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In this work, the spectra of two fiber-optic Fabry–Perot sensors in parallel and series connection were studied. The spectrum of the parallel structure is a simple superposition of the two sensors’ spectrum, and that of the series structure can be regarded as the interference occurring in two Fabry–Perot sensors successively. The sensors’ optical path difference can be obtained and separated by using the theoretical formula to fit the normalized spectrum of parallel or series structure, which showed that two or more Fabry–Perot sensors can be simultaneously demodulated by the spectrum fitting method.

In this paper, we propose a Multi-View Stereo (MVS) network which can perform efficient high-resolution depth estimation with low memory consumption. Classical learning-based MVS approaches typically construct 3D cost volumes to regress depth information, making the output resolution rather limited as the memory consumption grows cubically with the input resolution. Although recent approaches have made significant progress in scalability by introducing the coarse-to-fine fashion or sequential cost map regularization, the memory consumption still grows quadratically with input resolution and is not friendly for commodity GPU. Observing that the surfaces of most objects in real world are locally smooth, we assume that most of the depth hypotheses upsampled from a well-estimated depth map are accurate. Based on the assumption, we propose a pyramid MVS network based on the adaptive depth estimation, which gradually refines and upsamples the depth map to the desired resolution. Instead of estimating depth hypotheses for all pixels in the depth map, our method only performs prediction at adaptively selected locations, alleviating excessive computation on well-estimated positions. To estimate depth hypotheses for sparse selected locations, we propose the lightweight pixelwise depth estimation network, which can estimate depth value for each selected location independently. Experiments demonstrate that our method can generate results comparable with the state-of-the-art learning-based methods while reconstructing more geometric details and consuming less GPU memory.

Objectives This study aimed to establish a machine learning prediction model that can be used to predict bone metastasis (BM) in patients with newly diagnosed thyroid cancer (TC). Methods Demographic and clinicopathologic variables of TC patients in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database from 2010 to 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. On this basis, we developed a random forest (RF) algorithm model based on machine‐learning. The area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), accuracy score, recall rate, and specificity are used to evaluate and compare the prediction performance of the RF model and the other model. Results A total of 17,138 patients were included in the study, with 166 (0.97%) developed bone metastases. Grade, T stage, histology, race, sex, age, and N stage were the important prediction features of BM. The RF model has better predictive performance than the other model (AUC: 0.917, accuracy: 0.904, recall rate: 0.833, and specificity: 0.905). Conclusions The RF model constructed in this study could accurately predict bone metastases in TC patients, which may provide clinicians with more personalized clinical decision‐making recommendations. Machine learning technology has the potential to improve the development of BM prediction models in TC patients., We developed a random forest prediction model for bone metastases in thyroid cancer (TC) patients. This facilitates personalized diagnosis and refined clinical decision making for bone metastases in TC patients.

Chromatographic fingerprinting has been perceived as an essential tool for assessing quality and chemical equivalence of traditional Chinese medicine. However, this pattern-oriented approach still has some weak points in terms of chemical coverage and robustness. In this work, we proposed a multiple reaction monitoring (MRM)-based fingerprinting method in which approximately 100 constituents were simultaneously detected for quality assessment. The derivative MRM approach was employed to rapidly design MRM transitions independent of chemical standards, based on which the large-scale fingerprinting method was efficiently established. This approach was exemplified on QiShenYiQi Pill (QSYQ), a traditional Chinese medicine-derived drug product, and its robustness was systematically evaluated by four indices: clustering analysis by principal component analysis, similarity analysis by the congruence coefficient, the number of separated peaks, and the peak area proportion of separated peaks. Compared with conventional ultraviolet-based fingerprints, the MRM fingerprints provided not only better discriminatory capacity for the tested normal/abnormal QSYQ samples, but also higher robustness under different chromatographic conditions (i.e., flow rate, apparent pH, column temperature, and column). The result also showed for such large-scale fingerprints including a large number of peaks, the angle cosine measure after min-max normalization was more suitable for setting a decision criterion than the unnormalized algorithm. This proof-of-concept application gives evidence that combining MRM technique with proper similarity analysis metrices can provide a highly sensitive, robust and comprehensive analytical approach for quality assessment of traditional Chinese medicine., Graphical abstract Image 1, Highlights • MRM fingerprints are proposed for quality assessment of traditional medicine. • MRM fingerprints show favorable robustness, coverage and discriminatory capacity. • Similarity analysis methods for such large-scale fingerprints are proposed.

Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is the third most common cancer type in the United States. While the incidence of CRC is decreasing among an older population undergoing screening, the incidence of early-onset CRC is rising. There is a growing understanding that the molecular underpinnings of colorectal carcinoma vary by age. In this study, we report the genetic alterations and clinicopathologic features of a single-institution colorectal carcinoma cohort over a 2-year period using a next-generation sequencing (NGS) approach and microsatellite stability (MS) status determined by immunohistochemical staining. Forty cases were identified in an early-onset colorectal carcinoma cohort (eCRC) defined by age 70 years. eCRC was more often-left-sided/rectal and more likely to present high rates of lymph node positivity with metastatic disease. NGS mutational analysis revealed distinct differences between eCRC and arCRC, with eCRC being characterized by low frequency of PIK3CA mutations, elevated frequency of KRAS and CTNNB1 mutations in microsatellite instability high tumors, and very low frequency of BRAF mutations.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the well‐established etiologic factor for cervical neoplasia. Cervical conization constitutes an effective treatment for high‐grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (HG‐CIN). We conducted an observational study for long‐term outcomes and HPV genotype changes after conization for HG‐CIN. Between 2008 and 2014, patients with newly diagnosed HG‐CIN before conization (surveillance new [SN] group) and those who had undergone conization without hysterectomy (surveillance previous [SP] group) were enrolled. HPV testing and Pap smear were performed periodically for the SN and SP (collectively S) groups. All other patients receiving conization for HG‐CIN during the study period were identified from our hospital database. Those eligible but not enrolled into our study were assigned to the non‐surveillance (non‐S) group. For the S group (n = 493), the median follow‐up period was 74.3 months. Eighty‐four cases had recurrent CIN Grade 2 or worse (CIN2+) (5‐year cumulative rate: 14.8%), of which six had invasive cancer. Among the 84 patients, 65 (77.4%) exhibited type‐specific persistence in the paired HPV results, whereas only 7 (8.3%) harbored new HPV types that belonged to the 9‐valent vaccine types. Among the 7397 non‐S patients, 789 demonstrated recurrent CIN2+, of which 57 had invasive cancer. The stages distribution of those progressed to invasive cancer in the non‐S group were more advanced than the S group (P = .033). Active surveillance might reduce the severity of those progressed to cancer. Because a majority of the patients with recurrent CIN2+ had persistent type‐specific HPV infections, effective therapeutic vaccines are an unmet medical need., What's new? High‐grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (HG‐CIN), a cervical carcinoma precursor, frequently is caused by high‐risk human papillomavirus (hr‐HPV) infection. HG‐CIN can be treated by cervical conization, though the procedure does not eradicate hr‐HPV, potentially enabling CIN recurrence. Here, in Taiwanese patients, investigation of HPV genotype changes in relation to HG‐CIN status after conization shows that 77.4 percent of patients with recurrent CIN 2 grade or worse (CIN2+) after conization had persistent type‐specific HPV infections. Vaccination against the remaining high‐risk HPVs prevented recurrent CIN2+ in only 8.3 percent of patients, revealing an unmet need for effective therapeutic vaccines.

