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NADPH-dependent reactions play important roles in production of industrially valuable compounds. In this study, we used phosphofructokinase (PFK)-deficient strains to direct fructose-6-phosphate to be oxidized through the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) to increase NADPH generation. pfkA or pfkB single deletion and double-deletion strains were tested for their ability to produce lycopene. Since lycopene biosynthesis requires many NADPH, levels of lycopene were compared in a set of isogenic strains, with the pfkA single deletion strain showing the highest lycopene yield. Using another NADPH-requiring process, a one-step reduction reaction of 2-chloroacrylate to 2-chloropropionic acid by 2-haloacrylate reductase, the pfkA pfkB double-deletion strain showed the highest yield of 2-chloropropionic acid product. The combined effect of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase overexpression or lactate dehydrogenase deletion with PFK deficiency on NADPH bioavailability was also studied. The results indicated that the flux distribution of fructose-6-phosphate between glycolysis and the pentose phosphate pathway determines the amount of NAPDH available for reductive biosynthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The CoCrFeNiMo 0.4 high-entropy alloys (HEAs) were synthesized by a high-pressure solid-state reaction at 3–5 GPa and held for 3–10 min at 1200 °C. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the sample were influenced by the pressure and holding time, which was confirmed when the Co, Cr, Fe, Ni, and Mo atoms diffused to form HEAs. The increased pressure hindered the diffusion between atoms and thus inhibited the formation of HEAs. Under the influence of the enthalpy of mixing between elements, Fe had the strongest repulsive force on the system and the weakest diffusion effect, but increasing the holding time promoted the diffusion of Fe atoms. Compared with the microhardness reported in other studies, the maximum hardness in our work was 449.1 HV, which represents a maximum increase of approximately 80%. The synergistic effects of the solid-solution strengthening of the system and the serious lattice distortion effect caused by large Mo atoms and high pressure were the dominant mechanisms responsible for the enhanced microhardness of the sintered HEAs under extreme conditions. • Under extreme conditions, as the pressure increases, atoms are squeezed and long-range diffusion between atoms is impeded, thus inhibiting the formation of HEAs. However, CoCrFeNiMo 0.4 HEAs can be synthesized below the atmospheric melting point of each element. • Under the influence of the enthalpy of mixing between elements, Fe had the strongest repulsive force on the system and the weakest diffusion effect. The diffusion of Fe can be promoted by increasing the holding time. • Compared with hardness values of 250 HV and 375 HV reported in other studies, the maximum hardness of our sample was 449.1 HV, increases of approximately 80% and 20%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing evidence suggests that innate immunity plays an important role in alcohol-induced liver injury and most studies have focused on positive regulation of innate immunity. The main objective of this study was to investigate the negative regulator of innate immunity, IL-1/Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling pathways and interleukin receptor-associated kinase-M (IRAK-M) in alcoholic liver injury. We established an alcohol-induced liver injury model using wild type and IRAK-M deficient B6 mice and investigated the possible mechanisms. We found that in the absence of IRAK-M, liver damage by alcohol was worse with higher alanine transaminase (ALT), more immune cell infiltration and increased numbers of IFNγ producing cells. We also found enhanced phagocytic activity in CD68+ cells. Moreover, our results revealed altered gut bacteria after alcohol consumption and this was more striking in the absence of IRAK-M. Our study provides evidence that IRAK-M plays an important role in alcohol-induced liver injury and IRAK-M negatively regulates the innate and possibly the adaptive immune response in the liver reacting to acute insult by alcohol. In the absence of IRAK-M, the hosts developed worse liver injury, enhanced gut permeability and altered gut microbiota. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Modulating the tau level may represent a therapeutic target for Alzheimer''s disease (AD), as accumulating evidence shows that Abeta-induced neurodegeneration is mediated by tau. It is therefore important to understand the expression and degradation of tau in neurons. Recently we showed that overexpressed mutant tau and tau aggregates are degraded via the autophagic pathway in an N2a cell model. Here we investigated whether autophagy is involved in the degradation of endogenous tau in cultured primary neurons. We activated this pathway in primary neurons with trehalose, an enhancer of autophagy. This resulted in the reduction of endogenous tau protein. Tau phosphorylation at several sites elevated in AD pathology had little influence on its degradation by autophagy. Furthermore, by using a neuronal cell model of tauopathy, we showed that activation of autophagy suppresses tau aggregation and eliminates cytotoxicity. Notably, apart from activating autophagy, trehalose also inhibits tau aggregation directly. Thus, trehalose may be a good candidate for developing therapeutic strategies for AD and other tauopathies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Aluminum alloy 7075 (with 7055 and 7150 filler wires) was welded using a digital welding machine that can switch arc mode between MIG, CMT and CMT+P modes. The transverse-motion weldability test of joints welded under different arc modes showed that the solidification cracking susceptibility was lower in CMT-technique-based welds than in MIG welds. The temperature cycle of the welding pool under different arc modes was recorded using mini-thermocouples, which showed that the cooling rate was lower in CMT welded samples than in MIG welded samples. The low cooling rate promoted the growth of α-Al dendrites through the back diffusion effect. Electron probe micro-analysis showed that micro-segregation of the α-Al dendrites was lower in the CMT welded samples than in the MIG welded samples. The T-(fAl)1/2 curve of each weld was calculated, which showed that CMT-based welding enhanced the bridging of adjacent α-Al dendrites, reducing the tendency for solidification cracking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biotin is a cofactor responsible for carbon dioxide transfer in several carboxylase enzymes, which play a significant role in various metabolic reactions such as fatty acid synthesis, branched chain amino acid catabolism, and gluconeogenesis. Biotin is also involved in citric acid cycle, which is the process of biochemical energy generation during aerobic respiration. Though the function of biotin in the growth of algae has been extensively investigated, little is known about the biosynthetic routes of biotin in the algal kingdom. In the present study, 44 biotin biosynthesis-related genes were identified from 14 eukaryotic photosynthetic algal genomes by BLASTP and TBLASN programs. A comprehensive analysis was performed to characterize distribution, phylogeny, structure domains, and coevolution patterns of those genes. Forty-four biotin biosynthesis-related enzymes (BBREs) were found to be distributed in three groups: 7-keto-8-aminopelargonic acid synthase, diaminopelargonic acid synthase/dethiobiotin synthetase, and biotin synthase. Structure domains were considerably conserved among the subfamilies of BBREs. The intramolecular coevolutionary sites are widely distributed in biotin synthase. The present study provides new insights into the origin and evolution of biotin biosynthetic pathways in eukaryotic photosynthetic algae. Furthermore, the characterization of biotin biosynthesis-related genes from algae will promote the identification and functional studies of BBREs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cyanobacteria are photoautotrophic prokaryotes with wide variations in genome sizes and ecological habitats. Peroxiredoxin (PRX) is an important protein that plays essential roles in protecting own cells against reactive oxygen species (ROS). PRXs have been identified from mammals, fungi and higher plants. However, knowledge on cyanobacterial PRXs still remains obscure. With the availability of 37 sequenced cyanobacterial genomes, we performed a comprehensive comparative analysis of PRXs and explored their diversity, distribution, domain structure and evolution.Results: Overall 244 putative prx genes were identified, which were abundant in filamentous diazotrophic cyanobacteria, Acaryochloris marina MBIC 11017, and unicellular cyanobacteria inhabiting freshwater and hot-springs, while poor in all Prochlorococcus and marine Synechococcus strains. Among these putative genes, 25 open reading frames (ORFs) encoding hypothetical proteins were identified as prx gene family members and the others were already annotated as prx genes. All 244 putative PRXs were classified into five major subfamilies (1-Cys, 2-Cys, BCP, PRX5_like, and PRX-like) according to their domain structures. The catalytic motifs of the cyanobacterial PRXs were similar to those of eukaryotic PRXs and highly conserved in all but the PRX-like subfamily. Classical motif (CXXC) of thioredoxin was detected in protein sequences from the PRX-like subfamily. Phylogenetic tree constructed of catalytic domains coincided well with the domain structures of PRXs and the phylogenies based on 16s rRNA. Conclusions: The distribution of genes encoding PRXs in different unicellular and filamentous cyanobacteria especially those sub-families like PRX-like or 1-Cys PRX correlate with the genome size, eco-physiology, and physiological properties of the organisms. Cyanobacterial