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Endoscopic retrograde appendicitis therapy (ERAT) is an emerging endoscopic treatment modality for acute uncomplicated appendicitis (AUA) supported by several case series. However, to date, systematic studies have not been conducted in children and the prospective comparative data are lacking. Moreover, due to a concern for future malignancy risk in children from ionizing radiation, we used contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) instead of endoscopic retrograde appendiceal radiography (ERAR). Therefore, we conducted a prospective, randomized control clinical trial to compare the modified ERAT (mERAT) to antibiotic therapy in children with AUA. The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and feasibility and of mERAT in the treatment of hospitalized children with AUA. Children with AUA, confirmed by ultrasonography and or abdominal computed tomography, were consecutively enrolled from October 2018 to February, 2020. They were randomly assigned to receive mERAT or routine antibiotic treatment. Patients were followed until May, 2020. Th primary outcome variable was the duration of relief of the abdominal pain after treatment. We collected patient’s demographics, ultrasonic imaging findings, colonoscopy findings, and treatment outcomes of the mERAT and adverse even associated with mERAT. A total of 83 children were enrolled. 36 were randomized to mERAT and 47 to antibiotics treatment. All children in the mERAT group had endoscopic confirmed acute uncomplicated appendicitis, and there were no significant complications. However, 9 of patients in antibiotic group were poor responsive to treatment and switched to mERAT. The overall success rate of treatment with mERAT (100%) was significantly higher than that of antibiotics (80.9%) (P = 0.004). The median time to discharge was significantly shorter in mERAT group than in antibiotics treatment group [6.0 ± 1.76 days] (P = 0.004). mERAT provide a new alternative therapeutic option for childhood with AUA, especially for families who are reluctant to undergo an appendectomy.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is characterized by chronic and relapsing intestinal inflammation, which currently lacks safe and effective medicine. Some previous studies indicated that Astragaloside IV (AS-IV), a natural saponin extracted from the traditional Chinese medicine herb Ligusticum chuanxiong, alleviates the experimental colitis symptoms in vitro and in vivo. However, the mechanism of AS-IV on IBD remains unclear. Accumulating evidence suggests that M2-polarized intestinal macrophages play a pivotal role in IBD progression. Here, we found that AS-IV attenuated clinical activity of DSS-induced colitis that mimics human IBD and resulted in the phenotypic transition of macrophages from immature pro-inflammatory macrophages to mature pro-resolving macrophages. In vitro, the phenotype changes of macrophages were observed by qRT-PCR after bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) were induced to M1/M2 and incubated with AS-IV, respectively. In addition, AS-IV was effective in inhibiting pro-inflammatory macrophages and promoting the pro-resolving macrophages to ameliorate experimental colitis via the regulation of the STAT signaling pathway. Hence, we propose that AS-IV can ameliorate experimental colitis partially by modulating macrophage phenotype by remodeling the STAT signaling, which seems to have an essential function in the ability of AS-IV to alleviate the pathological progress of IBD.

A novel adjustable dual-band bandpass filter using a quantic-mode resonator consisting of stepped impedance resonators (SIRs) and coplanar waveguide resonators (CPWRs) is proposed in this paper. The SIRs provide the lower passband with two transmission poles (TPs), while the upper passband is introduced by CPWRs and two TPs are obtained. Furthermore, an equivalent rectangular loop resonator (RLR) derived from the CPWRs is also introduced, providing another TP for the upper passband. One of the marked features of the filter is that the two passbands can be adjusted independently because of the independent resonant paths of different resonators. Besides, this filter has four transmission zeros (TZs), promising good stopband rejection and high band-to-band isolation. The measured results are consistent with the simulated results.

Here, the uncontrolled rectification pre-charging characteristics of the VSC-HVDC system with different modular multilevel converter (MMC) topologies such as full-bridge, half-bridge, and hybrid topologies are proposed based on theoretical analysis and PSCAD/EMTDC simulations. Different MMC topologies have a great impact on the selection of pre-insertion resistors. The surge energy of pre-insertion resistors is the lowest with the full-bridge sub-module (FBSM) MMC, while much higher with the half-bridge sub-module (HBSM) MMC. In order to prevent start-up failure caused by extremely non-uniform voltage between FBSM and HBSM of hybrid MMC, the FBSM should be turned to half-bridge state by valve control system as soon as possible so as to carry out the second charge, and then balance the sub-modules voltage by bypass certain high-voltage sub-modules. The half-controlled charging process has a great influence on the absorbed energy of the pre-insertion resistors of hybrid MMC. The research results can be used to guide the selection of VSC-HVDC pre-insertion resistors and start-up strategy making.

