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BackgroundRestless Legs Syndrome (RLS) is closely related to poorer sleep quality. Vitamin D can regulate sleep regulation, cell proliferation, and differentiation. To measure whether vitamin D has predictive value for poor sleep quality in RLS was our aim in this study.MethodsTo analyze the serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] in 95 RLS patients. We used the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) to measure sleep quality. Subjects had been divided into a normal and poor-sleeper groups according to the PSQI score. Using correlation and regression analysis to explore underlying etiologies that affect sleep disorder in RLS patients.ResultsPatients in the poor-sleeper group had significantly lower vitamin D levels in comparison to the normal group. The serum vitamin D levels were negative correlate with PSQI scores after adjusting for confounding factors. In addition, regression analysis showed that vitamin D could act as a predictor for sleep disorders in RLS patients (odds ratio [OR] = 0.008, p = 0.004). The area under the curve (AUC), cut-off value, sensitivity, and specificity of serum vitamin D was 0.967 (95% CI 0.935–0.998), 16.84 ng/ml, 87.5%, and 93.7% by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.ConclusionOur study confirmed the relationship between poorer sleep quality and vitamin D in RLS. However, the causal relationship between vitamin D deficiency and RLS is currently inconclusive. The effect of vitamin D supplementation is needed to confirm as the therapeutic strategies for sleep disorders in RLS patients in future work.

PurposeReview the experience of redo laparoscopic pyeloplasty (RLP) in patients with recurrent ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UPJO) in comparison to primary laparoscopic pyeloplasty (PLP) and redo open pyeloplasty (ROP), and determine the feasibility and effectiveness of RLP for recurrent UPJO in children.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed the clinical data of patients treated with transperitoneal PLP, RLP, and ROP for UPJO from December 2015 to December 2022. The Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to balance confounding variables. RLP patients were 1:4 matched with PLP and 1:3 matched with ROP. The primary outcomes were failure and post-operative complications. Complications were classified according to the Clavien-Dindo grading system.ResultsThe study included ten patients who underwent RLP, 43 patients who underwent ROP, and 412 patients who underwent PLP. The follow-up time ranged from 6 to 36 months in the RLP group, 12 to 60 months in the PLP group, and 24 to 54 months in the ROP group. In the RLP group, no failure but three post-operative complications (Clavien grade II) were observed during the follow-up. Compared with the PLP group, the older age, higher weight, larger pre-operative anteroposterior diameter (APD) and APD/cortical thickness (P/C ratio), longer operation time, and post-operative length of stay (LOS) in the RLP group (P < 0.05). After PSM, longer operation time and post-operative LOS were observed in the RLP group (P < 0.05). Compared with the ROP group, the older age, higher weight, and longer post-operative LOS in the RLP group (P < 0.05). After PSM, longer post-operative LOS was observed in the ROP group (P < 0.05). The failure and complication rates were comparable between RLP and PLP or RLP and ROP (P > 0.05).ConclusionsOur result demonstrated that RLP performed as well as PLP except for a longer operation time. Compared with ROP, RLP has the advantages of a clearer surgical view, sufficient exposure, clearer anatomical landmark position, and minor trauma with a comparable clinical outcome. On experienced hands, RLP for recurrent UPJO after is a safe and effective procedure and should be considered an excellent alternative to the more commonly recommended ROP in select patients.

In our initial study on the high-voltage 5 V cobalt-free spinel LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 (LNMO) cathode, we discovered a severe delamination issue in the laminates when cycled at a high upper cut-off voltage (UCV) of 4.95 V, especially when a large cell format was used. This delamination problem prompted us to investigate further by studying the transition metal (TM) dissolution mechanism of cobalt-free LNMO cathodes, and as a comparison, some cobalt-containing lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxides (NMC) cathodes, as the leachates from the soaking experiment might be the culprit for the delamination. Unlike other previous reports, we are interested in the intrinsic stability of the cathode in the presence of a baseline Gen2 electrolyte consisting of 1.2 M of LiPF6 in ethylene carbonate/ethyl methyl carbonate (EC/EMC), similar to a storage condition. The electrode laminates (transition metal oxides, transition metal oxides, TMOs, coated on an Al current collector with a loading level of around 2.5 mAh/cm2) or the TMO powders (pure commercial quality spinel LNMO, NMC, etc.) were stored in the baseline solution, and the transition metal dissolution was studied through nuclear magnetic resonance, such as 1H NMR, 19F NMR, scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Significant electrolyte decomposition was observed and could be the cause that leads to the TM dissolution of LNMO. To address this TM dissolution, additives were introduced into the baseline electrolyte, effectively alleviating the issue of TM dissolution. The results suggest that the observed delamination is caused by electrolyte decompositions that lead to etching, and additives such as lithium difluorooxalato borate and p-toluenesulfonyl isocyanate can alleviate this issue by forming a firm cathode electrolyte interface. This study provides a new perspective on cell degradation induced by electrode/electrolyte interactions under storage conditions.

BackgroundRestless Legs Syndrome (RLS) is a common neurological disorder. Growing evidence shows that dopaminergic dysfunction and iron deficiency are associated with the pathogenesis of RLS. Additionally, the dopaminergic system is linked with the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis. Thus, the current study aimed to compare thyroid function between RLS patients and healthy subjects and investigate the associations with clinical characteristics of RLS.MethodsSerum levels of thyroid hormones were investigated in 102 first-episode drug-naïve RLS patients and 80 matched healthy controls (HCs). Baseline data and clinical characteristics were performed by professional personnel. In addition, multivariate regression was used to analyze the relationship between thyroid function and RLS.ResultsCompared with control group, RLS patients had significantly higher serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels (p < 0.001), and higher prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism [Odds ratio (OR) 8.00; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 3.50–18.30; p < 0.001]. The Subclinical hypothyroidism rate (47.1 vs. 10%, p < 0.001) in RLS patients was higher than the HCs group. Regression analysis revealed that serum TSH (OR = 1.77; 95% CI = 1.41–2.23; p < 0.001) was independently associated with RLS. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between TSH and the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) scores (r = 0.728, p < 0.001), and the International Restless Legs Scales (IRLS) points (r = 0.627, p < 0.001). Spearman correlation analysis showed that FT3 was positive correlated with HAMA14 score (r = 0.239, p = 0.015). In addition, compared with the good-sleeper group, poor-sleeper patients had significantly higher serum TSH levels (p < 0.001).ConclusionSerum levels of TSH and the prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism were higher in RLS patients, indicating the imbalance between thyroid hormones (TH) and the dopaminergic system may contribute to the development of primary RLS. Additionally, the TH axis may influence the quality of sleep in RLS patients.