and eukaryotic PRXs share similar conserved motifs, indicating that cyanobacteria adopt similar catalytic mechanisms as eukaryotes. All cyanobacterial PRX proteins share highly similar structures, implying that these genes may originate from a common ancestor. In this study, ageneral framework of the sequence-structure-function connections of the PRXs was revealed, which may facilitate functional investigations of PRXs in various organisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Cathelicidins were initially characterized as a family of antimicrobial peptides. Now it is clear that they fulfill several immune functions in addition to their antimicrobial activity. In the current work, three cDNA sequences encoding pheasant cathelicidins were cloned from a constructed bone marrow cDNA library of Phasianus colchicus, using a nested-PCR-based cloning strategy. The three deduced mature antimicrobial peptides, Pc-CATH1, 2 and 3 are composed of 26, 32, and 29 amino acid residues, respectively. Unlike the mammalian cathelicidins that are highly divergent even within the same genus, Pc-CATHs are remarkably conserved with chicken fowlicidins with only a few of residues mutated according to the phylogenetic analysis result. Synthetic Pc-CATH1 exerted strong antimicrobial activity against most of bacteria and fungi tested, including the clinically isolated (IS) drug-resistant strains. Most MIC values against Gram-positive bacteria were in the range of 0.09–2.95μM in the presence of 100mM NaCl. Pc-CATH1 displayed a negligible hemolytic activity against human erythrocytes, lysing 3.6% of erythrocytes at 3.15μM (10μg/ml), significantly higher than the corresponding MIC. Pc-CATH1 was stable in the human serum for up to 72h, revealing its extraordinary serum stability. These specific features of Pc-CATH1 may make its applications much wider given the potency and breadth of the peptide''s bacteriocidal capacity and its resistance towards serum and high-salt environments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

[Display omitted] • δ13C and δ2H isotope signatures of PAHs in JCA are detailed reported. • Their isotopic compositions can allow source apportionment of PAHs. • CSIA approach indicate coal combustion as primary source of PAHs in JCA. • 14C and 13C of sedimentary BC were also studied. • Fossil combustion was an important component of BC in JCA. The stable and radioactive isotopes (δ13C, Δ14C and δ2H) of black carbon (BC) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the sediment from the western coastal areas of the Yellow Sea (i.e. the Jiangsu coastal areas (JCA)) were examined to identify the sources these environmental pollutants in the JCA. The results presented that the spatial heterogeneous characteristics of BC and PAHs were markedly presented in the JCA. This was suggestive of presence of the contributions of multiple potential environmental pollution sources. This can be solved and decoupled by applying the Bayesian mode. Accordingly, the statistical model showed that the major environmental pollution contributions is considered as coal combustion (39%) in the JCA. The liquid fossil fuels, petrogenic sources, and biomass combustion were accounted for 27%, 19%, and 15% in the JCA, respectively. The stable and radioactive carbon isotopic ratios (δ13C and Δ14C) of BC collected from the JCA are also applied to discriminate quantitatively the source of contamination. It is demonstrated that the BC in this study originates mainly from combustion of fossil fuels. And rock-derived BC as well as C3 and C4 plants combustions are also numerically predominant for BC and PAHs pollution in the coastal area. It is implied that the environmental PAHs and BC in the JCA seem to origin relatively homologies sources. Furthermore, it is suggested that the stable and radioactive carbon isotopes as well as hydrogen isotopes may be powerful and useful method to source apportionment, and have much advantages to clarify quantitatively BC and PAH pollutions in the coastal environment, but also detailed insights into the source apportionment and fate of the organic carbon in the marginal sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the main cause of cervical cancer. Blending multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and multiplex hybridization to liquid bead microarray (LBMA), we detected and identified 25 common HPV genotypes using type-specific primers for HPV E6 and E7 genes in cervical lesions of northern Chinese patients. Of the 511 cervical samples, 349 (68.3%) were found to be HPV positive by HPV-LBMA. The distribution was 22 HPV positive of 100 in the control group (22%), 41 of 80 with chronic cervicitis (51%), 80 of 99 with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) I (81%), 46 of 56 with CIN II (82%), 67 of 74 with CIN III (90%), and 93 of 102 with invasive cervical carcinoma (91%). HPV-16 was the most frequent genotype in the CIN and cervical cancer groups. The most common genotypes were HPV-16 (28%), HPV-58 (14%), HPV-52 (14%), HPV-18 (8%), and HPV-33 (7%) in the CIN group, and HPV-16 (63%), HPV-52 (9%), HPV-18 (7%), HPV-58 (7%), and HPV-33 (5%) in the cervical cancer group. HPV-LBMA found multiple genotypes in 1 of 22 control (4%), 64 of 193 CIN (33%), and 22 of 93 cervical cancer (24%). The HPV-LBMA results were compatible with those of PCR and DNA sequencing. HPV-LBMA is a simple, high-throughput method that provides useful information on viral genotype and multiple HPV infections in cervical lesions. In northern China, the most common high-risk HPV genotypes seem to be HPV types 16, 58, 52, 18, and 33. Genetic information on HPV in cervical specimens could provide particular benefits in the management of cervical lesions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Many neuroendocrine peptides that are distributed in amphibian gastrointestinal tract and central nervous system are also found in amphibian skins, and these peptides are classified into skin–gut–brain triangle peptides, such as bombesins, gastrin-releasing peptides. Cholecystokinins (CCKs) are neuroendocrine peptides known for their production in the gastrointestinal tract and central nervous system of mammalians. Several CCKs have been identified from two amphibians, Rana catesbeiana and Xenopus laevis. These amphibian CCKs are found to be express in brain and in the gastrointestinal tract, but not in skin. In the current report, a cholecystokinin (CCK) isoform was identified from skin secretions of the frog, Rana nigrovittata. Its amino acid sequence is RVDGNSDQKAVIGAMLAKDLQTRKAGSSTGRYAVLPNR PVIDPTHRINDRDYMGWMDF, which is the same with that of CCK from R. catesbeiana. Four different cDNAs (GenBank accession nos. EF608063-6) encoding CCK precursors were cloned from the cDNA library of the skin of R. nigrovittata. The present data demonstrated that amphibian CCK could also be expressed in gastrointestinal tract, central nervous system and skin as other amphibian skin–gut–brain triangle peptides. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Tectonic activities are accompanied with material movement and energy transfer, which definitely change the state of thermal radiation on the ground. Thus it is possible to infer present-day tectonic activities based on variations of the thermal radiation state on the ground. The received satellite infrared information is, however, likely influenced by many kinds of factors. Therefore, the first problem that needs to be solved is to extract information on tectonic activities and eliminate effects of external (non-tectonic) factors. In this study, we firstly make a review of the current studies on this subject, and then present the technical approach and our research goal. Using the data of 20 years from the infrared band of the satellite of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the method we have developed, we investigate fault activities in western China. The results show that the areas with high residual values of land surface brightness temperature (LSBT), which is presumably related to faultings in space, accord usually with the locations of followed major earthquakes. The times of their value growing are also roughly consistent with the beginning of active periods of earthquakes. The low frequency component fields of the LSBT, acquired from wavelet analysis, exhibit well the spatial distributions of active faults. The "heat penetrability index" (HP1) related with enhancement of subsurface thermal information has been expressed well for the backgrounds of accelerated tectonic motions, and some correlations exist between HP! and the local faulting and seismicity. This study provides a new approach to study temporal-spatial evolution of recent activities of faults and their interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. To evaluate the effect of surgical treatment on metastatic spinal tumor. Methods. The results of surgical intervention for metastatic spinal tumor of 31 consecutive patients since October 1985 were reviewed. Results. The average survival time was 17.6 months (range from 3 months to 9 years), and 4 patients are still alive with an average survival time of 24.6 months (range, 14 ∼ 84 months). No postoperative complication was noted. The preoperative symptoms were partially relieved and neurological functions were improved after surgery. Conclusions. Surgical treatment for metastatic spinal tumor could improve the life quality, but should be adopted cautiously. The surgical procedures such as decompression and internal fixation should be involved only when neurological deficits occurred. The surgery with postoperative complementary therapy may not only improve the life quality, but also extend the patients' life span. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluates the clinical application of the TRAFIX instrumentation in correcting scoliosis in Beijing, China. Characteristics of implanted substances; Range of fusion and selection of fixation instruments; Changes in the theories on scoliosis.

