. Before using dexmedetomidine, an animal’s cardiovascular status should be fully considered. Abstract Dexmedetomidine is commonly used in small animal anesthesia for its potent sedative and analgesic properties; however, concerns regarding its cardiovascular effects prevent its full adoption into veterinary clinical practice. This meta-analysis was to determine the effects of dexmedetomidine on sedation, analgesia, cardiovascular and adverse reactions in dogs compared to other premedications. Following the study protocol based on the Cochrane Review Methods, thirteen studies were included in this meta-analysis ultimately, involving a total of 576 dogs. Dexmedetomidine administration probably improved in sedation and analgesia in comparison to acepromazine, ketamine and lidocaine (MD: 1.96, 95% CI: [−0.08, 4.00], p = 0.06; MD: −0.95, 95% CI: [−1.52, −0.37] p = 0.001; respectively). Hemodynamic outcomes showed that dogs probably experienced lower heart rate and higher systolic arterial blood pressure and mean arterial blood pressure with dexmedetomidine at 30 min after premedication (MD: −13.25, 95% CI: [−19.67, −6.81], p < 0.0001; MD: 7.78, 95% CI: [1.83, 13.74], p = 0.01; MD: 8.32, 95% CI: [3.95, 12.70], p = 0.0002; respectively). The incidence of adverse effects was comparable between dexmedetomidine and other premedications (RR = 0.86, 95% CI [0.58, 1.29], p = 0.47). In summary, dexmedetomidine provides satisfactory sedative and analgesic effects, and its safety is proved despite its significant hemodynamic effects as part of balanced anesthesia of dogs.

We proposed a nonconservative coupling scheme based on the add–drop filter configuration, in which a high Q factor passive microtoroid resonator is indirectly driven by an active unit, thus providing an additional coupling which might be comparable to a mode decay rate. Extraordinary scattering points are predicted when one of the supermodes becomes lossless. Specifically, when the inherent coupling strength is set at half of the mode’s total decay rate, controllable transmission peaks can be realized by tuning the nonconservative coupling strength and phase delay. Our theoretic research might find potential application in tunable light steering based on non-Hermitian resonator systems.

In recent years, addressing ill-posed problems by leveraging prior knowledge contained in databases on learning techniques has gained much attention. In this paper, we focus on complete three-dimensional (3D) point cloud reconstruction based on a single red-green-blue (RGB) image, a task that cannot be approached using classical reconstruction techniques. For this purpose, we used an encoder-decoder framework to encode the RGB information in latent space, and to predict the 3D structure of the considered object from different viewpoints. The individual predictions are combined to yield a common representation that is used in a module combining camera pose estimation and rendering, thereby achieving differentiability with respect to imaging process and the camera pose, and optimization of the two-dimensional prediction error of novel viewpoints. Thus, our method allows end-to-end training and does not require supervision based on additional ground-truth (GT) mask annotations or ground-truth camera pose annotations. Our evaluation of synthetic and real-world data demonstrates the robustness of our approach to appearance changes and self-occlusions, through outperformance of current state-of-the-art methods in terms of accuracy, density, and model completeness.

Background: Achalasia is a rare primary esophageal motility disorder disease. It is reported that the long-term effect of fully coated anti-reflux metal stent (FCARMS) implantation is satisfactory. Operated by a skilled and experienced endoscopist, the effect of POEM treatment is equivalent to that of surgical myotomy. So far, there is still few evidence to prove stent implantation or POEM which is better for achalasia. The choice of treatment for achalasia is still controversial. Therefore, the aim of this study is to find a more suitable therapy for achalasia by comparing the efficacy of FCARMS implantation and POEM.Methods: A propensity score (PS) matching (1:2) was used in this retrospective cohort study. Data collected from consecutive patients of Achalasia, receiving FCARMS implantation or POEM therapy at the department of gastroenterology, the Seventh Medical Center of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital from May 2007 to May 2018. According to their previous treatment, they are divided into two groups, FCARMS group and POEM group. Clinical efficacy and complications were compared between the two groups.Results: A total of 166 cases were collected, including 113 cases of FCARMS and 53 cases of POEM. By PS matching, 150 patients were enrolled (100 cases of FCARMS and 50 cases of POEM). By comparison, the FCARMS group has shorter operation time, shorter fasting time and lower hospitalization costs than the POEM group (pConclusions: Stent placement is a cost-effective and safe treatment option for achalasia. The short-term effect (less than 6 mons) of FCARMS is similar to that of POEM, the long-term effect (more than 2 years)，POEM is better than FCARMS. HRMⅡis most suitable for POEM treatment. It indicate that Patients can choose treatment methods according to their own conditions.

