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The cable-driven segmented manipulator with cable-constrained synchronous rotating mechanisms (CCSRM) is a new type of continuum manipulator, which has large stiffness and less motors, and thus exhibits excellent comprehensive performance. This paper presents a dynamic modeling method for this type of manipulator to analyze the friction and deformation of the cables on the dynamical behaviors of the system. First, the driving cables are modeled based on the ALE formulation, the strategies for detecting stick-slip transitions are proposed by using a trial-and-error algorithm, and the stiff problems of the dynamic equations are released by a model smoothing method. Second, the dynamic modeling method for rigid links is presented by using quaternion parameters. Third, the connecting cables are modeled by torsional spring-dampers and the frictions between the connecting cables and the conduits are considered based on a modified Coulomb friction model. Finally, the numerical results are presented and verified by comparing with experiment results. The study shows that the friction and cable deformation play an important role in the dynamical behaviors of the manipulator. Due to these two factors, the constant curvature bending of the segments does not remain.

Accurate segmentation of the prostate on magnetic resonance (MR) images plays an important role for prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment. Although many automated prostate segmentation methods have been proposed, the performance still faces several challenges, which includes large variability in prostate shape, unclear boundary, and complex intensity distribution. Therefore, the results obtained from the automated methods should be further refined by users to get a more accurate and reliable segmentation. In this paper, we propose an end-to-end interactive segmentation method to refine the automated results. A convolutional long short term memory (convLSTM) module and a gated graph neural network (GGNN) are presented in the proposed method for prostate segmentation in both automated and interactive manners. A boundary loss is proposed to train our model. We evaluated the proposed method on two public available datasets and one in–house dataset. Experimental results show that the proposed convLSTM module could obtain a DSC of 91.78% on the test dataset, which outperforms eight state-of-the-art methods. A further 1.5% improvements can be obtained by user interactions based on the GGNN. The segmentation time including user interactions and inference time was 2.3 min on average for segmenting one volume.

The coal tar-based carbon with ultra-high specific surface area was synthesized from coal tar using CaO as template coupled with KOH activation by conventional heating. To utilize the existing pores of the porous carbon, the multilayer adsorption of organic dyes, including Congo red and methylene blue, was tested. Results show that the as-made carbon features with hierarchical structure, which is containing both micropores and abundant mesopores. The CTC4-900 made with the mass ratio of activator/carbon source at 4 under activation temperature of 900 °C shows an ultra-high specific surface area of 3101 m2/g with an average of 2.65 nm. The CTC4-900 had the highest adsorption capacity for Congo red with the saturation adsorption capacity of 3885 mg/g in a monolayer adsorption due to its large mesoporous surface area. Then, the CTC4-900-CR can be used for an effective second-layer adsorption for methylene blue with the saturation adsorption capacity of 931 mg/g. For the third-layer adsorption of Congo red, the CTC4-900-CR-MB still shows the excellent adsorption performance with the saturation adsorption capacity of 1001 mg/g due to the electrostatic forces. After several layer adsorptions for different organic dyes, the existing pores of the carbon can be utilized completely, showing that it is an alternative way to regeneration.

Background: Autophagy regulates many cell functions related to cancer, ranging from cell proliferation and angiogenesis to metabolism. Due to the close relationship between autophagy and tumors, we investigated the predictive value of autophagy-related genes. Methods: Data from patients with hepatocellular carcinoma were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) databases. A regression analysis of differentially expressed genes was performed. Based on a prognostic model, patients were divided into a high-risk or low-risk group. Kaplan-Meier survival analyses of patients were conducted. The immune landscapes, as determined using single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA), exhibited different patterns in the two groups. The prognostic model was verified using the ICGC database and clinical data from patients collected at Zhongnan Hospital. Based on the results of multivariate Cox regression analysis, 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide formyltransferase/inosine monophosphate (IMP) cyclohydrolase (ATIC) had the largest hazard ratio, and thus we studied the effect of ATIC on autophagy and tumor progression by performing in vitro and in vivo experiments. Results: Fifty-eight autophagy-related genes were differentially expressed (false discovery rate (FDR)1); 23 genes were related to the prognosis of patients. A prognostic model based on 12 genes (ATG10, ATIC, BIRC5, CAPN10, FKBP1A, GAPDH, HDAC1, PRKCD, RHEB, SPNS1, SQSTM1 and TMEM74) was constructed. A significant difference in survival rate was observed between the high-risk group and low-risk group distinguished by the model (P0.7). Risk-related genes were related to the terms type II IFN response, MHC class I (P

BACKGROUND Hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) is an immune-mediated syndrome caused by allergen inhalation. High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) of HP may show diffuse ground-glass opacity, centrilobular ground-glass nodules, areas of air-trapping, thin-walled cysts, or fibrotic changes. CASE SUMMARY A 47-year-old male patient went to the hospital complaining of cough and gradual aggravation of shortness of breath. HRCT of the lung showed that multiple nodules and ground-glass high-density shadows were present in both lungs. In addition, circular high-density shadows of various sizes were widely distributed in both lungs with relatively normal lung markings inside them. But other tests did not have a positive finding that can clarify the cause. Therefore, the patient underwent a lung biopsy. The pathological results showed that the lesions tended to be HP. After 4 mo of follow-up, the lesions in the patient's lungs were absorbed spontaneously, and the symptoms of cough and shortness of breath have disappeared. The review results suggested that the patient’s disease was self-healing, which was consistent with the characteristics of HP. CONCLUSION For some patients with HP, abnormal HRCT findings, such as the lesions in the lungs, can be absorbed on their own, which is an important clue in the diagnosis of the disease. Early diagnosis by lung biopsy is necessary when antigen exposure is unknown.