Presents information on a study which surveyed and analyzed deformed river terraces and crust shortening rate in the northwestern Tarim Basin, China. Tectonic site of the deformed terraces; Ages of the deformed terraces and crust shortening rate; Results and discussion.

SUMMARY While it is known that increased dissolved CO2 concentrations and rising sea surface temperature (ocean warming) can act interactively on marine phytoplankton, the ultimate molecular mechanisms underlying this interaction on a long‐term evolutionary scale are relatively unexplored. Here, we performed transcriptomics and quantitative metabolomics analyses, along with a physiological trait analysis, on the marine diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii adapted for approximately 3.5 years to warming and/or high CO2 conditions. We show that long‐term warming has more pronounced impacts than elevated CO2 on gene expression, resulting in a greater number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The largest number of DEGs was observed in populations adapted to warming + high CO2, indicating a potential synergistic interaction between these factors. We further identified the metabolic pathways in which the DEGs function and the metabolites with significantly changed abundances. We found that ribosome biosynthesis‐related pathways were upregulated to meet the increased material and energy demands after warming or warming in combination with high CO2. This resulted in the upregulation of energy metabolism pathways such as glycolysis, photorespiration, the tricarboxylic acid cycle, and the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway, as well as the associated metabolites. These metabolic changes help compensate for reduced photochemical efficiency and photosynthesis. Our study emphasizes that the upregulation of ribosome biosynthesis plays an essential role in facilitating the adaptation of phytoplankton to global ocean changes and elucidates the interactive effects of warming and high CO2 on the adaptation of marine phytoplankton in the context of global change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the diverse impacts of elevated dissolved CO2 and warming on organisms within various trophic levels in marine food webs are well documented, we have yet to explore the biological links across different levels of biological organization from primary producers to secondary producers on an evolutionary time scale in a high‐CO2 ocean. Here, we cultured a model marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum (primary producer) in predicted future high‐CO2 and/or warming conditions for ~ 1250 d with an experimental evolution approach and then fed them to the clam Coelomactra antiquata (secondary producer). We present an in‐depth multi‐omics analysis along the methylome (primary producer)–transcriptome (primary producer)–metabolome (primary producer)–metabolome (secondary producer) continuum. Our results showed that the downregulated terpenoid backbone biosynthesis in the methylome and transcriptome lead to decreased pyruvate levels and upregulation of some pathways (such as phenylalanine metabolism) in the metabolome of the primary producer in the long‐term warming conditions. These changes in metabolomic profile in the primary producer were then transferred to the secondary producer, resulting in changes in abundance of some metabolites, such as decreases in pyruvate, and in pyruvaldhyde (also known as methylglyoxal), and increases in 2‐hydroxylamino‐4,6‐dinitrotoluene. Our study provides a new insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying the trophic transfer from primary to secondary producers in a future high‐CO2 ocean and may provide more accurate projections of marine ecosystem services and functions over the next century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the problem that the rolling bearing fault data are difficult to obtain and that the traditional fault diagnosis method does not consider the signal uncertainty characteristics and the low accuracy of models in the process of rolling bearing fault, a fault diagnosis method based on simulation and experiment fusion drive is proposed. First, the dynamics simulation model of rolling bearings under different fault conditions is established to obtain the bearing fault simulation signals. Second, a sequence generative adversarial network is used to fuse the simulation and experimental data. Bearing vibration signals are often very uncertain, so considering the probability characteristics of fault signals, the probability box model under different fault states is constructed by the direct probability box modeling method, and its characteristic vectors are extracted. Finally, an extreme gradient boosting Tree model for fault diagnosis classification is constructed to compare and evaluate the classification and diagnosis effects of bearing states before and after data fusion. The results show that the proposed method has a good diagnostic effect and is suitable for solving the fault diagnosis problem under the condition of insufficient data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the effects of nano-SiO2 (NS) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers on the durability and mechanical properties of cementitious composites subjected to saline freeze–thaw cycling, a series of PVA fiber-reinforced cementitious composite (PFRCC) specimens were prepared using various fiber contents, and a series of NS and PVA fiber-reinforced cementitious composite (NPFRCC) specimens were prepared using various combinations of NS and fiber contents. Durability and fracture toughness tests were subsequently conducted on the specimens after different numbers of saline freeze–thaw cycles. The results indicate that the degradation of material properties can be divided into slow and accelerated damage stages before/after 50 freeze–thaw cycles. The durability and fracture toughness of the specimen series tended to increase, then decrease with increasing NS and PVA contents, suggesting optimum levels. When the PVA fiber content was 0.5%, PFRCC specimens had the best durability after saline freeze–thaw cycles; when the NS and PVA fiber contents were 1.0% and 0.5%, respectively, NPFRCC specimens had the best durability and fracture properties, and the initiation toughness, destabilization toughness, and fracture energy after 100 saline freeze–thaw cycles were 120.69%, 160.02%, and 451.31%, respectively. The results of this study may guide future exploration of the durability and mechanical properties of concrete subjected to freeze–thaw action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to the development of industrial production, the hidden danger in industrial control systems (ICSs) has considerably increased, causing challenges in traditional safety defense methods. The combination of machine-learning or deep-learning algorithms and intrusion detection systems (IDSs) has become the mainstream method for solving this problem. However, these methods depend on a massive amount of high-quality attack traffic data, which cannot be obtained easily owing to the independence and unique characteristics of ICSs. In this study, we apply the reconstructed convolutional neural network and a data expansion algorithm named CenterBorderline_SMOTE (CB_SMOTE) to an IDS and propose data expansion intrusion detection system (DEIDS). The DEIDS is an end-to-end detection model that learns representative attack features from raw traffic and classifies them in a unified framework. Moreover, we adopt the classification activation map structure, which can deeply mine the potential characteristics of traffic and enhance the effectiveness of attack features. While enhancing the data quality, we introduce the designed CB_SMOTE algorithm into DEIDS to expand the data and solve the problem of insufficient attack data in the system. Our comprehensive experiments on different open datasets indicate that DEIDS achieves an excellent performance (97 % detection accuracy) and outperforms the state-of-the-art methods. The experimental results also show that our method has high efficiency and high accuracy in processing ICSs datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Advances in the scientific understanding of the skin and characteristic genomic dermal signatures continue to develop rapidly. Nonetheless, skin diagnosis remains predicated on a subjective visual examination, frequently followed by biopsy and histology. These procedures often are not sufficiently sensitive, and in the case of many inflammatory diseases, biopsies are not justified, creating a situation where high-quality samples can