We contrasted the relative risks (RR) of short [7 h] and long [8 h] sleep experienced by middle-aged (45-64 years) and older (≥65 years) adults, compared with young adults (20-44 years).We utilized NHANES data (2005-2016), capturing sociodemographic, socioeconomic, and health-related data among US adults.The Relative Risk (RR) of short sleep between young and middle-aged adults did not differ [RR = 1.02, NS]. However, the RR of short sleep was significantly reduced among older participants [RR = 0.81, p 0.01]. Middle-aged adults had significantly lower RR of long sleep [RR = 0.80, p 0.01], whereas older adults had significantly greater RR of long sleep [RR = 1.41, p 0.01]. Compared with young adults, older adults with or without increased disease burden had significantly lower RR of short sleep [RR = 0.81, p 0.01 and RR = 0.80, p 0.01], respectively. However, for middle-aged adults, the RR of short sleep did not differ whether they reported a greater disease burden. Relative to young adults, older adults with or without disease burden had higher RRs of long sleep [RR = 1.39, p 0.01] and [RR = 1.45, p 0.01], respectively. For middle-aged adults without disease burden, the RR of long sleep was lower than among young adults [RR = 0.72, p 0.01].Compared with young adults, older adults were not at increased risk for short sleep. Rather, they reported longer sleep time regardless of the presence of disease burden. Future studies should investigate longitudinal effects of aging on objective sleep time, with or without common diseases.

The human-specific gene NOTCH2NLC is primarily expressed in radial glial cells and plays an important role in neuronal differentiation and cortical neurogenesis. Increasing studies were conducted to verify the relationship between NOTCH2NLC gene and many neurological diseases, such as neuronal intranuclear inclusion disease, essential tremor, multiple system atrophy, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and even oculopharyngodistal myopathy. Thus, we support the concept, NOTCH2NLC-related GGC repeat expansion disorders (NRED), to summarize all diseases with the GGC repeat expansion in the 5'UTR of NOTCH2NLC gene, regardless of their various clinical phenotypes. Here, we discuss the reported cases to analyze the clinical features of NOTCH2NLC-related GGC repeat expansion disorders, including dementia, parkinsonism, peripheral neuropathy and myopathy, leukoencephalopathy, and essential tremor. In addition, we outline radiological and pathological manifestations of NOTCH2NLC-related GGC repeat expansion disorders, and then present possible mechanisms, such as toxic polyG protein, toxic repeat RNA, the GGC repeat size, and the size and types of trinucleotide interruption. Therefore, this review provides a systematic description of NOTCH2NLC-related GGC repeat expansion disorders and emphasizes the significance for understanding this type of repeat expansion disease.

Background The study aimed to measure the expression of translocator protein (TSPO) in brain tissue following traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to determine whether TSPO can predict outcomes. Methods TBI patients requiring emergent craniectomy and removing of intracranial hematoma were recruited from Wujin Hospital Affiliated with Jiangsu University between January 2018 and May 2020. TBI patients were divided into unfavorable and favorable groups according to GOS score. The TSPO in brain samples was analyzed by western blot and immunocytochemistry. Results The western blot and immunocytochemistry showed that the TSPO in the unfavorable group was higher than that in the favorable group. Double immunofluorescence staining exhibited that the percentage of TSPO positive cells in IBA1 and GFAP positive cells was 45.2 ± 3.1% and 3.5 ± 0.6% respectively. After adjusting for age, sex, CT, ICP and GCS, we found each 1-unit increase in TSPO was associated with 40% higher occurrence of unfavorable outcome (OR = 1.4, 95% CI 0.4–5.6). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), specificity, and sensitivity of TSPO was 0.87, 76.7%, 88.2% respectively. Conclusion Our study demonstrated that higher TSPO was associated with higher occurrence of unfavorable outcomes.

Considering battery aging and reducing CPU calculation pressure of electric vehicle, real-time assurance of the accuracy of power battery SOC and capacity is very important for the safety of electric vehicles. In this paper, a combined framework of battery SOC and capacity estimation is introduced based on equivalent circuit model. For the problem of traditional Kalman filter that only Gaussian noise can be filtered. An improved extended Kalman filter is proposed to estimate the battery SOC in real time. The accelerated aging experiment method is used to study the effect of the gray model in predicting battery capacity decline and the cumulative error of SOC estimation under battery aging. Through static and dynamic test experiments, the accuracy and robustness of the method proposed in this paper are verified.

