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High trust is a booster of trade development, while low trust is a stumbling block. The trust between two countries (regions) will be beneficial to sustainable development for bilateral trade. To investigate the impact of trade partners' trust on the scale of China's agricultural export trade, we put trust into the analytical models of international trade, propose a research hypothesis based on the transaction cost economics theory, and construct an extended gravity model for empirical tests. The results show that the level of trust affects the scale of export trade by affecting the size of transaction costs. Higher trust produces trade creation effect, while lower trust produces trade barrier effect. The trade partner's trust significantly affects the scale of China's agricultural export trade, and the effect is heterogeneous at different percent quartiles. Even after controlling the endogeneity, the conclusion still holds. We suggest that, in the international trade of agricultural products, the government should constantly improve the quality of formal institution, attach importance to constructing of the informal institution of trust and enhance the social trust to facilitate the development of agricultural trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is rising globally, increasing interest in food ingredients for its prevention and control. This study evaluated the effect of farnesol (FAR), a key component of pomelo flower volatile oil, on dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis in C57BL/6 mice. FAR significantly alleviated DSS-induced colitis and secondary liver injury, as shown by improved body weight, DAI, colon length, and pathology, as well as liver function and blood lipid indices. The mechanism involves FAR-mediated regulation of inflammatory cytokines, increased expression of tight junction protein genes, and decreased expression of lipid metabolism-related proteins. FAR also enhanced gut microbiota diversity, balancing harmful and probiotic bacteria. Fecal metabolome analysis indicated FAR's role in reversing metabolic disturbances related to inflammation and liver lipid metabolism. These findings support developing functional foods for IBD treatment using pomelo flower volatile oil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structure- and mechanism-based redesign of the Fe(II)/2-oxoglutarate-dependent oxygenase AndA was performed. The function of AndA was expanded to catalyze a spiro-ring formation reaction from an isomerization reaction. The redesigned AndA variants produced two unnatural novel spiro-ring containing compounds through two and three consecutive oxidation reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a result of their rapid development, polymer composites are seeing wider use in transportation infrastructure in China and worldwide. To solve the insufficient anti-aging performance of modified asphalt with high SBS content, Han et al. added nanomaterials and polyphosphoric acid (PPA) to high SBS content linear-modified asphalt as anti-aging agents [[2]]. The low-temperature properties of SBS-modified asphalt are not satisfactory; thus, Chen et al. analyzed the main factors for improving the low-temperature performance of SBS-modified asphalt base on the orthogonal tests [[1]]. [Extracted from the article]

A sustainable and environmentally friendly society is developing rapidly, in which pavement engineering is an essential part. Therefore, more attention has been paid toward waste utilization and urban noise pollution in road construction. The object of this study was not only to investigate the mix proportion of waste crumb modified asphalt mixtures with diatomite and basalt fiber but also to evaluate the comprehensive performances including sound and vibration absorption of modified asphalt mixtures. Firstly, the mix proportion scheme was designed based on Marshall indices and sound and vibration absorption properties according to the orthogonal experimental method. Considering the specification requirements, as well as better performances, the optimal mix proportion was determined as follows: diatomite content at 7.5%, basalt fiber content at 0.3%, and asphalt-aggregate ratio at 5.5%. The range and variance analysis results indicated that asphalt-aggregate ratio has the most significant influence on volumetric parameters, diatomite has the most significant influence on sound absorption, and basalt fiber has the most significant influence on vibration reduction. Furthermore, the conventional pavement performances and sustainable sound and vibration absorption performances of modified asphalt mixtures were also analyzed. The results showed that the performances of modified asphalt mixtures were improved to different extents compared to the base asphalt mixture. This may be attributed to the microporous structure property of diatomite and the spatial network structure formed by basalt fibers. The pavement as well as sound and vibration absorption performances of the waste crumb modified asphalt mixture with diatomite and basalt fiber would be a good guidance for asphalt pavement design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) affects reproductive-aged women. Active disease can lead to decreased fertility. Although the vast majority of international guidelines recommend for the continuation of anti-TNF-α during pregnancy, recent studies have raised concerns about the safety of anti-tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) therapy during pregnancy, both for patients and for physicians. Methods: Studies that evaluate the safety of anti-TNF-α therapy in pregnant women with IBD were identified using bibliographical searches. An updated meta-analysis was performed for pregnancy outcomes, such as live birth, abortion, still birth, preterm birth, low birth weight, congenital abnormalities, and neonatal infection. Odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) are reported. Data on disease activity, timing of anti-TNF-α therapy were collected for further analysis. Results: Overall, 11 studies were screened from on-line databases and international meeting abstracts. An increased risk of abortion (OR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.02–1.74; P = 0.04) and preterm birth (OR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.05–1.28; P = 0.004), and a decreased risk of live birth (OR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.74–0.94; P = 0.002]) were found in the anti-TNF-α therapy group compared with the control group (no use of anti-TNF-α therapy). The subgroup analyses based on the disease activity showed there is no significant association between the use of anti-TNF-α therapy during pregnancy on adverse pregnancy outcomes of abortion, preterm birth, and live birth. The rates of still birth, low birth weight, and congenital abnormalities in the anti-TNF-α therapy group were not significantly different from those in the control group. Conclusions: Anti-TNF-α therapy does not increase the risks of still birth, low birth weight, and congenital abnormalities; however it may be assicated with increased risks of abortion and preterm birth, which are accompanied by a lower rate of live birth. Although these findings may be confounding by potential disease activity, they offer some opposite viewpoints with biologic agent use. Therefore, more studies are required to further confirm the safety of anti-TNF-α therapy in pregnancy with IBD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Spontaneous reporting of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) is essential for the post-marketing safety evaluation of drugs. Therefore, good monitoring of ADRs is vital for strengthening drug supervision, management, and guiding rational drug use. Chinese medical institutions are the primary source of ADR case reports, but the proportion of the reports in grade IIIA hospitals is still low due to serious under-reporting. The 3rd Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu Pidu District People's Hospital, also has such a problem. Objective: To improve the quantity and quality of ADR reports and enhance the level of pharmacovigilance in hospitals, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu Medical College, People's Hospital of Chengdu Pidu District experienced 10 years to gradually establish a management model to improve the medical staff's reporting rate of spontaneous reporting of ADRs. The management model is led by clinical pharmacists and combines the PDCA with Teach-back methods. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the management model and discuss its advantages and shortcomings of this model. Methods: This study was conducted at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu Medical College—Chengdu Pidu District People's Hospital. From 2016, the daily management of reporting, auditing, and data improvement of adverse drug reactions in the hospital was carried out by clinical pharmacists, who used the PDCA method combined with the Teach-back method to continuously improve the reporting program of ADRs in the hospital during 2016–2021. Then, the proportion of spontaneous reports of total, new, and serious ADRs was compared before and after the intervention. Also, we performed a time series analysis using an autoregressive moving average model to assess changes in the total number of spontaneous ADR reports before the intervention (2013–2015), the first intervention (2016–2018), and the second intervention (2019–2021). Results: After the combined PDCA and Teach-back method intervention, the median number of reported ADRs per year increased from 50 (range 37–55) in the pre-intervention period to 88 (range 83–162) in the first intervention period and to 374 in the second (range 312–566). Breakpoint regression analysis of the spontaneous reporting rate of ADRs showed that the instantaneous increase after the first intervention was not statistically significant (P = 0.526). However, the reporting rate of ADRs increased at a month-by-month growth rate during the second intervention compared to the first intervention. Its spontaneous reporting rate improved 1.034 times (P = 0.002). After the second intervention, the spontaneous reporting rate of ADRs transiently increased 6.111-fold (P < 0.001), and the month-to-month growth rate increased 1.024-fold (P < 0.001) again. Conclusion: The management model that combines the PDCA and the Teach-back method significantly improves the reporting rate of adverse drug reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AIM: From the perspective of regulating mitochondrial complex I activity by DJ-1 protein, this study aims to explore the mechanism of DJ-1-mediated resveratrol (RES) preconditioning in protecting against oxidative stress injury induced by myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) in rats. METHODS: After intramyocardial injection of lentivirus carrying DJ-1 shRNA (sh-DJ-l) or negative control (NC) shRNA, the myocardial I/R model was constructed by ligating the left anterior descending branch of the rat coronary artery. Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into 6 groups: sham group, I/R group, RES+I/R group, NC+RES+I/R group, sh-DJ-1+RES+I/R group, and IACS-010759 (mitochondrial complex I inhibitor)+RES+I/R group, with 10 rats in each group. The rats in RES treatment groups were given RES (20 mg/kg) via gavage for 7 d prior to the myocardial I/R modeling, once daily. Moreover, the rats in sham and I/R groups received an equivalent volume of normal saline via gavage. Myocardial infarction area and cardiac function were assessed by TTC staining and echocardiography, respectively. The MitoSOX fluorescent probe was used to detect levels of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the myocardium. The levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dis-mutase (SOD) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in the serum were detected using kits. Western blot and co-immunoprecipitation assays were used to observe the interaction between DJ-1 and the two subunits, ND-1 and NDUFA4, of the mitochondrial complex I. RESULTS: Compared with I/R group, RES pretreatment significantly reduced the myocardial infarction area, mitochondrial ROS levels, serum LDH activity, and serum MDA content (P<0. 01). It also elevated left ventricular ejection fraction, left ventricular fractional shortening and serum SOD activity (P<0. 01). Pretreatment with RES increased the expression and mitochondrial translocation of DJ-1 (P<0. 01), promoted the interaction between DJ-1 and ND-1/NDUFA4, which in turn protected the activity of mitochondrial complex I (P<0. 01). However, when the expression of DJ-1 was suppressed, the protective effects of RES against myocardial I/R injury were significantly inhibited compared with RES+I/R group (P<0. 05 or P<0. 01). CONCLUSION: Pretreatment with RES increases the expression and mitochondrial translocation of DJ-1, and facilitates the interaction of DJ-1 with ND1 and NDUFA4 subunits of mito-chondrial complex I, thus preserving the activity of mitochondrial complex I and attenuating myocardial I/R-induced oxidative stress damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge about the drivers of benthic prokaryotic diversity and metabolic potential in interconnected coastal sediments at regional scales is limited. We collected surface sediments across six zones covering ~200 km in coastal northern Zhejiang, East China Sea and combined 16 S rRNA gene sequencing, community-level metabolic prediction, and sediment physicochemical measurements to investigate variations in prokaryotic diversity and metabolic gene composition with geographic distance and under local environmental conditions. Geographic distance was the most influential factor in prokaryotic β-diversity compared with major environmental drivers, including temperature, sediment texture, acid-volatile sulfide, and water depth, but a large unexplained variation in community composition suggested the potential effects of unmeasured abiotic/biotic factors and stochastic processes. Moreover, prokaryotic assemblages showed a biogeographic provincialism across the zones. The predicted metabolic gene composition similarly shifted as taxonomic composition did. Acid-volatile sulfide was strongly correlated with variation in metabolic gene composition. The enrichments in the relative abundance of sulfate-reducing bacteria and genes relevant with dissimilatory sulfate reduction were observed and predicted, respectively, in the Yushan area. These results provide insights into the relative importance of geographic distance and environmental condition in driving benthic prokaryotic diversity in coastal areas and predict specific biogeochemically-relevant genes for future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Timely and accurate flame detection is a very important and practical technology for preventing the occurrence of fire accidents effectively. However, the current methods of flame detection are still faced with many challenges in video surveillance scenarios due to issues such as varying flame shapes, imbalanced samples, and interference from flame-like objects. In this work, a real-time flame detection method based on deformable object detection and time sequence analysis is proposed to address these issues. Firstly, based on the existing single-stage object detection network YOLOv5s, the network structure is improved by introducing deformable convolution to enhance the feature extraction ability for irregularly shaped flames. Secondly, the loss function is improved by using Focal Loss as the classification loss function to solve the problems of the imbalance of positive (flames) and negative (background) samples, as well as the imbalance of easy and hard samples, and by using EIOU Loss as the regression loss function to solve the problems of a slow convergence speed and inaccurate regression position in network training. Finally, a time sequence analysis strategy is adopted to comprehensively analyze the flame detection results of the current frame and historical frames