be difficult to obtain. The wealth of molecular information available and the pace at which new data are acquired suggest that methods for minimally invasive biomarker collection could dramatically alter our understanding of skin disease and positively impact treatment paradigms. Methods: A chemical method was optimized to covalently modify custom dermal patches with single-stranded DNA that could bind to messenger RNA. These patches were applied to ex vivo skin samples and penetration evaluated by histological methods. Patches were then applied to both the skin of normal human subjects (lower arm) as well as lesional skin of psoriasis patients, and the transcriptome captured (N = 7; 33 unique samples). Standard RNA-Seq processing was performed to assess the gene detection rate and assessments made of the reproducibility of the extraction procedure as well as the overlap with matched punch biopsy samples from the same patient. Results: We have developed a dermal biomarker patch (DBP) designed to be minimally invasive and extract the dermal transcriptome. Using this platform, we have demonstrated successful molecular analysis from healthy human skin and psoriatic lesions, replicating the molecular information captured with punch biopsy. Conclusion: This DBP enables an unprecedented ability to monitor the molecular "fingerprint" of the skin over time or with various interventions, and generate previously inaccessible rich datasets. Furthermore, use of the DBP could be favored by patients relative to biopsy by limiting pain resulting from biopsy procedures. Given the large dynamic range observed in psoriatic skin, analysis of complex phenotypes is now possible, and the power of machine-learning methods can be brought to bear on dermatologic disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A response from the author of the article "A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis of Posterior Interbody Fusion Versus Posterolateral Fusion in Lumbar Spondylolisthesis" in the previous issue is presented.

As the reference communication standard of wireless sensor networks (WSNs), the IEEE 802.15.4 standard has been adopted in various WSN-based applications. In many of these applications, one of the most common traffic pattern types is a periodic traffic patterns, however, the majority of existing analytical models target either saturated or unsaturated network traffic patterns. Furthermore, few of them can be directly extended to the periodic traffic scenario, since periodic traffic brings unstable load status to sensor nodes. To better characterize the WSNs with periodic traffic, we propose an accurate and scalable analytical framework for the IEEE 802.15.4 MAC protocol. By formulating the relationship between clear channel assessment (CCA) and its successful probability from the perspective of channel state and node state, single node's behavior and whole network's performance under different network scales and traffic loads can be derived. Extensive simulations are conducted to validate the proposed framework in terms of both local statistics and overall statistics, and the results show that the model can represent the actual behavior and the real performance of both single node and whole network. Besides, as the simplified version of double CCAs mode (DS mode), single CCA mode (SS mode), is also analyzed with simple modifications on the proposed analytical framework. Combining the analytical framework with simulation results, the applicable network scenarios of two modes are also demonstrated respectively. Finally, an approximate distribution of one data packet's backoff duration is proposed. With this approximate distribution, a conservative estimation of data packet's average transmission latency in networks with given configurations can be easily carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Incinerated sewage sludge ash (ISSA) can be used as raw materials for producing construction materials. However, high content of phosphorus in ISSA distinctly lowers the compressive strength of construction materials. This work presented a new method for phosphorus removal from ISSA with thermo-chemical reduction assisted by calcium chloride (CaCl 2) based on carbon reduction reaction and converted phosphate to gas P. It was shown that 82 wt% phosphorus was removed under the addition of 40 wt% CaCl 2 and 40 wt% C at 1373 K, and the removal rate of P was significantly enhanced by CaCl 2. Results showed that the addition of CaCl 2 lowered the treating temperature, increased the reactivity and decreased CO 2 production as well. CaCl 2 molten salt effectively contributed to both solid-state reaction and Ca 5 (PO 4) 3 Cl formation, acting both as a flux and chlorine source. According to metallographic analysis, phosphorus in Ca 5 (PO 4) 3 Cl could be easily deoxidized by C into gas phase P 2 at 1373K. • 82.8% Phosphorus in ISSA was transferred to gas phase by thermo-chemical method. • ISSA was calcined to redox under an inorganic chlorinating agent with carbon. • CaCl 2 molten salt acted as flux in the solid-state reaction. • This method promoted P removal efficiency with lower temperature than former technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyonatum cyrtonema polysaccharides (PCPs) have been illustrated to have pharmacological and biological activity. However, the impact of PCPs on gut microorganisms and their metabolic pathways has been scarcely addressed. In order to investigate the antidigestion potential of PCPs, an in vitro simulation of digestion was developed. Moreover, an in vitro fermentation model was used to explore the influence of PCPs on the microbial community. The findings revealed that the concentration of the remaining carbohydrate and reducing end of the polysaccharide chain grew slightly, while the molecular weight was unaltered after being digested. Notably, the gut microbiota degraded the PCPs during the subsequent fermentation, resulting in the production of short-chain fatty acids and a significant decrease in the pH level (p < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the result of 16S rRNA sequencing revealed that PCPs could affect the diversity of the community and the composition of the gut microbes significantly (p < 0.05), having similar regulatory effects to inulin on the structure of the microbial community. The PCPs group notably promoted the relative abundance of acetic-acid bacteria, such as Bifidobacterium. In addition, PICRUSt2 analysis demonstrated that PCPs mainly enhanced phenotypic KEGG pathways such as amino acid metabolism and carbohydrate metabolism. Overall, PCPs may have prebiotic properties that support human health by controlling the make-up and metabolic activity of intestinal flora. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rechargeable zinc ion batteries (RZIBs) have gained significant attention due to their high safety, low cost, and environmental friendliness. However, the high reactivity of water in traditional aqueous electrolytes leads to the problems of dendrite formation and side reactions in the circulation process of zinc anode, which limits the development of RZIBs. These issues are effectively addressed by eutectic electrolytes through the regulation of the number of water molecules in the solvation structure of Zn2+ ions via hydrogen bonding and coordination effects. Additionally, eutectic electrolytes have the advantages of simple synthesis, non-corrosive, and environmental friendliness, which has attracted much attention in the field of RZIBs. The article begins by providing a brief introduction to the basic principles and definitions of eutectic electrolytes, and then highlights their current applications in RZIBs. Finally, the development prospects of eutectic electrolytes are discussed, offering important insights for the preparation of excellent eutectic electrolytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vanadium carbide (VC) is extensively employed as a reinforcing agent in coating materials and a grain refiner in hard alloys, owing to its exceptional mechanical properties. A series of bulk VC ceramics were fabricated via high-temperature high-pressure sintering, followed by a comprehensive and systematic investigation of various properties of the sintered samples. The results revealed significant influences of processing temperature on the properties of sintered VC at 5.0 GPa. However, the exact nature of temperature dependence varied depending on the specific property. It was found that VC ceramics sintered at 1100 °C and 5.0 GPa exhibited the best overall performance, providing a relatively optimal temperature condition for synthesis. The Vickers