Chronic allograft dysfunction (CAD) resulting from fibrosis is the major limiting factor for long-term survival of lung transplant patients. Myofibroblasts promote fibrosis in multiple organs, including the lungs. In this study, we identified PLK1 as a promoter of myofibroblast differentiation and investigated the mechanism by which its inhibition alleviates transplant-associated obliterative bronchiolitis (OB) during CAD. High-throughput bioinformatic analyses and experiments using the murine heterotopic tracheal transplantation model revealed that PLK1 is upregulated in grafts undergoing CAD as compared with controls, and that inhibiting PLK1 alleviates OB in vivo. Inhibition of PLK1 in vitro reduced expression of the specific myofibroblast differentiation marker α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and decreased phosphorylation of both MEK and ERK. Importantly, we observed a similar phenomenon in human primary fibroblasts. Our results thus highlight PLK1 as a promising therapeutic target for alleviating transplant-associated OB through suppression of TGF-β1-mediated myofibroblast differentiation.

Purpose The direction and orientation of the osteotomized upper segments in dental implant distractor (DID) can be compromised due to an unpredicted vector of distraction. The present study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) surgical templates to precisely guide the distraction process in lengthening of the alveolar height for functional mandibular reconstruction. Patients and methods This retrospective study included all consecutive patients who underwent digitally designed mandibular reconstruction using the fibular flap and DID with the help of CAD/CAM designed surgical templates in a single-stage procedure from 2011 to 2014. First, the preoperative digital planning was performed on 3-dimensional models. Afterward, simulation of the distraction process was made on the virtual model and the resulting new height of the fibula was evaluated. The preoperative simulation was applied to accurately define the exact location and path of the DID device to achieve the suitable vertical height. The preoperative digital planning was used to help the design of the CAD/CAM surgical template, which was then fabricated by means of the 3-dimensional printing technology. The manufactured surgical template-assisted both horizontal and vertical osteotomies of the fibular segments and defining the DID path to lead the distractor into the accurate position. The outcome evaluation was achieved through comparing both preoperative virtual planning with postoperative actual outcomes. Results This study included 14 subjects, 8 were males and 6 were females. The mean age at time of surgery was 31.07 years (range 18-47). All fibular flaps showed 100% success rate. The mean vertical bone height attained with the DID device was 11.35 mm. The vertical and horizontal osteotomies of the fibular segments were completed, then the DID devices were successfully positioned guided by the template. The mean values of the linear and angular deviations for the distractor position and upper segments were calculated and recorded. The maximum linear deviation between the virtual and the postoperative actual distractors was 0.93 mm in the anteroposterior direction, and the greatest in the horizontal plane was 4.64°. Conclusions CAD/CAM surgical templates can accurately guide the direction and orientation of the DID device for functional mandibular reconstruction; therefore, helping to improve the outcomes by accurately transferring the preoperative virtual plan to real surgical procedure.

Background Current studies regarding glucocorticosteroid treatment of influenza have only estimated risk of critical illness or death which can be easily confounded by timing of treatment administration. We used severe acute respiratory infection (sARI) as an endpoint and investigated risk associated with receiving glucocorticosteroids before sARI onset. Methods sARI cases were defined as influenza-like illness (ILI) with pH1N1 infection and respiratory distress. Controls were defined as pH1N1 cases other than sARI and randomly selected from the community. We compared glucocorticosteroids and other medications used before sARI onset using a matched case control study adjusted for age group as well as underlying disease. Time-dependent risk and dose responses at different time periods over the course of sARI cases were also examined. Results Of the sARI cases, 34% received glucocorticosteroids before sARI onset compared to 3.8% of controls during equivalent days (ORM-H = 17,95%CI = 2.1–135). Receiving glucocorticosteroids before sARI onset increased risk of developing subsequent critical illness or death (ORM-H = 5.7,95%CI = 1.6–20.2), and the ORM-H increased from 5.7 to 8.5 for continued glucocorticosteroid use after sARI onset. However, only receiving glucocorticosteroids after sARI onset did not increase risk of severe illness (ORM-H = 1.1,95%CI = 0.3–4.6). Each increase in glucocorticosteroids dose of 1 mg/kg/day before sARI onset resulted in an increase of 0.62 (R2 = 0.87) in the pMEWS score at the time of sARI onset. Conclusions Early glucocorticosteroid treatment increased risk of sARI and subsequent critical illness or death; however, only receiving glucocorticosteroids after sARI onset did not increase risk of severe illness.

Castleman disease (CD) is a rare lymphoproliferative disorder that can affect any lymph node in the body, but CD occurring in the scrotum has not been reported to date. We report the case of a 79-year-old man with a painless hard mass in the right scrotum that has been gradually increasing in size for more than 1 year. Abdominopelvic CT scan showed a heterogeneously enhancing mass of 10 cm long in the right scrotum. The patient underwent resection of the right scrotal mass and the pathological diagnosis was Castleman's disease, plasma cell (PC) type.

Background: Dendritic cells (DCs) serve as an important part of the immune system and play a dual role in immune response. Mature DCs can initiate immune response, while immature or semi-mature DCs induce immune hyporesponsiveness or tolerance. Previous studies have shown that aspirin can effectively inhibit the maturation of DCs. However, the protective effect of aspirin on acute cardiac allograft rejection has not been studied. The aim of this study was to elucidate the effect of aspirin exert on allograft rejection.Methods: The model of MHC-mismatched (BALB/c to B6 mice) heterotopic heart transplantation was established and administered intraperitoneal injection with aspirin. The severity of allograft rejection, transcriptional levels of cytokines, and characteristics of immune cells were assessed. Bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs) were generated with or without aspirin. The function of DCs was determined via mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR). The signaling pathway of DCs was detected by Western blotting.Results: Aspirin significantly prolonged the survival of cardiac allograft in mouse, inhibited the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and the differentiation of effector T cells (Th1 and Th17), as well as promoted the regulatory T cells (Treg). The maturation of DCs in the spleen was obviously suppressed with aspirin treatment. In vitro, aspirin decreased the activation of NF-κB signaling of DCs, as well as impeded MHCII and co-stimulatory molecules (CD80, CD86, and CD40) expression on DCs. Moreover, both the pro-inflammatory cytokines and function of DCs were suppressed by aspirin.Conclusion: Aspirin inhibits the maturation of DCs through the NF-κB signaling pathway and attenuates acute cardiac allograft rejection.