Purpose Facial skin fibroblasts imposed with cyclic stretch at 10% magnitude display considerable mechanotransduction properties and biochemical reactions in our previous study. However, it is poorly understood how these shared traits are fully parallel to the common features across all fibroblasts derived from different skin-based anatomical regions in response to cyclic stretch stimulation. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of various cyclic stretches on fibroblasts derived from multiple anatomical skin sites of human bodies, and the optimal stretch magnitude was defined based on the changes to cell mechanical behavior. Methods Fibroblasts from skin areas of the scalp, anterior chest, suprapubic, axilla, and planta were cultured and characterized in vitro. Cyclic stretch at 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% magnitudes was imposed at a loading frequency of 0.1 Hz for 48 hours, and thereafter, the mechanical behavior and biochemical reaction of the dermal fibroblasts were analyzed. Results Dermal fibroblasts from various anatomical sites preconditioned with varying cyclic stretch led to an evident increase in the cell proliferation ability, the expression of integrin β1 and p130 Crk-associated substrate messenger RNA and protein, and the productions of type I collagen and transforming growth factor β1, most importantly in a strain magnitude-dependent manner with the peak appearing in the range of 10% to 15% magnitude cyclic stretch. Conclusions These findings may facilitate the subsequent studies on the conversion of normal skin fibroblasts into hypertrophic scar cells, which should be considered in an interpretation of the mechanisms of hypertrophic scarring and skin mechanics.

In order to allocate reasonable spectrum resources above 6 GHz for 5th-Generation (5G) in China, this paper analyzes the new progress of upcoming World Radio Conference-2019 (WRC-19) agenda 1.13, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 5G New Radio (NR), and Chinese 5G spectrum planning. It analyses the possibility of Chinese spectrum planning in several candidate frequency bands with Monte-Carlo simulation, including 24.75-27.5 GHz, 31.8-33.4 GHz, 37-43.5 GHz, 64-71 GHz, 71-76 GHz and 81-86 GHz. The compatibility is viable between mobile service (MS) and earth exploration satellite service (EESS), radio astronomy service (RAS), inter-satellite service (ISS) in 24.75-27.5 GHz. It’s likely to allocate 24.75-27.5 GHz to 5G in China. There is coexisting difficulty and adverse propagation condition in 31.8-33.4 GHz. It is almost impossible to allocate 31.8-33.4 GHz to 5G in China. It is compatible between MS and fixed-satellite service (FSS), EESS (passive) with additional isolation and out-of- band emission limitation in 37-43.5 GHz. It is possible to allocate 37-43.5 GHz to 5G in China.

Background: On-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (ON-PCABG) and off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OF-PCABG) greatly affect myocardial metabolism (MCMB). However, no study has systematically explored and compared the impacts of ON-PCABG and OF-PCABG on MCMB. This study will aim to explore and to compare the effects of ON-PCABG and OF-PCABG on MCMB systematically. Methods: We will conduct the comprehensive literature search from the following electronic databases from inception to the present: Cochrane Library, EMBASE, MEDILINE, CINAHL, AMED and 4 Chinese databases without language restrictions. This systematic review will only concern randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and case-control studies of ON-PCABG and OF-PCABG on MCMB. The methodological quality of each entered study will be assessed by using Cochrane risk of bias tool. Results: Primary outcomes include myocardial cellular markers, myocardial lactate, oxygen utilization, pyruvate, and intramyocardial concentrations of glucose, urea and lactate. Secondary outcome comprises of glutathione, superoxide dismutase, myeloperoxidase, and oxidative stress and any other complications post surgery. Conclusion: This study will provide a high-quality synthesis and will assess and compare the effects of ON-PCABG and OF-PCABG on MCMB based on the current relevant literature evidence. Dissemination and ethics: The results will be submitted to peer-reviewed journals for publication. This study does not require ethic approval, because it only analyzes the data from published literature. Systematic review registration: PROSPERO CRD42019125381.

Background This systematic review will assess the effectiveness of advanced nursing care (ANC) on depression in patients with ovarian cancer (OC). Methods We will identify any relevant randomized controlled trial from Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, Springer, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure from their inceptions to March 5, 2019. The primary outcome includes depression. The secondary outcomes consist of anxiety, quality of life, and adverse events. Data that meets all the eligibility criteria will be extracted, pooled, and analyzed by using RevMan 5.3 software. Methodological quality for each eligible study will be assessed by using Cochrane risk of bias tool. Results This study will analyze depression, anxiety, quality of life, and adverse events of ANC on depression in patients with OC. Conclusion The findings of this study will provide the latest evidence for the effectiveness and adverse events of ANC on depression in patients with OC. Ethics and dissemination No ethic approval is required for this study, because all the data will be extracted from previous published studies. The results of this study will be presented at conference or will be published at a peer-reviewed journal. Prospero registration number PROSPERO CRD42019126374.

