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Secondary amyloid A amyloidosis, a lethal complication, is induced when acute or chronic infection coexists with over-secretion of the serum amyloid A 1 (SAA1) protein and deposition in key internal organs. Previously, using the whole-exome sequencing method, we identified a novel deleterious mutation SAA1.2 in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. However, the role of SAA1 in RA pathogenesis and its complications remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine the pathogenetic roles of SAA1 protein isoforms in RA progression. We modified an experimental adenovirus infection protocol to introduce SAA1.2 gene alleles into the knee joints of mice and used SAA1.3 and SAA1.5 as controls. Micro-computed tomography analysis was applied to determine changes in bone morphology and density. Immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis, flow cytometry, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were used to investigate disease progression and cytokine alterations in the course of adenoviral SAA-induced knee joint inflammation and bone destruction. We found that the arthritis-inducing effect of SAA1.2 transcription in the knee joints and mutant SAA1 protein secretion in blood resulted in the stimulation of immune responses, leading to CD8+ T cell and pro-inflammatory cytokine elevation, such as interleukin (IL)-6, IL-22, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-3, MMP-9, with subsequent synovial inflammation and bone destruction. These findings indicate that SAA1 protein isoforms, particularly SAA1.2, play a significant role in the induction and progression of RA and may have potential value in the early diagnosis and severity prediction of RA.

This paper considers the problem of target and jamming recognition for the pulse Doppler radar fuze (PDRF). To solve the problem, the matched filter outputs of the PDRF under the action of target and jamming are analyzed. Then, the frequency entropy and peak-to-peak ratio are extracted from the matched filter output of the PDRF, and the time-frequency joint feature is constructed. Based on the time-frequency joint feature, the naive Bayesian classifier (NBC) with minimal risk is established for target and jamming recognition. To improve the adaptability of the proposed method in complex environments, an online update process that adaptively modifies the classifier in the duration of the work of the PDRF is proposed. The experiments show that the PDRF can maintain high recognition accuracy when the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) decreases and the jamming-to-signal ratio (JSR) increases. Moreover, the applicable analysis shows that he ONBCMR method has low computational complexity and can fully meet the real-time requirements of PDRF.

In this study, the self-powered photodetector based on photovoltaic effect was obtained from BixFeO3 (x = 1, 1.3, 1.5, 1.7) films. In order to study the origin of the photovoltaic effect, the self-polarized structure and defect distribution of the films were characterized by x-ray diffraction, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and piezoelectric force microscopy. In addition, the responsivity (1515 μA/W) and detectivity (1.35Χ1011 Jones) are achieved in the Bi1.5FeO3 film at zero bias after receiving 0.2 mW/cm2 of irradiation light in the wavelength of 500 nm. The rise and decay time of the photocurrent without bias reaches ∼6 ms and ∼15 ms respectively, and did not weaken after a 11 min cycling test. The self-polarized structure and defect dipoles play an important role in the photovoltaic effect of BixFeO3 self-powered photodetector. This work lays a foundation for applications in BixFeO3 self-powered photodetection.

Long-term limb nerve injury often leads to mirror-image pain (MIP), an abnormal pain sensation in the limb contralateral to the injury. Although it is clear that MIP is mediated in part by central nociception processing, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is a key brain region that receives relayed peripheral nociceptive information from the contralateral limb. In this study, we induced MIP in male mice, in which a unilateral chronic constrictive injury of the sciatic nerve (CCI) induced a decreased nociceptive threshold in both hind limbs and an increased number of c-Fos-expressing neurons in the ACC both contralateral and ipsilateral to the injured limb. Using viral-mediated projection mapping, we observed that a portion of ACC neurons formed monosynaptic connections with contralateral ACC neurons. Furthermore, the number of cross-callosal projection ACC neurons that exhibited c-Fos signal was increased in MIP-expressing mice, suggesting enhanced transmission between ACC neurons of the two hemispheres. Moreover, selective inhibition of the cross-callosal projection ACC neurons contralateral to the injured limb normalized the nociceptive sensation of the uninjured limb without affecting the increased nociceptive sensation of the injured limb in CCI mice. In contrast, inhibition of the non–cross-callosal projection ACC neurons contralateral to the injury normalized the nociceptive sensation of the injured limb without affecting the MIP exhibited in the uninjured limb. These results reveal a circuit mechanism, namely, the cross-callosal projection of ACC between two hemispheres, that contributes to MIP and possibly other forms of contralateral migration of pain sensation.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTMirror-image pain (MIP) refers to the increased pain sensitivity of the contralateral body part in patients with chronic pain. This pathology requires central processing, yet the mechanisms are less known. Here, we demonstrate that the cross-callosal projection neurons in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) contralateral to the injury contribute to MIP exhibited in the uninjured limb, but do not affect nociceptive sensation of the injured limb. In contrast, the non–cross-callosal projection neurons in the ACC contralateral to the injury contribute to nociceptive sensation of the injured limb, but do not affect MIP exhibited in the uninjured limb. Our study depicts a novel cross-callosal projection of ACC that contributes to MIP, providing a central mechanism for MIP in chronic pain state.

Introduction: Clinical indicators or pathological features alone cannot reliably predict renal survival in patients with biopsy-confirmed diabetic nephropathy (DN). Therefore, this analysis sought to develop and validate a predictive model incorporating both clinical and pathological markers to predict renal outcomes in patients with biopsy-confirmed DN. Methods: A predictive nomogram was developed based upon data pertaining to 194 patients with biopsy-confirmed DN. The prognostic relevance of individual clinicopathological variables was assessed through univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses. A prognostic nomogram was then developed and validated based upon concordance (C)-index values and calibration curves. Internal validation was conducted through bootstrap resampling, while the clinical utility of this model was assessed via a decision curve analysis (DCA) approach. Results: Nephrotic-range 24-h proteinuria, late-stage CKD, glomerular classification III–IV, and IFTA score 2–3 were all identified as independent predictors of poor renal outcomes in DN patients and were incorporated into our final nomogram. Calibration curves revealed good agreement between predicted and actual 3- and 5-year renal survival in DN patients with the C-index value for this nomogram at 0.845 (95% CI: 0.826–0.864). DCA revealed that our nomogram was superior to models based solely upon clinical indicators. Conclusion: A predictive nomogram incorporating clinical and pathological indicators was developed and validated for the prediction of renal survival outcomes in patients with biopsy-confirmed DN. This model will be of value to clinicians, as it can serve as an easy-to-use and reliable tool for physicians to guide patient management based on individualized risk.