Although studies in oncology have well explored the pharmacological effects of Birc5, little is known about its role in allogeneic T-cell responses. Therefore, the present study used a mouse model of acute heart allograft rejection to investigate the protective effect and mechanism of conditional knockout of Birc5 in T cells. Survivin (encoded by Birc5) was up-regulated in T cells activated in vivo and in vitro. Deletion of Birc5 in T cells attenuated acute heart allograft rejection by reducing the ratio of effector to naive T cells and Th1 to Tregs. In addition, deletion of Birc5 had no noticeable effect on proliferation but on apoptosis and the secretion of IFN-γ. The results revealed a significant increase in the percentage of Annexin V positive CD4+ T cells in the Birc5-/- group, compared to the WT. Moreover, there was significant increase in early apoptotic alloreactive T cells in Birc5-/- mice and this was partly mediated by caspase-3. Furthermore, treatment with YM155 inhibited acute heart allograft rejection in vivo and increased T-cell apoptosis in healthy human PBMCs in vitro. The results highlight a potential therapeutic target for the prevention and treatment of acute transplant rejection.

The spike (S) polypeptide of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) consists of the S1 and S2 subunits and is processed by cellular proteases at the S1/S2 boundary that contains a furin cleavage site (FCS), 682RRAR↓S686 Various deletions surrounding the FCS have been identified in patients. When SARS-CoV-2 propagated in Vero cells, it acquired deletions surrounding the FCS. We studied the viral transcriptome in Vero cell-derived SARS-CoV-2-infected primary human airway epithelia (HAE) cultured at an air-liquid interface (ALI) with an emphasis on the viral genome stability of the FCS. While we found overall the viral transcriptome is similar to that generated from infected Vero cells, we identified a high percentage of mutated viral genome and transcripts in HAE-ALI. Two highly frequent deletions were found at the FCS region: a 12 amino acid deletion (678TNSPRRAR↓SVAS689) that contains the underlined FCS and a 5 amino acid deletion (675QTQTN679) that is two amino acids upstream of the FCS. Further studies on the dynamics of the FCS deletions in apically released virions from 11 infected HAE-ALI cultures of both healthy and lung disease donors revealed that the selective pressure for the FCS maintains the FCS stably in 9 HAE-ALI cultures but with 2 exceptions, in which the FCS deletions are retained at a high rate of >40% after infection of ≥13 days. Our study presents evidence for the role of unique properties of human airway epithelia in the dynamics of the FCS region during infection of human airways, which is likely donor dependent.IMPORTANCE Polarized human airway epithelia at an air-liquid interface (HAE-ALI) are an in vitro model that supports efficient infection of SARS-CoV-2. The spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2 contains a furin cleavage site (FCS) at the boundary of the S1 and S2 domains which distinguishes it from SARS-CoV. However, FCS deletion mutants have been identified in patients and in vitro cell cultures, and how the airway epithelial cells maintain the unique FCS remains unknown. We found that HAE-ALI cultures were capable of suppressing two prevalent FCS deletion mutants (Δ678TNSPRRAR↓SVAS689 and Δ675QTQTN679) that were selected during propagation in Vero cells. While such suppression was observed in 9 out of 11 of the tested HAE-ALI cultures derived from independent donors, 2 exceptions that retained a high rate of FCS deletions were also found. Our results present evidence of the donor-dependent properties of human airway epithelia in the evolution of the FCS during infection.

Background: Autophagy regulates many cell functions related to cancer, ranging from cell proliferation and angiogenesis to metabolism. Due to the close relationship between autophagy and tumors, we investigated the predictive value of autophagy-related genes.Methods: Data from patients with hepatocellular carcinoma were obtained from the TCGA and ICGC databases. Regression analysis of differentially expressed genes was performed. Based on a prognostic model, patients were divided into a high-risk or low-risk group. Kaplan-Meier survival analyses of patients in the two groups were conducted. The immune landscapes, as shown by the single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA), had different patterns in two groups. The prognostic model was verified using the ICGC database and clinical data of patients collected from Zhongnan Hospital. In the results of multivariate COX regression analysis, ATIC has the largest hazard ratio, so we studied the effect of ATIC on autophagy and tumor progression through experiments in vitro and in vivo.Results: Fifty-eight autophagy-related genes were differentially expressed (FDR 1); 23 genes were related to the prognosis of patients. A prognostic model based on 12 genes (ATG10, ATIC, BIRC5, CAPN10, FKBP1A, GAPDH, HDAC1, PRKCD, RHEB, SPNS1, SQSTM1 and TMEM74) was constructed using the method of multivariate COX regression analysis. For the high-risk group and low-risk group distinguished by the model, there was a significant difference in survival between the two groups (P 0.7). Risk-related genes were related to the terms type II IFN response, MHC class I (P Conclusions: The prediction model can effectively predict the survival time of liver cancer patients. The risk score reflects patient immune cell features and immune status. ATIC inhibits autophagy and promotes the progression of liver cancer through the AMPK/mTOR signaling pathway.