An optical fiber dual Fabry-Perot interferometric carbon monoxide gas sensor based on PANI/Co3O4/GO (PCG) sensing membrane coated on the end face of the optical fiber is proposed and fabricated. One end face of photonic crystal fiber (PCF) without cut-off wavelength is fused with a single-mode fiber (SMF), and the other end face of the PCF is coated with PCG sensing membrane. The collapsed layer formed during the air hole fusion of PCF is used as the first reflector, the interface between PCF and sensing membrane is used as the second reflector, and the interface between the sensing membrane and the air is used as the third reflector, thus the dual Fabry-Perot structure sensor is formed. The results show that the sensor has excellent sensitivity and selectivity to carbon monoxide. With the increasing concentration of carbon monoxide gas in the range of 0−60 ppm, the intensity of interference spectrum decreases. The sensitivity of the sensor is 0.3473 dB m/ppm, and its linearity is good. The response time and recovery time are 68 s and 106 s, respectively. The sensor has the advantages of the compact size, low cost, high sensitivity, strong selectivity and simple structure. It is suitable for the sensing detection of low concentration carbon monoxide gas.

This paper proposes a novel approach for robust plane matching and real-time RGB-D fusion based on the representation of plane parameter space. In contrast to previous planar-based SLAM algorithms estimating correspondences for each plane-pair independently, our method instead explores the holistic topology of all relevant planes. We note that by adopting the low-dimensionality parameter space representation, the plane matching can be intuitively reformulated and solved as a point cloud registration problem. Besides estimating the plane correspondences, we contribute an efficient optimization framework, which employs both frame-to-frame and frame-to-model planar consistency constraints. We propose a global plane map to dynamically represent the reconstructed scene and alleviate accumulation errors that exist in camera pose tracking. We validate the proposed algorithm on standard benchmark datasets and additional challenging real-world environments. The experimental results demonstrate its outperformance to current state-of-the-art methods in tracking robustness and reconstruction fidelity.

Patients with combined phenotypes of Sturge–Weber syndrome and Klippel–Trenaunay syndrome have been reported, though the underlying genetic spectrum in these individuals remains to be elucidated. We reported the patient presenting with Klippel–Trenaunay and Sturge–Weber overlap syndrome in mainland China. Histopathologic study confirmed the hemangioma of vein and capillary. Co‐existence of a novel somatic KRAS c.182_183 delins TC mutation and GNAQ c.548G>A mutation was identified in the affected skin tissue rather than paired peripheral blood. The somatic mutations of GNAQ and KRAS may affect MAPK‐ERK signaling pathway, resulting in endothelial anomaly and blood vessel malformation.

Microbubble whispering-gallery resonators have shown great promise in fiber-optic communications because of their low confinement loss and hollow cores, which allow for facile stress-based tunability. Usually, the transmission spectrum of taper-coupled microbubbles contains closely spaced modes due to the relatively large radii and oblate geometry of microbubbles. In this letter, we develop an optical add-drop filter using a microbubble coupled to fiber taper and angle-polished fiber waveguides. Because of the extra degree of freedom in the angle of its polish surface, the angle-polished fiber can be used for the discriminatory excitation of certain radial-order modes in the optical microcavity, reducing the high modal density and enhancing add-drop selectivity. Our robust and tunable add-drop filter demonstrated a drop efficiency of 85.9% and quality factor of 2 x 10^7, corresponding to a linewidth of 9.68 MHz. As a proof of concept, the drop frequency was tuned using internal aerostatic pressure at a rate of 7.3 +/- 0.2 GHz/bar with no diminishing effects on the add-drop filter performance., 12 pages, 5 figures

Wen-Cai Liu,1,2 Ming-Xuan Li,2 Wen-Xing Qian,3 Zhi-Wen Luo,1,4 Wei-Jie Liao,1,4 Zhi-Li Liu,1,4 Jia-Ming Liu1,4 1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, 330006, People’s Republic of China; 2The First Clinical Medical College of Nanchang University, Nanchang, 330006, People’s Republic of China; 3School of Computer and Information Technology, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, 100044, People’s Republic of China; 4Institute of Spine and Spinal Cord, Nanchang University, Nanchang, 330006, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Jia-Ming LiuDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, No. 17 Yongwaizheng Street, Donghu District, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, People’s Republic of ChinaTel/Fax +86-791-86319815Email liujiamingdr@hotmail.comObjective: This study aimed to develop and validate a machine learning model for predicting bone metastases (BM) in prostate cancer (PCa) patients.Methods: Demographic and clinicopathologic variables of PCa patients in the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database from 2010 to 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. We used six different machine learning algorithms, including Decision tree (DT), Random forest (RF), Multilayer Perceptron (MLP), Logistic regression (LR), Naive Bayes classifiers (NBC), and eXtreme gradient boosting (XGB), to build prediction models. External validation using data from 644 PCa patients of the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University from 2010 to 2016. The performance of the models was evaluated using the area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), accuracy score, sensitivity (recall rate) and specificity. A web predictor was developed based on the best performance model.Results: A total of 207,137 PCa patients from SEER were included in this study. Of whom, 6725 (3.25%) developed BM. Gleason score, Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) value, T, N stage and age were found to be the risk factors of BM. The XGB model offered the best predictive performance among these 6 models (AUC: 0.962, accuracy: 0.884, sensitivity (recall rate): 0.906, and specificity: 0.879). An XGB model-based web predictor was developed to predict BM in PCa patients.Conclusion: This study developed a machine learning model and a web predictor for predicting the risk of BM in PCa patients, which may help physicians make personalized clinical decisions and treatment strategy for patients.Keywords: prostate cancer, bone metastasis, machine learning, prediction model, SEER

