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BACKGROUND Tumor of the digestive system is a common malignancy with high morbidity and mortality. Although programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) inhibitors have become an effective treatment strategies for many kinds of tumors, there is still some uncertainty in digestive tumors, including: (I) therapeutic effects of PD-1 inhibitors are relatively limited; (II) responses of digestive system tumors to immunotherapies are highly heterogeneous. In the present study, we investigated the outcomes of PD-1 inhibitors for digestive system tumors in Chinese patients to analyze factors that may affect the effects of immunotherapies in digestive system tumors. METHODS Data were obtained from the Hospital Information System (HIS) of the Department of Digestive Oncology (Henan Cancer Hospital) between January 2019 and December 2019. Inclusion criteria included patients receiving the same PD-1 inhibitor continuously for advanced or recurrent/metastatic digestive system tumors. Indicators including age, sex, clinical diagnosis, height, weight, gene status, PD-1 inhibitors, treatment regimen, medication cycle, efficacy evaluation results, and adverse reactions were analyzed retrospectively. The clinical outcomes were progression-free survival (PFS) and safety. RESULTS A total of 2,767 patients were discharged from HIS, of which 64 (37 male/27 female) were included in this study. Thirty-eight (59.4%) of the patients were aged

Background: We aimed to evaluate the therapeutic effect of additional ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) with mesalazine, compared to mesalazine alone in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). The mechanism was evaluated by monitoring the changes of IL-23-IL-17 axis and the intestinal microflora. Methods: In this prospective, single center study, patients with UC were randomly assigned to the Mesalazine group (n=20) or the UDCA + Mesalazine group (n=20). Mayo score and Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ), and fecal samples for 16S rRNA sequencing and blood samples for IL-23 and IL-17 ELISA were collected for analysis. Results: Mayo scores and IBDQ score of the UDCA + Mesalazine group were significantly better than those of the Mesalazine group (P = 0.015 and P < 0.001, respectively). At post-treatment week 4, IL-23 and IL-17 levels were significantly lower in the UDCA + Mesalazine group compared to those in the Mesalazine group (both P < 0.038). In patients with UC after treatment, Firmicutes in the UDCA + Mesalazine group was higher than those in the Mesalazine group (P < 0.001). The UDCA + Mesalazine group showed lower percentage of Proteobacteria compared to those in the Mesalazine group (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Additional UDCA could provide better therapeutic effects than mesalazine alone, possibly due to the change of IL-23 and IL-17 and the proportional distribution of intestinal microflora.

Coal mine drainage gas, also known as Coal-Bed Methane (CBM), is a type of clean energy. Different concentrations or grades of gas are extracted and used in the mining area, and the supply and dema...

Objective: To evaluate the validity of laboratory tests for blood sampling from a peripherally inserted central catheter. Methods: A total of 22 patients diagnosed with head and neck cancers were enrolled. In total, 101 paired blood samples were taken both via venipuncture and peripherally inserted central catheter for hematology and biochemistry testing. Paired t tests and linear correlation analysis were used to evaluate the results. Blood sampling–related pain was recorded by visual analogue scales and numerical rating scales. Infusion occlusion, hemolysis, and catheter-related blood stream infection were also recorded. Results: The peripherally inserted central catheter–associated test results were slightly lower than those with venipuncture. Some parameters differed more than others. However, the degree of difference was less than 5% for every pair. There was a high correlation between the test results with two methods of blood sampling with the representative equation approximately being “y = x.” According to visual analogue scales and numerical rating scale analysis, the pain degree with peripherally inserted central catheter was significantly lower than that of the venipuncture (p Conclusion: Blood sampling via peripherally inserted central catheter and venipuncture showed equivalent reliability in laboratory testing. Compared with venipuncture, blood sampling via peripherally inserted central catheter causes less pain and is safer. Blood sampling via peripherally inserted central catheter is strongly recommended for clinical use.

Using data collected through survey questionnaire across 15 universities, we examine the effect of emotional intelligence on academic work performance (in research, teaching and service) in Australian business faculties. We find academics’ ability to use emotion enhances performance across research, teaching and service, while ability to regulate emotion enhances performance for teaching and service only. We also find support for a process‐based model of emotional intelligence in which appraisal of emotion is a necessary antecedent to emotion’s use and regulation. The results have implications for management in appointment decisions and professional development programmes in business/accounting faculties.

By direct calcination of Cu2+-doped ZIF-8 in oxygen atmosphere, a new photoelectric material, CuO–ZnO heterojunction, was prepared. The morphology and structure were investigated in detail by several methods, such as scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption-desorption method and X-ray diffraction. Under visible light irradiation, CuO–ZnO heterojunction exhibits excellent PEC behavior in aqueous media with the presence of ascorbic acid (AA) and dissolved oxygen at −0.3 V. Taking the CA125-antibody functionalized CuO–ZnO heterojunction (CuO–ZnO-Ab2) as a signal source, a novel photoelectrochemical (PEC) immunosensing platform was developed for ultrasensitive assay of CA125. Because of the target-induced introduction of photoelectric material to the sensing platform, the proposed PEC immunosensor has excellent performance for CA125 assay: near-zero background noise, wide linear response range (1 × 10−5 U/mL to 100 U/mL) and low detection limit (3.16 × 10−6 U/mL). The developed CuO–ZnO heterojunction and the related PEC sensing platform may have promising applications in ultrasensitive and highly accurate monitoring of various proteins in bioanalysis and disease diagnosis.

Herein, a novel label-free photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensing platform with near-zero background noise was developed for M.SssI CpG methyltransferase (M.SssI MTase) activity assay based on a new Schottky junction of Bi2S3/Ti3C2 nanosheets. The proposed PEC sensor exhibited a low detection limit and a high signal-to-noise ratio for M.SssI MTase assay.