Here we describe a novel method for studying the protein “interactome” in primary human cells and apply this method to investigate the effect of posttranslational protein modifications (PTMs) on the protein’s functions. We created a novel “biomimetic microsystem platform” (Bio-MSP) to isolate the protein complexes in primary cells by covalently attaching purified His-tagged proteins to a solid microscale support. Using this Bio-MSP, we have analyzed the interactomes of unphosphorylated and phosphomimetic end-binding protein-3 (EB3) in endothelial cells. Pathway analysis of these interactomes demonstrated the novel role of EB3 phosphorylation at serine 162 in regulating the protein’s function. We showed that phosphorylation “switches” the EB3 biological network to modulate cellular processes such as cell-to-cell adhesion whereas dephosphorylation of this site promotes cell proliferation. This novel technique provides a useful tool to study the role of PTMs or single point mutations in activating distinct signal transduction networks and thereby the biological function of the protein in health and disease.

Humidity-control materials have attracted increasing attention because of energy savings and smart regulation of indoor comforts. The current research is a successive work to face challenges, such as poor performance, limitations for large-scale production, and surface contamination. Here, we report a smart humidity-control wall-brick manufactured from sepiolite using CaCl2 as an additive. Low-temperature sintering generated a super hygroscopic interior structure, and further silane modification produced bricks with superhydrophobic surfaces. These superhydrophobic surfaces can promote the moisture storage and prevent the CaCl2 solution from leaking even after the surface is wiped 100 times. Meanwhile, the superhydrophobic surfaces make the wall-bricks easy to clean; also, these materials possess antifouling and antifungal properties. The 24 h and saturated moisture adsorption–desorption contents reached 630 and 1700 g·m–2, respectively. Furthermore, a test was performed using model houses in a real environment, which indicates that the wall-bricks can narrow the daily indoor humidity fluctuations by more than 20% in both wet and dry seasons. The white wall-brick can also be dyed with different colors and thus shows promise for applications in interior decorations of houses.

Objective: To investigate the potential molecular mechanism of Xin Hui Tong Formula (XHTF) in the treatment of coronary heart disease (CHD) by using network pharmacology and bioinformatics. Methods: The targets network of CHD was constructed through Therapeutic Targets Database (TTD) and Drugbank database; The XHTF pharmacodynamic molecule-targets network and the XHTF pharmacodynamic molecule-CHD targets network were explored by the traditional Chinese medicine systems pharmacology database and analysis platform (TCMSP). And the multi-targets mechanism and molecular regulation network of XHTF in the treatment of CHD were explored from multiple perspectives by Gene Ontology (GO) analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database pathway enrichment analysis. Results: A total of 88 CHD targets were screened out through the Therapeutic Targets and the Drugbank database. 393 compounds and corresponding 205 drug targets of XHTF were retrieved from TCMSP. A total of 13 known targets directly related to the development of CHD were retrieved from the disease-related databases: TP53, MAPK14, NFKB1, HSPA5, PLG, PTGS2, ADRB1, NOS2, CYP3A4, GRIA2, CYP2A6, GRIA1, PTGS1. XHTF also contained 118 drug targets that directly interact with CHD targets. GO enrichment analysis showed that the biological processes of 13 direct targets proteins were found to be mainly enriched in response to drug, cellular response to biotic stimulus, long-chain fatty acid metabolic process, fatty acid metabolic process and regulation of blood pressure. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis found that XHTF participated in the CHD pathological process mainly through retrograde endocannabinoid signaling, regulation of lipolysis in adipocytes, cAMP signaling pathway, chemical carcinogenesis and other pathways. Conclusions: XHTF plays a role in the treatment of CHD through multiple targets and multiple pathways, and provides a scientific basis for the theory of “virtual standard” in the treatment of CHD. Keywords: Xin Hui Tong Formula (XHTF), Coronary heart disease, Network pharmacology, Network analysis, Bioinformatics

A 54‐day experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of Astragalus membranaceus extract powder (AMEP) on the low temperature tolerance of genetically improved farmed tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus. The base diet was supplemented with 0.0% (NC), 0.1% (NP0.1), 0.2% (NP0.2), and 0.4% (NP0.4) AMEP. Tilapia with an initial body weight of 21.35 ± 0.17 g were fed three times a day for 14 days at 30°C and then fed for 40 days while the water temperature decreased at a rate of 0.5°C/day. The results showed that survival, final weight, and the rate of weight gain in fish in the NP0.1, NP0.2, and NP0.4 groups were higher than those of fish in the NC group. The contents of glucose, triglyceride, cholesterol, and nitric oxide in the serum of fish fed diets supplemented with AMEP were all significantly lower than those of fish in the NC group. In contrast, fish fed with AMEP‐supplemented diets had higher liver superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and catalase activities, and lower malonaldehyde content than those of fish in the NC group at 10°C. The expression of the growth‐arrest‐specific 2 gene in the liver was significantly lower in the NP0.2 and NP0.4 groups than in the NC group. The results of this study demonstrated that the optimal level of AMEP supplementation was 0.2% under the conditions used in the current study. Optimum dietary AMEP can promote growth performance and facilitate the survival of tilapia under low‐temperature stress.

Contains fulltext : 203460.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Objective: Smoking is one of the leading public health problems worldwide. The inability to quit smoking may be the result of the amplified value of smoking-related cues and inhibitory control deficits. Previous research has shown that pairing substance-related cues with no-go trials in go/no-go training reduces the value of these cues, an effect known as devaluation. The current experiment investigated the devaluation effect of go/no-go training on smoking-related cues, and compared this effect between smokers and nonsmokers. Design and Main Outcome Measures: 39 smokers and 43 nonsmokers were trained to respond immediately to neutral stimuli, but inhibit their reaction when smoking stimuli were presented. Before and after training, participants evaluated smoking and neutral stimuli, where part of these stimuli were subsequently presented in the training, and the other part was not used in training. Results: Not responding to smoking stimuli in go/no-go training decreased subsequent evaluations of trained smoking stimuli compared to untrained smoking stimuli, thereby replicating food and alcohol studies and extending the devaluation effect to smoking-related cues. This devaluation effect was found for both smokers and non-smokers. Conclusion: Smoking-related cues can be devaluated in smokers and non-smokers, thereby showing the potential for Go/No-Go training in smoking cessation interventions. 17 p.