Background Microbiome big data from population-scale cohorts holds the key to unleash the power of microbiomes to overcome critical challenges in disease control, treatment and precision medicine. However, variations introduced during data generation and processing limit the comparisons among independent studies in respect of interpretability. Although multiple databases have been constructed as platforms for data reuse, they are of limited value since only raw sequencing files are considered. Description Here, we present MetaGeneBank, a standardized database that provides details on sample collection and sequencing, and abundances of genes, microbiota and molecular functions for 4470 raw sequencing files (over 12 TB) collected from 16 studies covering over 10 types of diseases and 14 countries using a unified data-processing pipeline. The incorporation of tools that enable browsing and searching with descriptive attributes, gene sequences, microbiota and functions makes the database user-friendly. We found that the source of specimen contributes more than sequencing centers or platforms to the variations of microbiota. Special attention should be paid when re-analyzing sequencing files from different countries. Conclusions Collectively, MetaGeneBank provides a gateway to utilize the untapped potential of gut metagenomic data in helping fighting against human diseases. With the continuous updating of the database in terms of data volume, data types and sample types, MetaGeneBank would undoubtedly be the benchmarking database in the future in respect of data reuse, and would be valuable in translational science.

Integrated modulators are key components for on-chip optical communication and information processing, which have become leading technologies in the current information-growth era. Hence, high-speed, efficient, and compact integrated modulators are in high demand. However, the current integrated midinfrared modulators meet these requirements with difficulty. Here, we present a high-speed and efficient on-chip electro-optic modulator based on midinfrared hyperbolic metamaterials using stacking of graphene and hexagonal boron nitride. The length of the modulation region is only 60 nm, which is integrated on a plasmonic waveguide composed of hyperbolic metamaterials. The maximum modulation depth is up to 30 dB, and the 3-dB modulation speed can reach up to 50 GHz, which is supported by a detailed study of a small-signal frequency-response model. Our work provides an alternative scheme for the design of modulators with the requirements of sub-100-nm integration and 50-GHz modulation speed or even beyond, which can be directly implemented into a two-dimensional-materials-based photonic integrated circuits platform.

As one of the primary contributors to high clinical attrition rates of drugs, toxicity evaluation is of critical significance to new drug discovery. Unsurprisingly, a vast number of computational methods have been developed at various stages of development pipeline to evaluate potential adverse drug reactions (ADRs). Despite previous success of these methods on individual ADR or certain drug family, there are great challenges to toxicity evaluation. In this study, a novel strategy was developed to predict the drug-ADR associations by combining deep learning and the biomedical tripartite network. This heterogeneous network contains biomedical linked data of three entities, for example, drugs, targets, and ADRs. For the first time, GraRep, a deep learning method for distributed representations, is introduced to learn graph representations and identify hidden features from the tripartite network which are further used for ADR prediction. Through this approach, drug-ADR associations could possibly be discovered from a systemic perspective. The accuracy of our method is 0.95 based on internal resource validation and 0.88 based on external resource validation. Moreover, our results show the prediction accuracy using the tripartite network is better than the one with bipartite network, suggesting the model performance can be improved with further enrichment on information. According to the result of 10-fold cross validation, the deep learning model outperforms two traditional methods (topology-based measures and chemical structure-based measures). Additionally, predictive models are also constructed using other deep learning methods, and comparable results are achieved. In summary, the biomedical tripartite network-based deep learning model proposed here proves to offer a promising solution for prediction of ADRs.

Acute lung injury results in early inflammation and respiratory distress, and later fibrosis. The glycosaminoglycan hyaluronan (HA) and the Receptor for Hyaluronan-Mediated Motility (RHAMM, CD168) have been implicated in the response to acute lung injury. We hypothesized that, compared to wild type (WT) mice, RHAMM knockout (KO) mice would be protected from, whereas mice with macrophage-specific transgenic overexpression of RHAMM (TG) would have worse inflammation, respiratory distress and fibrosis after intratracheal (IT) bleomycin. Compared to WT mice, 10 days after IT bleomycin, RHAMM KO mice had less weight loss, less increase in respiratory rate, and fewer CD45+ cells in the lung. At day 28, compared to injured WT animals, injured RHAMM KO mice had lower M1 macrophage content, as well as decreased fibrosis as determined by trichrome staining, Ashcroft scores and lung HPO content. Four lines of transgenic mice with selective overexpression of RHAMM in macrophages were generated using the Scavenger Receptor A promoter driving a myc-tagged full length RHAMM cDNA. Baseline expression of RHAMM and CD44 was the same in WT and TG mice. By flow cytometry, TG bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDM) had increased cell surface RHAMM and myc, but equal CD44 expression. TG BMDM also had 2-fold increases in both chemotaxis to HA and proliferation in fetal bovine serum. In TG mice, increased inflammation after thioglycollate-induced peritonitis was restricted to macrophages and not neutrophils. For lung injury studies, non-transgenic mice given bleomycin had respiratory distress with increased respiratory rates from day 7 to 21. However, TG mice had higher respiratory rates from 4 days after bleomycin and continued to increase respiratory rates up to day 21. At 21 days after IT bleomycin, TG mice had increased lung macrophage accumulation. Lavage HA concentrations were 6-fold higher in injured WT mice, but 30-fold higher in injured TG mice. At 21 days after IT bleomycin, WT mice had developed fibrosis, but TG mice showed exaggerated fibrosis with increased Ashcroft scores and HPO content. We conclude that RHAMM is a critical component of the inflammatory response, respiratory distress and fibrosis after acute lung injury. We speculate that RHAMM is a potential therapeutic target to limit the consequences of acute lung injury.