Reversible electrochemical magnesium plating/stripping processes are important for the development of high-energy-density Mg batteries based on Mg anodes. Ether glyme solutions such as monoglyme (G1), diglyme (G2), and triglyme (G3) with the MgTFSI2 salt are one of the conventional and commonly used electrolytes that can obtain the reversible behavior of Mg electrodes. However, the electrolyte cathodic efficiency is argued to be limited due to the enormous parasitic reductive decomposition and passivation, which is governed by impurities. In this work, a systematic identification of the impurities in these systems and their effect on the Mg deposition–dissolution processes is reported. The mitigation methods generally used for eliminating impurities are evaluated, and their beneficial effects on the improved reactivity are also discussed. By comparing the performances, we proposed a necessary conditioning protocol that can be easy to handle and much safer toward the practical application of MgTFSI2/glyme electrolytes containing impurities.

BackgroundRestless Legs Syndrome (RLS) is a common sleep disorder. Polysomnographic (PSG) studies have been used to explore the night sleep characteristics of RLS, but their relationship with RLS has not been fully analyzed and researched.MethodsWe searched the Cochrane Library electronic literature, PubMed, and EMBASE databases to identify research literature comparing the differences in polysomnography between patients with RLS and healthy controls (HCs).ResultsThis review identified 26 studies for meta-analysis. Our research found that the rapid eye movement sleep (REM)%, sleep efficiency (SE)%, total sleep time (TST) min, and N2 were significantly decreased in patients with RLS compared with HCs, while sleep latency (SL) min, stage shifts (SS), awakenings number (AWN), wake time after sleep onset (WASO) min, N1%, rapid eye movement sleep latency (REML), and arousal index (AI) were significantly increased. Additionally, there was no significant difference among N3%, slow wave sleep (SWS)%, and apnea-hypopnea index (AHI).ConclusionOur findings demonstrated that architecture and sleep continuity had been disturbed in patients with RLS, which further illustrates the changes in sleep structure in patients with RLS. In addition, further attention to the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms of RLS and its association with neurodegenerative diseases is needed in future studies.

BackgroundThe study aims to investigate the role of serum albumin (ALB) and creatinine (CRE), bilirubin (BIL), and uric acid (UA) as major intravascular antioxidants in migraine.MethodsWe enrolled 148 patients with migraine and 150 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. The serum levels of ALB, TBIL, CRE, and UA were measured in patients with migraine of different subtypes. The risk of migraine was assessed by multiple stepwise logistic regression analysis.ResultsThe serum levels of ALB, total BIL (TBIL), CRE, and UA were significantly lower in the migraine group than in the HC group (p < 0.05). The ALB and UA levels were lower during migraine attack periods (p < 0.05). There were no statistically significant differences observed in serum ALB, TBIL, CRE, and UA levels between aura/without aura and episodic/chronic migraine subtypes (p > 0.05). The multiple stepwise logistic regression revealed that ALB [odds ratio (OR) 0.79, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.69–0.89, p < 0.001], TBIL (OR 0.61, 95% CI 0.5–0.75, p < 0.001), and UA (OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.96–0.99, p = 0.014) were independently associated with migraine. In addition, the serum levels of ALB, TBIL, and UA were significantly lower in the migraine group when compared by sex.ConclusionThe serum levels of UA, TBIL, ALB, and CRE were lower in the patients with migraine, indicating a lower antioxidant status. In addition, ALB, TBIL, and UA were independently related to migraine. These results could provide insights into the possible role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of migraine.

Abstract Background Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is rare in children. Although complex karyotype (CK) defined as ≥ 3 cytogenetic abnormalities is an adverse risk factor in adult AML, its prognostic impact on childhood AML remains to be determined. Results We studied the prevalence, cytogenetic and mutational features, and outcome impact of CK in a cohort of 284 Chinese children with de novo AML. Thirty-four (12.0%) children met the criteria for CK-AML with atypical CK being more frequent than typical CK featured with -5/5q-, -7/7q-, and/or 17p aberration. Mutational prevalence was low and co-occurrence mutants were uncommon. Children with CK-AML showed shorter overall survival (OS) (5-year OS: 26.7 ± 10.6% vs. 37.5 ± 8.6%, p = 0.053) and event-free survival (EFS) (5-year EFS: 26.7 ± 10.6% vs. 38.8 ± 8.6%, p = 0.039) compared with those with intermediate-risk genetics. Typical CK tended to correlate with a decreased OS than atypical CK (5-year OS: 0 vs. 33 ± 12.7%.; p = 0.084), and CK with ≥ 5 cytogenetic aberrations was associated with an inferior survival compared with CK with ≤ 4 aberrations (5-year OS: 13.6 ± 11.7% vs. 50.0 ± 18.6%; p = 0.040; 5-year EFS: 13.6 ± 11.7% vs. 50.0 ± 18.6%; p = 0.048). Conclusion Our results demonstrate CK as an adverse risk factor for reduced survival in childhood AML. Our findings shed light on the cytogenetic and mutational profile of childhood CK-AML and would inform refinement of risk stratification in childhood AML to improve outcomes.

Polymer-protein systems have excellent characteristics, such as non-toxic, non-irritating, good water solubility and biocompatibility, which makes them very appealing as cancer therapeutics agents. Inspiringly, they can achieve sustained release and targeted delivery of drugs, greatly improving the effect of cancer therapy and reducing side effects. However, many challenges, such as reducing the toxicity of materials, protecting the activities of proteins and controlling the release of proteins, still need to be overcome. In this review, the design of hybrid polymer–protein systems, including the selection of polymers and the bonding forms of polymer–protein systems, is presented. Meanwhile, vital considerations, including reaction conditions and the release of proteins in the design process, are addressed. Then, hybrid polymer–protein systems developed in the past decades for cancer therapy, including targeted therapy, gene therapy, phototherapy, immunotherapy and vaccine therapy, are summarized. Furthermore, challenges for the hybrid polymer–protein systems in cancer therapy are exemplified, and the perspectives of the field are covered.