Background/Aims: Jagged1 is the ligands of the Notch signaling and has been shown to promote glioma-initiating cells (GICs) in glioblastoma. The role of Jagged1 in GICs invasion and underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Methods: Survival data from R2 genomics analysis, the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) and visualization platform database were used to evaluate the effects of Jagged1 on overall patient survival. we investigated Jagged1 induced the GICs cells’ invasion by matrix degradation assays and Transwell cell invasion assays in vitro, then we further explored the underlying molecular mechanisms using Co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP) analysis. Results: High expression of Jagged1 in human glioma was associated with poor survival. Clinical data analysis showed that the Jagged1 was positively correlated with NF-κB(p65). Jagged1-induced invasion of GICs cells through activation of NF-κB(p65) pathway. In vivo, knockdown of Jagged1 could suppress the tumorigenicity of GICs cells through NF-κB(p65) signaling. Conclusion: Insights gained from these findings suggest that Jagged1 plays an important oncogenic role in GICs malignancy by activation of NF-κB(p65) signaling, and Jagged1 could be employed as an effective therapeutic target for GICs.

Background: Forkhead box protein f1 (Foxf1) is associated with oncogenesis, and maybe play a key role in prostate cancer. However, the effect of Foxf1 on the development of prostate cancer and its clinical implications were still unknown. Method: The transcriptome data and clinical information were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). The differential co-expression genes which were the most closely correlated with prostate cancer were identified by weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and differential expression analysis method. The univariate cox regressions were performed to identify the prognostic genes. Finally, Foxf1 were verified in clinical tumor samples and matched normal tissues. Results: A total of 108 differential co-expression genes were identified. Foxf1 was identified that significantly associated with overall survival rate and biochemical recurrence of prostate. Then, protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks were constructed, including 21 nodes and 26 edges. The data revealed GAPVD1, MIR522, MIR937, CPS1, HOXB9, FUBP3, MIR936, SDF4, SATB2, HOXB13, MIR375, PUSL1, SATB1, MIR382, MIR429, HOXD13, PRSS50, FLNC, STRBP, KHSRP were significant associated with the regulation and function of differentially expressed Foxf1 in prostate. The experimental results confirmed the Foxf1 were downregulated in the prostate cancer tissues compared with the matched normal tissues.Conclusion: we obtained a gene Foxf1 which is significantly related with the prognosis of prostate cancer, Foxf1 have significant values in predicting the patients’ Overall survival and may serve as a potential prognosis biomarker and a new therapeutic target of prostate cancer.

Childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (cALL) still represents a major cause of disease-related death in children. This study aimed to explore the prognostic value of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in cALL. We downloaded lncRNA expression profiles from the TARGET and GEO databases. Univariate, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and multivariate Cox regression analyses were applied to identify lncRNA-based signatures. We identified an eight-lncRNA signature (LINC00630, HDAC2-AS2, LINC01278, AL356599.1, AC114490.1, AL132639.3, FUT8.AS1, and TTC28.AS1), which separated the patients into two groups with significantly different overall survival rates. A nomogram based on the signature, BCR ABL1 status and white blood cell count at diagnosis was developed and showed good accuracy for predicting the 3-, 5- and 7-year survival probability of cALL patients. The C-index values of the nomogram in the training and internal validation set reached 0.8 (95% CI, 0.757 to 0.843) and 0.806 (95% CI, 0.728 to 0.884), respectively. The nomogram proposed in this study objectively and accurately predicted the prognosis of cALL. In vitro experiments suggested that LINC01278 promoted the proliferation of leukemic cells and inhibited leukemic cell apoptosis by targeting the inhibition of miR-500b-3p in cALL, and LINC01278 may be a biological target for the treatment of cALL in the future.

Background Until recently, synthetic fiber conjunctival granuloma (SFCG) is rarely reported and has been poorly understood. Our study was to explore the clinical features, histopathologic characteristics, surgical outcomes, and prognosis of SFCG after surgical excision. Methods Retrospective review of clinical findings, histopathological and immunohistochemical studies identified 18 cases of SFCG. Specimens were routinely processed and stained with H&E. Immunohistochemical stains for GMS, PAS, CD68 and CK-pan were also performed. Results Eighteen patients with an average age of 9.3 ± 6.6 years had a tender white to red mass on the conjunctiva. All the lesions were completely removed, and none of the patients relapsed. Histologically, all of the specimens revealed inflammatory granulation tissues with a large number of inflammatory cells infiltration and the presence of synthetic fibers. Immunohistochemical stains were positive for CD68, CK, GMS and PAS. Conclusions Synthetic fiber conjunctival granuloma is an uncommon lesion with foreign body sensation caused by inoculation of synthetic exogenous materials. These lesions are mostly unilateral and occur in the inferior conjunctival fornix. SFCGs are characterized by a large number of inflammatory cells infiltration and the presence of synthetic fibers. Surgical excision followed by topical corticosteroids has been clinically proven to be effective.