Ethnopharmacological relevance Shenqi Fuzheng (SQ) is a renowned traditional Chinese medicine extracted from Radix Codonopsis and Radix Astragali. Although SQ is widely used to treat myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury, the molecular mechanisms supporting its clinical application remain elusive. Aim of the study The purpose of current study was to understand its cardioprotective effects at the molecular level using network pharmacology approach. Materials and method In an I/R injury animal model, the beneficial pharmacological activities of SQ were confirmed by decreased infarct range observed on drug treated rats versus control group. Additionally, several serum biochemical indicators were in concord with this observation. Subsequently, a microarray experiment was performed to reveal the influence on injured heart at the gene expression level by this TCM injection. We then proposed a network analysis algorithm NTRA to discover the key nodes based on both disease network structure and transcriptomics. Using NRIODN, a method developed by our group previously, the holistic changes on the gene network induced by for I/R injury and SQ treatment were evaluated. Results Pathway enrichment analysis of highly ranked genes by NTRA showed that PPAR and apoptosis pathways were highly related to I/R injury. Finally, western blot results showed increased level of the PPARα and BAX protein in the heart after injection treatment which confirmed the hypothesis. Conclusion In conclusion, our results suggest that SQ injection exerts protective effect against myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury through multiple pathways, including myocardial energy metabolism improvement, cell adhesion inhibition, inflammatory reaction perturbation, myocardial apoptosis reduction and ventricular remodeling avoidance.

Background: Anal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is a rare gastrointestinal malignancy with rising incidence, both in the United States and internationally. The primary risk factor for anal SCC is human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. However, there is a growing burden of disease in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and HPV coinfection, with the incidence of anal SCC significantly increasing in this population. This is particularly true in HIV-infected men. The epidemiologic correlation between HIV-HPV coinfection and anal SCC is established; however, the immunologic mechanisms underlying this relationship are not well understood. Summary: HIV-related immunosuppression due to low circulating CD4+ T cells is one component of increased risk, but other mechanisms, such as the effect of HIV on CD8+ T lymphocyte tumor infiltration and the PD-1/PD-L1 axis in antitumor and antiviral response, is emerging as significant contributors. The goal of this article is to review existing research on HIV-HPV coinfected anal SCC and precancerous lesions, propose explanations for the detrimental synergy of HIV and HPV on the pathogenesis and immunologic response to HPV-associated cancers, and discuss implications for future treatments and immunotherapies in HIV-positive patients with HPV-mediated anal SCC. Key Messages: The incidence of anal squamous cell carcinoma is increased in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients, even in patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy. Locoregional HIV infection may enhance human papillomavirus oncogenicity. Chronic inflammation due to HIV infection may contribute to CD8+ T lymphocyte exhaustion by upregulating PD-1 expression, thereby blunting cytotoxic antitumor response.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate how early A-waves could occur in type II diabetes, and what it implied functionally.Methods: We performed conduction velocity distribution (CVD) test in peroneal nerves of 37 type II diabetic patients with normal nerve conduction study (NCS) and 22 age-matched controls. The electrophysiological data and clinical information were analyzed.Results: A-waves were observed in 45.9% of diabetic patients and only in 1 person in healthy controls, all detected in the tibial nerves. The diabetic patients with A-waves showed faster conduction velocity in all quartiles in the motor peroneal nerves compared to the patients without A-waves, and their CVD histograms were shifted to the right side, consisting of a significantly larger percentage of fast conducting fibers. There was no significant difference in the CVD values of the upper extremity nerves among the patients with and without A-waves and the healthy controls.Conclusion: A-waves could occur in type II diabetes as early as when NCS showed normal, and represented as a sign of neuropathy as well as a sign of rescued motor nerve function.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) commonly occurs after surgery and is associated with atrial remodeling. TRPV4 is functionally expressed in the heart, and its activation affects cardiac structure and functions. We hypothesized that TRPV4 blockade alleviates atrial remodeling and reduces AF induction in sterile pericarditis (SP) rats. TRPV4 antagonist GSK2193874 or vehicle was orally administered 1 day before pericardiotomy. AF susceptibility and atrial function were assessed using in vivo electrophysiology, ex vivo optical mapping, patch clamp, and molecular biology on day 3 after surgery. TRPV4 expression increased in the atria of SP rats and patients with AF. GSK2193874 significantly reduced AF vulnerability in vivo and the frequency of atrial ectopy and AF with a reentrant pattern ex vivo. Mechanistically, GSK2193874 reversed the abnormal action potential duration (APD) prolongation in atrial myocytes through the regulation of voltage-gated K+ currents (IK); reduced the activation of atrial fibroblasts by inhibiting P38, AKT, and STAT3 pathways; and alleviated the infiltration of immune cells. Our results reveal that TRPV4 blockade prevented abnormal changes in atrial myocyte electrophysiology and ameliorated atrial fibrosis and inflammation in SP rats; therefore, it might be a promising strategy to treat AF, particularly postoperative AF., TRPV4 blockade prevents abnormal changes in atrial myocyte electrophysiology and ameliorated atrial fibrosis in rats and might be a promising strategy to treat atrial fibrillation.

Vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) are guideline-suggested subacute anticoagulants for cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), although there is potential hemorrhage risk in clinical use. In the last decade, novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs) have been applied as an alternative to VKAs in some kinds of thromboembolic diseases. Whether NOACs could replace VKAs in CVST treatment remains unclear. We conducted a comparison between the two types of medicines on efficacy and safety for the treatment of CVST based on the present clinical evidence from a literature search. Six studies [four retrospective studies, one prospective study, and 1 randomized clinical trial (RCT)] including 398 patients were included. Data suggested no significant difference between NOACs and VKAs in terms of recurrence of venous thrombotic events (VTEs) or death [risk ratio (RR) = 0.34, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.06–1.98], partial recanalization (RR = 0.97, 95% CI 0.93–1.14), and overall hemorrhage events (RR = 0.86, 95% CI 0.47–1.58). In conclusion, the application of NOACs for CVST is similar to that of VKAs in terms of efficacy and safety.

PurposeThe authors examine the Taiwanese government's budgetary responses to COVID-19, with a focus on the special budgets created for containing the virus, undertaking bailouts and providing economic stimulus. The authors assess the short-term and long-term fiscal implications of the budgetary measures and discuss how Taiwan's experiences could provide lessons for other countries for future emergencies.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collect data from Taiwan's official documents and news reports and compare the special budgets proposed by the Taiwanese government during the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors discuss lessons learned from the 2008–09 special budget and possible concerns of the 2020 special budgets. In the conclusions, the authors discuss potential long-term implications for Taiwan's budgetary system as well as possible lessons for other countries based on Taiwan's experiencesFindingsThe authors found that the 2008–09 special budgets focused only on economic stimulus, whereas the 2020 special budgets covered COVID-19 treatments, bailouts and economic stimulus. In 2020, the Taiwanese government devised targeted bailout plans for industries and individuals most affected by the pandemic and created the Triple Stimulus Vouchers to boost the economy. Since the special budgets were largely funded through borrowing, the authors pointed out concerns for fiscal sustainability and intergenerational equity.Originality/valueCOVID-19 has changed how the world functions massively. This work adds to the literature on COVID-19 by providing Taiwan's budgetary responses to the pandemic. This work also identifies ways for Taiwan to improve the existing budgetary system and discusses lessons for other countries.