The piston pump is the key power component in the civil aircraft hydraulic system, and the most common pump used in the aviation field is the pressure compensated variable displacement type. In this review paper, a basic introduction to the civil aircraft piston pump is presented, including the classification, structure, working principle, design features, and achievements by some research groups. Then, the future directions of the aircraft pump are reported from various perspectives. Further, the critical technologies are analyzed and summarized in detail from six thrust areas: friction couples, noise reduction, inlet boost, thermal management, fault diagnosis and health management, and mechanical seal. Finally, the challenges and limitations of the research on the aircraft pump are discussed to provide valuable insight for future scholars. Keywords: Civil aircraft, Engine driven pump, High pressure, Inlet boost, Intelligent control, Lubricating gaps, Piston pumps, Pulsation reduction

BackgroundBisphenol A (BPA) is widely present in daily necessities, and its exposure is almost everywhere. We aimed to evaluate the relationship between serum BPA levels, biomarkers and recent mortality in young patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (YICH) and low T3 .MethodsUsing a multi-center longitudinal prospective study, the research team recruited 600 YICH patients and divided into two subgroups according to their thyroid function, of which 320 (53.3%) were in the LT3, Sub-clinical hypothyroidism (SCH) was 280 (46.6%) and control group (n = 600).All patients received serum BPA, and biomarker blood draws.ResultsCalculating the cumulative quantification of plastic bag products, BPA increased by 0.204 standard deviation unit per log unit (PTrial registrationThe trial is registered at clinical .gov (www.medresman.Chi CTR1900023626)

BACKGROUND Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) increases the incidence of adverse outcomes in pregnant women. Individual diet intervention (IDI) was developed in our center through collaboration with nutritionists to treat GDM and prevent further complications. We then aimed to analyze the effects of IDI on the level of blood glucose and pregnancy outcomes in pregnant women with GDM. METHODS We retrospectively enrolled pregnant women with GDM between April 2016 and March 2020. Participants in the control group received routine GDM care, and those in the study group received extra IDI on the basis of routine GDM care. Demographic and clinical characteristics of participating pregnant women were retrospectively collected. The study outcomes were the status of blood glucose control after 6 weeks of IDI or conventional intervention and pregnancy outcomes. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were sequentially performed to determine the predictors of proper blood glucose control and risk factors of adverse pregnancy outcomes in the study population. RESULTS A total of 817 pregnant women who had been diagnosed as GDM were enrolled in this study, including 435 admitted between April 2016 to March 2018 who received conventional medication and 382 who were admitted between April 2018 to March 2020 and received IDI. Generally, there was no significant difference in baseline characteristics between study and control groups. Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level after intervention was statistically lower in the study group than in the control group (5.6±0.9 vs. 5.5±0.7, P=0.006). Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that IDI was a predictor of proper blood glucose control in GDM participants (P=0.003). There were more cesarean sections and cases of macrosomia in the control group than the study group, showing statistical difference (35.9% vs. 28.5%, P=0.026; 8.7% vs. 4.7%, P=0.023, respectively). According to multivariable logistic regression analysis, IDI was identified as playing a protective role against cesarean section in GDM participants (P=0.034) and it could reduce the incidence of macrosomia in GDM participants (P=0.028). CONCLUSIONS This novel pattern of IDI may not only help stabilize blood glucose levels in pregnant women with GDM, but also reduce the incidence of adverse outcomes to a certain extent.

Jianmiao Wang,1 Yuping Zhang,1 Yuanyuan Chen,2 Mei Li,1 Hongyan Yang,2 Jinhua Chen,2 Qiaomin Tang,2 Jingfen Jin1,3 1Nursing Department, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, People’s Republic of China; 2Neurology Department, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, People’s Republic of China; 3Changxing Branch Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Huzhou, Zhejiang Province, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Jingfen JinThe Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, No. 88 Jiefang Road, Shangcheng District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, 310009, People’s Republic of ChinaFax +86-0571-87783778Email zrjzkhl@zju.edu.cnPurpose: To determine the effectiveness of rehabilitation nursing program interventions in patients with acute ischemic stroke.Patients and Methods: An assessment-blinded randomized controlled trial was conducted at a tertiary referral hospital in China. Eligible patients were stratified according to their weighted corticospinal tract lesion load and then randomly assigned to an experimental group (n = 121) or a control group (n = 103). The experimental group received rehabilitation nursing from well-trained, qualified nurses (30 minutes per session, two sessions per day for seven consecutive days). The control group received therapist-led rehabilitation with the same timing and frequency. Comparative analysis of the primary outcomes was performed to determine non-inferiority with a predetermined non-inferiority margin. The primary outcomes were the Motor Assessment Scale, Fugl-Meyer Assessment, and the Action Research Arm Test assessed at baseline and after seven days of treatment. The secondary outcomes were the modified Barthel Index, the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, and the modified Rankin Scale, evaluated before and after the intervention and at 4 and 12 weeks of follow-up.Results: Two hundred participants completed the trial. In both groups, all outcomes improved significantly after seven days and at follow-ups. The rehabilitation nursing program was non-inferior to therapist-led treatment with lower 95% confidence limits beyond the margins for primary outcomes (P < 0.001).Conclusion: Both treatments had comparable effects; however, no definite conclusion could be drawn. Adequately powered studies are required.Keywords: rehabilitation, nursing, acute ischemic stroke, motor function

Herein, a highly selective and sensitive photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensing platform was developed for vascular endothelial growth factor 165 (VEGF165) assay based on the porous Cu2O-CuO flower-induced photocurrent-polarity switching of the CdS quantum dots (QDs) modified indium-tin oxide (ITO) electrode. The porous Cu2O-CuO flower with uniform size and large surface area was successfully synthesized by taking Cu-MOF (HKUST-1) as the precursor. Through VEGF165-triggered catalytic hairpin assembly process, the porous Cu2O-CuO flower was introduced to the surface of the CdS QDs/ITO electrode, resulting in the switching of the photocurrent polarity from anodic current to cathodic current. Based on the uniform particle size, high specific surface area, good photoelectric conversion efficiency, and photocurrent polarity switching ability of porous Cu2O-CuO flower, the proposed sensing platform showed excellent assay performance for VEGF165 with a linear response range from 1 to 3000 fM, a detection limit of 0.3 fM, and high selectivity. By changing the specific aptamer, the proposed sensing platform could be easily extended to detect other proteins, and may have a promising application in bioanalysis and early disease diagnosis.

In this paper, the transmission performances are studied in cognitive radio networks with primary user emulator and relay existence. In the proposed network, the users include primary users, secondary users and primary user emulators. The decreasing access priority of the users are primary users, primary user emulators and secondary users. Different user access to the network results in different transmission effects. We impose interference power constraints on the secondary users to protect the primary users from being interfered. We also adopt the transmission mechanism that transits among more than one secondary transmitters, secondary receivers and relays. The transition models of the transmission states are proposed to describe the transmission mechanism. To investigate the transmission performances, the theory of effective capacity is adopted. The transmission performances in terms of effective capacity are expressed and demonstrated under different transmission policies. The overall effective capacity, as the overall data traffic in the cognitive radio network, is calculated. Besides, the overall effective capacity is demonstrated under different transmission strategies. The results show the greedy transmission strategy outperforms the rest of the transmission policies in the overall effective capacity. For a larger number of the users, the effective capacity converges to a certain value.