Definitive diagnosis to sudden cardiac death (SCD) is often challenging since the postmortem examination on SCD victims could hardly demonstrate an adequate cause of death. It is therefore important to uncover the inherited risk component to SCD. Signal transducer and activators of transcription 5 A (STAT5A) is a member of the STAT family and a transcription factor that is activated by many cell ligands and associated with various cardiovascular processes. In this study, we performed a systematic variant screening on the STAT5A to filter potential functional genetic variations. Based on the screening results, an insertion/deletion polymorphism (rs3833144) in 3’UTR of STAT5A was selected as the candidate variant. A total of 159 SCD cases and 668 SCD matched healthy controls was enrolled to perform a case-control study and evaluate the association between rs3833144 and SCD susceptibility in Chinese populations. Logistic regression analysis showed that the deletion allele of rs3833144 had significantly increased the SCD risk (odds ratio (OR) = 1.54; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.18–2.01; P = 0.000955). Further genotype-expression eQTL analysis showed that samples with deletion allele appeared to lower expression of STAT5A, and in silico prediction suggested the local 3 D structure changes of STAT5A mRNA caused by the variant. On the other hand, the bioinformatic analysis presented that promoters of RARA and PTGES3L-AARSD1 could interact with rs3833144, and eQTL analysis showed the higher expression of both genes in samples with deletion allele. Dual-luciferase activity assays also suggested the significant regulatory role of rs3833144 in gene transcription. Our current data thus suggested a possible involvement of rs3833144 to SCD predisposition in Chinese populations and rs3833144 with potential function roles may become a candidate marker for SCD diagnosis and prevention.

Abstract The human brain magnetic resonance image (MRI) is always contaminated by noise and has uncertainty on the boundary between different tissues. These characteristics bring challenges to the human brain image segmentation. To handle these limitations, many variants of standard fuzzy c‐means (FCM) algorithm have been proposed. Some methods attempt to incorporate the local spatial information in the standard FCM algorithm. However, they can't solve the problem of data uncertainty very well. And some other methods can handle the problem of data uncertainty, but they are sensitive to noise since it doesn't incorporate any local spatial information. In this paper, we propose a noise robust intuitionistic fuzzy c‐means (NR‐IFCM) algorithm, which can handle noise and uncertainty problems simultaneously. In order to process the human brain MRI with noise better, we introduce a noise robust intuitionistic fuzzy set (NR‐IFS) which is noise robust in this NR‐IFCM algorithm. Meanwhile, in order to handle the data uncertainty, we also introduce a new intuitionistic fuzzy factor to this NR‐IFCM algorithm which combine the local gray‐level and the spatial information together. A large number of experimental results on human brain MRI validate the effectiveness and the superiority of our proposed NR‐IFCM algorithm.

PurposeTo explore the association between Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2015 and kidney stones in an American adult population.Materials and MethodsNational Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) datasets from 2007 to 2018 were used. Participants aged ≥ 20 years who reported kidney stone history and dietary recall were included. Weighted proportions, multivariable analysis and spline smoothing were used to evaluate the associations between HEI-2015 and nephrolithiasis by adjusting gender, age, race, poverty income ratio, body mass index, education level, marital status, smoking, alcohol intake, energy level, vigorous activity, moderate activity, and some comorbidities.ResultsTotally 30 368 American adults were included, with weighted mean age [standard deviation (SD)] of 47.69 (16.85) years. The overall mean HEI-2015 score (SD) was 50.82 (13.80). In the fully-adjusted multivariable model, HEI-2015 was negatively correlated with urolithiasis [odds ratio (OR) = 0.991; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.988 to 0.994]. Compared with the first quartile of HEI-2015, the population in the fourth quartile of HEI-2015 had a lower prevalence of kidney stones (OR = 0.716; 95% CI 0.635 to 0.807). The association was modified by education and vigorous activity.ConclusionsHEI-2015 is inversely associated with the prevalence of kidney stones, which means better diet quality is associated with a lower risk of nephrolithiasis.

Summary: High-entropy oxides (HEOs) are an emerging class of advanced ceramic materials capable of stabilizing ultrasmall nanoparticle catalysts. However, their fabrication still relies on high-temperature thermal treatment methodologies affording nonporous architectures. Herein, we report a facile synthesis of single-phase, fluorite-structured HEO nanocrystals via an ultrasound-mediated co-precipitation strategy under ambient conditions. Within 15 min of ultrasound exposure, high-quality fluorite-structured HEO (CeHfZrSnErOx) was generated as ultrasmall-sized particles with high surface area and high oxygen vacancy concentration. Taking advantage of these unique structural features, palladium was introduced and stabilized in the form of highly dispersed Pd nanoclusters within the CeHfZrSnErOx architecture. Neither phase segregation of the CeHfZrSnErOx support nor Pd sintering was observed under thermal treatment up to 900°C. The as-afforded Pd/CeHfZrSnErOx catalyst exhibits good catalytic performance toward CO oxidation, outperforming Pd/CeO2 of the same Pd loading, which highlights the inherent advantage of CeHfZrSnErOx as carrier support over traditional oxides.

Abstract Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are notable contributors to the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) and are closely associated with tumor progression; in addition, MDSCs are present in most patients with cancer. However, the molecular mechanisms that regulate MDSCs in the etiopathogenesis of human tumor immunity remain unclear. The secreted alarmin high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is a proinflammatory factor and inducer of many inflammatory molecules during MDSC development. In this review, we detail the currently reported characteristics of MDSCs in tumor immune escape and the regulatory role of secreted HMGB1 in MDSC differentiation, proliferation, activity and survival. Notably, different posttranslational modifications of HMGB1 may have various effects on MDSCs, and these effects need further identification. Moreover, exosome-derived HMGB1 is speculated to exert a regulatory effect on MDSCs, but no report has confirmed this hypothesis. Therefore, the effects of HMGB1 on MDSCs need more research attention, and additional investigations should be conducted.

Incorporation of supramolecular macrocycles into porous organic polymers can increase uptake of guest molecules through host−guest interactions. Here the authors report a pillar[5]quinone derived multi-microporous organic polymer, which show a superior performance in radioactive iodomethane capture and storage.