Objective Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) with bulbar-onset (BO-ALS) tends to propagate to the adjacent anatomical regions symptomatically. However, the spreading pattern of clinical and electrophysiological features is not well documented. Methods This retrospective study enrolled consecutive patients with sporadic BO-ALS. The clinical progression and electrophysiological data by electromyography examination were retrospectively analysed based on information from the medical records. Results The study enrolled 57 patients: 43 presented with contiguous (37 of 57) or non-contiguous (6 of 57) progression clinically; and 14 patients did not present with symptomatic propagation to other spinal segments. Lower motor neuron dysfunction was more frequently involved in the bulbar and cervical segments and less in the thoracic and lumbosacral segments. As a result, a small proportion of patients had intact thoracic paraspinal or leg muscles or both by electromyography examination. Furthermore, the patients with diagnostic latency ≤6 months showed a significantly lower incidence of neurogenic changes in the lumbosacral spinal cord compared with those with diagnostic latency > 6 months. Conclusion This current study demonstrated a relative rostral–caudal descending gradient of lower motor neuron dysfunction in patients with BO-ALS. These results suggest that follow-up EMG might be necessary for a proportion of patients.

Due to inevitable noises and quantization error, the reconstructed 3D models via RGB-D sensors always accompany geometric error and camera drifting, which consequently lead to blurring and unnatural texture mapping results. Most of the 3D reconstruction methods focus on either geometry refinement or texture improvement respectively, which subjectively decouples the inter-relationship between geometry and texture. In this paper, we propose a novel approach that can jointly optimize the camera poses, texture and geometry of the reconstructed model, and color consistency between the key-frames. Instead of computing Shape-From-Shading (SFS) expensively, our method directly optimizes the reconstructed mesh according to color and geometric consistency and high-boost normal cues, which can effectively overcome the texture-copy problem generated by SFS and achieve more detailed shape reconstruction. As the joint optimization involves multiple correlated terms, therefore, we further introduce an iterative framework to interleave the optimal state. The experiments demonstrate that our method can recover not only fine-scale geometry but also high-fidelity texture.

Advances in single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) have furthered the simultaneous classification of thousands of cells in a single assay based on transcriptome profiling. In most analysis protocols, single-cell type annotation relies on marker genes or RNA-seq profiles, resulting in poor extrapolation. Here, we introduce scDeepSort (https://github.com/ZJUFanLab/scDeepSort), a reference-free cell-type annotation tool for single-cell transcriptomics that uses a deep learning model with a weighted graph neural network. Using human and mouse scRNA-seq data resources, we demonstrate the feasibility of scDeepSort and its high accuracy in labeling 764,741 cells involving 56 human and 32 mouse tissues. Significantly, scDeepSort outperformed reference-dependent methods in annotating 76 external testing scRNA-seq datasets, including 126,384 cells (85.79%) from ten human tissues and 134,604 cells from 12 mouse tissues (81.30%). scDeepSort accurately revealed cell identities without prior reference knowledge, thus potentially providing new insights into mechanisms underlying biological processes, disease pathogenesis, and disease progression at a single-cell resolution.

BackgroundAfter the scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV infected people, increasing numbers of patients have pretreatment drug resistance (PDR). In this study, the prevalence of PDR was evaluated in adults initiating antiretroviral therapy in China.MethodsBlood samples were obtained from 1943 patients who initiated antiretroviral therapy (ART) in 2017 from 13 provinces or cities in China. Pol sequences were used to analyze drug resistance and construct transmission networks. Logistic regression model was used to estimate the potential factors associated with PDR.ResultsIn total, 1711 eligible patients (76.0% male; 87.8% aged ≥ 25 years) were included, of which 117 (6.8%) had PDR. The highest rates of PDR were 12.2% in Liangshan Prefecture of Sichuan and 9.3 and 8.9% in Dehong and Lincang Prefecture of Yunnan. A multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that PDR was significantly higher among intravenous drug users (adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR) = 2.64, 95%CI: 1.57–4.44) and individuals from Liangshan, Dehong, and Lincang (aOR = 2.04, 95%CI: 1.26–3.30). In total, 754 sequences were used to generate 164 transmission networks. Five transmission networks had two or three sequences containing the same mutations, two networks contained subjects from Liangshan, and one network contained subjects from Dehong.ConclusionsOverall, the PDR prevalence was moderate, with a particularly high prevalence in areas with severe HIV epidemics. These results indicate the importance of continuous PDR monitoring in patients initiating antiretroviral therapy.

The TianQin-1 satellite (TQ-1), which is the first technology demonstration satellite for the TianQin project, was launched on 20 December 2019. The first round of experiment had been carried out from 21 December 2019 until 1 April 2020. The residual acceleration of the satellite is found to be about $1\times10^{-10}~{\rm m}/{\rm s}^{2}/{\rm Hz}^{1/2}$ at $0.1~{\rm Hz}\,$ and about $5\times10^{-11}~{\rm m}/{\rm s}^{2}/{\rm Hz}^{1/2}$ at $0.05~{\rm Hz}\,$, measured by an inertial sensor with a sensitivity of $5\times10^{-12}~{\rm m}/{\rm s}^{2}/{\rm Hz}^{1/2}$ at $0.1~{\rm Hz}\,$. The micro-Newton thrusters has demonstrated a thrust resolution of $0.1~\mu{\rm N}$ and a thrust noise of $0.3~\mu{\rm N}/{\rm Hz}^{1/2}$ at $0.1~{\rm Hz}$. The residual noise of the satellite with drag-free control is $3\times10^{-9}~{\rm m}/{\rm s}^{2}/{\rm Hz}^{1/2}$ at $0.1~{\rm Hz}\,$. The noise level of the optical readout system is about $30~{\rm pm}/{\rm Hz}^{1/2}$ at $0.1~{\rm Hz}\,$. The temperature stability at temperature monitoring position is controlled to be about $\pm3~{\rm mK}$ per orbit, and the mismatch between the center-of-mass of the satellite and that of the test mass is measured with a precision of better than $0.1~{\rm mm}$., Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures

The fiber-optic sensing structures based on modal interference have been widely applied in the measurement of refractive index, liquid level, temperature, gas concentration, and other parameters. In most studies, the sensor's sensing principles are summarized as the change of the effective refractive index of the cladding caused by the measured parameter, which will affect the sensing spectrum. However, the reason why the effective refractive index of the cladding changes with the measured parameter was not explained. In addition, due to the difference in the media's dispersion, this fiber-optic sensing structure has different sensing characteristics in liquid level or refractive index measurement for different media. But there are very little literature for relevant analysis. In this work, the relationship between the phase change caused by the total reflection and the external refractive index was proposed in order to better explain the sensor's sensing principle, and the difference of media's dispersion was fully considered. Theoretical analysis and experimental results proved that this fiber-optic sensing structure has compatibility defects in liquid level monitoring and refractive index measurement, which means it is only suitable for the measurement of its calibration medium.

Introduction Even though transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) is the standard surgical treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), there is a high rate of postoperative retrograde ejaculation. Aim To evaluate the effectiveness of TURP with preservation of the bladder neck in comparison with that of standard TURP. Material and methods This is a retrospective study. 137 men with BPH were divided into two groups: TURP with preservation of the bladder neck and standard TURP were performed respectively in group A and group B. The patients were evaluated preoperatively and at 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery by International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), health-related quality of life (HRQL) score, maximum urinary flow rate (Qmax), postvoid residual urine volume (PVR) and the rate of complications including retrograde ejaculation. Results There was no statistically significant difference between groups in terms of the operative duration, catheterization period, hemoglobin decrease, and hospital stay. At the 3-month follow-up, the rates of incontinence and retrograde ejaculation in group A were lower than those in group B. At the 6- and 12-month follow-ups, the difference in the frequency of retrograde ejaculation remained constantly stable whereas the incontinence rates were similar in both groups. The IPSS, HRQL score, Qmax, PVR and the rate of complications including hematuria, clot retention, urinary tract infection, urethral stricture, and bladder neck contracture evaluated at 3, 6 and 12 months also displayed a very similar response in the two groups. Conclusions Comparable with standard TURP, TURP with preservation of the bladder neck appears to provide a satisfactory clinical outcome in decreasing early postoperative incontinence and lowering the rate of retrograde ejaculation.

Cytokines modulate fetal well-being and contribute to parturition. Their origin in fetal blood, whether maternal, placental or fetal, at the time of parturition remains unclear.To determine fetal and placental contributions to circulating fetal cytokines by measuring umbilical arterial (UmA) and venous (UmV) concentration differences in uncomplicated term pregnancies in the absence and presence of labor.Term uncomplicated pregnancies were assessed: Group 1 were not in labor and delivered by elective cesarean section (n = 20); Group 2 delivered vaginally following uncomplicated pregnancy and labor (n = 30). UmA and UmV blood was collected before delivery of the placenta to measure circulating cytokines. Placental tissue was collected for histology and to determine cytokine contents and localization.Group 1 UmA and UmV IL-10 concentrations were similar (504 ± 15 and 468 ± 16 pg/ml, respectively; P ≥ 0.1); other cytokines were below level of detection. During labor, IL-10 concentrations increased 15-34%, but placental contents decreased. Group 2 UmA IL-6 and IL-8 concentrations increased (P 0.001) to 16.7 ± 1.6 and 18.4 ± 4.3 pg/ml, respectively, but were less (P 0.001) in UmV, 0.29 ± 0.2 and 0.74 ± 0.3 pg/ml, respectively, demonstrating placental clearances ≥97%. This was associated with6-fold increases in placental IL-6/IL-8 contents (P 0.001) and chorioamniotic infiltration of activated maternal neutrophils. IL-6 and IL-10 were localized to villous syncytiotrophoblasts.In uncomplicated term pregnancies fetal circulating IL-10 is likely of placental origin, whereas IL-6/IL-8 are derived from the fetus, increase during parturition, and circulating levels are modulated by non-saturable placental clearance, revealing a novel pathway for fetal-placental crosstalk and signaling.

Previous work from our laboratory showed that motor nerve injury by lumbar 5 ventral root transection (L5-VRT) led to interleukin-6 (IL-6) over-expression in bilateral spinal cord, and that intrathecal administration of IL-6 neutralizing antibody delayed the induction of mechanical allodynia in bilateral hind paws. However, early events and upstream mechanisms underlying spinal IL-6 expression following L5-VRT require elucidation. The model of L5-VRT was used to induce neuropathic pain, which was assessed with von Frey hairs and the plantar tester in adult male Sprague-Dawley rats. Calpain-2 (CALP2, a calcium-dependent protease) knockdown or over-expression and microglia depletion were conducted intrathecally. Western blots and immunohistochemistry were performed to explore the possible mechanisms. Here, we provide the first evidence that both IL-6 and CALP2 levels are increased in lumbar spinal cord within 30 min following L5-VRT. IL-6 and CALP2 co-localized in both spinal dorsal horn (SDH) and spinal ventral horn. Post-operative (PO) increase in CALP2 in ipsilateral SDH was evident at 10 min PO, preceding increased IL-6 at 20 min PO. Knockdown of spinal CALP2 by intrathecal CALP2-shRNA administration prevented VRT-induced IL-6 overproduction in ipsilateral spinal cord and alleviated bilateral mechanical allodynia. Spinal microglia activation also played a role in early IL-6 up-regulation. Macrophage/microglia markers ED1/Iba1 were increased at 30 min PO, while glial fibrillary acidic protein (astrocyte) and CNPase (oligodendrocyte) markers were not. Increased Iba1 was detected as early as 20 min PO and peaked at 3 days. Morphology changed from a small soma with fine processes in resting cells to an activated ameboid shape. Depletion of microglia using Mac-1-saporin partially prevented IL-6 up-regulation and attenuated VRT-induced bilateral mechanical allodynia. Taken together, our findings provide evidence that increased spinal cord CALP2 and microglia cell activation may have early causative roles in IL-6 over-expression following motor nerve injury. Agents that inhibit CALP2 and/or microglia activation may therefore prove valuable for treating neuropathic pain.