To investigate an air distribution system with the potential to provide a comfortable thermal environment and efficient ventilation performance in heating mode, this study compared the numerical results of the RNG k-[Formula: see text] model, realizable k-[Formula: see text] model and SST k-ω model with experimental data obtained from a typical office with wall confluent jets ventilation (WCJV) for heating. The SST k-ω model was chosen for numerical study of WCJV. The findings showed that the WCJV performed better than mixing ventilation (MV) in the heating mode because WCJV could entrain less ambient air and maintain the jets’ momentum and energy to reach the occupied zone. The effects of supply air temperature difference (in the range of 2.00°C to 7.79°C) and supply air velocity (in the range of 2.20 m/s to 8.50 m/s) on the jet velocity profiles and ventilation performance of WCJV were also quantified. The results showed that the jet velocity profile was more sensitive to the supply air velocity than to the supply air temperature difference. Accordingly, reducing the supply air velocity might result in poorer thermal environment and air quality in the occupied zone because the warm air jets cannot spread out over the floor area. The results can be helpful in understanding WCJV used for ventilation under heating mode.

Here, based on a newly developed “Z-scheme” CdSe QD/afGQD heterojunction and multiple signal amplification strategies, a sensitive photoelectrochemical methyltransferase activity assay was carried out and a low detection limit of 0.046 U mL−1 was obtained.

This mixed‐method study examines whether and how the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) was influenced by interest groups during the development of the expected credit loss (ECL) model for IFRS 9 Financial Instruments. Content analysis of 327 comment letters revealed that the IASB was influenced. However, Fisher's exact test and chi‐square goodness‐of‐fit test showed that, to a greater extent, the influence was not significant. Furthermore, qualitative analyses of the arguments put forward by interest groups showed that as a result of interest groups’ inputs, accounting requirements for the ECL model were made more operational, less complex and potentially productive of more comparable financial information.

Background: In recent years, targeted therapy combined with traditional chemoradiotherapy and surgery has brought new opportunities for cancer treatment. However, the complex characteristics of cancer, such as heterogeneity and diversity, limit the clinical success of targeted drugs. Discovering of new cancer targets and deepening the understanding of their functional mechanisms will bring additional promising application prospects for the research and development of personalized cancer-targeted drugs. Objective: This study aimed to summarize the role of the Rho GTPase activating protein 9 (ARHGAP9) gene in tumorigenesis and development to discover therapeutic targets for cancer in the future. Methods: For this review, we collected patents from the databases of Espacenet and WIPO and articles from PubMed that were related to the ARHGAP9 gene. Results: Genetic/epigenetic variations and abnormal expression of the ARHGAP9 gene are closely associated with a variety of diseases, including cancer. ARHGAP9 can inactivate Rho GTPases by hydrolyzing GTP into GDP and regulate cancer cellular events, including proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, migration and invasion, by inhibiting JNK/ERK/p38 and PI3K/AKT signaling pathways. In addition to reviewing these mechanisms, we assessed various patents on ARHGAP9 to determine whether ARHGAP9 might be used as a predictive biomarker for diagnosis/prognosis evaluation and a druggable target for cancer treatment. Conclusion: In this review, the current knowledge of ARHGAP9 in cancer is summarized with an emphasis on its molecular function, regulatory mechanism and disease implications. Its characterization is crucial to understanding its important roles during different stages of cancer progression and therapy as a predictive biomarker and/or target.

BACKGROUNDContrast-induced encephalopathy is a rare complication of cerebral angiography with only few cases reported to date. This paper reports on contrast-induced encephalopathy mimicking meningoencephalitis following cerebral angiography with iopromide, a subhypertonic nonionic contrast agent.OBSERVATIONSA 50-year-old woman underwent cerebral angiography for assessment of recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma with invasion of internal carotid artery. The patient experienced symptoms including a disturbance of consciousness, seizures, frequent blinking, and stiffness in the extremities immediately after angiography of the left common carotid artery using iopromide (4 ml/s, total 6 ml). Computed tomography scans of the brain showed no obvious abnormalities, whereas brain magnetic resonance imaging showed swelling of the left cerebral cortex without signs of ischemia or hemorrhage. The patient was treated with intravenous rehydration, mannitol dehydration, and other supportive treatment. With this treatment, neurological status progressively improved, with complete resolution of symptoms at day 10.LESSONSThis observation highlights that even a small dose of subhypertonic nonionic contrast agent can rapidly induce contrast encephalopathy.

Objective To investigate the associations between short-term exposure to fine particular matter (PM2.5) and ischemic stroke (IS) in Yancheng, China, from 2017 to 2019. Methods We designed a time-series study based on generalized additive models to explore the association of PM2.5 and IS admitted in two major hospitals in Yancheng. We built different lag patterns and conducted stratification analyses by age, gender, and season. Moreover, we examined the robustness of the associations adopting two-pollutant models and fitted the concentration-response curves. Result We observed positive and significant associations at lag 0 day. Every 10 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 (lag0) was associated with 1.06% (95% CI: 0.21%–1.91%) increases in hospitalizations for IS. The association remained stable and statistically significant to the adjustment of carbon monoxide and ozone. We observed that the associations were stronger in females and during cold seasons. The overall concentration-response relationship curve was linear positive and increased slowly but rose sharply at higher concentrations in the cold season. Conclusion Our study added to the evidence that short-term exposure to PM2.5 may induce IS, and the government should take action to address the air pollution issues and protect susceptible populations.

In order to utilize the low-concentration gas directly discharged into the atmosphere from 1.1% to 1.50% in coal mine production, the heat storage and oxidation equipment of gas was improved, and the heat storage and safety of gas under high-temperature environment were tested. The experimental results show that the regenerative oxidation system could provide a high-temperature oxidation environment of 1000°C for gas oxidation after changing the heating mode and enhancing the sealing property. The pressure curves of air and gas in the burner were similar. With the increase of gas concentration, the pressure difference between inlet and outlet tended to increase linearly with a minimum pressure differential of 4 kPa (air) and a maximum pressure differential of 11 kPa (1.50% gas). The internal pressure was relatively stable without an instantaneous pressure surge or explosion. The result of this study provides a reference for further research on the low-concentration gas regeneration oxidation unit at high temperatures.