Summary Background Prompt identification of patients suspected to have COVID-19 is crucial for disease control. We aimed to develop a deep learning algorithm on the basis of chest CT for rapid triaging in fever clinics. Methods We trained a U-Net-based model on unenhanced chest CT scans obtained from 2447 patients admitted to Tongji Hospital (Wuhan, China) between Feb 1, 2020, and March 3, 2020 (1647 patients with RT-PCR-confirmed COVID-19 and 800 patients without COVID-19) to segment lung opacities and alert cases with COVID-19 imaging manifestations. The ability of artificial intelligence (AI) to triage patients suspected to have COVID-19 was assessed in a large external validation set, which included 2120 retrospectively collected consecutive cases from three fever clinics inside and outside the epidemic centre of Wuhan (Tianyou Hospital [Wuhan, China; area of high COVID-19 prevalence], Xianning Central Hospital [Xianning, China; area of medium COVID-19 prevalence], and The Second Xiangya Hospital [Changsha, China; area of low COVID-19 prevalence]) between Jan 22, 2020, and Feb 14, 2020. To validate the sensitivity of the algorithm in a larger sample of patients with COVID-19, we also included 761 chest CT scans from 722 patients with RT-PCR-confirmed COVID-19 treated in a makeshift hospital (Guanggu Fangcang Hospital, Wuhan, China) between Feb 21, 2020, and March 6, 2020. Additionally, the accuracy of AI was compared with a radiologist panel for the identification of lesion burden increase on pairs of CT scans obtained from 100 patients with COVID-19. Findings In the external validation set, using radiological reports as the reference standard, AI-aided triage achieved an area under the curve of 0·953 (95% CI 0·949–0·959), with a sensitivity of 0·923 (95% CI 0·914–0·932), specificity of 0·851 (0·842–0·860), a positive predictive value of 0·790 (0·777–0·803), and a negative predictive value of 0·948 (0·941–0·954). AI took a median of 0·55 min (IQR: 0·43–0·63) to flag a positive case, whereas radiologists took a median of 16·21 min (11·67–25·71) to draft a report and 23·06 min (15·67–39·20) to release a report. With regard to the identification of increases in lesion burden, AI achieved a sensitivity of 0·962 (95% CI 0·947–1·000) and a specificity of 0·875 (95 %CI 0·833–0·923). The agreement between AI and the radiologist panel was high (Cohen's kappa coefficient 0·839, 95% CI 0·718–0·940). Interpretation A deep learning algorithm for triaging patients with suspected COVID-19 at fever clinics was developed and externally validated. Given its high accuracy across populations with varied COVID-19 prevalence, integration of this system into the standard clinical workflow could expedite identification of chest CT scans with imaging indications of COVID-19. Funding Special Project for Emergency of the Science and Technology Department of Hubei Province, China.

Background and Aims With the continuous development and optimization of dialysis membrane materials, polysulfone (PS) as the third generation of dialysis membrane has replaced cellulose triacetate (CTA) and dominated the market because of its better biocompatibility. However, we found that the hypersensitivity to PS could be remitted by the application of CTA in clinical practice. Objective to compare the differences in toxin removal, hematological change and biocompatibility in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients using CTA dialyzer and PS dialyzer. Method A total of 20 MHD patients treated in the Second Blood Purification Center of Shengjing Hospital from June 2017 to September 2017 were enrolled in this study. They were randomly divided into group CTA and group PS (n=10/each group). They were treated with regular hemodialysis of 4 hours/time and 3 times/week for one month. The clearances of creatinine (CR), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum phosphorus (P), the changes of hemoglobin (Hb), platelet (PLT) and white blood cell (WBC), and the differences of C-reactive protein (CRP), IgE, complement 3 (C3), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) were compared between group CTA and group PS. Results Age (t=-0.735, P=0.465), gender (c2 =2.410, P=0.120), dialysis age (t=0.336, P=0.738) and primary diseases (c2 =3.817, P=0.701) had no statistical differences between the two groups. Before the hemodialysis with CTA dialyzer and PS dialyzer, there were no statistical differences in all of the parameters between the two groups (P>0.05). After application of CTA dialyzer and PS dialyzer for one month, ①there were no statistical differences in CR, BUN and P, nor in the changes of the above indicators between the two groups (P>0.05); ② there was a statistical difference in Hb change between the two groups (t=-2.282, P=0.027), with better improvement of anemia in group CTA; ③ there was a statistical difference in PLT (t=2.947, P=0.005) between the two groups, with slighter change in group CTA than in group PS (t= 2.219, P=0.031); ④there were no statistical significances in WBC, VCAM-1, ICAM-1, IgE, CRP and C3 between the two groups (P>0.05). Conclusion ①There were no significant difference in the clearances of small molecule toxins between CTA dialyzer and PS dialyzer. ② CTA was better than PS in the improvement of anemia. ③ The effect on PLT was less in group CTA than in group PS. ④ There were no significant differences in biocompatibility between CTA dialyzer and PS dialyzer.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are ubiquitous and prolific contaminant in both the abiotic and biotic environment because of the wide industrial applications of these chemicals. In the present study, the effects of 2,2',4,4'-tetrabrominateddiphenyl ether (BDE-47) and 2,2',4,4',5,5'-hexabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-153) exposure on the induction of hepatic oxidative stress, DNA damage, and the expression of apoptosis-related genes in adult zebrafish were investigated. The activities of antioxidant enzymes, such as catalase and superoxide dimutase, significantly increased when adult zebrafish was exposed to various concentrations of BDE-47 and BDE-153 for 7 and 15 days. BDE-47 and BDE-153 elicited significant alterations in zebrafish 7-Ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase activity at 3, 7, or 15 days of exposure. In addition, the significant increase in comet assay parameters of zebrafish hepatocytes in a concentration-dependent manner indicated BDE-47 and BDE-153 induced DNA damage, probably due to observed oxidative stress. Furthermore, a monotonically upregulation of p53 and Caspase3, which are apoptotic-regulated genes, and decreased expression ratio of the anti-apoptotic B-cell lymphoma/leukaemia-2 and Bcl2-associated X protein genes for all BDE-47 and BDE-153 treatments at 7 and 15 days indicated apoptosis induction in zebrafish liver. Our findings help elucidate the mechanisms of BDE-47- and BDE-153-induced toxicity in zebrafish hepatocytes.