hardness of the material reached an astonishing 43.2 GPa under a 9.8 N load, placing it within the category of superhard materials. However, the sintered sample exhibited a gradually lower hardness value of 30.4 GPa under a higher load of 29.4 N. Highly dense with a relative density of 99.8%, exhibiting near full density, the vanadium carbide ceramics possess an impressive Young's modulus of 544 GPa, indentation fracture resistance of 5.4 MPa m1/2, and an oxidation initiation temperature of 758 °C. This study offers practical guidance for the design of novel transition metal carbide superhard materials and provides valuable insights for the exploration of visualizing directions in the next generation of superhard materials. • Sintering of bulk vanadium carbide ceramics under extreme conditions. • Microstructure evolution of vanadium carbide ceramics under high temperature and pressure. • Effect of sintering temperature on comprehensive properties of vanadium carbide ceramics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to reveal the interaction behavior between tubes and supports in steam generators and study the fretting wear of tubes in different load conditions. Design/methodology/approach: The fretting wear tests were conducted to investigate the fretting wear behavior of the tubes against three kinds of supports: the drilled circular holes (DCH), anti-vibration bars (AVBs) and trefoil orifice holes (TOH), which are widely used supports in nuclear steam generators. In this paper, the comparison of the interaction characteristic with different impact factors was established such as clearances and loads in the three kinds of supports. The fretting wear volume and scars were analyzed by a scanning electron microscope and 3D profiler. Findings: The results show that impact can play a more important role in the DCH and TOH supports than that in AVBs. The normal work rate can be underestimated in the DCH and TOH supports. Originality/value: The results of this study can be reference of fretting wear calculation in the design of steam generators with different kinds of supports and can be guidance in the maintenance of steam generators. Peer review: The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-12-2019-0513/ [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple morphological abnormalities of the sperm flagella (MMAF) is a rare disease associated with male infertility. In our previous study, we identified a homozygous CFAP43 splice‐site variant, c.3661‐2delA, in a patient with MMAF. However, the mutational effect of this variant was unknown. Here, using a minigene assay, we demonstrated that the c.3661‐2delA variant may cause exon‐30 to be skipped, thus generating the p.E1221_K1256del protein. By secondary and three‐dimensional structural biology prediction analysis, we found that the mutant protein became 'tighter' in comparison with the wild‐type protein, resulting in amino acid rearrangements in CFAP43 protein structure. We elucidated the molecular mechanism of the c.3661‐2delA splice‐site variant causing MMAF in the current study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been reported that tetrahydrocurcumin has hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, anti-metastasis, anticancer and anti-depressant pharmacological effects, and its antioxidative, hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic properties are better than those of curcumin. The present study assessed whether tetrahydrocurcumin exerts a neuroprotective effect against spinal cord injury (SCI) and investigated the underlying mechanisms. In a rat model of SCI, tetrahydrocurcumin enhanced the average Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan scores, inhibited water accumulation in the spinal cord and decreased inflammatory factors. Furthermore, oxidative stress and apoptosis (caspase-3 activity and B-cell lymphoma 2-associated X protein levels) were also suppressed in SCI rats treated with tetrahydrocurcumin. Tetrahydrocurcumin effectively decreased the gene expression of matrix metalloproteinase-3 and −13, as well as cyclooxygenase-2, promoted the phosphorylation of Akt and enhanced the protein expression of forkhead box (FOX)O4 in SCI rats. The present study delineates that tetrahydrocurcumin protects against SCI and inhibits the oxidative stress response by regulating the FOXO4 in SCI model rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: A health industry standard recommending restrictive transfusion is to be in effect in China in April 2019. We aim to explore its potential economic and clinical impacts among surgical patients. Materials and Methods: A decision tree model was applied to compare cost‐effectiveness of current routine transfusion in China, a restrictive (transfusion at Hb < 8 g/dl or ischaemic symptoms) and a liberal (transfusion at Hb < 10 g/dl) strategy. Parameters were estimated from empirical data of 25 227 surgical inpatients aged ≥30 years in a multicenter study and supplemented by meta‐analysis when necessary. Results are shown for cardio‐cerebral‐vascular (CCV) surgery and non‐CCV (orthopaedics, general, thoracic) surgery separately. Results: Per 10 000 patients in routine, restrictive, liberal transfusion scenarios, total spending (transfusion and length of stay related) was 7·67, 7·58 and 9·39 million CNY (1 CNY × 0.157 = 1 US dollar) for CCV surgery and 6·35, 6·70 and 8·09 million CNY for non‐CCV surgery; infectious and severe complications numbered 354, 290, and 290 (CCV) and 315, 286, and 330 (non‐CCV), respectively. Acceptability curves showed high probabilities for restrictive strategy to be cost‐effective across a wide range of willingness‐to‐pay values. Such findings were mostly consistent in sensitivity and subgroup analyses except for patients with cardiac problems. Conclusion: We showed strong rationale, succeeding previous findings only in cardiac or joint procedures, to comply with the new standard as restrictive transfusion has high potential to save blood, secure safety, and is cost‐effective for a wide spectrum of surgical patients. Experiences should be further summarized to pave the way towards individualized transfusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an industrial control system, a programmable logic controller (PLC) plays a vital role in maintaining the stable operation of the system. Cyber-attacks can affect the regular operation by tampering with the data stored in the PLC, thereby damaging to the system. Thus, it is particularly important to develop an efficient cyber-attacks recovery method. However, owing to the impact of unknown factors in theoretical methods, poor scalability of automaton theory, and a lack of constraints during the training process of deep learning network models, the restoration accuracy and stability are low. Therefore, it is a significant challenge to design an appropriate method to improve the accuracy and stability of cyber-attacks recovery. In this study, the generative adversarial networks were applied to the problem of cyber-attacks recovery; furthermore, a multi-stage generative adversarial networks was designed. The model consisted of a Variational Autoencoder and two conditional energy-based generative adversarial networks (CEBGANs). Then the second CEBGAN uses the fitted random noise appending with the data generated by the previous stage and the historical data as additional information to obtain the restoration results. Moreover, a self-adaptive decision policy was established to enhance the restoration accuracy and stability. Experimental results demonstrated that the proposed method in this manuscript could effectively improve the accuracy of cyber-attacks data recovery and reduce the possibility of outliers in data recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cordyceps militaris is a medicinal mushroom and has been extensively used as a traditional medicine in East Asia. After the chrysalis seeds are matured and harvested, the spent substrate of C. militaris still contains active ingredients but is usually discarded as waste. This study aimed to determine the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of C. militaris spent substrate extract and its inhibitory activity on the Malassezia commensal yeasts that can cause dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis. Active substances in the spent substrate of C. militaris were extracted using a hot water extraction method and were used for the determination of antioxidant activity by measuring their ability to scavenge 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), hydroxyl radicals, hydrogen peroxide, and superoxide anions. The ability to inhibit