A modified Gilbert down-conversion mixer for 77-GHz automotive radar application is presented in this paper. By replacing the resistive loads with active loads composed of resistors and PMOSs, the output DC voltage becomes stabler, and the suppression of even-order components is improved. Fabricated in 40-nm CMOS technology, the proposed mixer occupies a core chip area of $0.25 \times 0.26$ mm2. The DC power consumption is only 1.5 mW with a 1-V supply. The measured maximum voltage conversion gain is 4.8 dB at LO frequency of 78.5 GHz and IF frequency of 20 MHz. The input 1-dB compression point is 0.8 dBm. Measured results also show that the reflection coefficient of the RF port is less than -11 dB from 74 to 83 GHz.

Coalbed gas (CBG) has been widely used as an important energy source. However, its utilization and allocation system is imperfect in mining areas. During the utilization process, a large amount of CBG is discharged into the air, causing environmental pollution. In this study, we proposed a “full spectrum-domain-time” CBG utilization model. In this model, by combining high methane concentration gas power generation, low methane concentration gas purification, and ultra-low methane concentration gas thermal storage and oxidation utilization, we were able to utilize CBG with full-spectrum of methane concentrations. In addition, by establishing CBG transportation and storage system in mining area, we were able to realize CBG supply in the entire network domain. Furthermore, based on the time series prediction algorithm, the CBG demand of different mining areas is predicted and regulatorily met by real time allocation. Through these three steps, an efficient “full spectrum-domain-time” CBG utilization system was formed and practically applied in Yangquan mining area. The application results showed that under the comprehensive control of “full spectrum-domain-time” CBG utilization model, CBG with methane concentration ≥0.2% could be used in the mining area and its utilization rate increased year by year, reaching the highest of 77.15%. Overall, our study provided a reference for the efficient CBG utilization in the mining area.

Background Cerebral-cardiac syndrome, newly developed cardiac damage manifestations subsequent to cerebral injuries, is a common complication of stroke and leads to increased morbidity and mortality. The current study is aimed to develop a risk prediction scale to stratify high-risk population of CCS among ischemic stroke patients. Methods The study included 410 cases from four tertiary medical centers from June 2018 to April 2019. The risk prediction model was established via logistic regression from the derivation cohort including 250 cases admitted between June 2018 and December 2018. Another 160 cases admitted from January 2019 to April 2019 were included as the validation cohort for external validation. The performance of the model was determined by the area under curve of the receiver operating characteristic curve. A rating scale was developed based on the magnitude of the logistic regression coefficient. Results The prevalence of CCS was 55.2% in our study. The predictive model derived from the derivation cohort showed good calibration by Hosmer-Lemeshow test (P = 0.492), and showed sensitivity of 0.935, specificity of 0.720, and Youden index of 0.655. The C-statistic for derivation and validation cohort were 0.888 and 0.813, respectively. Our PANSCAN score (0 to 10 points) was then established, which consists of the following independent risk factors: PT(12 s–14 s = 0; otherwise = 1), APTT(30s–45s = 0, otherwise = 1), Neutrophils(50–70% = 0; otherwise = 1), Sex(female = 1), Carotid artery stenosis(normal or mild = 0; moderate to severe = 2), Age(≥65 years = 1), NIHSS score(1 to 4 = 2; ≥5 = 3). Patients scored 3 or more points were stratified as high risk. Conclusion The risk prediction model showed satisfactory prediction effects. The PANSCAN scale provides convenient reference for preventative treatment and early management for high-risk patients. Trial registration The study was retrospectively registered in Chinese Trial Registry. The date of registration is April 17, 2019. Trial registration number: ChiCTR1900022587.

In this paper, an accumulative factor was defined to quantify the accumulative effect caused by heat storage by building envelopes in heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) syste...

Background: Bisphenol A (BPA) is a widely used industrial chemical and is associated with many diseases. Here, we investigated the relationship between serum BPA concentration and endocrine function, cytokines, and ambulatory blood pressure indicators in young patients with unexplained intracerebral hemorrhage (YUICH). Methods: 380 YUICH patients and normal control subjects (n = 380) were recruited from Changzhi People's Hospital affiliated to Shanxi Medical University and Changzhi Heping Hospital affiliated to Changzhi Medical College. The serum BPA, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), N-terminal brain natriuretic peptide (NT pro-BNP), matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) and TOLL-like receptor 4 ( TLR-4) level. Radioimmunoassay was used to detect the serum levels of S100B protein (S100B), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), total testosterone (TT) and free testosterone (FT). Observe the variability of blood pressure levels through 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, and use cerebrovascular computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging for routine measurement. Findings: The following parameters of YUICH patients increased significantly compared with the normal control group. Serum BPA (0.85±0.15 vs 0.535±0.11 pg/ml), MMP-9 (104±10 vs 53±8.1 pg/ml), S100B (0.105±0.024 vs. 0.098±0.02μg/L), IL-1β (0.60±0.04 vs. 0.19±0.03 ng/ml), TNFα (1.29±0.13vs0.66±0.09 ng/L), TLR-4 (12.04±1.14vs 5.69±144 ), NT pro-BNP (1464±97 vs. 353), TPO-Ab (81.55±16.7 vs 8.7±2.7 IU/l). The following parameters were significantly reduced compared with the control group, IGF-1 (65.2±10.4 vs 105±9.5 ng/l), P

Facing the problem of structuring irregular data in the big data era, graph databases are a powerful solution to handle link relationship without costly operations and enjoy great flexibility as data model changes. Though it’s well-known that graph databases have superior performance in a certain area than relational databases, little effort has been put into investigating the detail of these advantages. In this paper, we report a systematic performance study of graph databases and relational databases on a transportation network. We design a database benchmark considering traversal and searching performance to evaluate system performance in different data organizations, initial states, and running modes. Our results show that graph databases outperform relational databases system in three main graph algorithms testing. Furthermore, we discuss the reasonable practice in applications based on graph databases from our experiment results.

Taking the zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-67) as the precursor, p-type semiconducting Co3O4–Au polyhedra were synthesized and used as the signal amplifier to construct a sensitive photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensor for caspase-3 activity assay. Here, the n-type semiconductor Bi2S3-modified indium–tin oxide (ITO) slice was used as the photoelectrode. After immobilization of the biotin-DEVD-peptide (biotin-Gly-Asp-Gly-Asp-Glu-Val-Asp-Cys) onto the Bi2S3 surface, the streptavidin-labeled Co3O4–Au polyhedra were introduced to the sensing platform via the specific interaction between biotin and streptavidin. The Co3O4–Au polyhedra can not only quench the photocurrent of the Bi2S3 because of the competitive consumption of electron donors and exciting light energy (p–n-type semiconductor quenching effect), but also act as peroxidase mimetics to produce catalytic precipitate. Additionally, the steric hindrance effect from the Co3O4–Au polyhedra will decrease the PEC response of the Bi2S3. Ingeniously, the pre...

Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is characterized by the selective loss of dopaminergic neurons in the midbrain. The pathogenesis of PD is not fully understood but is likely caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Several genes are associated with the onset and progression of familial PD. There is increasing evidence that leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) plays a significant role in PD pathophysiology. Summary: Many studies have been conducted to elucidate the functions of LRRK2 and identify effective LRRK2 inhibitors for PD treatment. In this review, we discuss the role of LRRK2 in PD and recent progress in the use of LRRK2 inhibitors as therapeutic agents. Key Messages: LRRK2 plays a significant role in the pathophysiology of PD, and pharmacological inhibition of LRRK2 has become one of the most promising potential therapies for PD. Further research is warranted to determine the functions of LRRK2 and expand the applications of LRRK2 inhibitors in PD treatment.

High-performance supercapacitors as the promising energy storage devices have attracted considerable research interests, due to the apparent merits of high power density, fast charge/discharge, and long lifetime. However, their further practical applications are still greatly hindered by the limited energy density, as well as low capacitance, inferior rate capability and poor cycling performance of the electrode materials. Herein, three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical NiCoP@CoS tree-like core-shell nanoarrays (NAs) on nickel foam (NF) are obtained with the vertically grown NiCoP nanowires as core via phosphorization of NiCo2O4 nanowires arrays, and the subsequently electrodeposited CoS nanosheets as shell. The 3D hierarchical tree-like core-shell nanoarrays take advantages of one-dimensional (1D) core as “hyperchannel” for electron transfer, coupling with two-dimensional (2D) vertical shell for fast ion diffusion meanwhile enhancement of cycling stability. The proposed NiCoP@CoS NAs/NF electrode exhibits superior battery-type electrochemical supercapacitor performance via the synergy of NiCoP nanowires and CoS nanosheets, which delivers a high specific capacitance of 1796 F g−1 at 2 A g−1, outstanding rate capability and good cycling stability with high capacitance retention of 91.4% after 5000 cycles even at 10 A g−1. Furthermore, the asymmetric supercapacitor assembled by NiCoP@CoS NAs/NF and activated carbon achieves a high energy density (35.8 Wh kg−1) at a power density of 748.9 W kg−1. The as-fabricated NiCoP@CoS tree-like core-shell nanoarrays hold great promise as novel battery-type electrodes for high-performance supercapacitor applications.

Meiqi Yao, Jinhua Chen, Jiyong Jing, Han Sheng, Xing Tan, Jingfen Jin Nursing Department, The Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, People’s Republic of China Background: Patient adherence is a crucial determinant of rehabilitation in the long term after stroke. However, adherence is inconstant and fluctuates along a time course, and the underlying regular pattern of adherence variation remains to be clarified. Objective: We aimed to describe the longitudinal pattern of adherence to rehabilitation exercises in stroke patients and to determine different adherence phases based on formulated rehabilitation adherence curve. Patients and methods: Rehabilitation adherence levels were prospectively collected using the Questionnaire of Exercise Adherence (EAQ) among patients diagnosed with first-onset stroke since the second week of stroke onset, with a follow-up of 24weeks. SPSS19.0 was used to formulate a fitting curve based on a scatter diagram. Possible causal factors for the different adherence phases are also discussed from the psychological, socioeconomic, and behavioral aspects. Results: A total of 98 patients were included in this study. General adherence of the included subjects was classified as low to medium during follow-up. The adherence fitting curve was an “S” curve, with the fitting function y =0.005x3-0.211x2+1.963x+52.345. Three phases, namely, rapid increase phase, slow decrease phase, and stable phase, were identified based on the adherence curve, and relevant theories are explored. Conclusion: Rehabilitation adherence of stroke patients is a dynamic behavioral process that continuously changes along a time course, with a regular pattern of an “S” curve and includes a rapid increase phase, a slow decrease phase, and a stable phase. Keywords: cerebrovascular disease, rehabilitation pattern, early rehabilitation&nbsp

Herein, a novel photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensing platform was developed based on target-induced switching from indirect Z-scheme NPC-ZnO/Au/CdS to direct Z-scheme CdS/hemin systems accompanied by the photocurrent-polarity switching from cathodic to anodic photocurrents. The developed PEC sensor exhibited excellent selectivity and high sensitivity.

A Wilkinson power combiner performed in shielded coplanar waveguide is presented in this paper. A lumped circuit model has been proposed for the design and optimization of this work. Fabricated in 65-nm CMOS technology, the Wilkinson power combiner occupies a core chip area of 266 × 382 μm2. The measured insertion loss is 0.92-1.33 dB at 20-40 GHz. The input return loss is better than 15.5 dB and the output return loss is better than 25 dB from 20 to 40 GHz. The port-to-port isolation is better than 14.5 dB from 20 to 40 GHz.

Herein, a new photoelectrochemical (PEC) biosensor based on a photocurrent direction switching system and target-triggered strand displacement amplification strategy was developed for the sensitive detection of microRNA (miRNA)-155, and it showed excellent selectivity and a low detection limit of about 49 aM.

Background: Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are secreted ligands of the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) superfamily of proteins. BMP7 has been reported to traverse obesity and regulates appetite in the hypothalamus. However, whether central BMP9 regulates glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity remains unclear. In this study, we focused on the impacts of central BMP-9 signaling and possible route of transmission. Methods: We performed intracerebroventricular (ICV) surgery and injected adenovirus expressing BMP9 (Ad-BMP9) or adenovirus encoding enhanced green fluorescence protein (Ad-GFP) into cerebral ventricle of mice. Then metabolic analyses, hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp (HEC) and analysis of PIP3 formation were fulfilled. Real-time PCR and Western blot were performed to investigate potential pathway. Findings: We exhibited that hypothalamic BMP9 expression was downregulated in obese or insulin resistance (IR) mice. Overexpression of BMP9 in the hypothalamus reduced food intake, body weight, blood glucose, and elevated energy expenditure in high fat diet (HFD)-fed mice. Importantly, central treatment of BMP9 improved hepatic IR and inhibited hepatic glucose production (HGP) in mice fed with HFD. The increased hepatic insulin sensitivity and the related metabolic impacts by central BMP9 were blocked by ICV rapamycin injection (an inhibitor of the mTOR signaling). In addition, ICV BMP9 promoted the ability of insulin to activate the insulin receptor (InsR)/PI3K/Akt kinase pathway in hypothalamus. Interpretation: This study provided insight into the potential mechanism by which central BMP9 ameliorates glucose metabolism and IR by promoting the ability insulin to activate the mTOR/PI3K/Akt signaling in the hypothalamus. Funding Statement: This work was supported by grants from National Natural Science Foundation (No:81873658, 81670755), the Natural Science Foundation Project of CQ (No. cstc2015jcyjA10084 and cstc2013 jcyjA 10067) and the Science and Technology Key Program of Health Bureau of Chongqing (2015ZDXM038). Declaration of Interests: The authors have no conflict of interests to declare. Ethics Approval Statement: In the study, all kinds of treatments for mice were strictly carried out in accordance with the administrative animal management method of Chongqing Medical University, and at the same time, they met the relevant regulations of the Ethics Society of Chongqing Medical University.