Introduction Many concerns still exist regarding the safety of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in the treatment of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Objectives The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety of HCQ in the treatment of COVID-19 and other diseases by performing a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) reporting the safety of HCQ in PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library were retrieved starting from the establishment of the database till June 5, 2020. Literature screening, data extraction, and assessment of risk bias were performed independently by two reviewers. Results We identified 53 eligible studies involving 5496 patients. The meta-analysis indicated that the risk of adverse effects (AEs) in the HCQ group was significantly increased compared with that in the control group (RD 0.05, 95%CI, 0.02 to 0.07, P = 0.0002), and the difference was also statistically significant in the COVID-19 subgroup (RD 0.15, 95%CI, 0.07 to 0.23, P = 0.0002) as well as in the subgroup for other diseases (RD 0.03, 95%CI, 0.01 to 0.04, P = 0.003). Conclusions HCQ is associated with a high total risk of AEs compared with the placebo or no intervention in the overall population. Given the small number of COVID-19 participants included, we should be cautious regarding the conclusion stating that HCQ is linked with an increase incidence of AEs in patients with COVID-19, which we hope to confirm in the future through well-designed and larger sample size studies. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s00228-020-02962-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

With extensive perioperative use of dexmedetomidine, there has been rising concern about its side effects, which are most commonly bradycardia and hypotension. However, increased urine output or diuresis is not well recognized with perioperative use of dexmedetomidine. We report a case of intraoperative polyuria induced by dexmedetomidine. The unusual feature of this case is that only a loading dose of dexmedetomidine was administered, but there was a long-lasting and large effect of diuresis. The findings from our case suggest that clinicians should be alert to the risk of diuresis when using dexmedetomidine.

Objective Patients undergoing major surgeries may experience certain cognitive decline, which is known as postoperative delirium (POD) or postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD). We employed integrated behavioral Z-scoring introduced by Guilloux et al. (2011) to investigate the effects of fracture fixation under anesthesia on hippocampus-dependent memory in mice. Methods ICR mice (12-14 months) underwent stabilized tibial fracture operation under sevoflurane anesthesia. They were subjected to a battery of successive hippocampus-dependent tests following surgery, including open field test (OF), novel object recognition (NOR), fear conditioning test (FC), and Morris water maze (MWM). The integrated behavioral Z-scoring was applied to assess the hippocampus-dependent memory after anesthesia/surgery, and the association between the integrated behavioral Z-scores and hippocampal pro-inflammatory cytokines was explored. Results Mice after anesthesia/surgery were found to have impaired hippocampus-dependent memory in NOR, FC, and MWM but with different degrees in these aspects as represented by P-value and effect size. The integrated memory Z-scores based on principal parameters of the above three tests can reduced the variability and increase the comprehensiveness of behavioral results. However, we found no statistic associations between hippocampal pro-inflammatory cytokines and the integrated Z-scores, as the elevated cytokines quickly return to normal on postoperative day 3 and/or day 7. Conclusion The integrated Z-score methodology could facilitate the interpretation of the anesthesia/surgery induced cognitive decline in mice and robustly quantify the behavioral phenotyping of hippocampus-dependent memory.

Giant hydronephrosis is uncommon, and malignant hydronephrosis of unknown origin is even rarer. We report a case of a 43-year-old male patient with giant hydronephrosis without painless carnivorous hematuria. Preoperative imaging and urinary search for exfoliated cells revealed no evidence of renal pelvic cancer. The patient underwent simple nephrectomy and pathology confirmed the diagnosis of multifocal high-grade papillary uroepithelial carcinoma of the renal pelvis.

Spectral imaging technology is a information acquisition method that can obtain three-dimensional information of the object, which is widely used in remote sensing, material classification and other fields. Spectral imaging micro-system is a compact, low-cost spectral imaging system based on structure of single-chip integration. It is suitable for utilizing on unmanned airborne and has a good prospect in the field of geological exploration and mineral classification. Coal gangue is a kind of gray rock associated with coal, which is also a kind of solid waste in mining industry. Due to demand of environmental monitoring and effective mining, it is urgent to effectively monitor the distribution of coal in minerals. This study carries out the experiment on classification of coal and coal gangue samples with the spectral imaging micro-system of visible-near-infrared spectrum. And experimental results show that 80% of the pixels in the sample can be accurately classified.

Spectral imaging technology is a non-contact detection technology that combines spectrum technology and imaging technology. It can be obtained more information than traditional RGB imaging. The algae outbreak is one of the more serious environmental problems in Yuqiao Reservoir and the algae seriously affects the daily water safety of people and destroys the ecosystem of the reservoir. In this paper, the UAV spectral imaging system based on FP cavity spectral imaging chip is used to monitor the reservoir area. Through the spectral data processing, the distribution of algae in the reservoir area was obtained.

It is well known that insulating liquids have been widely used in transformers, and mineral oils are usually and traditionally utilized in electrical equipment. Inrecent years, environmental-friendly ester liquids (which can partly replace mineral oil) have been drwan more and more attention, and also gradually applied in more and more power industry. This paper dealed with a comparative breakdown study of various insulating liquids, including mineral oil, natural ester, synthetic ester (pentaerythritol ester) and glycerol trioleate. Each insulating liquids was tested under a standard lighting impulse voltage of positive and negative 1.2/50μs. This study was concentrated around the electrode gaps with 1-50mm of the point-plane electrode arrangement. The breakdown voltage and breakdown time were simultaneously recorded. The Weibull distribution functions were used to analyze the experimental data and estimate the breakdown voltage with risk of 63.2% probability. The results showed that, for negative voltage, in the larger gaps, ester oils always had a significant lower breakdown voltage than mineral oil, while the breakdown voltages of various ester liquids were approximate, for positive voltage, the breakdown voltages of various ester liquids were quite different.