Malassezia was analyzed using the broth microdilution method, and the reparative effect on oxidative damage in HaCaT cells was measured using in vitro cell analysis. Respiratory burst evaluation was used to determine the anti-inflammatory capacity of extracts. Analysis of the Malassezia-inhibiting activity of the extracts showed that the minimum inhibitory concentration was 6.25 mg/mL. The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of DPPH, O2-, H2O2 and OH- were 3.845 mg/mL, 2.673 mg/mL, 0.037 mg/mL and 0.046 mg/mL, respectively. In the concentration range of 2 to 50%, the extract was non-toxic to cells and was able to protect HaCaT cells from H2O2 damage. When the volume fraction of the extract was 20.96%, its anti-inflammatory ability reached 50%. These results demonstrated that the extract may be a safe and efficacious source for pharmaceutical or cosmetic applications, with Malassezia-inhibiting, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background In contrast to dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA), the D3-creatine (D3Cr) dilution method provides a direct measure of skeletal muscle mass and in a cohort of older men has been strongly associated with health-related outcomes. However, sensitivity to detect changes in D3Cr-derived muscle mass due to an intervention is limited. Methods Twenty-one older adults (≥70 years) with low-to-moderate physical function were randomized to a 15-week high-intensity strength training (ST) or a health education (HE) group. Full-body progressive intensity ST was performed 3 days per week. Results The mean age was 82.1 years, with 64% females. After 15 weeks, both D3Cr muscle mass (MM; 2.29 kg; 95% CI: 0.22, 4.36) and DXA appendicular lean mass (ALM; 1.04 kg; 95% CI: 0.31, 1.77) were greater in ST group compared to HE. Baseline correlations between D3Cr MM and DXA ALM (r  = 0.79; 95% CI: 0.53, 0.92) or total lean body mass (LBM; r  = 0.79; 95% CI: 0.52, 0.91) were high. However, longitudinal changes in D3Cr MM were weakly correlated with changes in DXA ALM (r  = 0.19; 95% CI: −0.35, 0.64) and LBM (r  = 0.40; 95% CI: −0.13, 0.76). More participants showed positive response rates, defined as a >5% increase from baseline, with D3Cr MM (80%) than DXA measures (14%–43%). Conclusions A progressive ST intervention in low-functioning older adults increased D3Cr MM and DXA ALM. These data suggest that the D3Cr dilution is potentially sensitive to detect changes in muscle mass in response to resistance exercise training. These results are preliminary and could be used for planning larger trials to replicate these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Palaeoceanographic environmental conditions (e.g., sea surface temperature (SST) and salinity (SSS)) of the East China Sea (ECS) may reveal asynchronous hydroclimate changes to those from both low-latitude warm ocean and East Asian monsoon (EAM). However, it remains unclear whether the SST and SSS in the ECS has shown a notable response to spatiotemporal patterns of hydroclimate with the synergistic impacts of the EAM and tropical ocean since the last deglaciation. In this study, the SST and SSS records based on alkenone and its hydrogen isotopes (δD alkenone) with a high-resolution core from the ECS over the last 14 kyr are presented here to understand forcing mechanisms on different timescales. Results indicate that the ECS experienced SST and SSS variability on different timescales. SST and SSS records of the ECS overprint a millennial period of ∼1500 yrs., and centennial periods of ∼750, ∼350, and ∼ 120 yrs. During the last deglaciation and early Holocene, as a result of a strengthened Kuroshio Current (KC) bringing relative warm and salty seawater into the ECS, the SST and SSS were generally higher than normal. During the middle Holocene (9.0–5.0 ka), amounts of freshwater discharged into the ECS, following a regulation of its hydrodynamic circulations. This situation may create strong upper-ocean stratification, resulting in high and stable SST and relatively low SSS. In the period from 5.0 to 2.7 ka, the East Asian Winter Monsoon seemed to strengthen, while the East Asian Summer Monsoon weakened, leading to enhancing the upwelling in the ECS. This pattern could have triggered a reduction in the KC, and subsequently led to low SST and high SSS in the ECS. In the late Holocene, ECS changes imitated the reduction in KC, acting as an indicator of warm equatorial Pacific. Therefore, the ECS has exhibited decreasing trends in SSS and SST during this period. This study presents new lights to further understand the role of low-latitude forcing on the paleoenvironmental evolution in the marginal sea. • High-resolution SST record based on alkenone of ECS is documented during Holocene. • δD of alkenone have the positive correlations with sea surface salinity. • We present a SSS paleorecord covering the Holocene from the ECS. • Changes of ECS result from the interplay between the tropical ocean and the monsoon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinical prediction models have been widely used to screen and diagnose postpartum depression (PPD). This study systematically reviews and evaluates the risk of bias and the applicability of PPD prediction models. A systematic search was performed in eight databases from inception to June 1, 2022. The literature was independently screened, and data were extracted by two investigators using the checklist for critical appraisal and data extraction for systematic reviews of prediction modeling studies (CHARMS). The risk of bias and applicability was assessed using the Prediction Model Risk of Bias Assessment Tool (PROBAST). After the screening, 12 studies of PPD risk prediction models were included, with the area under the ROC curve of the models ranging from 0.611 to 0.937. The most-reported predictors of PPD included several aspects, including prenatal mood disorders, endocrine and hormonal influences, psychosocial aspects, the influence of family factors, and somatic illness factors. The applicability of all studies was good. However, there was some bias, mainly due to inadequate outcome events, missing data not appropriately handled, lack of model performance assessment, and overfitting of the models. This systematic review and evaluation indicate that most present PPD prediction models have a high risk of bias during development and validation. Despite some models' predictive solid performance, the models' clinical practice rate is low. Therefore, future research should develop predictive models with excellent performance in all aspects and clinical applicability to better inform maternal medical decisions. • We systematically reviewed all the studies related to PPD prediction models. • This review is the forthcoming publication of the protocol in PROSPERO. • The PROBAST was used to assess the risk of bias and applicability. • The methodological quality of the studies was evaluated using the CHARMS and TRIPOD. • We summarized the risk of bias in the PPD predictive models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alligator sinensis cathelicidins (As-CATHs) are antimicrobial peptides extracted from alligators that enable alligators to cope with diseases caused by bacterial infections. This study assessed the damaging effects of sequence-truncated and residue-substituted variants of As-CATH4, AS4-1, AS4-5, and AS4-9 (with decreasing charges but increasing hydrophobicity) on the membranes of Gram-negative bacteria at the molecular level by using coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations. The simulations predicted that all the variants disrupt the structures of the inner membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, with AS4-9 having the highest antibacterial activity that is able to squeeze the membrane and extract lipids from the membrane. However, none of them can disrupt the structure of asymmetric outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, which is composed of lipopolysaccharides in the outer leaflet and phospholipids in the inner leaflet. Nonetheless, the adsorption of AS4-9 induces lipid scrambling in the membrane by lowering the free energy of a phospholipid flipping from the inner leaflet up to the outer leaflet. Upon binding onto the lipid-scrambled outer membrane, AS4-9s are predicted to squeeze and extract phospholipids from the membrane, AS4-5s have a weak pull-out effect, and AS4-1s mainly stay free in water without any lipid-extracting function. These findings provide inspiration for the development of potent therapeutic agents targeting bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of research on neuromorphic computing is