Asymptomatic brain abnormalities are common incidental findings on brain MRI in the elderly population and can be regarded as imaging markers of early stroke and dementia. We initiated the Taizhou Imaging Study (TIS) to examine the prevalence and correlates of incidental findings using brain MRI among an elderly population residing in a rural area of China. A total of 562 individuals, at the age of 55 to 65 years, participated in the TIS study with a response rate of 90%. The prevalence of lacunes, white matter hyperintensity (WMH), cerebral microbleeds (CMB), perivascular space, and intracranial arterial stenosis was 26.69%, 10.68%, 18.51%, 27.76%, and 12.81%, respectively. Age and hypertension were the major correlates of these incidental findings. Per each year increase in age, the risks of WMH and CMB increased by 15% and 14%. Compared to individuals with normal blood pressure, individuals with hypertension had an increased risk of all incidental findings, with the adjusted odds ratios of 2.28 to 5.45. Correlations of age, gender and body mass index with brain gray matter fraction were also observed. The high prevalence of these findings indicates a need of preventative strategy to help prevent future stroke and dementia in this population.

With mining technology and mechanization degree being improving, fully mechanized caving mining technology (FCM) has become a main method for thick coal seam extraction in China. However, roof-coal caving characteristics in turn restrict its recovery efficiency, especially for the coal seam with complicated structure (CCS), that is, the coal seam comprises hard or soft coal and gangue. In order to explore the key factors influencing the roof-coal caving and recovery characteristics, related research work has been conducted as follows: firstly, a mechanical model of CCS has been established, which indicates the strength of the coal and gangue will directly affect the roof-coal recovery. Meanwhile, based on the geological settings of Qinyuan coal mine, numerical simulation on roof-coal caving law under different thicknesses of hard or soft coal and gangue has been performed using UDEC software. The results show that the maximum principal stress will increase with the increase of mining depth, making the roof-coal to break easily. Furthermore, the range of the plastic zone of the top coal and the damage degree of the top coal increase with the increase of mining depth. Physical modeling results show that when an extraction-caving ratio is 1, the number of times the coal arch forms is 0.43 at every caving, up to a maximum of 3; the number of times coal arch forms with an extraction-caving ratio of 2 is 4.65 times larger than that with an extraction-caving ratio of 1. The probability of coal arch formation with an extraction-caving ratio of 3 is minimal, about 0.4, which is due to that the arch span is large and the curvature is small, so it is difficult to form a stable arch structure. According to the mechanical characteristics of roof-coal in Qinyuan coal mine, deep-hole blasting technique has been used to reduce the fragments of roof-coal crushed. The results show that this technique can effectively improve the recovery of roof-coal.

Background and Purpose: Bisphenol-A (BP-A) is a widespread industrial chemical used in the synthesis of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. Recent epidemiological investigations have disclosed the associations between BP-A exposure and some diseases. Evidence from experimental animal studies and clinical studies suggests the BP-A can act as an estrogenic endocrine disruptor and impact neurological outcome. The present study aimed to determine serum BP-A concentrations in youth patients with unexplained intracerebral hemorrhage (YUICH) as well as the relationship and the change among serum BP-A levels, thyroid function parameters, thyroid autoimmunity, and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) compared to a control group. Methods: Three hundred and sixty-five YUICH patients and three hundred-eighty age and gender-matched healthy controls were included from the Affiliated Changzhi Municipal people's Hospital of Shanxi Medical University and the Affiliated Heping Hospital of Changzhi Medical college. Serum BP-A levels and insulin growth factor-1 (IGF-1) were measured using corresponding ELISA kits. Several hormonal parameters, including: free and total thyroxine (FT4, TT4), or free and total triiodothyronine (FT3, TT3), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), antithyrogobulin (TgAb), antithyroperoxidase (TPOAb), and antithyrotrophin receptor (TRAb) antibodies were measured by using electrochemiluminescence immunoassay Kits. Data analysis was performed using the statistical package SPSS version 18.0 (SPSS, Inc). Results: The levels of serum BPA were significantly higher in the total YUICH group compared with that in the controls（0.85±0.15ng/L vs 0.535±0.11ng/L,P＜0.01). Significant difference was also observed in TPO -Ab and IGF-1 between YUICH patients and controls, (12±1.7 ng/L vs 6.7±2.7 IU/L and 65.2±10.4ng/L vs 105±9.5 ng/L, both of P ＜0.01). Similar trends were observed in the male and Female subgroup. Mean FT4 level was higher in male YUICH groups than in the control groups (45±10.2 nmol/L vs 26 ± 9.2 nmol/L,P＜0.01) ,and TSH was higher in female YUICH group than in the control (9±2.3 ng/Lvs2.1±0.4 ng/L, P＜0.01 ). Linear relation and regression analysis have shown that increasing serum BP-A level were statistically positively correlated with TPOA (r=0.47,P＜ 0.01),and significant negatively associated with low IGF-1 level (r = - 0.49, P＜0.01). additionally, Serum BP-A was positively related with serum free- thyroxine for male YUICH groups（r = 0.42, P＜0.01), but was negatively correlated with thyroid stimulating hormone for female YUICH group ( r= - 0.41, P ＜0.01). However, no statistical difference was noted for serum TgAb and TRAb. Conclusion: Our findings firstly demonstrated that BP-A exposure increased in YUICH patients compared with that in healthy controls. While Female is subclinical hypothyroidism and Male is hyperthyroidism ( high T4) and IGF-1 levels decreased. TPOAb presented a positive association with BP-A. It is concluded that hormone disorder induced by BP-A exposure might be an environmental factor in the pathology of YUICH. Funding Statement: Supports from the Natural Science Foundation of Shanxi provincial (2010011055-10; Shanxi Provincial Science and Technology Department of the Project Fund (2011099); Spark Planning Project of Changzhi City of Shanxin Provin (200704009). Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest. Ethics Approval Statement: All subjects gave their informed consent for inclusion before they participated in the study to be conducted in accordance with the declaration of Helsinki, and the protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Affiliated Changzhi Municipal People's Hospital of Shanxi Medical University (Ethical code: No.2013093).