Effect of reaction variables of in situ transesterification on the biodiesel production, and the characteristic differences of biodiesel obtained from aerobic granular sludge (AG) and algae-bacteria granular consortia (AAG) were investigated. The results indicated that the effect of variables on the biodiesel yield decreased in the order of methanol quantity > catalyst concentration > reaction time, yet the parameters change will not significantly affect biodiesel properties. The maximum biodiesel yield of AAG was 66.21 ± 1.08 mg/g SS, what is significant higher than that of AG (35.44 ± 0.92 mg/g SS). Although methyl palmitate was the dominated composition of biodiesel obtained from both granules, poly-unsaturated fatty acid in the AAG showed a higher percentage (21.86%) than AG (1.2%) due to Scenedesmus addition. Further, microbial analysis confirmed that the composition of biodiesel obtained from microbial granules was also determined by bacterial community, and Xanthomonadaceae and Rhodobacteraceae were the dominant bacteria of AG and AAG, respectively.

Well-ordered, hierarchical and nanostructured composite electrodes have gained tremendous research attention for energy storage applications, because of their highly efficient electron and ion transport channels and abundant electrochemically active sites. However, it still remains a great challenge to prepare such architectures on a large scale with high active material mass loadings for making better use of the whole electrode area. Herein, needle-like NiCo2S4 nanowhiskers are radially grown on a uniform nickel nanowire array (NNA), forming a unique densely packed test-tube-brush-like nanostructure. Since these NiCo2S4 nanowhiskers are intrinsically highly electrically conductive, the hierarchical electrode structure can drastically elevate the charge transport ability in the whole electrode region; additionally, it can greatly help to release stresses at micro- and nano-scales, leading to robust mechanical flexibility and superior energy storage capability. Experimental results show that this composite array electrode exhibits an ultrahigh specific capacitance of 1523 F g−1 at a mass loading of 4.03 mg cm−2 at a current density of 1 A g−1, and a rate capability of 61.8% from 1 to 40 A g−1, together with a superior cycle stability with 92.4% capacitance retention after 20 000 cycles at a current density as high as 10 A g−1. An asymmetric supercapacitor consisting of a NNA@NiCo2S4 (NNANCS) cathode and activated carbon (AC) anode delivers a maximum energy density of 47.29 W h kg−1 at a power density of 793.5 W kg−1 and still delivers an energy density of 29.50 W h kg−1 at a maximum power density of 27.64 kW kg−1. This work may inspire new ideas for constructing high-performance electrodes for energy storage.

Summary Background/aim The balance of blood CD8+CD28+/CD8+CD28− T cells has been verified to be vital for patients with ulcerative colitis (UC), but their role in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remains unknown. This investigation aimed to evaluate the efficiency of the balance in predicting the active stage in IBD patients. Methods Fifty-three IBD subjects, including 31 UC and 22 Crohn's disease (CD) patients, were enrolled, and their peripheral blood CD8+CD28+ and CD8+CD28− T cell levels were tested using flow cytometry. The risk factors related to prognosis were compared between UC and CD patients. A 1-year follow-up was performed for all the IBD patients, and the CD8+ T cells and their ratio were compared at the 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th months during follow-up. The sensitivity and specificity of the CD8+ T cell level and balance were analyzed through receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves. The cumulative remission lasting rates (CRLRs) under the different factors were analyzed using the Kaplan–Meier method. Results Higher prescription rates of immunosuppressants, steroids, probiotics, and biological agents (BAs) were found in CD subjects in comparison to UC subjects (P = 0.005, 0.024, 0.034, and 0.001), as was a higher active rate during follow-up (95.5% of CD patients vs 67.7% of UC patients, P = 0.035). The CD8+CD28+ T cell level and the CD8+CD28+/CD8+CD28− T cell ratio were significantly higher in UC patients than in CD patients, but the reverse was true for CD8+CD28− T cells during follow-up at the 9th and 12th month (all P Conclusion The CD8+CD28+/CD8+CD28− T cell balance, expected to be a novel immunologic marker, presented a satisfactory efficiency with high sensitivity and specificity in predicting the active stage in UC and CD patients, and the balance was closely related to the use of BAs and surgery.

Various refractive index (RI) fiber-optic sensors have been developed and many studies regarded the RI of the test object as a constant. But in fact, the RI of the test object changes with wavelength which may cause large error in measurement. In this paper, two fiber-optic open-cavity Fabry-Perot interferometers were fabricated, and the dispersion of the medium in the cavity was fully considered. It was proved by theory and experiment that this sensing structure will show inconsistent sensing characteristics in the nominal RI (@589.3 nm) measurement of different mediums due to the difference of the mediums’ dispersion. In addition, a mutual calibration method of open-cavity Fabry-Perot interferometers for RI measurement was proposed and verified, which is suitable for measuring the medium’s dispersion curve at any wave band.

Summary High-nickel layered oxide Li-ion batteries (LIBs) dominate the electric vehicle market, but their potentially poor safety and thermal stability remain a public concern. Here, we show that an ultrahigh-energy LIB (292 Wh kg−1) becomes intrinsically safer when a small amount of triallyl phosphate (TAP) is added to standard electrolytes. TAP passivates the electrode-electrolyte interfaces and limits the maximum cell temperature during nail penetration to 55°C versus complete cell destruction (>950°C) without TAP. The downside of this reliable safety solution is higher interfacial impedance and hence lower battery power; however, thermal modulation for battery operation around 60°C can restore power completely. When cycled at 60°C, the cell stabilized with TAP achieved 2,413 cycles at 76% capacity retention. Such an unconventional combination of interface-passivating electrolyte additive with cell thermal modulation renders the most energy-dense LIBs even safer than LiFePO4 chemistry, while enjoying high power and cycling stability concurrently.

Advances in single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) have furthered the simultaneous classification of thousands of cells in a single assay based on transcriptome profiling. In most analysis protocols, single-cell type annotation relies on marker genes or RNA-seq profiles, resulting in poor extrapolation. Still, the accurate cell-type annotation for single-cell transcriptomic data remains a great challenge. Here, we introduce scDeepSort (https://github.com/ZJUFanLab/scDeepSort), a pre-trained cell-type annotation tool for single-cell transcriptomics that uses a deep learning model with a weighted graph neural network (GNN). Using human and mouse scRNA-seq data resources, we demonstrate the high performance and robustness of scDeepSort in labeling 764 741 cells involving 56 human and 32 mouse tissues. Significantly, scDeepSort outperformed other known methods in annotating 76 external test datasets, reaching an 83.79% accuracy across 265 489 cells in humans and mice. Moreover, we demonstrate the universality of scDeepSort using more challenging datasets and using references from different scRNA-seq technology. Above all, scDeepSort is the first attempt to annotate cell types of scRNA-seq data with a pre-trained GNN model, which can realize the accurate cell-type annotation without additional references, i.e. markers or RNA-seq profiles.