exploring artificial neuron and synaptic devices with high performance. In this context, two-dimensional (2D) materials have received broad attention due to their advantages of low power consumption and high electrostatic controllability. Here, we demonstrated an artificial synaptic transistor based on the 2D SnS2/T-layer van der Waals (vdW) heterostructure, where the T-layer refers to the 2D h-BN treated by O2 plasma. Relying on the charge trapping mechanism of the T-layer, synaptic characteristics such as the excitatory postsynaptic current, short-term plasticity, and long-term potentiation (LTP) are emulated. Moreover, these synaptic characteristics can be further modulated by light stimulation. Under the illumination of 820 nm wavelength, the nonlinearity of LTP is as low as −0.19, and the symmetricity is 39.4, which is superior to most of the 2D artificial synaptic devices reported to date. Our results demonstrate the great prospects of plasma-treated 2D vdW heterostructures for neuromorphic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstracts Aim of the study Development of a new method to simultaneously detect Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and Golgi protein 73 (GP73) from peripheral blood. Material and methods Anti human AFP and GP73 monoclonal antibodies was used to develop a sandwich immunity reaction using xMAP technology for the simultaneous detection of plasma AFP and GP73. The assay evaluated the sensitivity, cross reactivity, range of detection, precision, recovery and linearity dilution effect. The assay utilized plasma samples and compared its performance with commercially available Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) kits. Results The assay was successful in detecting AFP and GP73 simultaneously. Validation experiments demonstrated the limit of detection was AFP 0.006 μg/l and GP73 0.482 μg/l. The functional sensitivity was AFP 0.010 μg/l and GP73 0.640 μg/l. The range of detection was AFP 0.01–50 μg/l and GP73 0.64–100 μg/l. No cross reactivity was observed. The intra- and inter-assay variation for AFP was 0.19–3.46% and 3.1–5.8% and for GP73 was 1.5–3.2% and 1.1–7.6% respectively. The recovery for AFP was 96–106% and GP73 was 89–110%. 80 clinical plasma samples from healthy controls, and patients with liver cirrhosis and Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) were evaluated. For healthy controls (n = 25), the AFP was 2.40 (1.55, 3.30) μg/l and GP73 was 42.60 (39.10, 57.40) μg/l. For patients with liver cirrhosis (n = 19), the AFP was 2.60 (1.70, 4.20) μg/l and GP73 was 136.10 (92.10, 261.70) μg/l, and for HCC patients (n = 36), the AFP was 13.65 (3.35, 158.88) μg/l and GP73 was 186.25 (96.73, 262.03) μg/l. The new assay demonstrated a good correlation with commercially available ELISA kits (correlation coefficients (r) were 0.997 (AFP, p < 0.001) and 0.959 (GP73, p < 0.001). Conclusions The method demonstrated a sensitive, effective and accurate method for the simultaneous detection of AFP and GP73, and could be used clinically for routine detection and monitoring of patients with chronic hepatitis B. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neurocysticercosis (NCC) caused by Taeniasolium is one of the most common parasitic diseases of the central nervous system. Inflammation and apoptosis are two main responses involved in NCC pathogenesis. We aimed to examine apoptosis by the TUNEL assay and apoptosis-associated sFas and sFasL levels in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum of patients with NCC. Brain biopsy ( n = 1), CSF ( n = 14), and serum ( n = 36) of patients with NCC and uninfected controls ( n = 14 and 24 for CSF and serum, respectively) were collected together with clinical data. Residual brain tissue was analyzed by the TUNEL assay. sFas and sFasL in CSF samples and sFas, sFasL, and p53 in serum samples were measured by ELISA. Immunohistochemistry of the biopsy indicated the presence of vimentin-positive arachnoid tissue in the TUNEL-positive region. Compared to controls, sFas was significantly reduced in CSF samples of patients with NCC ( P = 0.018), especially among those without inflammation, but significantly increased in the serum samples of the vesicular( P = 0.011), moderate( P = 0.025), and non-epilepsy( P = 0.049) subgroups of patients with NCC. sFasL was elevated in the CSF ( P < 0.0001), as well as in the calcified subgroup ( P = 0.031), but sFasL levels in CSF were similar among patients with NCC with and without inflammation. These findings support a role of sFas and sFasL in the induction of apoptosis in patients with NCC, with sFas probably being involved in the inflammation phase of NCC and depending on host factors such as parasite stage, disease severity, and symptoms, and sFasL being involved in the inflammation, non-inflammation, and calcification phase of the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Metastasis is the leading cause of mortality in patients with breast cancer (BC). Studies demonstrate that circular RNAs (circRNAs) were involved in BC progression, while the molecular mechanisms remain largely unclear. Methods: The microArray circRNA profiles were used to explore the differential expression circRNAs in BC and paracancerous normal tissues, and the quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was used to validate their expression level in clinical samples and cell lines. Nuclear/cytosolic fractionation and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assays were performed to examine circRRM2 (hsa_circ_0052582) subcellular location. The scratch wound healing and transwell assays were conducted to evaluate the impact of circRRM2 on BC cell migration and invasion. We predicted miRNAs that might bind with cricRRM2 and the downstream target genes using bioinformatics analysis and explored their expression levels and prognostic value in BC. FISH, RNA immunoprecipitation, Co-immunoprecipitation, Western blot, and rescue experiments were implemented to figure out circRRM2 function and underlying mechanisms in BC. Results: The present study revealed several aberrant circRNAs in BC tissues and observed that circRRM2 was upregulated in tumor tissues of 40 patients with BC. High circRRM2 was significantly associated with advanced N stage in patients with BC. Gain- and loss- of function experiments revealed that circRRM2 promoted the migration and invasion of cells and functioned as an oncogene in BC. Mechanism studies showed that circRRM2 competed with miR-31-5p/miR-27b-3p to upregulate the IGF2BP1 expression. Furthermore, IGF2BP1 upregulated the circRRM2 level via interacting with MYC, which functioned as the transcriptional factor of circRRM2. Thus, the positive feedback loop that was composed of circRRM2/IGF2BP1/MYC was identified. Conclusion: This study confirms that upregulated circRRM2 functions an oncogenic role in BC metastasis. The positive feedback loop of circRRM2/IGF2BP1/MYC enforces the circRRM2 expression, which might offer a potential target for BC treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whole-genome sequencing of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) can detect BRCA2 loss in a majority of tissue-confirmed cases and in additional patients without tissue-confirmed loss. CTCs with BRCA2 loss have increased chromosomal instability, supporting the accuracy of the calls. CTCs can potentially address shortcomings of tissue/cell-free DNA for BRCA2 loss detection. BRCA2 alterations predict for a response to poly-ADP-ribose polymerase inhibition in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). However, detection is hindered by insufficient tumor tissue and low sensitivity of cell-free DNA for detecting copy number loss. To evaluate the BRCA2 loss detection using single-cell, shallow whole-genome sequencing (sWGS) of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in patients with mCRPC. We analyzed CTC samples collected concurrently with tumor biopsies intended for clinical sequencing in patients with progressing mCRPC. Differences in proportions were evaluated using the chi-square test. Correlations between assays were analyzed in linear regression models. Associations between alterations and genomic instability were assessed on the single-cell level using mixed-effect negative binomial models. We identified 138 patients with concurrent CTC and biopsy samples. CTC sWGS generated copy number profiles in a similar proportion of patients to biopsy samples (83% vs 78%, p = 0.23), but was more effective than bone biopsies (79% vs 50%; p = 0.009). CTC sWGS detected BRCA2 loss in more patients than tissue at the ≥1 (42% vs 16%; p < 0.001) and ≥2 (27% vs 16%; p = 0.028) CTC