in the surveillance video, alleviating false alarms caused by flame shape changes, flame occlusion, and flame-like interference. The experimental results indicate that the average precision (AP) and the F-Measure index of flame detection using the proposed method reach 93.0% and 89.6%, respectively, both of which are superior to the compared methods, and the detection speed is 24–26 FPS, meeting the real-time requirements of video flame detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional methods for determining rock stress sensitivity, in which the confining pressure is varied while the pore pressure is held at a constant level, are not suitable for the conditions in low-permeability tight gas reservoirs. In this work, we have studied an evaluation method that involves varying the pore pressure for constant confining pressure. In order to establish the actual reservoir pressures, we used a method involving simultaneous increase in the confining and pore pressures. We have derived an equation describing the dependence of the gas well productivity on the stress sensitivity of the reservoir and have demonstrated the validity of our model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Mariculture discharge profoundly impacts coastal aquatic environment. • Protein-like materials dominate the DOM in the coastal water studied. • Long-term mariculture tailwater discharge reduces the bay's carbon sequestration potential. • Stochastic processes dominate the bacterial community assembly in the bay. • Mariculture-derived DOM is closely associated with the bacterial community. Mariculture is a key protein source and economic driver but traditional methods pollute coastal waters, hindering sustainable development. Current research on the ecological impacts of mariculture mainly focuses on specific pollutants and lacks an assessment of the biogeochemical impacts of mariculture discharge. This study examined Xiangshan Bay, a representative intensive mariculture area in China, to explore the impact of mariculture tailwater discharge on water quality, focusing on dissolved organic matter (DOM) and bacterial communities. Based on the fluorescence excitation-emission matrix combined with parallel factor analysis, a characteristic fluorescence component C4 was identified in mariculture tailwater (intensity of 40 ± 4 %, n = 8), while higher C4 components (47 ± 3 %, n = 15) were found throughout the bay. Humic-like components from riverine input (C1 + C2: 32 ± 3 %, n = 15) and protein-like components from domestic sewage (C5: 2 ± 1 %, n = 15) were significantly lower in the seawater samples, indicating the strong influence of mariculture tailwater on the entire DOM structure of the bay. The bacterial community structure showed a response consistent with DOM, as revealed by nonmetric multidimensional scaling analysis. This showed that bacterial communities in mariculture tailwater and bay water samples clustered together, independent of riverine input. The SourceTracker model indicated that mariculture tailwater (91 ± 5 %) predominantly contributed to the bacterial community, with minimal contributions from riverine input (< 5 %). Co-occurrence network analysis further showed that under long-term high-intensity mariculture discharge, the C4 component became the core DOM and was closely associated with the bacterial community. The results here demonstrate the profound impact of traditional mariculture on coastal water quality and show that riverine input is not the primary pollution source in this region, providing clear directions for coastal environmental restoration efforts. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the limited dissipating effect and high construction costs of traditional sand cushion in shed, this paper proposes to partially replace the sand with waste tennis balls to solve the problem of poor impact resistance of sand cushion. Tests of the impact of rockfall on the waste tennis ball-sand composite cushion were carried out exploring the dissipation effect controlled for the following: height of the rockfall, average gas content of the tennis balls, distribution density, whether the tennis ball gaps were filled with sand, and prevalence and position of tennis balls. According to the results, when a steel plate is added above the composite cushion to isolate the river sand and the tennis balls, the peak of reaction force and impact force decreased by 62% and 72%, respectively, and the dissipating effect of the composite cushion is significantly improved. More specifically, the energy dissipation of tennis cushion outperforms the traditional one with an increase of falling height, and the peak value of reaction force and impact force decrease by up to 23% and 14%, respectively. Moreover, under the same impact energy, the dissipating effect of the tennis ball-sand composite cushion gradually increases with the reduction of the gas content of the tennis ball and the distance between the tennis balls; 25% gas content and 5 cm distance have the best energy dissipation effect. The research results can provide new solutions for the structural design of cushion and the reuse of used tennis balls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of multi-wave and multi-component seismic information for reservoir prediction and characterization has been a popular research direction. The study area is located in the Orinoco heavy oil belt in Venezuela. The reservoir is a braided river delta plain deposit and the sandstone is shallowly buried and unconsolidated. Thereby, it is difficult to predict and characterize the type of reservoir effectively with seismic data of conventional P-waves. Based on multi-wave and multi-component seismic acquisition data, the study has conducted petrophysical analysis and seismic horizon calibration with converted wave (PS). Vertically, superimposed sand bodies were identified with PP wave because the PP wave has higher vertical resolution than that of PS wave. Laterally, sectional morphology and plane distribution scale of sand bodies were delineated by using the higher lateral resolution of PS wave. By combining the characteristics of PP wave and PS wave, five models for intersection and sand body superposition were summarized and the architecture units of sand bodies were divided. The seismic attribute (RMS amlpitude) boundary characteristics and continuity of the high amplitude region described by PS wave are more evident to obtain plane distribution of channel bars and braided channels. Three different seismic inversion results of seismic impedance, density and sand thickness from three different methods were compared. The average accuracy of sand body prediction with the method of PP-PS wave combined pre-stack inversion reached approximately 85% which is greater than that of the PP wave post-stack inversion and PP-PS combined post-stack inversion, with accuracy of 64% and 66% respectively. The research results showed that in the study area, the combination of multi-wave and multi-component seismic reflection information can effectively identify and predict multi-stage superimposed sand bodies with clearer vertical superposition and more accurate lateral boundary. Due to the inherent non-uniqueness of seismic information on predicting reservoir distribution, the resolution of seismic data and the difficulty of identification of the highly superimposed shallow-buried unconsolidated sandbodies, reservoir prediction uncertainty still exists. In particular, the interpretation on the sedimentary microfacies distribution and sand-body scale may only be one of the relatively reliable interpretation schemes. • Application of multi-wave and multi-component seismic data. • Description on unconsolidated sand bodies integrated well and seismic data. • PP-PS wave combined pre-stack inversion method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with myocardial infarction have a much worse prognosis when they have myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. Further research into the molecular basis of myocardial I/R injury is therefore