Aiming at the problem of high precision and high safety estimation of state of power (SOP) of high-rate lithium-ion power battery in the application of special operation vehicle, this paper analyses the working characteristics of the high-rate lithium-ion power battery, and builds the second-order RC equivalent circuit model of the battery. The recursive least squares (RLS, Recursive Least Squares) algorithm is used to identify battery parameters online, and the SOC algorithm based on the extended Kalman filter and the SOP algorithm are used for joint estimation. This algorithm is used to solve the problem that the maximum allowable power of the actual battery caused by the degradation of battery life is difficult to calculate and even causes the problem of safe fire accidents. Combined with the correction algorithm in practical engineering, it ensures the efficiency and safety of the SOP estimation during the entire life cycle of the electric vehicle. This research has an important significant guiding in engineering practice.

Background Hypoxic–ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a severe anoxic brain injury that leads to premature mortality or long-term disabilities in infants. Neuroinflammation is a vital contributor to the pathogenic cascade post-HIE and a mediator to secondary neuronal death. As a plasma membrane G-protein-coupled receptor, GPR39, exhibits anti-inflammatory activity in several diseases. This study aimed to explore the neuroprotective function of GPR39 through inhibition of inflammation post-hypoxic–ischemic (HI) injury and to elaborate the contribution of sirtuin 1(SIRT1)/peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator 1α (PGC-1α)/nuclear factor, erythroid 2 like 2(Nrf2) in G-protein-coupled receptor 39 (GPR39)-mediated protection. Methods A total of 206 10-day-old Sprague Dawley rat pups were subjected to HIE or sham surgery. TC-G 1008 was administered intranasally at 1 h, 25 h, 49 h, and 73 h post-HIE induction. SIRT1 inhibitor EX527, GPR39 CRISPR, and PGC-1α CRISPR were administered to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. Brain infarct area, short-term and long-term neurobehavioral tests, Nissl staining, western blot, and immunofluorescence staining were performed post-HIE. Results The expression of GPR39 and pathway-related proteins, SIRT1, PGC-1α and Nrf2 were increased in a time-dependent manner, peaking at 24 h or 48-h post-HIE. Intranasal administration of TC-G 1008 reduced the percent infarcted area and improved short-term and long-term neurological deficits. Moreover, TC-G 1008 treatment significantly increased the expression of SIRT1, PGC-1α and Nrf2, but downregulated the expressions of IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α. GPR39 CRISPR EX527 and PGC-1α CRISPR abolished GPR39’s neuroprotective effects post-HIE. Conclusions TC-G 1008 attenuated neuroinflammation in part via the SIRT1/PGC-1α/Nrf2 pathway in a neonatal rat model of HIE. TC-G 1008 may be a novel therapeutic target for treatment post-neonatal HIE injury.

BackgroundPatients with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) have a high mortality, thus early diagnosis and interventions are critical for improving survival. However, conventional tests are limited in acute pancreatitis (AP) stratification. We aimed to assess AP severity by integrating the informative clinical measurements with cell free DNA (cfDNA) methylation markers.MethodsOne hundred and seventy-five blood samples were collected from 61 AP patients at multiple time points, plus 24 samples from healthy individuals. Genome-wide cfDNA methylation profiles of all samples were characterized with reduced representative bisulfite sequencing. Clinical blood tests covering 93 biomarkers were performed on AP patients within 24 hours. SAP predication models were built based on cfDNA methylation and conventional blood biomarkers separately and in combination. ResultsWe identified 565 and 59 cfDNA methylation markers informative for acute pancreatitis and its severity. These markers were used to develop prediction models for AP and SAP with area under the receiver operating characteristic of 0.92 and 0.81, respectively. Twelve blood biomarkers were systematically screened for a predictor of SAP with a sensitivity of 87.5% for SAP, and a specificity of 100% in mild acute pancreatitis, significantly higher than existing blood tests. An expanded model integrating 12 conventional blood biomarkers with 59 cfDNA methylation markers further improved the SAP prediction sensitivity to 92.2%.ConclusionsWe have demonstrated accurate prediction of SAP by the integration of conventional and novel blood molecular markers, paving the way for early and effective SAP intervention through a non-invasive rapid diagnostic test.