Background Satellite cells (SCs) are critical to skeletal muscle regeneration. Inactivation of SCs is linked to skeletal muscle loss. Transferrin receptor 1 (Tfr1) is associated with muscular dysfunction as muscle‐specific deletion of Tfr1 results in growth retardation, metabolic disorder, and lethality, shedding light on the importance of Tfr1 in muscle physiology. However, its physiological function regarding skeletal muscle ageing and regeneration remains unexplored. Methods RNA sequencing is applied to skeletal muscles of different ages to identify Tfr1 associated to skeletal muscle ageing. Mice with conditional SC ablation of Tfr1 were generated. Between Tfr1 SC/WT and Tfr1 SC/KO (n = 6–8 mice per group), cardiotoxin was intramuscularly injected, and transverse abdominal muscle was dissected, weighted, and cryosectioned, followed by immunostaining, haematoxylin and eosin staining, and Masson staining. These phenotypical analyses were followed with functional analysis such as flow cytometry, tread mill, Prussian blue staining, and transmission electron microscopy to identify pathological pathways that contribute to regeneration defects. Results By comparing gene expression between young (2 weeks old, n = 3) and aged (80 weeks old, n = 3) mice among four types of muscles, we identified that Tfr1 expression is declined in muscles of aged mice (~80% reduction, P

Qian Wei, Ze Li, Honglei Feng, Li Ren Department of Laboratory, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin’s Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin, 300060, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Li RenDepartment of Laboratory, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, West Huan-Hu Road, Ti Yuan Bei, Hexi District, Tianjin, 300060, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail lirentj@163.comBackground: Pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the worst prognoses amongst all malignant diseases. It is therefore of great significance to identify biomarkers with predictive clinical value for the prognosis and recurrence of PC.Methods: In our study, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) were used to detect the expression of Exo-EphA2 in the serum of PC patients and controls. Kaplan–Meier curve and Cox regression analyses were used to evaluate the prognostic value of Exo-EphA2 expression in patients with primary and recurrent PC.Results: The level of serum Exo-EphA2 was significantly higher in the PC group when compared to that of the control group. High expression of Exo-EphA2 in PC was associated with shorter overall survival (OS) and proved to be a significant negative prognostic factor in the multivariate analysis (HR = 1.04, 95% CI: 1.00– 1.09, P < 0.001). Additionally, we found that the level of serum Exo-EphA2 in recurrent PC patients (first recurrence < 12 months) was positively correlated with the level of Exo-EphA2 at primary diagnosis. Multivariate analysis showed that a high expression of Exo-EphA2 in recurrent PC was associated with shorter recurrence-free survival (RFS) (HR = 1.41, 95% CI: 1.10– 1.70, P < 0.001).Conclusion: High expression of serum Exo-EphA2 represents a novel biomarker for a poor prognosis in PC patients.Keywords: pancreatic cancer, exosome, EphA2, prognosis

In this work, a significant visible-light photovoltaic effect is obtained under the influence of a built-in electric field in BiFeO3 thin films. The photocurrent density, open-circuit voltage, and ...

OBJECTIVE Negative pressure wound therapy is one of the most common treatments for infected wounds. The aim of this meta-analysis was to compare the efficacy of negative pressure wound therapy with conventional treatment methods in the treatment of surgical site infection. DESIGN This study is registered with International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews. DATA SOURCES The Pubmed, Embase and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases were searched. METHODS The systematic review was searched by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses method. All trials reporting the use of negative pressure wound therapy for surgical site infection treatment were included regardless of surgery type. The primary outcome measure was wound healing. Secondary outcomes were length of hospital stay, medical costs, adverse events, and reoperation rates. Results are presented with 95% confidence intervals and report estimates as odds ratios. Heterogeneity was determined through the I2 test, with I2 > 50% indicating substantial heterogeneity and p

The objective of this review is to systematically summarize the consensus on best practices for different NP conditions of the two most commonly utilized noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) technologies, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). PubMed was searched according to the predetermined keywords and criteria. Only English language studies and studies published up to January 31, 2020 were taken into consideration. Meta-analyses, reviews, and systematic reviews were excluded first, and those related to animal studies or involving healthy volunteers were also excluded. Finally, 29 studies covering 826 NP patients were reviewed. The results from the 24 enrolled studies and 736 NP patients indicate that rTMS successfully relieved the pain symptoms of 715 (97.1%) NP patients. Also, five studies involving 95 NP patients (81.4%) also showed that tDCS successfully relieved NP. In the included studied, the M1 region plays a key role in the analgesic treatment of NIBS. The motor evoked potentials (MEPs), the 10–20 electroencephalography system (EEG 10/20 system), and neuro-navigation methods are used in clinical practice to locate therapeutic targets. Based on the results of the review, the stimulation parameters of rTMS that best induce an analgesic effect are a stimulation frequency of 10–20 Hz, a stimulation intensity of 80–120% of RMT, 1000–2000 pulses, and 5–10 sessions, and the most effective parameters of tDCS are a current intensity of 2 mA, a session duration of 20–30 min, and 5–10 sessions. Our systematically reviewed the evidence for positive and negative responses to rTMS and tDCS for NP patient care and underscores the analgesic efficacy of NIBS in patients with NP. The treatment of NP should allow the design of optimal treatments for individual patients.

The energy storage density of ferroelectric thin film capacitors is mainly limited by the breakdown strength. Here we demonstrate that the high breakdown strength and high energy storage density can be achieved by constructing BiFeO3/Al2O3 ferroelectricity-insulators heterojunction. The breakdown strength, leakage current density and energy storage performance are investigated systematically of the multilayer thin films. The relatively high breakdown strength is achieved in the Al2O3/BiFeO3/Al2O3/BiFeO3 thin film, which is benefited from the amorphous structure, built-in electric field and boundary conditions of electromagnetic field. At the same time, the excellent energy storage density of the thin film is obtained mainly due to the effect of high breakdown strength. The proposed structure of this work provides an useful method to improve the energy storage density of thin film capacitors.

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology has been widely applied in various fields in recent years. Nevertheless, no systematic study has yet been conducted on the effects of AI technology on different fields. In this study, the impacts of the latest AI technology on technological innovation in different fields were analysed and quantized systematically from a patent perspective. Moreover, trends on AI technological innovation in some fields were analysed thoroughly. We conducted this study on a dataset of patents related to AI technology. Based on the patent dataset, we carried out a statistical analysis on technology fields, which we defined and classified based on international patent classification (IPC) number. Distributions of IPC in different fields were also analysed to determine the trends on AI technological innovation. The research conclusions can provide useful information to investors and enterprises, who are interested in the state of the art concerning AI technology.