urgently needed, as well as the identification of novel therapeutic targets and linkages to interventions. Three cysteine residues are present in DJ-1 at amino acids 46, 53, and 106 sites, with the cysteine at position 106 being the most oxidation-prone. This study sought to understand how oxidized DJ-1(C106) contributes to myocardial I/R damage. Rats' left anterior descending branches were tied off to establish a myocardial I/R model in vivo. A myocardial I/R model in vitro was established via anoxia/reoxygenation (A/R) of H9c2 cells. The results showed that autophagy increased after I/R, accompanied by the increased expression of oxidized DJ-1 (ox-DJ-1). In contrast, after pretreatment with NAC (N-acetylcysteine, a ROS scavenger) or Comp-23 (Compound-23, a specific antioxidant binding to the C106 site of DJ-1), the levels of ox-DJ-1, autophagy and LDH release decreased, and cell survival rate increased. Furthermore, the inhibition of interaction between ox-DJ-1 and PTEN could increase PTEN phosphatase activity, inhibit the p-IKK/NF-κB/Beclin1 pathway, reduce injurious autophagy, and alleviate A/R injury. However, BA (Betulinic acid, a NF-κB agonist) was able to reverse the protective effects produced by Comp-23 pretreatment. In conclusion, ox-DJ-1 could activate detrimental autophagy through the PTEN/p-IKK/NF-κB/Beclin1 pathway and exacerbate myocardial I/R injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Orinoco heavy oil belt (OHOB), which has the most significant heavy oil reserve in the world, has shown various sedimentary patterns and different evolution processes within its different blocks. We selected two blocks, Junin in the west and Carabobo in the east, to analyze the depositional environment distinctions due to different transgression processes. Based on the interpretation of 3D seismic data and electrical well-logging facies and analysis of depositional phenomena using cores, we clarified diverse depositional associations and constructed a sedimentary evolution model of the depositional system in the study area. We suggest that the depositional system transitioned from a braided river delta to a tide-dominated delta in the Early Miocene and that two factors mainly controlled the transition: paleo-flow and paleo-geomorphology, which are related to tectonic uplift and transgression processes. Transgression increased gradually through tectonic activity, though transgression rates varied area to area, resulting in different depositional environment transitions and sand-body distribution patterns. In the Carabobo block (east), a gentle slope developed, indicating a fast transgression rate. The intense interaction between river and tide flow led to a large inter-distributary channel area with high-sinuosity- or tidal-channels (relative to the Junin block). In the Junin block (west), tectonic activity developed a large accommodation area providing space for the sediment produced, slowing the transgression rate, and contributing to a mainly fluvial delta environment. Due to the gradual intensive transgression, channel stack patterns transitioned from braided-to meandering-channel in the river dominated delta or tidal-channel in the tide-dominated delta. • Depositional environment analysis in the Orinoco heavy oil belt. • Braided river delta to tide-dominated delta transition in the early Miocene. • Fast and slow transgression in the east (Carabobo) and west (Junin), respectively. • Channel stack patterns transitioned from braided-to meandering- or tidal-channel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sucrose-based biofloc system could facilitate the growth and fitness of shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) by regulating the gut bacterial community. However, little is known about the specific taxa enriched by sucrose-based biofloc system that could improve shrimp health. Here, we investigated the influences of sucrose-based biofloc system on the diversity, structure, and function of the shrimp gut bacterial community. Sucrose-based biofloc system enhanced the observed species and shannon index of the gut bacterial community, and altered the bacterial community compositions by aggrandizing the relative abundances of Amaricoccus , Demequina , and Microbacterium , and decreasing the abundances of potential pathogens belonging to Mycoplasmataceae. The relative abundances of three key operational taxonomic units (OTUs), Demequina OTU465, Microbacterium OTU778, and Amaricoccus OTU 3213 accounted for >50% contributions to shrimp growth and survival rate. Sucrose-based biofloc system positively improved the bacterial community functions involved in amino acid metabolism, metabolism of terpenoids and polyketides, and carbohydrate metabolism. These improved functions were also positively associated with these key OTUs, further implying that they might be key for shrimp health. Finally, the corresponding strains of these key OTUs were isolated to construct a synthetic community, which showed significantly promotive role in shrimp growth and resistance against pathogen challenge. These results not only help us understand the role of sucrose-based biofloc system in improving shrimp fitness better but also provide a reference for suppressing disease occurrence through the use of bacterial inocula. • Sucrose addition changed the bacterial community diversity and structure. • Sucrose addition directly enriched some specific taxa in the shrimp gut. • Specifically enriched taxa had great contributions on shrimp growth and survival rate. • Sucrose addition altered the potential functions of shrimp gut bacterial community. • Combination of specifically enriched bacteria protected shrimp against Vibrio challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The Eastern Venezuela Basin serves as a world-class petroliferous basin, with the sedimentary environment controlled by interactions between the Caribbean and South American plates. This complex tectonic movement could have an important impact on the unsynchronized sedimentary evolution process and heterogeneous marine transgression of different regions within the basin. Thus, it is important to clarify the impact of interactions between the fluviatic- and marine-deposits on the development of the sedimentary environment, the transition of different delta types, and sand-body distribution within this complicated tectonic movement. Based on interpretation of 3D seismic data, electrical well-logging facies and analysis of the sedimentary characteristics of the core, we were able to identify the different sedimentary association types and understand the evolutionary process of the sedimentary system within the study area. We found that the differential sedimentary process in the eastern and western Carabobo block in the Eastern Venezuela Basin was caused by differential uplift and the corresponding spatial discrepancy transgression process in the Middle and Early Miocene foreland basins in this region. The flat geomorphology in the eastern Carabobo block contributed to the obvious sea level transgression process from North to South, but the uplift in the center of the western Carabobo block continuously blocked the sea level transgression. The different transgression processes led to the different sedimentary evolution processes in the eastern and western Carabobo blocks. In the eastern Carabobo block, braided river deltas (23.3–20.43 Ma) gradually changed into meandering river deltas (20.43–15.97 Ma) and finally into tide-influenced estuaries (15.97 Ma). However, in the western subsiding Carabobo block, impacted by the uplift in the center of this area, braided river deltas (23.3–15.97 Ma) in front of the uplift (adjacent to the sea) quickly changed into tide-influenced estuaries (15.97 Ma) with the generation of meandering distributary channels. However, the relatively weak transgression impacting the area behind the uplift resulted in braided channels being retained. Along with the evolution of the sedimentary environment, the tide-related deltaic distributary channel began to change from a braided channel