thresholds. The overall prevalence of BRCA2 loss was not increased in CTCs using sample-level composite z scores (p = 0.4), but was significantly increased compared with a lower-than-expected prevalence in bone samples (21% vs 3%, p = 0.014). Positive/negative predictive values for CTC BRCA2 loss were 89%/96% using the ≥1 CTC threshold and 67%/92% using the composite z score. CTC BRCA2 loss was associated with higher genomic instability in univariate (1.4-fold large-scale transition difference, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.2–1.6; p < 0.001) and multivariable analysis (1.4-fold difference, 95% CI: 1.2–1.6; p < 0.001). Copy number profiles can reliably be generated using CTC sWGS, which detected a majority of tissue-confirmed BRCA2 loss and "CTC-only" losses. BRCA2 losses were supported by increases in genomic instability. Current testing strategies have limitations in their ability to detect BRCA2 loss, a relatively common alteration in prostate cancer that is used to identify patients who may benefit from targeted therapy. In this paper, we evaluated whether we could detect BRCA2 loss in individual tumor cells isolated from patient blood samples and found this method to be suitable for further analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correction to: Neural Computing and Applications https://doi.org/10.1007/s00521-022-06965-4 The article" DEIDS: a novel intrusion detection system for industrial control systems", written by Haoran Gu, Yingxu Lai, Yipeng Wang, Jing Liu, Motong Sun and Beifeng Mao, was originally published electronically on the publisher's internet portal on [7 February 2022] without open access. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. [Extracted from the article]

Removal of 1,3-butadiene from cigarette smoke plays an important role in human health and environmental protection. Herein, a series of UiO-66 X% containing different ratios of the -NH2 group was synthesized via the solvothermal method by using terephthalic acid (H2BDC) and 2-aminoterephthalic acid (NH2-BDC) as ligands. Using GO as support, a series of UiO-66-NH2/GO Y% were prepared by controlling the ratio of UiO-66-NH2 and GO. The effects of -NH2 and GO contents on the structure and composition of MOFs were investigated. Finally, the different -NH2 contents of UiO-66 X% and the different GO contents of UiO-66-NH2/GO Y% were applied in 1,3-butadiene removal from cigarette smoke. The results showed that UiO-66 X% with the higher contents of -NH2 showed a higher rate of 1,3-butadiene removal, and UiO-66-NH2/GO Y% with the GO contents of 5% showed the highest removal rate of about 33.85%, which was 25.54% higher than that of activated carbon. In addition, the saturation capacity of the adsorbent materials for 1,3-butadiene was as high as 210.01–239.54 mg/g, showing great potential in reducing harmful components in cigarette smoke and environmental protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Numerous observational studies have revealed an increased risk of death and complications with transfusion, but this observation has not been confirmed in randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The "transfusion kills patients" paradox persists in real-world observational studies despite application of analytic methods such as propensity-score matching. We propose a new design to address this long-term existing issue, which if left unresolved, will be deleterious to the healthy generation of evidence that supports optimized transfusion practice. Methods: In the new design, we stress three aspects for reconciling observational studies and RCTs on transfusion safety: (1) re-definition of the study population according to a stable hemoglobin range (gray zone of transfusion decision; 7.5–9.5 g/dL in this study); (2) selection of comparison groups according to a trigger value (last hemoglobin measurement before transfusion; nadir during hospital stay for control); (3) dealing with patient heterogeneity according to standardized mean difference (SMD) values. We applied the new design to hospitalized older patients (aged ≥60 years) undergoing general surgery at four academic/teaching hospitals. Four datasets were analyzed: a base population before (Base Match−) and after (Base Match+) propensity-score matching to simulate previous observational studies; a study population before (Study Match−) and after (Study Match+) propensity-score matching to demonstrate effects of our design. Results: Of 6141 older patients, 662 (10.78%) were transfused and showed high heterogeneity compared with those not receiving transfusion, particularly regarding preoperative hemoglobin (mean: 11.0 vs. 13.5 g/dL) and intraoperative bleeding (≥500 mL: 37.9% vs. 2.1%). Patient heterogeneity was reduced with the new design; SMD of the two variables was reduced from approximately 100% (Base Match−) to 0% (Study Match+). Transfusion was related to a higher risk of death and complications in Base Match− (odds ratio [OR], 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.68, 1.86–3.86) and Base Match+ (2.24, 1.43–3.49), but not in Study Match− (0.77, 0.32–1.86) or Study Match+ (0.66, 0.23–1.89). Conclusions: We show how choice of study population and analysis could affect real-world study findings. Our results following the new design are in accordance with relevant RCTs, highlighting its value in accelerating the pace of transfusion evidence generation and generalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

FtsE and FtsX, which are widely conserved homologs of ABC transporters and interact with each other, have important but unknown functions in bacterial cell division. Coimmunoprecipitation of Escherichia coli cell extracts revealed that a functional FLAG-tagged version of FtsE, the putative ATP-binding component, interacts with FtsZ, the bacterial tubulin homolog required to assemble the cytokinetic Z ring and recruit the components of the divisome. This interaction is independent of FtsX, the predicted membrane component of the ABC transporter, which has been shown previously to interact with FtsE. The interaction also occurred independently of FtsA or ZipA, two other E. coli cell division proteins that interact with FtsZ. In addition, FtsZ copurified with FLAG-FtsE. Surprisingly, the conserved C-terminal tail of FtsZ, which interacts with other cell division proteins, such as FtsA and ZipA, was dispensable for interaction with FtsE. In support of a direct interaction with FtsZ, targeting of a green fluorescent protein (GFP)-FtsE fusion to Z rings required FtsZ, but not FtsA. Although GFP-FtsE failed to target Z rings in the absence of ZipA, its localization was restored in the presence of the ftsA* bypass suppressor, indicating that the requirement for ZipA is indirect. Coexpression of FLAG-FtsE and FtsX under certain conditions resulted in efficient formation of minicells, also consistent with an FtsE-FtsZ interaction and with the idea that FtsE and FtsX regulate the activity of the divisome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alpine skiing, as an outdoor winter sport, is particularly vulnerable to the variation of meteorological conditions. Scattered and multi-source big data cannot be fully utilized to conduct effective decision analyses by conventional data analysis methods. Presently, knowledge graphs are the most advanced organization form of knowledge base, which can make explicit the complex relationships among different objects. Thus, introducing knowledge graph to the event management of alpine skiing is significant to improve the ability of risk prediction and decision-making. In this research, we analyze the components and dynamic characteristics of alpine skiing, and construct an "Object-Characteristic-Relation" representation model to express multi-level knowledge. Moreover, we propose a "Characteristic-value- Relationship" representation method based on the multi-source data, to construct the knowledge graph of alpine skiing. With the proposed method, comprehensive relationships between meteorological conditions and alpine skiing can be represented clearly, and support further knowledge reasoning for the event management under meteorological conditions. We have tested the utility of the proposed method in a case study of 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. The case study realizes an semi-automatic construction of knowledge graph for alpine skiing, provides decision supports for event risk managements, according to different meteorological conditions, and grounds a foundation for future knowledge graph construction of other large-scale sport events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]