Background: Cyclosporine A (CsA) is a commonly used clinical immunosuppressant. However, CsA exposure in rabbits during the gestation period was shown to cause a postnatal decrease in the number of nephrons, with the effects remaining unknown. In this study, we aimed to explore the effects of CsA on metanephros development in the pregnant BALB/c mice. Methods: Pregnant mice were randomly divided into two groups, and CsA (10 mg·kg−1·d−1) was subcutaneously injected from gestation day 10.5 to day 16.5 in the CsA group, whereas a comparable volume of normal saline was given to the control group. All of the mice were sacrificed on gestation day 17.5 and serum CsA concentration was measured. The fetuses were removed and weighed, and their kidneys were prepared for histological assessment and polymerase chain reaction assay. In an in vitro experiment, embryo kidneys of fetal mice on gestation day 12.5 were used, and CsA (10 μmol/L) was added in the culture of the CsA group. The growth pattern of the ureteric bud and nephrons was assessed by lectin staining. Results: No significant differences in the weight of embryo (4.54 ± 1.22 vs. 3.26 ± 1.09 mg) were observed between the CsA and control groups, the thickness of the cortical (510.0 ± 30.3 vs. 350.0 ± 29.7 μm, P < 0.05) and nephrogenic zone (272.5 ± 17.2 vs. 173.3 ± 24.0 μm, P < 0.05), and the number of glomeruli (36.5 ± 0.7 vs. 27.5 ± 2.1, P < 0.05) were reduced in the CsA group when compared to the control group. The cell proliferation of Ki-67 positive index between control and CsA group (307.0 ± 20.0 vs. 219.0 ± 25.0, P < 0.05) in the nephrogenic zone was decreased with the increase of apoptotic cells (17.0 ± 2.0 vs. 159.0 ± 33.0, P < 0.05). The mRNA expression of WT-1, Pax2, and Pax8 was downregulated by CsA treatment. As for the in vitro CsA group, the branch number of the ureteric bud was decreased in the CsA-treated group with the nephrons missing in contrast to control after the incubation for 24 h and 72 h (all P < 0.0001). Conclusion: Treatment of CsA suppressed metanephros development in the pregnant mice; however, the potential action of mechanism needs to be further investigated. Key words: Apoptosis; Cyclosporine A; Metanephros; Nephron; Ureteric Bud

Background Valuable scientific results on biomedicine are very rich, but they are widely scattered in the literature. Topic modeling enables researchers to discover themes from an unstructured collection of documents without any prior annotations or labels. In this paper, taking ginseng as an example, biological dynamic topic model (Bio-DTM) was proposed to conduct a retrospective study and interpret the temporal evolution of the research of ginseng. Methods The system of Bio-DTM mainly includes four components, documents pre-processing, bio-dictionary construction, dynamic topic models, topics analysis and visualization. Scientific articles pertaining to ginseng were retrieved through text mining from PubMed. The bio-dictionary integrates MedTerms medical dictionary, the second edition of side effect resource, a dictionary of biology and HGNC database of human gene names (HGNC). A dynamic topic model, a text mining technique, was used to emphasize on capturing the development trends of topics in a sequentially collected documents. Besides the contents of topics taken on, the evolution of topics was visualized over time using ThemeRiver. Results From the topic 9, ginseng was used in dietary supplements and complementary and integrative health practices, and became very popular since the early twentieth century. Topic 6 reminded that the planting of ginseng is a major area of research and symbiosis and allelopathy of ginseng became a research hotspot in 2007. In addition, the Bio-DTM model gave an insight into the main pharmacologic effects of ginseng, such as anti-metabolic disorder effect, cardioprotective effect, anti-cancer effect, hepatoprotective effect, anti-thrombotic effect and neuroprotective effect. Conclusion The Bio-DTM model not only discovers what ginseng’s research involving in but also displays how these topics evolving over time. This approach can be applied to the biomedical field to conduct a retrospective study and guide future studies. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13020-017-0148-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

In recent years, the use of retractable roofs is increasing to meet the demand of holding big-scale events. This article introduces a class of radial retractable roofs based on the foldable bar structure (FBS) mechanism. A radial retractable roof structure whose moveable section consisted of 6 segments and 6 rigid linkages was designed with appropriate parameters. An experimental study of a radial retractable roof was carried out. A scale model with a 3 metre diameter was constructed to study the roof deflection and vibration during the deployment process under four different load cases. Furthermore, based on the multi-flexible body dynamics theory, an ADAMS-ANSYS co-simulation was applied to simulate the motion process of the radial retractable roof structure. The experimental results were consistent with the numerical simulations. This indicates that the dynamic and fluctuation phenomena of structural behaviour are universal. The structural vibration was increased with the increase of external loads, and the vibration amplitude increased significantly when the roof was starting and braking. With the closing of the movable roof, the deflection of the fixed roof increased significantly. In the motion process, the bending moment of the fixed roof gradually increases, while that of the moving roof varies little. Vertical vibration is significant in the motion process by reason of the complex wheel-rail contact.

Numerous experimental and finite element studies have shown that steel plate shear walls with slits have several beneficial characteristics, such as good ductility and excellent energy dissipation capacity, which make them a feasible lateral load resisting and energy dissipation system for high-rise buildings in high seismic regions. The width of the flexural links between slits has a significant effect on the mechanical behavior and hysteretic performance of steel plate shear walls with slits. This paper presented two kinds of steel plate shear walls with non-uniform spacing slits (SPWNS) and investigated their performance under low-cycle loading based on tests and finite element software. The study mainly focused on the ultimate bearing capacity, the lateral stiffness, the energy dissipation capacity and the ductility of SPWNS. The results from numerical analysis and test study were compared with each other. The ultimate bearing capacity and the lateral stiffness of traditional steel plate shear walls with uniform spacing slits (SPWUS) were similar to that of SPWNS. In contrast, the ductility and the energy dissipation capacity of SPWUS were much higher.