Abstract Lung cancer (LC) is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide due to its late diagnosis and poor outcomes. As has been found for other types of tumors, there is increasing evidence that myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) play important roles in the promotion and progression of LC. Here, we briefly introduce the definition of MDSCs and their immunosuppressive functions. We next specifically discuss the multiple roles of MDSCs in the lung tumor microenvironment, including those in tumor growth and progression mediated by inhibiting antitumor immunity, and the associations of MDSCs with a poor prognosis and increased resistance to chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Finally, we also discuss preclinical and clinical treatment strategies targeting MDSCs, which may have the potential to enhance the efficacy of immunotherapy.

Low-rank and sparse decomposition (LRSD) has attracted wide attention in video foreground-background separation and many other fields. However, the traditional LRSD methods have many tough problems, such as the problems of the low accuracy of the surrogate functions of rank and sparsity, ignoring the spatial information of the videos and sensitivity to noise, etc. To deal with these problems, this paper proposes the generalized nuclear norm and structured sparse norm (GNNSSN) method based LRSD for video foreground-background separation, which introduces the generalized nuclear norm (GNN) and the structured sparse norm (SSN) to approximate the rank function and the l0-norm of the LRSD method. In addition, we extend our proposed model to a robust model against noise for practical applications, and we called the extended method as the robust generalized nuclear norm and structured sparse norm (RGNNSSN) method. At last, we use the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) to solve our proposed two methods. Experimental results and discussions on video foreground-background separation demonstrate that our proposed two methods have better performances than other LRSD based foreground-background separation methods.

Background. Ultrafiltration failure remains one of the most severe complications of long-term peritoneal dialysis (PD), which results in death. This study aimed to characterize the circulating exosomal microRNA (miRNA) profiles associated with ultrafiltration failure and explore its underlying mechanisms. Methods. Exosomes were isolated from the peritoneal dialysis effluent (PDE) of patients with ultrafiltration failure or success using the ultracentrifugation method, and then transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA), and western blot were used for exosome characterization. After that, the isolated exosomes were sent for small RNA sequencing, and eight differentially expressed miRNAs (DE-miRNAs) were chosen for RT-qPCR validation. Results. TEM, NTA, and western blot revealed that exosomes were successfully isolated. After sequencing, 70 DE-miRNAs involved in ultrafiltration were identified, including 41 upregulated ones and 29 downregulated ones. Functional analyses revealed that these DE-miRNAs were significantly enriched in pathways of cancer, ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis, axon orientation, and the Rap1 and Ras signaling pathways. In addition, the consistency rate of RT-qPCR and sequencing results was 75%, which indicated the relatively high reliability of the sequencing data. Conclusions. Our findings implied that these DE-miRNAs may be potential biomarkers of ultrafiltration failure, which would help us to discover novel therapeutic targets/pathways for ultrafiltration failure in patients with end-stage renal disease.

Commercial Li-ion batteries typically incorporate a small amount of high-capacity silicon (Si)-based materials in the composite graphite-based anode to increase the energy density of the battery. However, very little is known about the effects of Si on the fast-charging behavior of composite anodes. Herein, we examine the effects of the Si/graphite ratio in the composite anode on the fast-charging behavior of full cells. We show that addition of Si increases the rate capability from 1C to 8C and improves the capacity retention in early cycles at 6C due to reduced overpotential in constant current charging cycles. The impacts of Si content on fast-charging aging were identified by Post-Test characterization. Despite realizing benefits of available capacity and reduced Li plating at 6C, silicon–electrolyte interactions lead the time-dependent cell performance to fade quickly in the long term. The Post-Test analysis also revealed the thickening of the electrode and nonuniform distribution of electrolyte decomposition products on the Si-containing anodes, as well as the organic-rich solid electrolyte interphase (SEI), which are the factors behind cell degradation. Our study sheds insight on the advantages and disadvantages of Si/graphite composite anodes when they are used in fast-charging applications and guides further research in the area by designing an optimized composition of Si incorporated in a mature graphite matrix.

Purpose: In practice, an increasing number of economic entities have begun to consider strategic corporate social responsibility (CSR) as an opportunity to create a win-win situation for the organisation and the society. The existing literature has yet to soundly corroborate the role of strategic CSR in corporate innovation. This study examines the relationship between strategic CSR and innovation. Design/methodology/approach: The empirical regression models are estimated to analyse the data collected from 2817 firms yielding 18 845 firm–year observations from 2001 to 2014 in the United States. Findings/results: The findings indicate that firms with strategic CSR generate more and better innovation outputs. The positive effect is more pronounced when institutional ownership is lower, when firm size is larger, and when product market competition is more intense. In terms of economic consequences, firms with strategic CSR actually have higher commercial value and are less likely to suffer loss from failed innovation. Practical implications: To establish a sustainable relationship with stakeholders and realise the long-term development of business and society, enterprises should engage in strategic CSR in a planned manner based on their own resources and professional expertise. Originality/value: The study sheds light on a growing body of literature that investigates the real consequences of firms’ strategic CSR, and explains the growing recognition of the importance of strategic CSR.

Objective: To explore the factors influencing the degree of disability in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), and to provide evidence for its early diagnosis, prognostic evaluation and clinical intervention.Methods: This retrospective observational study included 72 patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) at the First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University. All patients completed craniocerebral and spinal cord MRI (with or without Gd enhancement) and were evaluated for Expanded Disability Status Score (EDSS) scores before receiving treatment.Results: Among 72 patients with RRMS, 45 (62.5%) had an EDSS score ≤3; A total of 27 patients (37.5%) had an EDSS score >3 points. Univariate analysis showed that age, annual recurrence rate (ARR), drug use, albumin (ALB), triglycerides (TG), and total number of lesions in groups with EDSS score ≤3 were significantly different from those with an EDSS score > 3 points (P < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that ALB, total number of lesions, and drug use were independent influencing factors of the degree of disability in patients with MS, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). An ROC curve was constructed using ALB and the total number of lesions. The AUC of ALB was 0.681, P < 0.05, and the best cut-off value was 44.2 g/L. Its sensitivity to predict the degree of disability in patients with multiple sclerosis was 85.2%, while its specificity was 51.1%. The AUC of the total number of lesions was 0.665 (P < 0.05) and the best cut-off value was 5.5. Its sensitivity to predict the degree of disability in patients with multiple sclerosis was 70.4%, while its specificity was 64.4%. The AUC of the combined ALB, total number of lesions, and drug use was 0.795 (P < 0.05), sensitivity was 77.8, and specificity was 73.3%. The optimal diagnostic cut-off value of the regression equation for the EDSS score of patients with multiple sclerosis was 0.420.Conclusion: Serum ALB, total number of lesions, and drug use in patients with multiple sclerosis were independent factors influencing the degree of disability. These findings provide clinical evidence for the prognostic evaluation and early intervention of patients with multiple sclerosis.