to a meandering one. After rebuilding the paleo-hydrodynamic field, ancient geomorphology, and combining the hydrodynamic equations, we were able to quantitatively explain why sausage-shaped mouth bars occurred in the West and isolated mouth bars occurred in the East. Differential sedimentary environment evolution in eastern and western Carabobo is related to the spatial discrepancy of transgression, which resulted in the rate of change in hydrodynamic intensity, the direction of water flow confluence, and paleo-geomorphology. Highlights • Identification of Spatial discrepancy of Miocene transgression with multi-scaled data analysis. • Recognition different kinds of sedimentary evolution process based on the seismic-log-core integration analysis. • Put out the responding channel transform pattern with rebuilding the hydrodynamic distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major assumption in developing intelligent robot in industrial fields is that the intelligence has to be from senior human workers. However, in many industrial applications, this assumption may not hold. For example, in welding process, a senior welder can continually choose proper weld parameters and tune weld performance based on their observations of the liquid weld pool. But a robot with better pool shape measurement system and quicker respond speed may outperform human welders. In such cases, intelligent welding agents, if developed successfully, would greatly reduce welding cost by avoiding much expensive human training efforts and improve the welding performance. In recent years, machine learning techniques have emerged as a new learning framework to address such problem. The theory of machine learning provides a normative account of how agents may predict their future action based on a model structure, in which the training and future data have to be in the same feature space and have the same distribution. In this paper, Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) is proposed to model real-time welding process. Gas tungsten arc welding experiments were performed and the experimental data are utilized to validate the proposed method. We train the model using 1284 pairs of data in one experiment and test this model on a challenging domain of 4 other experiments by 11,642 pairs of data, using the same algorithm, GPR architectures, and hyperparameters. Bayesian Optimization Algorithm (BOA) surrogated with GPR is proposed to provide robust prediction results. This paper opens a door for enabling robot with industrial skills, resulting in the first artificial welder that is capable to respond real-time observations and provide robust predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resveratrol (RES), a natural polyphenolic compound found in red wine and grape skins, has attracted significant attention due to its cardioprotective properties. DJ-1, a multifunctional protein that participated in transcription regulation and antioxidant defense, was shown to provide a significant protective impact in cardiac cells treated with ischemia-reperfusion. We created a myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) model in vivo and in vitro by ligating the left anterior descending branch of rats and subjecting H9c2 cells to anoxia/reoxygenation (A/R) to investigate whether RES reduces myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury by upregulating DJ-1. We discovered that RES dramatically enhanced cardiac function in rats with I/R. Subsequently, we found that RES prevented the rise in autophagy (P62 degradation and LC3-II/LC3-I increase) induced by cardiac ischemia-reperfusion in vitro and in vivo. Notably, the autophagic agonist rapamycin (RAPA) eliminated RES-induced cardioprotective effects. In addition, Further data showed that RES significantly increased the expression of DJ-1 in the myocardium with the treatment of I/R. At the same time, pretreatment with RES reduced phosphorylation of MAPK/ERK kinase kinase 1 (MEKK1) and Jun N-terminal Kinase (JNK) stimulated by cardiac ischemia-reperfusion, and Beclin-1 mRNA and protein levels while decreasing lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and improving cell viability. However, the lentiviral shDJ-1 and JNK agonist anisomycin disrupted the effects of RES. In summary, RES could inhibit autophagy against myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury through DJ-1 modulation of the MEKK1/JNK pathway, providing a novel therapeutic strategy for cardiac homeostasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autophagy is a highly conserved biological process that has evolved across evolution. It can be activated by various external stimuli including oxidative stress, amino acid starvation, infection, and hypoxia. Autophagy is the primary mechanism for preserving cellular homeostasis and is implicated in the regulation of metabolism, cell differentiation, tolerance to starvation conditions, and resistance to aging. As a multifunctional protein, DJ-1 is commonly expressed in vivo and is associated with a variety of biological processes. Its most widely studied role is its function as an oxidative stress sensor that inhibits the production of excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the mitochondria and subsequently the cellular damage caused by oxidative stress. In recent years, many studies have identified DJ-1 as another important factor regulating autophagy; it regulates autophagy in various ways, most commonly by regulating the oxidative stress response. In particular, DJ-1-regulated autophagy is involved in cancer progression and plays a key role in alleviating neurodegenerative diseases(NDS) and defective reperfusion diseases. It could serve as a potential target for the regulation of autophagy and participate in disease treatment as a meaningful modality. Therefore, exploring DJ-1-regulated autophagy could provide new avenues for future disease treatment. [Display omitted] • DJ-1 regulated autophagy through indirect oxidation, Ca2+ stabilization platform, and direct regulation of autophagy proteins. • DJ-1 also regulated autophagy through pathways such as AMPK. • DJ-1 regulation of autophagy played a role in many diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Yeast degraded PN, PS, amino acids, and fluorescent components in EPS. • Yeast transformed macromolecular organics to small molecular ones in EPS. • Addition of 0.75 g/L of yeast enhanced the dewaterability of AS. • Yeast reduced hydrophilic organics or functional groups in EPS. • Yeast enhanced the AS dewaterability and reduced the in-situ biomass in SBR. Candida Tropicalis was used to improve the dewaterability of activated sludge (AS) and reduce its biomass by degrading EPS in AS. The protein, polysaccharide, and hydrophilic amino acids in EPS decreased by 54.50, 29.20, and 61.01%, respectively. Meanwhile, molecular weight distribution indicated that yeast degraded macromolecular organics into small molecular ones. The direct addition of yeast to AS was more conducive to EPS degradation. With the addition of 0.75 g/L of wet yeast cells and 24 h of aeration enhanced the dewaterability of AS. The CST and MLSS decreased by 24.44 and 10.51%, respectively. After 30 days of operation of lab-scale continuous SBRs, the CST and MLSS of AS were reduced by 6.37 ± 2.01 and 3.57 ± 0.52%, respectively. FTIR spectroscopy results showed that some hydrophilic functional groups were reduced. This study provides a new approach for the in-situ reduction of AS in wastewater treatment plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accuracy of structured light measurement depends on delicate offline calibration. However, in some practical applications, the system is supposed to be reconfigured so frequently to track the target that an online calibration is required. To this end, this paper proposes a rapid and autonomous self-recalibration method. For the proposed method, first, the rotation matrix and the normalized translation vector are attained from the fundamental matrix; second, the scale factor is acquired based on