COVID-19 is a multiorgan systemic inflammatory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus. Patients with COVID-19 often exhibit cardiac dysfunction and myocardial injury, but imaging evidence is lacking. In the study we detected and evaluated the severity of myocardial dysfunction in COVID-19 patient population using two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography (2-D STE). A total of 218 consecutive patients with confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 who had no underlying cardiovascular diseases were enrolled and underwent transthoracic echocardiography. This study cohort included 52 (23.8%) critically ill and 166 noncritically ill patients. Global longitudinal strains (GLSs) and layer-specific longitudinal strains (LSLSs) were obtained using 2-D STE. Changes in GLS were correlated with the clinical parameters. We showed that GLS was reduced (P P P 2, RR = 0.42, P R = −0.20, P = 0.006) and inflammatory cytokines, particularly IL-6 (R = −0.21, P = 0.003). In conclusions, our results demonstrate that myocardial dysfunction is common in COVID-19 patients, particularly those who are critically sick. Changes in indices of myocardial strain were associated with indices of inflammatory markers and hypoxia, suggesting partly secondary nature of myocardial dysfunction.

The accurate control of interior permanent magnet synchronous machine (IPMSM) and drive in electric vehicle applications is vital for achieving superior performance over a wide range of speeds and loads. Many control methods such as loss minimization and maximum efficiency (ME) have been developed to improve the efficiency of the motor–drive, by mainly considering the controllable fundamental losses. This article includes the effect of stator harmonic iron losses caused primarily by inverter sideband time harmonics that contribute to a significant amount of controllable electrical losses in IPMSMs. The sideband harmonic iron losses have been analytically modeled using a novel dq –axis model incorporating harmonic iron loss resistance. Subsequently, the harmonic iron losses have been included in an offline procedure used to determine optimal current advance angle for increased motor efficiency. The improved IPMSM losses and subsequently, the analytical efficiency models have been derived by considering varying motor parameters due to saturation and cross–saturation effects. The accuracy of the developed model and the improved ME control using the optimal current angle have been validated using numerical simulations and experimental investigations on a laboratory IPMSM.

Objective Conus medullaris teratomas are extremely rare, and the treatment experience has been limited. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the clinical characteristics, radiological features, surgical outcomes, and prognosis of patients with conus medullaris teratoma. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the data from 39 patients who had undergone surgical resection for conus medullaris teratomas from January 2008 to December 2018. All the operations were performed by 1 senior doctor. The clinical features, pre- and postoperative magnetic resonance imaging findings, pathological features, treatment strategies, and outcomes were analyzed. The neurological status was evaluated using the modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association scale score. Results Of the 39 patients, the mean age was 30.9 years. Of the 39 patients, 20 were male and 19 were female. The symptom duration ranged from 0.3 to 252 months (mean, 61.6 months). Bladder and bowel dysfunction was the most common symptom (76.9%). Total resection was achieved in 25 patients (64.1%), subtotal resection in 11 (28.2%), and partial resection in 3 (7.7%). A mature teratoma was confirmed in all 39 patients. The neurological outcomes were improved 16 patients (45.7%), stable in 14 (40.0%), and aggravated in 5 (14.3%) at a mean follow-up of 62.7 months. Recurrence developed in 1 patient who had undergone subtotal resection. A second surgery with total resection was performed, and the patient's neurological symptoms were stable during follow-up. Conclusions Total surgical resection is the optimal treatment strategy for patients with conus medullaris teratoma. Safe maximum tumor removal and residual tumor inactivation using electrocoagulation are recommended when total resection cannot be achieved. Surgery can provide a low recurrence rate and an acceptable low complication rate.

Background: The prevalence of acute kidney injury (AKI) in COVID-19 patients is high, with poor prognosis. Early identification of COVID-19 patients who are at risk for AKI and may develop critical illness and death is of great importance. Objective: The aim of this study was to develop and validate a prognostic model of AKI and in-hospital death in patients with COVID-19, incorporating the new tubular injury biomarker urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (u-NGAL) and artificial intelligence (AI)-based chest computed tomography (CT) analysis. Methods: A single-center cohort of patients with COVID-19from Wuhan Leishenshan Hospital were included in this study. Demographic characteristics, laboratory findings, and AI-assisted chest CT imaging variables identified on hospital admission were screened using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and logistic regression to develop a model for predicting the AKI risk. The accuracy of the AKI prediction model was measured using the concordance index (C-index), and the internal validity of the model was assessed by bootstrap resampling. A multivariate Cox regression model and Kaplan-Meier curves were analyzed for survival analysis in COVID-19 patients. Results: One hundred seventy-four patients were included. The median (±SD) age of the patients was 63.59 ± 13.79 years, and 83 (47.7%) were men.u-NGAL, serum creatinine, serum uric acid, and CT ground-glass opacity (GGO) volume were independent predictors of AKI, and all were selected in the nomogram. The prediction model was validated by internal bootstrapping resampling, showing results similar to those obtained from the original samples (i.e., 0.958; 95% CI 0.9097–0.9864). The C-index for predicting AKI was 0.955 (95% CI 0.916–0.995). Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression confirmed that a high u-NGAL level, an increased GGO volume, and lymphopenia are strong predictors of a poor prognosis and a high risk of in-hospital death. Conclusions: This model provides a useful individualized risk estimate of AKI in patients with COVID-19. Measurement of u-NGAL and AI-based chest CT quantification are worthy of application and may help clinicians to identify patients with a poor prognosis in COVID-19 at an early stage.

Objectives Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a highly malignant tumor with poor detection sensitivity and specificity in biomarkers and diagnosis. Previous research indicated that serum Ephrin type-A receptor 2 in exosomes (Exo-EphA2) was highly expressed and might have facilitated cell migration in PC cells. However, the dynamics of clinical performance of serum Exo-EphA2 in PC patients are unknown. Thus, this study evaluated serum Exo-EphA2 as a potential diagnostic biomarker in PC. Methods The expressions of serum Exo-EphA2 were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for N = 353 serum samples, including from 204 PC patients, 75 patients with benign pancreatic disease, and 74 healthy control patients. Carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9) and carbohydrate antigen 242 (CA 242) were measured by automated immunoassay. Results Serum Exo-EphA2 levels were significantly higher in PC patients than in benign pancreatic disease and healthy control patients. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis suggested that using combined diagnoses of Exo-EphA2 with CA 19-9 and CA 242 was more effective to discriminate early stage (stage I and II) in PC than in healthy controls and benign disease patients. Conclusions Novel findings suggest that serum Exo-EphA2 is a potential early diagnostic biomarker complementing CA 19-9 and CA 242 in PC.