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) is one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. Because of the limited regenerative capacity of adult myocardium to compensate for the loss of heart tissue after ischemic infarction, scientists have been exploring the possible mechanisms involved in the pathological process of ASCVD and searching for alternative means to regenerate infarcted cardiac tissue. Although numerous studies have pursued innovative solutions for reversing the pathological process of ASCVD and improving the effectiveness of delivering therapeutics, the translation of those advances into downstream clinical applications remains unsatisfactory because of poor safety and low efficacy. Recently, nanomaterials (NMs) have emerged as a promising new strategy to strengthen both the efficacy and safety of ASCVD therapy. Thus, a comprehensive review of NMs used in ASCVD treatment will be useful. This paper presents an overview of the pathophysiological mechanisms of ASCVD and the multifunctional mechanisms of NM-based therapy, including antioxidative, anti-inflammation and antiapoptosis mechanisms. The technological improvements of NM delivery are summarized and the clinical transformations concerning the use of NMs to treat ASCVD are examined. Finally, this paper discusses the challenges and future perspectives of NMs in cardiac regeneration to provide insightful information for health professionals on the latest advancements in nanotechnologies for ASCVD treatment.

Background: GATA2 is important for the regulation of development and proliferation of early pluripotent hematopoietic precursors, and precise GATA2 expression is critical in myeloid lineage maturation. GATA2 mutations have been reported in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) but only few studies of GATA2 mutations and overexpression in pediatric AML have been reported so far and none was in Chinese populations. Method: We analyzed GATA mutation status and expression state in a cohort of 309 Chinese children with AML. We also assessed the impact of GATA2 mutations and overexpression on outcomes in our pediatric AML cohort. Results: GATA2 mutations were observed in 2.6% of the patients and they were clustered in the ZF1 and ZF2 domains. GATA2 overexpression was detected in 72.7% of the cases, with the highest and lowest expression levels observed in adverse subgroup and favorable subgroup, respectively. In the entire cohort, shorter overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) showed a stronger correlation with GATA2 overexpression than with normal GATA2 levels (OS: p = 0.021; EFS: p = 0.018). Such an inverse relationship between GATA2 overexpression and survivals was evident among AML patients with normal cytogenetics (OS: p = 0.037; EFS: p = 0.024) and adverse features (OS: p = 0.021; EFS: p = 0.023), but not observed in favorable subgroup (OS: p = 0.323; EFS: p = 0.342), suggesting that the negative influence of GATA2 overexpression on pediatric AML outcomes is risk subgroup specific. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that GATA2 mutations in pediatric AML are rare, and are primarily clustered in the zinc finger (ZF) domains. Our results suggest that GATA2 overexpression exerts a negative influence on survivals, and the effect is risk subgroup specific in pediatric childhood AML. Keywords: Acute myeloid leukemia, Pediatric, GATA2, Overexpression, Outcome

Due to the restriction of traffic management measure in large cities, large heavy-haul trucks can only travel on the circuits and expressways around the city, which often causes congestion in these areas. It is necessary to study the travel speed prediction of trucks on the urban ring road and provide special information services for trucks. Based on the data generated by the trucks driving on the Sixth Ring Road in Beijing, an optimized GRU algorithm is proposed to predict the travel speed of trucks driving on urban express roads under non-recurrent congested conditions. First, a GPS map-matching algorithm that can simultaneously meet the accuracy and efficiency requirements of matching is proposed. Then, the trucks' data traveling on the Sixth Ring Road in Beijing are extracted from the original data. Aiming at getting rid of the abnormal data in GPS data, the screening and processing rules of the abnormal data are made, and then, the traffic speed sequence is extracted. Aiming at the problem that the commonly used weight optimization algorithm SGD cannot adaptively adjust the learning rate, Adam, Adadelta, and Rmsprop are used to optimize the weights in the GRU model in this paper. Considering the four scenarios, including workday, weekend, rainy, and accident, the accuracies of the proposed methods are verified.

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is a devastating complication of multiple disease processes and has gradually became a major public health issue. miR-155 is one of the best characterized miRNAs and plays a critical role in several physiological and pathological process, including cardiovascular diseases. In this study, we systematically screened the whole region of miR-155 host gene (MIR155HG) and identified a 4-bp insertion/deletion variant (rs72014506) residing in the intron region of MIR155HG as the candidate polymorphism. The association of rs72014506 with SCD susceptibility was evaluated using 166 SCD cases and 830 healthy controls in a Chinese population. Logistic regression analysis suggested that the homozygote del/del genotype significantly decreased the risk of SCD [odds ratio (OR) = 0.29; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.12–0.74; Ptrend = 0.0004]. Further genotype–expression association study using human myocardium tissue samples suggested that the deletion allele was intimately linked to lower the expression of both MIR155HG and mature miR155. Luciferase activity assay also revealed that the deletion allele of rs72014506 inhibited gene transcriptional activity. Finally, we performed electrophoretic mobility shift assay and verified the preferential binding affinity of the deletion allele with POU2F1 (POU domain class 2 transcription factor 1). Collectively, we have successfully identified a SCD risk conferring polymorphism in the MIR155HG gene and a likely biological mechanism for the decreased risk of SCD associated with the deletion allele. This novel variant may thus serve as a potential genetic marker for SCD diagnosis and prevention in natural populations, if validated by further studies with a larger sample size.