scale-invariant registration such that the actual translation vector is obtained. Experiments have been conducted to verify the effectiveness of our proposed method and the results indicate a high degree of accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The common shrimp disease, acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND), has caused extensive damage to the shrimp farming industry due to its rapid spread and high mortality rates. However, the alterations in gastrointestinal microbiota (GM) ecosystem in subadult shrimps (Litopenaeus vannamei) with AHPND occurrence are still unclear. This study identified AHPND according to clinical symptoms and the existence of the toxin gene pirA VP, analyzed the microbiome dynamics of healthy and diseased subadult shrimps, and built an ecological model for quantitative evaluation of the GM imbalance. The results showed that the GM community diversity in diseased shrimps was significantly lower than that in healthy ones. The structural composition, dysbiosis-related indices, and assembly processes of the GM community were also evidently changed in diseased shrimps. The different operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in GM of diseased shrimps were mainly composed of Vibrio spp. with a relative abundance >90%, the majority of these were neutrally distributed in the neutral model of AHPND occurrence. Of 39 biomarkers for predicting AHPND occurrence, nine belonging to Vibrio were overrepresented in diseased shrimps, whereas biomarkers such as Rhodobacteraceae OTU3427, Candiadatus aysiosphaera OTU1041, KD4-96 OTU4963, and Rhodobacter OTU3366 were enhanced in healthy shrimps. Functional prediction showed that the gene abundances of the NOD receptor signaling pathway (p =.04), Vibrio infection (p <.01), and Vibrio pathogenic cycle function (p <.01) were significantly increased in diseased compared with healthy shrimps. Disturbed GM was closely correlated with infectious diseases and pirA gene. In contrast, stable GM was maintained by multiple bacterial taxa, which may be benefit for shrimp health through regulating immune system and environmental adaptation. These results indicated that GM imbalance caused by AHPND with the characteristics of expanded variation of GM diversity, increased dysbiosis-related indices, higher abundance of potential pathogens, and lager loss of potential beneficial bacteria or ecological functions, might further accelerate the progression of AHPND outbreaks. This study may provide a basis for understanding the etiology of AHPND from a microecological perspective in subadult shrimp. • Quantitatively evaluated the relationship between pirA copies and Vibrio abundance. • Describing the imbalance status of GM with the microbial ecological models. • GM dysbiosis was mainly caused by Vibrio biomarkers when AHPND occurred. • NLR signaling pathway involved in Vibrio was significantly elevated in DG. • Healthy shrimps were maintained by a wider range of bacteria in GM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In 2021, National Health Commission of the People's Republic of Chinese issued a document that no longer recommended the routine skin test for cephalosporin (RSTC). However, there is still resistance to the cancellation of RSTC in a primary hospital. The study aimed to explore the potential factors for hindering the abolition of the RSTC in a county-level hospital based on the PRECEDE model., Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted on healthcare workers in the Pidu District People's Hospital, Chengdu, by online questionnaire from September 10 to September 25 in the 2021.The PRECEDE model was used to divide the potential factors of healthcare professionals in hindering the abolition of the RSTC into predisposing factors, enabling factors and reinforcing factors. Data were analyzed by ANOVA, Chi-square test, multiple linear and multiple logistic regression analysis., Results: We collected 605 respondents' valid questionnaires. 254 healthcare professionals were against cancellation of the RSTC, accounting for 41.98%. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that working for 6~10 years (β = 1.953, P = 0.024), medium (β = 1.995, P = 0.030) or senior (β = 4.003, P = 0.007) professional qualification, pharmacists (β = 3.830, P = 0.013) and working in surgical department (β= 4.462, P < 0.001) were significantly associated with higher score of predisposing factors, enabling factors, and reinforcing factors on abolition of RSTC. Furthermore, multiple logistic regression analysis showed that pharmacists (OR=3.113, 95% CI: 1.341-7.223, P=0.030), medium professional qualification (OR=1.272, 95% CI: 0.702-2.302, P=0.008), scores of predisposing factors (OR=1.335, 95% CI: 1.033-1.726, P=0.009), and scores of enabling factors (OR=1.208, 95% CI: 1.109-1.315, P<0.001) were independently associated with the positive anticipated behavior on the abolition of RSTC. While nurses (OR=0.516, 95% CI: 0.284-0.938, P<0.001) were independently associated with anticipated negative behavior., Conclusion: Pharmacists, medium professional qualification, and healthcare professionals with higher scores of predisposing and enabling factors were more likely to have a positive anticipated behavior on the abolition of RSTC, while nurses did not., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work., (© 2023 Li et al.)

Non-heme iron and α-ketoglutarate-dependent (Fe/αKG) oxygenases catalyze various oxidative biotransformations. Due to their catalytic flexibility and high efficiency, Fe/αKG oxygenases have attracted keen attention for their application as biocatalysts. Here, we report the biochemical and structural characterizations of the unusually promiscuous and catalytically versatile Fe/αKG oxygenase SptF, involved in the biosynthesis of fungal meroterpenoid emervaridones. The in vitro analysis revealed that SptF catalyzes several continuous oxidation reactions, including hydroxylation, desaturation, epoxidation, and skeletal rearrangement. SptF exhibits extremely broad substrate specificity toward various meroterpenoids, and efficiently produced unique cyclopropane-ring-fused 5/3/5/5/6/6 and 5/3/6/6/6 scaffolds from terretonins. Moreover, SptF also hydroxylates steroids, including androsterone, testosterone, and progesterone, with different regiospecificities. Crystallographic and structure-based mutagenesis studies of SptF revealed the molecular basis of the enzyme reactions, and suggested that the malleability of the loop region contributes to the remarkable substrate promiscuity. SptF exhibits great potential as a promising biocatalyst for oxidation reactions., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) is a full-field, high spatiotemporal resolution and low-cost optical technique for measuring blood flow, which has been successfully used for neurovascular imaging. However, due to the low signal-noise ratio and the relatively small sizes, segmenting the cerebral vessels in LSCI has always been a technical challenge. Recently, deep learning has shown its advantages in vascular segmentation. Nonetheless, ground truth by manual labeling is usually required for training the network, which makes it difficult to implement in practice. In this manuscript, we proposed a deep learning-based method for real-time cerebral vessel segmentation of LSCI without ground truth labels, which could be further integrated into intraoperative blood vessel imaging system. Synthetic LSCI images were obtained with a synthesis network from LSCI images and public labeled dataset of Digital Retinal Images for Vessel Extraction, which were then used to train the segmentation network. Using matching strategies to reduce the size discrepancy between retinal images and laser speckle contrast images, we could further significantly improve image synthesis and segmentation performance. In the testing LSCI images of rodent cerebral vessels, the proposed method resulted in a dice similarity coefficient of over 75%., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Chen, Shi, Bo, Zhao, Miao, Tong and Wang.)