With rapid technological development, mobile computing and wireless transmission have become mature. These two technologies can be combined for sharing medical records on social networks, but doing so depends on the secure sharing of a patient’s data between Pervasive Social Network (PSN) nodes. Previous research has revealed that most human sensors cannot support very heavy computation, so the computation on the sensor node must be light. When a legitimate node is intercepted, an attacker may steal shared data of a third party through this intercepted node, causing security problems. Based on the aforementioned security and performance considerations, this study proposes a blockchain-based medical data preservation scheme for telecare medical information systems (TMISs), which consists of a medical sensor area authentication protocol and a social network information transfer protocol. The former protocol uses elliptic curve point multiplication to achieve secure data transfer between human sensors and mobile devices. The latter protocol stores data collected and transferred by mobile devices. The scheme herein is secure against several possible attacks and reduces the number of communication rounds below those of previously developed approaches. The social network information transfer protocol stores data using blockchain technology so that a data owner can authorize access to data by relevant users. Therefore, the proposed scheme improves upon not only the computing performance but also the security of previous approaches.

Objective. The study aimed to explore the effect of total flavonoids of Oxytropis falcata Bunge (FOFB) on the expression of p-JAK1/p-STAT1 and SOCS3 proteins in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Methods. Rats model with IPF was established by one-off intratracheal injection of bleomycin (BLM, 5 mg/kg). After 14 days, the same volume of low dose (100 mg/kg), medium dose (200 mg/kg), and high dose (400 mg/kg) of FOFB and prednisolone acetate (20 mg/kg) as positive control drugs, as well as normal saline, were orally administered to rats once a day for 28 consecutive days. Subsequently, the degree of fibrosis and alveolitis in rat lung tissue was observed, respectively, by HE and Masson staining. Further more, observing the ultrastructure of lung tissue by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), the detection of JAK/STAT pathway related indicators including p-JAK1, p-STAT1, and SOCS3 with immunohistochemistry and SOCS3 with real-time PCR (RT-PCR) was performed. Results. Compared with the BLM group, the degree of alveolitis and fibrosis improved significantly, and the expression of p-JAK1 and p-STAT1 decreased; conversely, the expression of SOCS3 increased in the treatment group. Conclusion. IPF causes high expression of p-JAK1 and p-STAT1 and low expression of SOCS3. FOFB can play a role in the treatment of IPF via upregulating SOCS3 and downregulating p-JAK1 and p-STAT1.

Nowadays the most intriguing features of wave-particle complementarity of single-photons are exemplified by the famous Wheeler’s delayed-choice experiment with linear optics, nuclear magnetic resonance, and integrated photonic device systems in the optical platform. Until now, the delayed-choice experiments are demonstrated by either massless photons or massive particles, such as atoms, however, there is no report demonstrating Wheeler’s ideas in a hybrid system which consists of photons and atoms simultaneously. Here, we demonstrate a Wheeler’s delayed-choice experiment in an interface of light and atomic memory, in which the cold atomic memory makes the heralded single-photon divided into a superposition of atomic collective excitation and leaked pulse, thus acting as memory-based beam-splitters. We observe the intermediate states between particle and wave behavior by changing the relative proportion of the quantum random number generator, the second memory efficiency, and the relative storage time of two memories. The reported results confirm Bohr’s view that it makes no sense to illustrate the wave-like or particle-like behavior of light and matter before the measurement happens, and are helpful for improving our comprehension of the complementarity principle under the interface of light-atom interaction.

Aim Primary thyroid lymphoma (PTL) is a rare malignant disease. Its prognosis depends on early diagnosis. The role of fine-needle aspiration (FNA), including smear cytology, cell block (CB) techniques, and immunohistochemistry (IHC) sections in the diagnosis of PTL is still unclear. Here we reported 19 cases of PTL and literature review to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy for lymphoma by cytology. Methods Our study retrospectively reviewed 19 patients diagnosed with PTL at the affiliated hospital of Southwest Medical University in China from June 2011 to May 2019. According to the Bethesda system for reporting thyroid cytopathology, the CB sections were evaluated for the presence of single tumor cells. IHC was performed on CB. Results The diagnostic accuracy for PTL of FNA, CB with smears, and the joint application of the three methods (FNA + CB + IHC) of our study with 19 cases was 68.4% (13/19), 83.3% (15/18), and 100% (17/17), respectively. Conclusion The present study demonstrates that FNA has low sensitivity in diagnosing PTL, but the joint application of FNA, CB, and IHC might provide high diagnostic accuracy for lymphoma and should be applied in all cases where the clinical suspicion is high regardless of the FNA findings.

[Purpose] This study aimed to explore whether trunk kinesiology taping (KT) can improve trunk function, mobility, and balance in post-stroke patients with hemiparesis. [Participants and Methods] We conducted a single-group pre-post design pilot feasibility study. Thirteen individuals with post-stroke hemiplegia were recruited for this study. All patients received therapeutic trunk KT on the skin, representing the direction of fibres of the trunk muscles underneath. We used the Trunk Impairment Scale (TIS) and Trunk Control Test (TCT) to measure trunk function, Fugl-Meyer assessment (FMA) for balance, limits of stability (LOS) to evaluate balance, and the modified Rivermead mobility index (MRMI) to assess mobility in post-stroke patients. All measures were assessed before and immediately after the intervention. [Results] No adverse effects were found and all patients completed the trial. Compared to the baseline, TIS scores were significantly increased after KT, whereas no changes in TCT score were detected. The directional control of LOS was significantly improved, while no significant changes were seen in the other parameters of LOS, FMA-balance, and MRMI scores. [Conclusion] The results of this investigation show that trunk KT has immediate effects that improve certain trunk functional and balance parameters in stroke patients.

Mitochondrial abnormalities play critical roles in diabetic tubular injury progression. Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4) inhibitors are widely used antihyperglycemic agents that exert renal protective and positive effects against mitochondrial dysfunction in diabetic kidney disease (DKD). However, their underlying mechanism remains unclear. In this study, DPP4 upregulation, mitochondrial fragmentation, and altered mitochondrial dynamics-associated protein expression were observed in the tubules of DBA2/J (D2) diabetic mice with unilateral nephrectomy and in albumin-stimulated tubular cells. The inhibition of DPP4 by sitagliptin (Sita) ameliorated these mitochondrial perturbations both in vivo and in vitro, whereas DPP4 overexpression aggravated mitochondrial fusion-fission disorder and tubular cell injury in albumin-treated HK-2 cells. Downstream of DPP4, the SDF-1α/CXCR4 pathway was significantly suppressed in diabetic tubules. After Sita treatment, this signaling pathway was restored, and the mitochondrial dynamics was improved. Furthermore, a direct interaction between STAT3 and OPA1 was found in the mitochondria of tubular cells, and this effect was weakened by overloading albumin and by CXCR4 siRNA treatment, suggesting a possible link between DPP4-mediated SDF-1α/CXCR4/STAT3 signaling and mitochondrial dysfunction in diabetic tubular cells. The results suggest that a novel mechanism links the DPP4 enzyme to impaired mitochondrial dynamics homeostasis during tubular injury in DKD and highlight that the SDF-1α/CXCR4/STAT3 signaling pathway could become a potential target for managing DKD.