Background We aimed to assess the clinical efficacy of bypass grafting in recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients with internal carotid artery invasion. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed involving 51 patients either operated by bypass grafting (n = 22) or treated with repeated chemo-radiotherapy (n = 29). Results Four patients in the bypass grafting group died 3–5 months after the operation due to epistaxis and pulmonary infection (4/22, 18.2%), and three more patients exhibited a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) ≥ 2 during the follow-up (3/22, 13.6%). In the repeated chemo-radiotherapy group, 8 patients died (8/29, 27.6%), including seven patients dying within 2–3 months due to epistaxis and pulmonary infection (7/29, 24.1%). One more patient died of epistaxis after 9 months. The difference in mortality between the two treatment groups within 3 months of treatment was statistically significant (P = 0.038). Conclusions Cerebrovascular reconstruction after detailed collateral flow assessment is an effective treatment for recurrent NPC patients with internal carotid artery invasion.

Phenology is one of the prominent indicators for studying the impact of climate change on crop production. Based on cotton phenology and meteorological data from 79 agricultural weather stations in China between 1981 and 2017, the Pearson correlation, multi-variate linear regression and path analysis are applied to investigate the spatial and temporal changes of cotton phenological indices and climate variables (precipitation (Pre), sunshine duration (Sun), average (Tave), minimum (Tmin) and maximum temperatures (Tmax), influence degrees of Pre, Sun, and Tave on phenology, and isolated effects of climate change and crop management on cotton phenology. The results showed that: (1) Emergence (Eme), squaring (Squ), flowering (Flo), and boll opening (Bol) dates of cotton advanced by 0.026–0.351 days year−1, respectively. The cotton sowing (Sow) and maturity (Mat) dates were delayed by 0.170 and 0.337 days year−1. The average phenological stages from Sow-Eme, Squ-Flo, and Flo-Bol were shortened about 0.19–0.30 days year−1, Eme-Squ, Bol-Mat and the Sow-Mat were delayed by 0.11, 0.77, and 0.082 days year−1, respectively. (2) Pre had a positive effect on most of the lengths phenological stages of cotton except during Bol-Mat. The effect of Sun on the length of the various phenological stages of cotton was the opposite of that of Pre. Tave, Tmin, and Tmax on the general negative effects on the length of the cotton phenological stages. (3) Pre, Sun, and Tave had different influence degrees on the cotton phenological stages because of different regional climate characteristics. (4) The impact of climate change on cotton phenology was weaker than crop management or combined effects of climate change and crop management. Under the combined impacts, and isolated impact of crop management, the lengths of the stages from Sow-Eme and Squ-Flo were shortened while other phenological stages were extended. The isolated impact of climate change shortened the lengths of stages from Sow-Eme, Eme-Squ, and Flo-Bol, extended Squ-Flo, Bol-Mat, and Sow-Mat, implying that the longer-duration cotton varieties in a changing climate might be a better choice for planting. This could be a viable strategy for adapting to climate change. In addition, the study found that Seed cotton yield (Scy) decreased with the delay of Sow, Eme, Squ, Flo and Bol dates, increased with the increase of the lengths of Sow-Eme, Flo-Bol, Bol-Mat and Sow-Mat. And the change trend of Scy affected by climate change was less than that affected by crop management or combined effects.

In studying the Chinese Buddhist canon, or even individual texts preserved in different editions of the canon, scholars have concentrated too much on its printed editions. This emphasis has been to the negligence of three kinds of major sources that may closely bear on the studies of the Chinese Buddhist canon: (1) the manuscript editions of the canon, which were generally created before the printed edition, or Buddhist manuscripts hand-copied individually; (2) secular sources not included in various editions of the canon (the so-called extra-canonical sources); and finally, (3) canonical texts with quotes or paraphrases of earlier ones, scriptural or non-scriptural. This article by no means intends to address these issues with a comprehensiveness that they deserve. Rather, it will limit itself to some passing remarks on these issues.

The study aims to investigate the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of intracranial hypotension syndrome (IHS) and the change of quantitative indicators, so as to yield a deeper understanding of the disease.The clinical data and MRI findings of 26 cases of IHS which were confirmed by lumbar puncture were retrospectively analyzed. Two physicians evaluated the MRI findings including thickening and enhancement of dural, pituitary enlargement, subdural effusion (hematocele), venous engorgement and brain sagging, and measured the quantitative indicators including mamillopontine distance and pontomesencephalic angle. The consistency between the two results of the physicians was assessed by Kappa consistency test. The differences of mamillopontine distance and pontomesencephalic angle between the patient group and the control group were determined by paired t-test. The diagnostic efficiency of mamillopontine distance and pontomesencephalic angle was assessed by area under the ROC curve, and their best diagnostic thresholds were also determined, respectively. Age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers controls (n=26) were recruited and served as the control group.All of the 26 patients suffered from the characterized by orthostatic headache of IHS. The clinical evaluations of dural thickening and enhancement, pituitary enlargement, subdural effusion (hematocele), venous engorgement by the two physicians showed excellent agreements (κ=0.808, 1 and 0.906, P0.01), and the clinical evaluations of brain sagging showed medium agreements (κ=0.606, P0.01). The mamillopontine distance and pontomesencephalic angle of the patient group were 5.4 ± 1.6mm and 47.8 ± 8.7°, respectively, which were obviously less than those of the control group (6.9 ± 1.1mm and 61.0 ± 6.1°, respectively), and the differences were statistically significant (t=-4.563, P0.01; t=-.329, P0.01). The area under ROC curve of mamillopontine distance and pontomesencephalic angle were 0.774 and 0.908, respectively, and the diagnostic value of pontomesencephalic angle was higher than that of the mamillopontine distance. The sensitivity and specificity were 73.1% and 73.1%, respectively, when diagnostic threshold of mamillopontine distance was 6.4mm. The sensitivity and specificity were 76.9% and 96.2%, when diagnostic threshold of pontomesencephalic angle was 51.7°.The MRI findings presented characteristic features of IHS. The quantitative indicators including mamillopontine distance and pontomesencephalic angle were helpful for clinical diagnosis of subjective findings of IHS.

Whether the learning engagement of tourism students during undergraduate study can improve their comprehensive quality effectively and promote their employability? In order to make the results of r...