Background: Oxaliplatin is one of the most effective chemotherapeutic drugs used for the treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, intervention that attenuates the resistance of oxaliplatin is still required in the treatment of CRC., Aims: To investigate the role of miR-325 in changing the oxaliplatin sensitivity to CRC cells., Methods: Expression of miR-325 in colorectal cancer tissues and cell lines was measured by using qRT-PCR analysis. Cytotoxicity of oxaliplatin to control or miR-325-overexpressed HT29 and SW480 cells was evaluated by CCK-8 assays. Luciferase reporter assay was used to confirm the regulation of miR-325 on HSPA12B. Flow cytometry was performed to detect the mitochondrial membrane potential and cell apoptosis., Results: Expression of miR-325 was decreased in colorectal cancer tissues and cell lines. However, overexpression of miR-325 can decrease the 50% inhibiting concentration of oxaliplatin to colorectal cancer cell lines HT29 and SW480. Mechanically, we confirmed that miR-325 targeted HSPA12B in colorectal cancer. Therefore, overexpression of miR-325 inhibited the phosphorylation of PI3K and AKT and decreased the expression of Bcl-2 to promote the oxaliplatin-induced mitochondrial apoptosis in colorectal cancer., Conclusions: MiR-325 sensitizes the colorectal cancer cells to oxaliplatin-induced cytotoxicity through the HSPA12B/PI3K/AKT/Bcl-2 pathway., (© 2020. Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Gastric cancer is a common malignancy worldwide. The occurrence of multidrug resistance (MDR) is the major obstacle for effective gastric cancer chemotherapy. In this study, the in-depth molecular mechanism of the DJ-1-induced MDR in SGC7901 gastric cancer cells was investigated. The results showed that DJ-1 expression level was higher in MDR variant SGC7901/VCR cells than that in its parental SGC7901 cells. Moreover, DJ-1 overexpression conferred the MDR phenotype to SGC7901 cells, while DJ-1 knockdown in SGC7901/VCR cells induced re-sensitization to adriamycin, vincristine, cisplatin, and 5-fluorouracil. These results suggested that DJ-1 mediated the development of MDR in SGC7901 gastric cancer cells. Importantly, further data revealed that the activation of PI3k/Akt and Nrf2 signaling pathway were required for the DJ-1-induced MDR phenotype in SGC7901 gastric cancer cells. Meanwhile, we found that PI3k/Akt pathway was activated probably through DJ-1 directly binding to and negatively regulating PTEN, consequently resulting in Nrf2 phosphorylation and activation, and thereby inducing Nrf2-dependent P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and Bcl-2 expressions in the DJ-1-mediated MDR of SGC7901 gastric cancer cells. Overall, these results revealed that activating PTEN/PI3K/Akt/Nrf2 pathway and subsequently upregulating P-gp and Bcl-2 expression could be a critical mechanism by which DJ-1 mediates the development of MDR in SGC7901 gastric cancer cells. The new findings may be helpful for understanding the mechanisms of MDR in gastric cancer cells, prompting its further investigation as a molecular target to overcome MDR., (© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Carbon nanofibers are promising as primary electrode materials for supercapacitors on account of high specific surface area, lightweight, superior physicochemical stability, rich resource, and renewability. However, constructing porous and flexible carbon electrode materials with high capacitance for practical applications remains challenging. Here, heteroatom-decorated hierarchical porous carbon nanofiber composites containing phosphazene [N 3 P 3 ( p -OC 6 H 4 - p -CHO) 6 , HAPCP], polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), and graphene oxide (GO) are prepared through one-step electrospinning and subsequent thermal treatment. The alternant phosphorus-nitrogen structure links to the carbon backbones to improve flexibility and electrochemical performance. Inspired by a biomimetic Setaria viridis -like structure, the polyaniline (PANI)-decorated porous hybrid electrodes are prepared. The PANI@GO/PMMA/HAPCP/PAN carbon nanofibers (400P@0.1GPHCNFs) covered by PANI nanofibers as a novel free-standing flexible electrode exhibit an excellent electrochemical performance of 680.8 F g -1 at 0.5 A g -1 with a good capacitance retention of 93.5% after 3000 cycles. Moreover, the symmetric flexible all-solid-state supercapacitor assembled by the novel and delicate electrodes exhibits a high energy density of 27.70 W h kg -1 (at a power density of 231.08 W kg -1 ) and favorable cycling stability (84.50% retention of the capacitance after 1000 charge-discharge cycles), which indicates that the 400P@0.1GPHCNFs have great potential as a high-performance flexible supercapacitor electrode.

Background: Microbiome assembly in early life may have a long-term impact on host health. Larval nursery is a crucial period that determines the success in culture of Litopenaeus vannamei, the most productive shrimp species in world aquaculture industry. However, the succession patterns and assembly mechanisms of larval shrimp bacterial community still lack characterization at a fine temporal scale. Here, using a high-frequency sampling strategy and 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, we investigated dynamics of larval shrimp bacterial community and its relationship with bacterioplankton in the rearing water across the whole developmental cycle in a realistic aquaculture practice., Results: Alpha-diversity of larval shrimp bacteria showed a U-shaped pattern across the developmental cycle with the stages zoea and mysis as the valley. Correspondingly, the compositions of dominant bacterial taxa at the stages nauplius and early postlarvae were more complex than other stages. Remarkably, Rhodobacteraceae maintained the overwhelming dominance after the mouth opening of larvae (zoea I~early postlarvae). The taxonomic and phylogenetic compositions of larval bacterial community both showed stage-dependent patterns with higher rate of taxonomic turnover, suggesting that taxonomic turnover was mainly driven by temporal switching among closely related taxa (such as Rhodobacteraceae taxa). The assembly of larval bacteria was overall governed by neutral processes (dispersal among individuals and ecological drift) at all the stages, but bacterioplankton also had certain contribution during three sub-stages of zoea, when larval and water bacterial communities were most associated. Furthermore, the positive host selection for Rhodobacteraceae taxa from the rearing water during the zoea stage and its persistent dominance and large predicted contribution to metabolic potentials of organic matters at post-mouth opening stages suggest a crucial role of this family in larval microbiome and thus a potential source of probiotic candidates for shrimp larval nursery., Conclusions: Our results reveal pronounced succession patterns and dynamic assembly processes of larval shrimp bacterial communities during the developmental cycle, highlighting the importance of the mouth opening stage from the perspective of microbial ecology. We also suggest the possibility and potential timing in microbial management of the rearing water for achieving the beneficial larval microbiota in the nursery practice. Video Abstract.

Laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) is a high-resolution full-field optical technique for measuring blood flow, which has been widely used in clinical and biomedical research. However, most of the current LSCI instruments are bulky, limiting their application settings. In this work, we proposed a prototype system of portable laser speckle imager. Different from the desktop laser speckle systems that utilize personal computer (PC), our system was designed with embedded GPU system (Jetson TX2, NVIDIA, USA) and a LCD touch screen (16.5 × 12.4 cm in size, 380 g in weight). In-vivo experiments showed that the portable GPU-based system had comparable performance with our laboratory LSCI system. Such a portable LSCI imager could be potentially used in a situation that requires for easy operation and installation, such as intraoperative monitoring or bedside diagnosis.

Altered expression of paxillin (PXN) is closely linked to the pathogenesis progression, metastasis and prognosis of different malignancies including gastric cancer (GC). Epigenetic silencing of tumor-suppressive microRNAs (miRNAs) is a crucial component of the mechanism underlying activation of oncogenes in tumor. To screen for epigenetically silenced miRNAs which target PXN in GC, we performed bioinformatics algorithms and real-time PCR analysis, and identified miR-212 as the optimum candidate gene. A luciferase reporter gene assay validated that miR-212 directly targets the 3'UTR region of PXN. Importantly, miR-212 levels were inversely correlated with PXN expression in GC cell lines and clinical tumor tissues. The use of miR-212 minics decrease PXN mRNA and protein level in GC cell lines. Moreover, low expression of miR-212 and its promoter hypermethylation were causally related and were associated with aggressive tumor phenotype and adverse prognosis in GC. Restoring mir-212 expression by exogenous mirprecursor molecules transfection or reexpression of endogenous miR-212 treated by 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-aza) can exert similar effect that reduce GC cells invasion and metastasis abilities in vitro by interacting PXN gene. In addition, 5-aza-induced PXN reduction could be partically blocked by miR-212 inhibitor, resulting in a reversal of weankening cell migration and invasion ability of 5-aza. A rescue experiment and a loss-of-function experiment in vitro and vivo showed that PXN restoration rescues migration and invasion phenotype in miR-212 overexpressed GC cell lines and PXN knockdown blocks GC cells migration and invasion in the presence miR-212 inhibitors. Taken together, our results clearly show that overexpression of PXN induced by methylationsuppressed miR-212 promotes tumor metastasis and invasion, and regulation of miR-212 expression may be a novel therapeutic strategy for gastric cancer.

Background/aims: To evaluate the effect of high-intensity ultrasound (HIFU) ablation on human hepatocellular carcinoma tissues and apoptotic proteins (bcl-2 and p-53)., Methodology: Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma at stage B were treated with HIFU ablation. Levels of bcl-2 and p53 protein and the apoptosis rate were evaluated both in the pre-treatment and post-treatment tissue specimens using immunochemistry and TUNEL methods, respectively., Results: After HIFU ablation, p53 protein levels were significantly increased around the coagulation necrosis area, whereas, the level of bcl-2 was significantly decreased. More apoptosis cells were found post ablation compared with those in the pretreatment tissues. Additionally, no significant correlation was found between p53/bcl-2 levels and apoptotic index., Conclusions: HIFU ablation may exert promote the apoptosis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells and the effect has a closely association with the change of p53 and bcl-2 expression.

We report a case of 46-year-old xanthoderm woman who was diagnosed as malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors of right maxillary sinus, and have a literature review. Histology confirmed a diagnosis of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor. The woman had the right total maxillectomy and postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy. There is no local recurrence or metastasis of one year following up. Literature review revealed MPNST in the nasal cavity and para-nasal sinuses were not common with poor prognosis. The main cause of death is local recurrence and metastasis. Surgical resection showed more advantage than adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Hemoglobin (Hb) Q-Thailand, Hb E, and other forms of thalassemia are prevalent in Southeast Asia including China. We report a hitherto undescribed condition in which four forms of Hb defects co-segregate. The proband was a 20-year-old Chinese man who presented with moderate hypochromic microcytosis with Hb 73 g/l, hematocrit (Hct) 27.0%, mean corpuscular volume 57.6 fl, mean corpuscular hemoglobin 15.5 pg, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) 268.0 g/l. Both Hb electrophoresis and high-performance liquid chromatography analysis revealed abnormal Hbs. DNA analysis demonstrated that the proband was a double heterozygote of Hb Q-Thailand and Hb E in combination with alpha(0)-thalassemia and Southeast Asian-type hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin (SEA-HPFH). Family study identified that her father was a double heterozygote for Hb Q-Thailand and Hb E, whereas her mother was a heterozygote for SEA-HPFH with alpha(0)-thalassemia. Moreover, his brother was a classical Hb QH disease patient. The genotype-phenotype relationship observed in this Chinese family with complex thalassemia syndromes is presented. This work will provide some clinical implications for molecular diagnosis for complex hemoglobinopathies.

Objective: To investigate the difference of the transcripts between reticulocyte and non-reticulocyte cells in human blood., Methods: Genomic DNA, reticulocyte RNA and total RNA of K-, K+ and Kell-null(K0) were extracted, then PCR, reverse transcription-PCR(RT-PCR) and nested PCR followed by sequencing or cloning-sequencing were used to analyze the KEL gene mRNA exons 1-19 and exons 2-8. Four kinds of monoclonal antibodies were labeled to detect the expression of Kell glycoprotein on red cells or leukocytes with flow cytometry., Results: In reticulocyte, only one normal KEL transcript faithful to the genomic structure was found in all tested samples except K0 which had 4 different transcripts. Sequence analysis of exons 2-8 of total RNA confirmed the alternative KEL transcripts existed in different samples, mostly caused by abnormal splicing, among them, skipping of exon 3 and a 16 bp insertion of intron 6 at the beginning of exon 7 were the most frequent. Although only one band was observed after amplifying the exons 1-19 from total RNA, the sequencing result showed it was a mixture of different sequences. There was strong expression of Kell glycoprotein on red cells except K0, but no or low expression on leucocytes by flow cytometry., Conclusion: Alternative transcripts of KEL gene exist in different cells, which would be responsible for different Kell glycoprotein expression patterns on different cells. This study suggested that reticulocyte RNA was more suitable than total RNA for molecular study of KEL gene transcription.