Poliovirus receptor (PVR) is a tumor promoter and a regulatory checkpoint that enhances immunosuppression. We investigated PVR expression by applying immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining. A positive association existed between PVR expression and cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA4) expression in patients with surgically resected non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). PVR expression is a prognosis predictor of lung adenocarcinoma. To investigate the prognostic significance of PVR expression and CTLA4 expression for surgically resected NSCLC. The medical records of 108 Chinese patients with primary NSCLC who underwent surgery were retrospectively reviewed. The expression of PVR and CTLA4 were measured through IHC. Clinical characteristics, the association between PVR and CTLA4, and the prognostic significance of PVR were analyzed. A significant positive association was observed between PVR and CTLA4 expression in NSCLC (P = 0.016). PVR had a high positive rate among females, nonsmokers, and patients with adenocarcinoma and advanced lung cancer. The overall survival (OS) of patients with negative PVR expression was significantly longer than that of patients with positive PVR expression (P = 0.049), especially among females (P = 0.03) and nonsmokers (P = 0.025). Multivariate analysis results showed that advanced tumor stage and PVR expression were independent prognosis predictors of poor OS. PVR can potentially serve as a prognostic predictor and biomarker for NSCLC and cancer anti-CTLA4 immunotherapy response.

This paper demonstrates high-efficiency organic near-infrared (NIR) photodetection activity by increasing the symmetry of photoinduced charge density based on planar cyclic donor–acceptor structures. The record-high photosensing capability (gain: 3 × 105 and EQE: 43% at 3 V) is realized under NIR 780 nm illumination upon using the single-component active layer chloroaluminum phthalocyanine (ClAlPc) with planar cyclic intramolecular donor–acceptor structures to create four-fold symmetry of photoinduced charge density. Our in situ measurement using bias-dependent magneto-photocurrent reveals that increasing the symmetry of photoinduced charge density through planar cyclic intramolecular donor–acceptor structures can significantly decrease the electron–hole binding energies, allowing the direct generation of free photogenerated carriers without any heterojunction structures. Particularly, with the four-fold symmetry of photoinduced charge density, the dissociation of electron–hole pairs can be completed at an extremely low critical bias (24.8 mV) in the ClAlPc molecules. Such low critical bias provides the underlying mechanism to directly generate free carriers in the single-component active layer under NIR illumination. Clearly, by using planar cyclic intramolecular donor–acceptor structures, symmetrically arranging photoinduced charge density presents a fundamental strategy to develop high-efficiency NIR sensing capabilities with single-component active layer design in organic molecules.

One-dimensional (1D) morphology-unique Au–Ag2S nano-hybrids are achieved by combining the interfacial self-assembly of Ag nanowires, interface-oriented site-specific etching of Ag nanowires with AuCl4−, and the sulfurization of S2−. The as-formed Au–Ag2S nano-hybrid has a trough-like morphology. The wall of the Au–Ag2S nanotrough is a Ag2S/Au/Ag2S trilayer wall, but the Ag2S layer is a Ag2S-rich mixture of Ag2S and Au rather than pure Ag2S because of the diffusion of Au atoms towards Ag2S. The Au–Ag2S nanotrough shows strong absorption in the visible region (400–800 nm) and exhibits a favorable photoelectrochemical (PEC) response, the photocurrent of which is ∼8.5 times larger than that of pure Ag2S. This enhanced PEC response originates from the localized plasmonic resonance effect of Au. Moreover, the PEC biosensor based on the Au–Ag2S nanotroughs shows high sensitivity and selectivity, satisfactory reproducibility, and good stability towards human α-thrombin (TB) detection: a sensitive linear response ranging from 1.00 to 10.00 pmol L−1 and a low detection limit of 0.67 pmol L−1. This study provides a new model for studying the PEC behavior of plasmonic metal/semiconductor materials, and this Au–Ag2S nanotrough may also be useful in the fields of photocatalysis and photovoltaics.

Sublimator offers effective heat rejection for the spacecraft, which work in warm environments or with peak heat loads, by evaporating or sublimating water into the vacuum. The sublimator type studied in this paper is sublimator driven coldplate, which is proposed in recent years and is currently under research. Many conclusions have yet to be revealed. In this research, two common feed water gaps first were established. Based on the above, the structural characteristics of aluminum foam were studied emphatically. In particular, a novel method to calculate the effective thermal conductivity of aluminum foam and water was proposed. It turned out that the results obtained by this method are very consistent with experiments. Finally, the effect of porous tube, the layout of heat sources and the emissivity of mounting surface for sublimator were investigated successively. The results show that the reasonable pore diameter and porosity of porous tube are 6 μm and 0.15, respectively. The opened-cell porosity of aluminum foam should be more than 0.2. In addition, the formula for calculating the thermal conductivity of aluminum foam in this paper can be applied to the numerical simulation of water sublimator. Importantly, the works done in this paper provide an important reference for the rare numerical simulation of sublimator.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW The resistance of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has become an obstacle to further improve the survival of patients with advanced cancer. This review provides an overview of recent advances in primary resistance mechanisms of ICIs. RECENT FINDINGS With the improvement of study approach, new characteristics and trends have emerged in the classification of tumor immune subtypes. The effects of germline genetic on tumor microenvironment and the efficacy of immunotherapy have been further studied. Exosomal programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) is an increasing focus of research in primary resistance mechanisms of ICIs. In addition to antibiotics and steroids, the influence of other concomitant medications on the efficacy of ICIs has recently gained more attention. SUMMARY Exploring the resistance mechanisms of ICIs is one of the great challenges in the field of tumor immunotherapy. Continued work to understand the resistance mechanism of ICIs is ongoing.