The development and application of whole genome sequencing technology has greatly broadened our horizons on the capabilities of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). LncRNAs are more than 200 nucleotides in length and lack protein-coding potential. Increasing evidence indicates that lncRNAs exert an irreplaceable role in tumor initiation, progression, as well as metastasis, and are novel molecular biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis of cancer patients. Furthermore, lncRNAs and the pathways they influence might represent promising therapeutic targets for a number of tumors. Here, we discuss the recent advances in understanding of the specific regulatory mechanisms of lncRNAs. We focused on the signal, decoy, guide, and scaffold functions of lncRNAs at the epigenetic, transcription, and post-transcription levels in cancer cells. Additionally, we summarize the research strategies used to investigate the roles of lncRNAs in tumors, including lncRNAs screening, lncRNAs characteristic analyses, functional studies, and molecular mechanisms of lncRNAs. This review will provide a short but comprehensive description of the lncRNA functions in tumor development and progression, thus accelerating the clinical implementation of lncRNAs as tumor biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

Cistanche deserticola is a valuable Chinese herb, but traditional dry processing causes the loss of active substances. This study developed Cistanche deserticola fermented juice (CFJ) using lactic acid bacteria and optimized the fermentation process to achieve the maximum active substance content and taste. More interestingly, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was increased during fermentation, and CFJ exerted a reparative effect on ethanol-induced cell damage. SOD activity reached 603.26 U/mL when the ratios in the total inoculum volume of Lactobacillus reuteri, Lactococcus pentosus, Streptococcus thermophilus, Bifidobacterium animalis, Lactobacillus casei, and Lactobacillus acidophilus were 31.74%, 15.71%, 17.45%, 11.65%, 9.56%, and 13.89%, respectively. Further, the optimal fermentation conditions for CFJ were determined using a response surface methodology. More importantly, CFJ promoted the proliferation of WRL68 cells, and CFJ exerted an obvious reparative effect on ethanol-treated cells, in which the cell survival rate increased to 120.35 ± 0.77% (p < 0.05). The underlying mechanism might have been that CFJ reduced the MDA content in damaged cells from 1.36 nmol/mg prot to 0.88 nmol/mg prot and increased GSH-Px and SOD activities by 48% and 72%, respectively. This study provides a theoretical basis and reference data for the fermentation of C. deserticola and its hepatoprotective activity.

Background: Thymosin alpha-1 (TA) has been reported to inhibit tumor growth as an immunomodulator. However, its mechanism of action in immunosuppressive cells is unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether TA can reshape the immune microenvironment by inhibiting the function of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). Methods: The effects of TA on peripheral blood monocytic MDSCs (M-MDSCs) in patients with NSCLC and on the apoptosis and migration of M-MDSCs were studied. A mouse subcutaneous xenograft tumor model was constructed, and the effect of TA on M-MDSC migration was evaluated. Quantitative real-time PCR, Western blotting, flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry were used to examine the mechanism by which TA affects M-MDSCs. Results: TA not only promoted the apoptosis of M-MDSCs by reducing the Bcl-2/BAX ratio but also and more importantly inhibited the migration of MDSCs to the tumor microenvironment by suppressing the production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) through the downregulation of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α in tumor cells. Conclusions: TA may have a novel antitumor effect mediated by decreasing M-MDSC accumulation in the tumor microenvironment through reduced VEGF production.

Traffic congestion in the adjacent region between the highway and urban expressway is becoming more and more serious. This paper proposes a traffic speed forecast method based on the Macroscopic Fundamental Diagram (MFD) and Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) model to provide the necessary traffic guidance information for travelers in this region. Firstly, considering that the road traffic speed is affected by the macroscopic traffic state, the adjacent region between the highway and expressway is divided into subareas based on the MFD. Secondly, the spatial-temporal correlation coefficient is proposed to measure the correlation between subareas. Then, the matrix of regional traffic speed data is constructed. Thirdly, the matrix is input into the GRU prediction model to get the predicted traffic speed. The proposed algorithm’s prediction performance is verified based on the GPS data collected from the adjacent region between Beijing Highways and Expressway.

Abstract Background Extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type (ENKL) is a distinct clinicopathological entity and EBV-associated disease that is highly aggressive. Many patients had failed to respond to conventional chemotherapy or relapsed after treatment. Multi-drug resistance is a major cause that leads to these desperate failures. However, the specific mechanism of drug resistance is still unclear. Methods In the previous study, we firstly developed a doxorubicin-resistant ENKL cell line known as SNK-6/ADM, and then a small quantity of side population (SP) cells were derived from SNK-6/ADM and named SNK-6/ADM-SP. In order to explore the biological characteristics and mechanism of drug-resistance of these cells, SNK-6, SNK-6/ADM and SNK-6/ADM-SP cells were utilized to evaluate potentially differences of chemotherapy resistance index (RI), morphology, proliferation, cell cycles, expression of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters (ABCG1, ABCG2 and ABCC4) and surface markers, cytokine sensitivity, and situation of EBV infection. Results We identified SNK-6/ADM-SP is a specific multidrug resistant cell population with a higher level of RI than SNK-6/ADM. Relevant evaluations showed that SNK-6/ADM-SP presented a series of conserved biological behaviors including relatively poor proliferation ability, high expression of ABCG2, weak sensitivity to IL-15 which could stimulate normal ENKL cells’ proliferation and differentiation, and EBV inhibition with low level of EBV-DNA replication and EBV-antigen expression. Conclusions This discovered cellular heterogeneity of ENKL could provide a new perspective to better understand the mechanisms of drug resistance and overcome elusive response to chemotherapy of ENKL.

Based on the hot tearing index |∆T/∆(fs)0.5| recently proposed by Kou and the thermodynamic calculations of Pandat software, Al, Cu, and Mn elements were picked up and their influence on hot tearing susceptibility of Mg–xZn (x = 6, 8, 10, wt%) alloys was studied by experiments. The results indicate that Al addition can significantly reduce the hot tearing susceptibility of Mg–Zn alloys. Either 0.5Cu or 0.3Mn addition individually can reduce the HTS of the Mg–6Zn–(1, 4) Al alloys, while adding together increases the susceptibility. The addition of 0.5Cu and 0.3Mn both individually and together increases the HTS of Mg–8/10Zn–1Al alloys. Based on the experimental and calculation results, the index can be modified to |∆T/∆(fs)0.5|(d)2 for more accurate prediction on the hot tearing resistance of Mg–Zn based alloys. Grain refinement significantly improves the hot tearing resistance of Mg–Zn based alloys. Keywords: Hot tearing susceptibility, Mg–Zn, Alloying element, Thermodynamic calculation, Grain size

Sparse and low-rank decomposition (SLRD) poses a big challenge in many fields. The existing methods are used to solve SLRD problem via formulating approximations of sparse and low-rank matrices. These conventional methods consider the approximation of the low-rank matrix as its nuclear norm, which is a convex surrogate function of the rank. Since these approaches simultaneously minimize all the singular values, and thus the rank may not be well approximated in practice. In this paper, we extend the nonconvex nonsmooth weighted nuclear norm to approximate the low-rank matrix and formulate a general form nonconvex nonsmooth sparse and low-rank matrices decomposition problem. Hence, we can adopt the alternating direction method of multipliers to solve this nonconvex nonsmooth problem and analyze its convergence. Simulation results and discussions are given to validate the proposed method.