The body changes markedly during pregnancy; each system behaves differently from a nonpregnant state. As the eyes are the only windows to see directly what is going on in the internal environment, more and more researches have been done to explain the association between ocular changes and the physiological and pathological changes during pregnancy. The choroid is one of the critical parts of the eye, providing nutrition. And abnormal choroid may result in ocular dysfunction and visual problems. As the optical coherence tomography develops, a rapid, direct, noninvasive, and nontoxic way is available to obtain the choroid situation of pregnant women, which may explain the mechanism of pregnancy-related eye diseases. This review would summarize relevant original articles published from January 1, 2008 to December 1, 2016 to assess the changes of choroidal thickness (CT) with enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT) during pregnancy. And the relationship between choroidal thickness changes and pregnancy remains uncertain. To our knowledge, this is the first review of EDI-OCT in assessing the choroidal thickness of the pregnant women.

Residue Number Systems (RNSs) has been widely used in digital signal processing (DSP) systems and cases of fast computing, parallelism and fault tolerant because of its carry-free property. However, the comparison operation in an RNS is quite difficult and the computation cost is high, which are a significant limitation to apply it for division, scaling and overflow detection. Reverse conversions are used to the comparison operation in an RNS over last decades, where comparisons are carried out in a binary (weighted) system rather than an RNS. Chinese Remainder Theorem (CRT) and Mixed-radix Conversion (MRC) are the two main methods to perform residue-to-binary (R2B) conversion. However, the calculation of mix-radix coefficients in MRC scheme is a strictly sequential manner, while modular and multiplication operations related to large numbers are required in CRT scheme although they can be implemented in fully parallel. Especially, in order to satisfy the requirements of wide word binary operations such as public-key cryptography and modern digital signal processing (DSP), neither CRT nor MRC is a suitable solution for comparison in an RNS when the processed numbers are large enough. In the paper, novel comparison algorithms are proposed, which achieve comparison operation in an RNS directly without R2B reverse conversions. Even the average time complexity of the algorithm carried out in a sequential manner is O(1). To the best of our knowledge, the proposed algorithms first achieve all calculations for comparison in an RNS completed within each modulus channel in general cases.

We conducted a meta-analysis of analytic and observational studies to evaluate the association between smoking and epiretinal membrane (ERM). The pertinent studies were identified via a literature search using three databases (MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, Embase) and the reference lists of retrieved studies. Cohort, case-control and cross-sectional studies meeting the predefined criteria were included. We extracted the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) from each study. Overall risk estimates were pooled using random-effects models. Subgroup analyses based on several stratified factors were also performed. Two cohort studies and six cross-sectional studies involving 46,837 subjects were included. The pooled effect of all eight studies showed an unexpected significant decreased association between smoking and the occurrence of ERM (OR, 0.72; 95% CI 0.61–0.84; p = 0.29, I2 = 17.9%). Subgroup analyses supported this finding, except for the age-unadjusted group (OR, 0.87; 95% CI 0.63–1.22), the ERM classification group (cellophane macular reflex (CMR) OR, 0.93; 95% CI 0.68–1.28; preretinal macular fibrosis (PMF) OR, 0.74; 95% CI 0.41–1.32), the Asian group (OR, 0.75; 95% CI 0.52–1.09) and the past smoker group (OR, 1.02; 95% CI 0.85–1.22). The pooled effects from the current literature suggested a declining association between smoking and ERM, which requires further studies to confirm.

Purpose: To investigate the association of interleukin (IL)-6 with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in a Chinese population. Methods: Two subtypes of the IL-6 promoter (-174 and -572 G/C) were genotyped in 215 T2D patients with PDR and 207 T2D patients with a normal retinal function (controls) using the PCR-RFLP method. The mRNA and protein expression of IL-6 was examined by real-time PCR. Results: T2D patients with PDR had a significantly higher frequency of IL-6 -174 GC (OR 0.58; 95% CI 0.34-0.99; p = 0.011) and IL-6 -572 GG (OR 0.53; 95% CI 0.24-1.14; p = 0.016) than T2D controls. The mRNA expressions of the rs1800795 GC and rs1800796 GG genotype were significantly increased compared to other cases (Fsig = 0.002, p = 0.001, respectively), followed by a relative increase in IL-6 in protein. Conclusions: IL-6 genotypes of rs1800795 GC and rs1800796 GG might point to a relatively high risk for T2D patients suffering from PDR in a Chinese population and they were associated with elevation of IL-6 expression in both mRNA and protein.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) makes the Raman signals, as fingerprints of different vibration modes of chemical bonds, significant in practical applications. Two main mechanisms, chemical and physical, are attributed to the SERS of molecules adsorbed on metals. The physical mechanism plays a major role in SERS, which is the focus of our paper. Recent SERS systems are mostly based on dimer structures, i.e. nanoparticle pairs, of noble metals. Large amplification of electrical field occurs in the gap of a dimer structure compared with a single nanoparticle. The above gap positions are called as " hot spots” of SERS. In addition, the reproducibility and reliability of SERS substrates are also important for practical applications. Here we use periodical subwavelength metallic structures to meet such needs, and develop other kinds of electrical field enhancement mechanisms. We present the electrical field enhancement of the band-edge mode of surface plasmon polariton, gap plasmon polariton mode, as well as their coupling mode. We choose one-dimensional subwavelength metallic structures to clarify the physical mechanism. Our purpose is to develop subwavelength metallic structures with even and intensive " hot spots”, serving as ultrasensitive solid-state SERS substrates with excellent reproducibility and reliability.