Luyu Zhang,1 Qianqian Zhao,1 Leilei Mao,2 Huanze Li,1 Miaoqing Zhuang,1 Jiayi Wang,1 Yue Liu,1 Meng Qi,3 Xiaoping Du,3 Zengrun Xia,3 Na Sun,4 Qiling Liu,4 Hongfang Chen,1,5,6 Rongqiang Zhang4 1School of Nursing, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Information Engineering, Chang’an University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China; 3Ankang R & D Center of Se-enriched Products, Ankang, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China; 4School of Public Health, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China; 5Shaanxi Academy of Tradional Chinese Medicine, Xi’an, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China; 6Shaanxi Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Xi’an, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Hongfang ChenShaanxi Academy of Tradional Chinese Medicine, Shaanxi Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, No. 4 Xihua Gate, Xi’an, Shaanxi, 710003; School of Nursing, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, No. 1 Middle Section of Century Avenue, Xianyang, Shaanxi, 712046, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail 13892881695@163.comRongqiang ZhangSchool of Public Health, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, No. 1 Middle Section of Century Avenue, Xianyang, Shaanxi, 712046, People’s Republic of ChinaTel/Fax +86-029-38185219Email Zhangrqxianyang@163.comPurpose: Selenophosphate synthetase 2 (SEPHS2) has been shown to regulate selenoprotein biosynthesis by catalyzing the synthesis of active selenium donor selenophosphate. SEPHS2 influences the survival of tumor cells. However, few studies have explored the expression level and prognostic of SEPHS2 in various cancers.Methods: The expression of SEPHS2 in human tumor tissues and normal adjacent tissues was analyzed in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx), Human Protein Atlas (HPA), and UALCAN databases. Cox regression analysis and Kaplan–Meier curve analysis were performed to analyze the association of SEPHS2 expression with the prognosis of cancer patients. The expression and prognosis of SEPHS2 in gliomas were further verified using the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) dataset. The relationship between SEPHS2 and immune infiltration, tumor mutational burden (TMB), microsatellite instability (MSI), and neoantigens was comprehensively explored using a TCGA cohort. The mechanism by which SEPHS2 regulates tumor progression was explored by using the STRING database. A nomogram was constructed using the R software to predict the overall survival (OS) of patients with brain lower grade glioma (LGG).Results: SEPHS2 was highly expressed in many cancers including LGG. Its high expression was significantly associated with poor OS, disease-free survival (DFS), and progression-free survival (PFS). Univariate and multivariate Cox analyses showed that SEPHS2 was an independent prognostic factor for LGG. Concordance index and calibration curves revealed that the nomogram had good predictive performance (concordance index: 0.791; 95% CI: 0.732– 1). A significant correlation was found between SEPHS2 and immune infiltration, TMB, MSI, and tumor neoantigens across diverse cancers. Enrichment analysis showed that SEPHS2 may regulate the PPAR signaling pathway.Conclusion: SEPHS2 expression regulates tumor development and it is a potential treatment target and prognostic biomarker, especially for lower grade glioma.Keywords: SEPHS2, selenoprotein, cancer, prognosis, biomarker

The response to immunotherapy could be better predicted by using a wide set of biomarkers, including serum tumor markers; however, robust immune markers associated with efficacy have yet to be validated. In this study, changes in immune cell subsets from NSCLC patients treated with anti-PD1 therapy were longitudinally monitored by high-dimensional cytometry by time of flight (CyTOF). The frequencies of circulating CD8+ and CD8+CD101hiTIM3+ (CCT T) subsets were significantly correlated with clinical response and survival. Enrichment of these populations in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) indicated a poor clinical response to ICB therapy. Cell function assays revealed that these subsets were remarkably impaired, which supported the poor outcomes observed. Additionally, longitudinal analysis showed that KLRG1 expression and cytokines were associated with the response to therapy. Overall, our results provide novel potential biomarkers for guiding the management of NSCLC patients eligible to anti-PD-1 therapy, and contribute insights for new therapeutic strategies. Funding: The research leading to these results has received funding from the Macau Science and Technology Development Fund (Project no: 0096/2018/A3 & 001/2020/ALC), NSFC overseas and Hong Kong and Macao scholars cooperative research fund project (Project no: 81828013) and Janssen therapeutic fund (Project code: ICD#1101175) as well as The 2020 Guangdong Provincial Science and Technology Innovation Strategy Special Fund (Guangdong- Hong Kong-Macau Joint Lab) (Project no: 2020B1212030006). Declaration of Interest: None to declare. Ethical Approval: This study was approved by Kiang Wu Hospital under the approval number 2018-007.

Lung cancer is the most common type of cancer with the highest mortality rate worldwide. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for ~85% of the total number of lung cancer cases. In the past two decades, immunotherapy has become a more promising treatment method than traditional treatments (surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy). Immunotherapy has been shown to improve the survival rate of patients and to have a superior effect when controlling lung cancer than traditional therapy. However, only a small number of patients can benefit from immunotherapy, and not all patients who qualify experience long-term benefits. In the clinic, the objective response rate of programmed cell death protein 1 treatment without the prior screening of patients is only 15–20%. Immunotherapy is associated with both opportunities and challenges for patients with NSCLC. The current challenges of immunotherapy include the lack of accurate biomarkers, inevitable resistance and insufficient understanding of immune checkpoints. In previous years, several methods for overcoming the challenges posed by immunotherapy have been proposed, but combination therapy is the most suitable choice. A large number of studies have shown that the combination of drugs can significantly improve their efficacy, compared with monotherapy, and that some therapeutic combinations have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of NSCLC. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a traditional medical practice in China that can play an important role in immunotherapy. Most agents used in TCM originate from plants, and have the advantages of low toxicity and multiple targets. In addition, TCM includes a unique class of drugs that can improve autoimmunity. Therefore, TCM may be a promising treatment method for all types of cancer.

Titanium (Ti) and its alloys offer favorable biocompatibility, mechanical properties and corrosion resistance, which makes them an ideal material choice for dental implants. However, the long-term success of Ti-based dental implants may be challenged due to implant-related infections and inadequate osseointegration. With the development of nanotechnology, nanoscale modifications and the application of nanomaterials have become key areas of focus for research on dental implants. Surface modifications and the use of various coatings, as well as the development of the controlled release of antibiotics or proteins, have improved the osseointegration and soft-tissue integration of dental implants, as well as their antibacterial and immunomodulatory functions. This review introduces recent nano-engineering technologies and materials used in topographical modifications and surface coatings of Ti-based dental implants. These advances are discussed and detailed, including an evaluation of the evidence of their biocompatibility, toxicity, antimicrobial activities and in-vivo performances. The comparison between these attempts at nano-engineering reveals that there are still research gaps that must be addressed towards their clinical translation. For instance, customized three-dimensional printing technology and stimuli-responsive, multi-functional and time-programmable implant surfaces holds great promise to advance this field. Furthermore, long-term in vivo studies under physiological conditions are required to ensure the clinical application of nanomaterial-modified dental implants.