Travel time uncertainty may cause late arrival and impose a high penalty on travelers. There is a growing interest in modeling travel time uncertainty to optimize the reliability of travel time at the path and network level. Real data analysis finds that the influence factors, including day-of-week, holidays, time-of-day, road grades, traffic states, and so on, often reduce the cumulative probability of travel time even in the same facility type (the same lane number and the same divided type). Thus, a novel aggregate approach is proposed to classify the travel time data based on these influence factors. The distribution with the new aggregate approach is defined as the extended shifted lognormal (ESLN) distribution. KS test indicates that the ESLN distribution can effectively describe travel time, and outperforms normal, lognormal, gamma, and beta distribution. Travel time correlations are calculated between new aggregate groups, which can effectively reduce the complexity compared with the link to link correlations. Finally, the ESLN distribution is used to find the most reliable path in a real-world large-scale network. The comparison results between ESLN distribution and shifted lognormal (SLN) distribution show the effectiveness and improvement of the proposed method in finding the most reliable path.

Abstract Background Esophageal carcinoma is the eighth prevalent malignancy and ranks the sixth in carcinoma-related death worldwide. Tumor necrosis factor-α-induced protein-8 like-2 (TIPE2) has been identified as a tumor suppressor in multiple carcinomas. However, its roles and molecular mechanisms underlying esophageal carcinoma progression are still undefined till now. Methods RT-qPCR assay was employed to detect the expression of TIPE2 mRNA. TIPE2 protein expression was measured by using western blot assay. Ad-V and Ad-TIPE2 adenoviruses were constructed to overexpress TIPE2. The effects of TIPE2 overexpression on cell proliferation, invasion and apoptosis were assessed by MTT and Edu incorporation assays, transwell invasion assay and flow cytometry analysis, respectively. The effect of TIPE2 overexpression on xenograft tumor growth was determined by measuring tumor volume and weight, together with immunohistochemistry assay. The effect of TIPE2 overexpression on the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway was evaluated by detecting the protein levels of β-catenin, c-Myc and cyclinD1 in EC9076 cells and xenograft tumors of esophageal carcinoma. Results TIPE2 expression was downregulated in esophageal carcinoma tissues and cells. Adenovirus-mediated TIPE2 overexpression suppressed cell proliferation and invasion, and induced apoptosis in esophageal carcinoma cells. Enforced expression of TIPE2 inhibited tumor growth in vivo, as evidenced by the reduced tumor volume, tumor weight and proliferating cell nuclear antigen expression. Overexpression of TIPE2 inhibited the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in esophageal carcinoma in vitro and in vivo. Conclusions These results suggest that TIPE2 suppressed progression and tumorigenesis of esophageal carcinoma via inhibition of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway.

Due to the advantages of high early strength and rapid setting, ternary systems consisting of ordinary Portland clinker (OPC), calcium sulphoaluminate (CSA) clinker, and anhydrite have broad application prospects. However, further studies need to be undertaken to find a more optimal mixing proportion of this ternary binder in order to meet basic performance requirements. In this paper, isothermal calorimetric tests, chemical shrinkage tests, drying shrinkage tests, and compressive strength tests were carried out to systematically identify the effect of the OPC/CSA ratio and anhydrite dosage on the hydration, mechanical property development, and dimensional stability of ternary binders. It was found that a higher CSA content leads to a higher cumulative hydration heat, a shorter acceleration period, and a delayed induction period, which can be ascribed to the retardation of C3S at a high aluminate concentration. However, a higher addition of anhydrite can retard the main peak of hydration despite promoting the intermediate peak and improving the hydration reaction rate. The drying shrinkage of blends decreases first along with the CSA proportion and then increases. Moreover, a higher anhydrite content mitigates the drying shrinkage and hinders the strength development. Finally, considering the properties of both the fresh and hardened binder, the ternary blends with 5% anhydrite and OPC/CSA ratios ranging from 3/7 to 2/8 were identified as most suitable for applications that require a high early strength, stable late strength, and small level of shrinkage.

Metal oxides with a tunnelled structure are attractive as charge storage materials for rechargeable batteries and supercapacitors. Here, the authors investigate the role of tunnel cations in governing and enhancing the electrochemical properties of electrode materials.

High photostable epoxy polymerized carbon quantum dots (C-dots) luminescent thin films were prepared and their performances were compared with the CdTe quantum dots (QDs). First, water soluble C-dots (λem = 543.60 nm) were synthesized. Poly (ethylene glycol) diglycidyl ether (PEG) and diaminooctane were used as the polymer matrix to make the epoxy resin films. FT-IR spectra showed that there were vibration at 3448 cm−1 and 1644 cm−1 which contributed to -OH and -NH respectively. SEM observations showed that the polymerizations of the films were uniform and there were no structure defects. Mechanical tests showed the tensile modulus of C-dots composite films were 4.6, 4.9, 6.4 and 7.8 MPa respectively with corresponding 0%, 1%, 2% and 5% mass fraction of C-dots, while the tensile modulus of CdTe QDs films were 4.6 MPa under the same mass fraction of CdTe QDs. Compared with semiconductor QDs, the decay of quantum yield were 5% and 10% for the C-dots and CdTe QDs, respectively. The pictures in the continuous irradiation of 48 h showed that the C-dots film was more photostable. This study provides much helpful and profound towards the fluorescent enhancement films in the field of flexible displays. Keywords: Carbon-dots, Waterborne epoxy resin, Luminescent materials, Quantum dots displays