Background There is an urgent need to improve the early diagnosis of breast cancer. Objective The present study applied spectral and beat-to-beat analyses to laser-Doppler (LDF) data sequences measured on the skin surface on the back of the right hands, with the aim of comparing the different peripheral microcirculatory-blood-flow (MBF) perfusion condition between breast-cancer and control subjects. Methods ECG and LDF signals were obtained simultaneously and noninvasively from 23 breast-cancer patients and 23 age-matched control subjects. Time-domain beat-to-beat indexes and their variability parameters were calculated. Spectral indexes were calculated using the Morlet wavelet transform. Results The beat-to-beat LDF pulse width and its variability were significantly smaller in cancer patients than in the controls. The energy contributions of endothelial-, neural-, and myogenic-related frequency bands were also significantly smaller in cancer patients. Conclusions The present study has revealed significant differences in the beat-to-beat and spectral indexes of skin-surface-acquired LDF signals between control subjects and breast-cancer patients. This illustrates that LDF indexes may be useful for monitoring the changes in the MBF perfusion condition induced by breast cancer. Since the breast-cancer patients were at TNM stages 0- 2, the present findings may aid the development of indexes for detecting breast cancer.

Aims The objective of the present study was to investigate the current situation concerning, and risk factors for, vancomycin (VAN)-induced acute kidney injury (VI-AKI) in elderly Chinese patients, to assess outcomes and risk factors in patients who have developed VI-AKI, in order to provide suggestions for improving the prevention and treatment of this condition in these patients. Method We retrospectively identified elderly older inpatients who had received four or more doses of VAN treatment. We compared patients with VI-AKI with those who received VAN treatment and had not developed AKI (NO-AKI). We defined VI-AKI as developing AKI during VAN therapy or within 3 days after withdrawal of VAN. Results A total of 647 out of 862 elderly inpatients were included in the study. Among those excluded, in 89.3% of cases (192/215) this was because of lack of data on serum creatinine (SCr). Among included patients, 32.5% (210/647) of patients received therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) during VAN therapy. In 66.9% of cases (424/634), there was insufficient TDM, and in 3.9% (25/634) this was appropriate. A total of 102 patients had confirmed VI-AKI, with an incidence of 15.8% (102/647). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that hyperuricaemia [odds ratio (OR) = 3.045; P = 0.000)], mechanical ventilation (OR = 1.906; P = 0.022) and concomitant vasopressor therapy (OR = 1.919; P = 0.027) were independent risk factors for VI-AKI; higher serum albumin (OR = 0.885; P = 0.000) was determined to be an independent protective factor for VI-AKI. Conclusions For the elderly Chinese patients treated with VAN, there was insufficient monitoring of SCr, too little use of VAN TDM, and lower rate of patients whose VAN though serum concentrations were not obtained at the correct time. We recommend that hospital managers increase investment in clinical pharmacists, to strengthen professional management. Patients with concomitant hyperuricaemia and on mechanical ventilation and vasopressor therapy should be paid more attention, and a higher serum albumin was determined to be an independent protective factor for VI-AKI.

Objective Not responding to appetitive food items in the go/no-go training has been shown to reduce the evaluation of these items in normal-weight university students. In this preregistered study, we administered an identical go/no-go training in both morbidly obese individuals and normal-weight university students, to assess whether findings from laboratory studies on go/no-go training performed in university environments can be translated to clinical settings. Method Obese individuals (N = 59, 14 males, Mage = 46.10, MBMI = 44.49) and university students (N = 58, 15 males, Mage = 23.21, MBMI = 22.64) were trained to consistently respond to certain food items (go) and withhold responses to other items (no-go). Evaluations of the go and no-go items, along with items not used in the training (untrained), were measured both before and after the training. Results Before the training, evaluations of go, no-go and untrained items were matched; after the training, go items were evaluated more positively than no-go (p = .031 and p = .002 in obese and normal-weight individuals) and untrained items (p = .003 in normal-weight individuals). Only relatively hungry participants rated no-go items as less attractive than both go and untrained items (no-go devaluation effect). More important, effects of the training on food evaluation did not differ between the two participant groups. Conclusions Obese and normal-weight individuals showed similar responsivity to the go/no-go training on food evaluation, suggesting that insights from laboratory studies may be translated to clinical settings to develop effective interventions to regulate food intake. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Continuum space manipulators have advantages in working in the confined spaces to conduct some fine operating tasks for high-value malfunctioning satellites, while Cable-Constrained Synchronous Rotating Mechanism (CCSRM) is a new mechanical structure for continuum manipulators to improve their stiffness and reduce the motor numbers. However, the dynamic equations of manipulators with CCSRM have stiff problems, which reduce the calculation efficiency. This paper proposes an efficient dynamic modeling and simulation method for continuum space manipulators with CCSRM. The rotations of rigid links of the manipulator are described by quaternion parameters, and the dynamic equations of the system are obtained by using Lagrange equations of the first kind. The connecting cables of the CCSRM are modeled by linear torsional spring-dampers. The stiff problems are modified by a model smoothing method to reduce the high-frequency components of the motion, after which a relatively much larger integration step can be taken, which can significantly improve the calculation efficiency. Finally, two numerical examples are provided as demonstrative applications. The numerical results show that the proposed method can improve the calculation efficiency by two or three orders of magnitude and realize real-time simulation.