Objectives: To provide anatomical data to help identify and locate the anterior ethmoidal artery (AEA) precisely during endoscopic procedures. Method: We dissected 15 adult cadaver heads, which provided 30 specimens, to study morphological characteristics, courses, and several types of variations. Results: We found the average diameter of the AEA to be 0.80 ± 0.24 mm. In 85.7% of the cases, the artery was seen between the second and third lamella. Other locations were over the roof of the frontal recess cells (10.7%) and the roof of the posterior ethmoid sinus (3.6%). The AEA ran parallel to the ethmoid roof and formed a slight curve. When viewed from the superior side, the angle formed by the long axis of the artery and the lamina papyracea was 60.5 degrees ± 16.4 degrees. In 83.3% of the cases, the anterior ethmoidal canal (AEC) was identified as a separate canal, and in 16.7% the canal was embedded in the ethmoid roof. In 10 of the 30 cases (33.3%), the AEC presented some degree of dehiscence. Conclusion: As a result of these dissections, we found that the AEA's course in the ethmoid roof varies. The morphological characteristics—that the AEA runs parallel to the ethmoid roof, forming a slight posterolateral to anteromedial curve as it passes from the orbit to the cribriform plate—are the most reliable factors used to identify the artery during surgery.

In full knowledge of the energy-saving and emission reduction (ESAER) policies in China, it is analyzed in this paper what the promising new futures in electricity demand in East China in the context of ESAER. To propose the well applicable load forecasting methods for East China power grid, where the ESAER policies have being intensively implemented since 2005, the reality of economic development and industrialization in East China are also discussed. Therefore the well-used long-term forecasting methods are analyzed detailed for their respective applicability under the background of ESAER. Furthermore, in order to take the influence of ESAER policies into account in the forecasting models, the "improved Solow forecasting method" is proposed in this paper. Then these methods are used to forecast the electricity demand from the year 2009 to the year 2015 for East China power grid to check their feasibility. Finally, the forecasting results of electricity demand in East China are analyzed and compared.

To investigate the differentiation of human umbilical cord blood (HUCB)-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into hepatocytes by induction of fibroblast growth factor-4 (FGF-4) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), and to find a new source of cell types for therapies of hepatic diseases.MSCs were isolated by combining gradient density centrifugation with plastic adherence. When HUCB-derived MSCs reached 70% confluence, they were cultured in Iscove modified Dulbecco medium (IMDM) supplemented with 10 mL/L FBS, 20 ng/mL HGF and 10 ng/mL FGF-4. The medium was changed every 4 d and stored for albumin, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and urea assay. Expression of CK-18 was detected by immunocytochemistry. Glycogen storage in hepatocytes was determined by PAS staining.By combining gradient density centrifugation with plastic adherence, we could isolate MSCs from 25.6% of human umbilical cord blood. When MSCs were cultured with FGF-4 and HGF, approximately 63.6% of cells became small, round and epithelioid on d 28 by morphology. Compared with the control, the level of AFP increased significantly from d 12 to 18.20+/-1.16 microg/L (t = 2.884, P0.05) in MSCs cultured with FGF-4 and HGF, and was higher (54.28+/-3.11 microg/L) on d 28 (t = 13.493, P0.01). Albumin increased significantly on d 16 (t = 6.68, P0.01) to 1.02+/-0.15 microg/mL, and to 3.63+/-0.30 microg/mL on d 28 (t = 11.748, P0.01). Urea (4.72+/-1.03 micromol/L) was detected on d 20 (t = 4.272, P0.01), and continued to increase to 10.28+/-1.06 micromol/L on d 28 (t = 9.276, P0.01). Cells expressed CK-18 on d 16. Glycogen storage was observed on d 24.HUCB-derived MSCs can differentiate into hepatocytes by induction of FGF-4 and HGF. HUCB-derived MSCs are a new source of cell types for cell transplantation therapy of hepatic diseases.