Pleural effusion (PE) is a common manifestation of tuberculosis (TB) and malignant tumors but tuberculous PE (TPE) is difficult to distinguish from malignant PE (MPE), especially by noninvasive detection indicators. This study aimed to find effective detection indices in blood and PE for differentiating TB from a malignant tumor. A total of 815 patients who were diagnosed with TB or cancer in Hubei Shiyan Taihe Hospital from 2014 to 2017 were collected. Amongst them, 717 were found to have PE by thoracoscopy. Clinical characteristics, patients' blood parameters and PE indicator information were summarized for analysis. Patients with MPE had higher percentages to be bloody and negative of Rivalta test in PE than those with TPE. For clinical indicators, comparison of the specific parameters in blood showed that 18 indicators were higher in the TPE group than in the MPE group. By contrast, 12 indicators were higher in the MPE group than in the TPE group (P .01). In addition, in PE tests, 3 parameters were higher in the TPE group, whereas other 4 parameters were higher in the MPE group (P .01). Then, for clinical diagnosing practice, ROC analysis and principal component analysis were applied. The top 6 relevant indicators with area under curve over 0.70 were screened out as follows: hydrothorax adenosine dehydrogenase (pADA, 0.90), hydrothorax high-sensitivity C reactive protein (0.79), percentage of blood monocyte (sMONp, 0.75), blood high-sensitivity C reactive protein (sHsCRP, 0.73), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (0.71) and blood D-dimer (0.70). Moreover, logistic regression model revealed that a specific combination of 3 biomarkers, namely, pADA, sMONp and sHsCRP, could enhance the distinguishment of TB from malignant tumor with PE (area under curve = 0.944, 95% confidence interval = 0.925-0.964). The diagnostic function of the top single marker pADA in patients from different groups was analyzed and it was found to maintain high specificity and sensitivity. The 6 indicators, namely, pADA, hydrothorax high-sensitivity C reactive protein, sMONp, sHsCRP, sESR and blood D-dimer, showed significant diagnostic value for clinicians. Further, the combination of pADA, sMONp and sHsCRP has high accuracy for differential diagnosis for the first time. Most interestingly, the single marker pADA maintained high specificity and sensitivity in patients with different statuses and thus has great value for rapid and accurate diagnosis of suspected cases.

In cloud systems, incidents affect the availability of services and require quick mitigation actions. Once an incident occurs, operators and developers often examine logs to perform fault diagnosis. However, the large volume of diverse logs and the overwhelming details in log data make the manual diagnosis process time-consuming and error-prone. In this paper, we propose Onion, an automatic solution for precisely and efficiently locating incident-indicating logs, which can provide useful clues for diagnosing the incidents. We first point out three criteria for localizing incident-indicating logs, i.e., Consistency, Impact, and Bilateral-Difference. Then we propose a novel agglomeration of logs, called log clique, based on which these criteria are satisfied. To obtain log cliques, we develop an incident-aware log representation and a progressive log clustering technique. Contrast analysis is then performed on the cliques to identify the incident-indicating logs. We have evaluated Onion using well-labeled log datasets. Onion achieves an average F1-score of 0.95 and can process millions of logs in only a few minutes, demonstrating its effectiveness and efficiency. Onion has also been successfully applied to the cloud system of Microsoft. Its practicability has been confirmed through the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the real incident cases.

A typical cloud system has a large amount of telemetry data collected by pervasive software monitors that keep tracking the health status of the system. The telemetry data is essentially multi-dimensional data, which contains attributes and failure/success status of the system being monitored. By identifying the attribute value combinations where the failures are mostly concentrated (which we call fault-indicating combination), we can localize the cause of system failures into a smaller scope, thus facilitating fault diagnosis. However, due to the combinatorial explosion problem and the latent hierarchical structure in cloud telemetry data, it is still intractable to localize the fault to a proper granularity in an efficient way. In this paper, we propose HALO, a hierarchy-aware fault localization approach for locating the fault-indicating combinations from telemetry data. Our approach automatically learns the hierarchical relationship among attributes and leverages the hierarchy structure for precise and efficient fault localization. We have evaluated HALO on both industrial and synthetic datasets and the results confirm that HALO outperforms the existing methods. Furthermore, we have successfully deployed HALO to different services in Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365, witnessed its impact in real-world practice.

The performance of neural network is closely related to the optimization algorithm. An improved SWATS algorithm is designed to solve the non-convergence problem and the local optimum oscillation problem. Adamod algorithm and a piecewise function are introduced into the SWATS algorithm to improve the neural network performance. Experiments show that the proposed algorithm in this paper is applied to different model structures and different data sets. Compared with the SWATS algorithm, our algorithm has higher accuracy and converges more quickly and stably.

Real-life data on guselkumab in psoriasis are limited and not available in China hitherto. This study aimed to evaluate the short-term effectiveness and safety of guselkumab in patients with psoriasis under Chinese real-life conditions and to explore the effect of guselkumab on CD4+ CD25+ Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs). A Chinese prospective and real-life study involving patients with psoriasis in Dermatology Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China from April to September 2020 was conducted. A total of 45 patients with psoriasis were finally enrolled in the study. Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) 90 and 100 responses at week 16 were achieved by 88.6% and 45.5% of patients, respectively. The analysis of PASI response in different subgroups showed no statistically significant difference. Univariate logistic regression analysis revealed that at week 16, none of the variables were associated with decreasing PASI 90 response, whereas age at onset of disease was a predictor of PASI 100 response. Dynamic detection of CD4+ CD25+ Foxp3+ Tregs frequency from peripheral blood suggested a stable maintained trend in terms of guselkumab treatment duration. No severe adverse events occurred during the follow-up period. This study confirmed the short-term effectiveness and safety of guselkumab, as well as its good tolerance against psoriasis, in the Chinese population. Guselkumab treatment maintains levels of Tregs in patients with psoriasis.

How to overcome the diffraction barrier of light in the far-field region to obtain subwavelength processing resolution has always been an important issue in advanced optical manufacturing. The traditional strategy to achieve this goal is to use the nonlinear threshold effect of materials, such as femetosecond laser induced two-photon polymerization (TPP) [1] . By introducing the stimulated radiation loss mechanism, the resolution of TPP can further reach tens of nanometers [2] . However, for solid materials, there is still no such a universal method that can realized robust and controllable nanoscale resolution for programable patterning. Here, we report an optical far-field-induced near-field breakdown technology [3] , which we abbreviate it as optical FIB, that in principle can be applied to any solid materials. The core idea of this technology is to invoke the initial optical damage created by ultrafast laser as a near-field probe (usually a nanohole, see Fig. 1 ), to trigger the subsequent subwavelength light confinement around the seed. Then, the far-field energy can be efficiently transferred to the near-field hotspot which is not restricted by the diffraction limit ( Fig. 1 ,left), thereby permitting a deep subwavelength direct writing resolution (18 nm, 1/40 λ for 800 nm pulse). The orientation of this near-field hotspot is always perpendicular to laser polarization due to the constraint of the electrical displacement continuity condition. By a simple polarization control of the incident light for steering nano-groove writing along the designed pattern, free-form nanowriting can be achieved while all the advantages of far-field optical direct writing can be maintained.