Cognitive radio is an important technology developed by the next generation of wireless networks to effectively use limited spectrum resources and meet the rapidly growing demand for wireless applications and services. However, reliability is very important but not well-resolved problem in cognitive wireless networks. In this paper, we focus on the algorithm of interference avoidance in the presence of secondary user with traditional power control capabilities. Using the reinforcement learning algorithm based on proximal policy optimization, and adjusting its own transmit power, secondary user achieves its own quality of service requirements. Through experiments, it is proved that the algorithm used in this paper can not only deal with different secondary user power control strategies, but also show good stability in the changes of wireless environment noise and small amount data of the environment.

Depended on the target-induced formation of a DNA-linked CdSe quantum dots/amino-functionalized graphene quantum dots (denoted as CdSe QDs/AGQDs) “Z-scheme” system, an ultrasensitive and highly selective PEC sensing platform has been constructed for DNA assay. Firstly, the indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode was modified with the poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA)-decorated reduced graphene oxide (PDDA-rGO) to fix and disperse CdSe QDs. The obtained ITO/PDDA-rGO/CdSe QDs electrode generated an anode photocurrent. After catalytic hairpin assembly (CHA) and hybridization chain reaction (HCR) processes triggered by target DNA (T-DNA), abundant and long double-strand DNA (dsDNA) were introduced to the sensing platform. And then, numerous AGQDs were intercalated into the dsDNA strands, resulting in the formation of DNA-linked CdSe QDs/AGQDs “Z-scheme” system and the change of the response signal from anodic to cathode photocurrents. Because of the negative background signal and DNA-based amplification strategy, T-DNA was detected sensitively (linear range, 1 aM - 100 pM; detectable limit, 0.1 aM). Importantly, the developed PEC sensing platform can avoid the effects of the initial signal and background noise, and has the enhanced sensitivity and anti-interference ability, which make it may have promising application in bioanalysis and disease diagnosis.

With the development of film industry, more and more excellent foreign films are brought into China, meanwhile, many domestic films are going outside. In order to let both people at home and abroad understand each other, translators bear lots of responsibility to express the culture. This paper concentrates on the Intercultural communication, and how translators build the relationships between the native language and target language, in this paper i will talk about the translation strategies in the film subtitle from the perspective of Intercultural communication. The purpose of this thesis is to improve the future film subtitle translation and help people to know very well about the content and topics in the foreign films and understand foreign films culture in a better way.

Background: Asymptomatic brain abnormalities are common incidental findings on brain MRI in the elderly population and can be regarded as imaging markers of early stroke and dementia. We initiated the Taizhou Imaging Study (TIS) to examine the prevalence and correlates of incidental findings using brain MRI among an elderly population residing in a rural area of China. Methods: A total of 562 individuals, at the age of 55 to 65 years, participated in the TIS study with a response rate of 90%. The primary findings included lacunes, white matter hyperintensity (WMH), and cerebral microbleeds (CMB), perivascular space (PVS), intracranial arterial stenosis (ICAS), and others (venous angioma, etc.). The brain parenchymal fraction and the brain gray matter fraction (BGMF) were also estimated. Findings: The prevalence of lacunes, WMH, CMB, PVS, and ICAS was 26.69%, 10.68%, 18.51%, 27.76%, and 12.81%, respectively. Age and hypertension were the major correlates of these incidental findings. Per each year increase in age, the risks of WMH and CMB increased by 15% and 14%. Compared to individuals with normal blood pressure, individuals with hypertension had an increased risk of all incidental findings, with the adjusted odds ratios of 2.28 to 5.45. Correlations of age, gender and BMI with BGMF were also observed. Interpretation: The prevalence of MRI incidental findings was high in the rural Chinese population at the age of 55-65 years. The high prevalence of these findings indicates a need of preventative strategy to help prevent future stroke and dementia in this population. Funding: The project was supported by the International Science and Technology Cooperation Program of China (grant number: 2014DFA32830), the Key Research and Development Plans of Jiangsu Province (grant number: BE2016726), the key basic research grants from Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (grant number: 16JC1400500), the Karolinska Institutet (Senior Researcher Award and Strategic Research Area in Epidemiology), and the National Key Research and Development program of China (grant number: 2017YFC0907002, 2017YFC0907501). Declaration of interests: We declare no competing interests. Ethical Approval Statement: This study was approved by the Human Ethics Committee of School of Life Sciences of Fudan University (number of Institutional Review Board approval: 469).

Diverse biological roles for mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase kinase 4 (MAP4K4) have necessitated the identification of potent inhibitors in order to study its function in various disease contexts. In particular, compounds that can be used to carry out such studies in vivo would be critical for elucidating the potential for therapeutic intervention. A structure-based design effort coupled with property-guided optimization directed at minimizing the ability of the inhibitors to cross into the CNS led to an advanced compound 13 (GNE-495) that showed excellent potency and good PK and was used to demonstrate in vivo efficacy in a retinal angiogenesis model recapitulating effects that were observed in the inducible Map4k4 knockout mice.

Jones et al.’s (Acad Manag Rev 32(1):137–155, 2007) typology of stakeholder culture, representing the beliefs, values and practices that an organization has towards its stakeholders, has received widespread recognition. Yet, the literature lacks an instrument to quantify the typology. This study provides such an instrument by constructing and validating a scale of Jones et al.’s (2007) four other-regarding stakeholder cultures of corporate egoist, instrumentalist, moralist and altruist in the not-for-profit (NFP) context. Mail survey data were collected from top management of 621 Australian NFP companies limited by guarantee that were drawn from various online databases. Exploratory factor analysis produced a five-factor structure with the altruist factor split into two sub-factors. Confirmatory factor analysis supported Jones et al.’s (2007) typology by showing a satisfactory fit of a four-factor model. A major contribution of the study is that the scale may be used in future research into stakeholder culture and salience in NFPs and similar organizations.

On the basis of a memorial inscription dedicated to an obscure foreign monk known to us only by a rather ordinary word, Damo 達摩 (Dharma), which was obviously a part of his name, this study attempts to reconstruct some traces of his life, and several key aspects of his image as was perceived by his contemporaries. Partly due to his obscurities and popularities, starting from a certain point of time this Damo started to be conflated with the famous Bodhidharma. The research presented in this article shows that it is difficult to identify this Damo to be Bodhidharma. However, several major aspects of Damo’s image seems to have played a noticeable role in informing the image of Bodhidharma and the Chan ideologies related to him. This case study underscores the complexity of the process through which the life and image of a religious paragon in medieval China, like elsewhere in the world of any time, were made and remade.