Mounting evidence has demonstrated that Bit1 has been investigated as an etiological factor for certain cancers, including esophageal squamous cell carcinoma reported in our previous study, but data regarding possible roles of Bit1 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and esophageal adenocarcinoma remain to be elucidated. The purpose of this study was to examine whether Bit1 can be a novel diagnostic marker for the patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and esophageal adenocarcinoma. The results revealed that Bit1 level in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma was significantly higher than that in esophageal adenocarcinoma tissues ( p < 0.05); notably, Bit1 level in esophageal adenocarcinoma tissues was lower than that in paired normal tissues but no difference was found ( p > 0.05). Bit1 expression patterns were completely in accordance with matrix metalloproteinase 2 and Bcl-2 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and esophageal adenocarcinoma. In addition, Bit1, Bcl-2, and matrix metalloproteinase 2 expression patterns in different differentiated esophageal squamous cell carcinoma were higher than those in corresponding normal esophageal tissues. Bit1 expression in poorly differentiated esophageal squamous cell carcinoma was significantly higher than that in normal esophageal tissues ( p < 0.05) but not in moderately and well-differentiated esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Matrix metalloproteinase 2 expression patterns in poorly and moderately differentiated esophageal squamous cell carcinoma were significantly higher than those in corresponding normal esophageal tissues ( p < 0.01) but not in well-differentiated esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissue ( p > 0.05). Bcl-2 expression patterns in various differentiated esophageal squamous cell carcinoma were higher than those in corresponding normal esophageal tissues with no statistical differences ( p > 0.05). Importantly, Bit1 expression was positively correlated with both matrix metalloproteinase 2 and Bcl-2 expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and esophageal adenocarcinoma tissues ( p < 0.05). Collectively, these preliminary data support further investigation of Bit1 as an important diagnostic factor for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and esophageal adenocarcinoma.

Parasitic weeds of the family Orobanchaceae attach to the roots of host plants via haustoria capable of drawing nutrients from host vascular tissue. The connection of the haustorium to the host marks a shift in parasite metabolism from autotrophy to at least partial heterotrophy, depending on the level of parasite dependence. Species within the family Orobanchaceae span the spectrum of host nutrient dependency, yet the diversity of parasitic plant metabolism remains poorly understood, particularly during the key metabolic shift surrounding haustorial attachment. Comparative profiling of major metabolites in the obligate holoparasite Phelipanche aegyptiaca and the facultative hemiparasite Triphysaria versicolor before and after attachment to the hosts revealed several metabolic shifts implicating remodeling of energy and amino acid metabolism. After attachment, both parasites showed metabolite profiles that were different from their respective hosts. In P. aegyptiaca, prominent changes in metabolite profiles were also associated with transitioning between different tissue types before and after attachment, with aspartate levels increasing significantly after the attachment. Based on the results from 15N labeling experiments, asparagine and/or aspartate-rich proteins were enriched in host-derived nitrogen in T. versicolor. These results point to the importance of aspartate and/or asparagine in the early stages of attachment in these plant parasites and provide a rationale for targeting aspartate-family amino acid biosynthesis for disrupting the growth of parasitic weeds.

Blurred image restoration poses a great challenge under the non-Gaussian noise environments in various communication systems. In order to restore images from blur and alpha-stable noise while also preserving their edges, this paper proposes a variational method to restore the blurred images with alpha-stable noises based on the property of the meridian distribution and the total variation (TV). Since the variational model is non-convex, it cannot guarantee a global optimal solution. To overcome this drawback, we also incorporate an additional penalty term into the deblurring and denoising model and propose a strictly convex variational method. Due to the convexity of our model, the primal-dual algorithm is adopted to solve this convex variational problem. Our simulation results validate the proposed method.

To bridge the convergence between traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and modern medicine originated from the West, a new method of area under the absorbance-wavelength curve (AUAWC) by spectrophotometer scanning was investigated and compared with HPLC method to explore metabolomic pharmacokinetics in rats. AUAWC and drug total concentration were obtained after Yangxue was injected to rats. Meanwhile, individual concentrations of sodium ferulate, tetramethylpyrazine hydrochloride, tanshinol sodium, and sodium tanshinone IIA sulfonate in plasma were determined by HPLC. Metabolomic profile of multicomponents plasma concentration time from AUAWC and that of individual components from HPLC were compared. The data from AUAWC had one-compartment model with mean area under concentration versus time (AUC) of 9370.58 min·μg/mL and mean elimination half-life (t1/2) of 12.92 min. The results by HPLC demonstrated that sodium ferulate and tetramethylpyrazine hydrochloride had one-compartment model with AUC of 6075.50 and 876.94 min·μg/mL, t1/2 of 10.85 and 20.57 min, respectively. Tanshinol sodium and sodium tanshinone IIA sulfonate showed two-compartment model, and AUC was 29.58 and 201.46 with t1/2β of 1.76 and 16.90, respectively. The profiles indicated that method of AUAWC can be used to study pharmacokinetics of TCM with multicomponents and to improve its development of active theory and application in clinic combined with in vivo metabolomic profile of HPLC.

In the title compound, C11H11ClN4O, the tetrazine ring adopts a non-symmetrical boat conformation. The crystal packing exhibits relatively short intermolecular C...N contacts of 3.118 (3) Å.

The unique U-shaped structure of U-Net network makes it achieve good performance in image segmentation. This network is a lightweight network with a small number of parameters for small image segmentation datasets. However, when the medical image to be segmented contains a lot of detailed information, the segmentation results cannot fully meet the actual requirements. In order to achieve higher accuracy of medical image segmentation, a novel improved U-Net network architecture called multi-scale encoder-decoder U-Net+ (MEDU-Net+) is proposed in this paper. We design the GoogLeNet for achieving more information at the encoder of the proposed MEDU-Net+, and present the multi-scale feature extraction for fusing semantic information of different scales in the encoder and decoder. Meanwhile, we also introduce the layer-by-layer skip connection to connect the information of each layer, so that there is no need to encode the last layer and return the information. The proposed MEDU-Net+ divides the unknown depth network into each part of deconvolution layer to replace the direct connection of the encoder and decoder in U-Net. In addition, a new combined loss function is proposed to extract more edge information by combining the advantages of the generalized dice and the focal loss functions. Finally, we validate our proposed MEDU-Net+ and other classic medical image segmentation networks on three medical image datasets. The experimental results show that our proposed MEDU-Net+ has prominent superior performance compared with other medical image segmentation networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]