Open circuit voltage of a photovoltaic system, in general, is constrained by the Schottky barrier (SB) heights formed at the electrodes. Here, the SB heights which are inhomogeneous in nature at the anode-semiconductor junction of a donor-acceptor-acceptor molecule, 2-[(7-(4-[N,N-bis(4-methylphenyl)amino]phenyl)-2,1,3-benzothia-diazol-4-yl)methylene] propane-dinitrile (DTDCPB), mixed with C70 as a bulk heterojunction have been studied thoroughly by inserting an insulating layer of MoO3 with different thicknesses (6 nm, 12 nm, 18 nm) and measuring the current density-voltage (J-V) and capacitance-voltage (C–V) characteristics of the photovoltaics under a large temperature range of 100K–300 K for proper estimation of open circuit voltage (Voc). Experimental results reveal a linear inverse temperature dependence of SB heights in the whole temperature range. The mismatch in the extracted values of SB heights from the independent measurements of J-V and C–V vanishes under the consideration of non-linear temperature dependence of built-in potential (Vbi) leading to the legitimate prediction of Voc.

Thermal control systems in near-space-oriented vehicles are bound to be different from those on either traditional airplanes or typical space shuttles owing to the extremely thin atmosphere caused ...

Building energy of rural areas accounts for a non-negligible proportion in total building energy consumption. Taking rural areas in Xingtai, a city in northern China, as an example, a novel on-top ...

The historical failure data of launched spacecraft are very useful to improve the designing and manufacturing of spacecraft, optimize ground tests and reduce the flight risks of spacecraft. In 2010, the study of spacecraft failure data was initiated in China. Since 2017, 2593 on-orbit failure data and 1298 ground failure data for 120 spacecraft launched from 2000 to 2017 have been identified and collected, including navigation satellites, communication satellites, remote sensing satellites, deep space exploration missions and manned spacecraft. In this paper, the development of China's aerospace manufacturing industry in the last decade is objectively evaluated by analysis of these failures, based on the most comprehensive available statistics of Chinese spacecraft. Detailed failure causes, failure impacts, affected subsystems, higher-risk components of spacecraft are analyzed. The failures exposure rate of ground tests and the number of early flight failures are also numerically estimated. Finally, the statistical evidence is provided in this paper to support the conclusion: reducing design errors, improving advanced research, adequate redundancy, effective space environmental protection measures, and adequate ground testing are the key to improve spacecraft quality.

Stress induces many different sex-specific physiological and psychological responses during adolescence. Although the impact of certain brain stressors has been reported in the literature, the influence of cold stress on the mechanisms underlying hippocampal neurotransmitter disorder and neuroinflammation remain unstudied. Adolescent male and female C57BL/6 mice were exposed to 4 °C temperatures, 3 h per day for 1 week. Serum CORT and blood gas analysis was then used to assess body status. Using western blotting, immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry we also assessed glial cell number and microglial activation, as well as inflammatory cytokine levels and related protein expression levels. The phenomena of excessive CORT, microglial activation, increased acetylate-HMGB1 levels, NF-κB signaling pathway activation, pro-inflammatory cytokine release, neuronal apoptosis and neurotransmitter disorder were demonstrated in mouse hippocampal tissue following cold exposure. We believe that these phenomena are mediated by the HMGB1/TLR4/NFκB pathway. Finally, the male inflammatory response in hippocampal tissue was more severe and the influence of cold exposure on neurotransmitter was greater in females.

The work function at the surface of 4,4′Cyclohexylidenebis[N,N-bis(4-methylphenyl) benzenamine (TAPC) layer could be increased by doping MoO3 having high ionization energy. Therefore, in this work, we attempted to dope MoO3 into electron-blocking layer material of TAPC to improve the device performance of organic photodetector (OPD), which effectively suppressed dark current density and increased external quantum efficiency (EQE). When a 5% MoO3 dopant was used, the optimal OPD under reverse-biased of 3 V showed a dark current density of 1.11 nA/cm2, the EQE of 41.8% under a wavelength of 360 nm, and the detectivity of the specific wavelength surpassed 1012 Jones. In this study, we found that the decrease in the dark current density was responsible to the lower energy level of lowest unoccupied molecular orbital of TAPC and slower electron transporting capacity, which enabled the effective suppression of leakage current in OPD under bias. Furthermore, the device's EQE was substantially increased for an optimized concentration of MoO3 doped into TAPC.

Background Cervical cancer continues to be one of the leading causes of cancer deaths among females in low and middle-income countries. In this study, we aimed to assess the independent prognostic value of clinical and potential prognostic factors in progression-free survival (PFS) in cervical cancer. Methods We conducted a retrospective study on 92 cervical cancer patients treated from 2017 to 2019 at the Zhuhai Hospital of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine. Tumor characteristics, treatment options, progression-free survival and follow-up information were collected. Kaplan–Meier method was used to assess the PFS. Results Results showed that the number of retrieved lymph nodes had a statistically significant effect on PFS of cervical cancer patients (P = 0.002). Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis showed that cervical cancer patients with initial symptoms age 25–39 had worse survival prognoses (P = 0.020). And the using of uterine manipulator in laparoscopic treatment showed a better prognosis (P P Conclusion Number of retrieved lymph nodes, initial symptoms age, uterine manipulator, and retrieved lymph nodes count combining with FIGO staging system could be potential prognostic factors for cervical cancer patients.

Large-scale cloud systems such as Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and Amazon AWS provide a wide variety of online services which serve millions of customers around the world. Adverse service behaviors and latencies can have huge performance impact and affect user satisfaction. Besides monitoring system KPI metrics and log, trace data is of great value for analyzing the system performance status, detecting anomalous workstreams and localizing the performance bottleneck. However, existing work usually represent the trace as a sequence of events with execution time information, which ignores the runtime context and graph structure of the trace. In this paper, we propose a trace representation and learning model, TraceLingo, which adopts a tree-based RNN model to capture the dependency between spans in various traces for automatic and effective performance diagnosis.