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Background and Objective: Mitochondrial encephalomyopathies represent a clinically heterogeneous group of disorders resulting from abnormal mitochondrial function. This study investigates the clinical and genetic characteristics of families with mitochondrial encephalomyopathy. Methods: The clinical manifestations, biopsy and gene detection were retrospectively analyzed for four probands with definitively diagnosed mitochondrial encephalomyopathy with lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes (MELAS) from three families with MELAS and/or maternally inherited diabetes and deafness (MIDD). Results: The initial symptoms of probands were convulsive headache and/or epilepsy. The members of the three families also had diabetes, deafness, muscle weakness and short statures. Typical characteristics were indicated by muscle biopsy and gene detection in all. Conclusion: We reveal that the same family can have MIDD and MELAS cases, which clearly show that the unique mutation may cause different syndromes in one family. Neurologists should take into account more possibilities and phenotypes in screening and genetic counselling for the families of probands.

The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), and its follow-on mission (GRACE-FO), provides a novel measurement of the variations in ocean bottom pressure (OBP) at global and basin scales, including those in marginal seas. However, these measurements have not yet been validated rigorously for the South China Sea (SCS). In this study, the accuracy in the monthly GRACE-FO mascon solutions in the SCS from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Center for Space Research (CSR), and Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) was validated with the results of the comparison with the in situ OBP records from an array of 25 pressure-recording inverted echo sounders (PIESs) that are located west of the Luzon Strait (LS). The correlation coefficient (Cor) and root mean square difference (RMSD) between the 10-month period of GSFC and PIES, spanning from July 2018 to June 2019 (with missing satellite data for August and September 2018), were 0.77 (p-value = 0.005) and 0.41 mbar (1 mbar = 100 Pa), respectively. These values suggest that the accuracy of GSFC in the SCS in this period was substantially better than that of JPL (Cor = 0.35, p-value = 0.16; RMSD = 0.74 mbar) and CSR (Cor = 0.25, p-value = 0.24; RMSD = 0.89 mbar). Moreover, the volume transport anomaly of the SCS abyssal circulation was estimated and compared based on the OBP records from GSFC and PIES observations, indicating that the GRACE-FO OBP (GSFC) can be used to monitor seasonal or longer-period variations in the SCS abyssal volume transport. Additionally, the variations in OBP from GRACE-FO were significantly overestimated on the continental shelf of the SCS, which may be attributed to signal leakage. Our findings provide reliable evidence for the application of long-term, fully covered OBP records from GRACE-FO in the SCS, and also offer a valuable reference for the application of GRACE-FO in other regions.

In order to expand the application field of attapulgite in tribology, the tribological properties of attapulgite as a lubricant additive on electric-brush plated Ni coating were investigated using the ball-disc contact mode of a SRV-IV friction and wear tester. The worn surfaces were characterized and analyzed via scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Results indicated that the friction-reducing and antiwear properties of 150 SN lubricating oil on the Ni coating were remarkably improved by an appropriate amount of attapulgite. Tribofilm mainly composed of Ni, NiO, SiO2, Al2O3, graphite, and organic compounds was formed on the worn surface under the action of attapulgite, which was responsible for the reduction of friction and wear.

Obtaining information about cellular interactions is fundamental to the elucidation of physiological and pathological processes. Proximity labeling technologies have been widely used to report cellular interactions in situ; however, the reliance on addition of tag molecules typically restricts their application to regions where tags can readily diffuse, while the application in, for example, solid tissues, is susceptible. Here, we propose an "in‐situ‐tag‐generation mechanism" and develop the GalTag technology based on galactose oxidase (GAO) for recording cellular interactions within three‐dimensional biological solid regions. GAO mounted on bait cells can in situ generate bio‐orthogonal aldehyde tags as interaction reporters on prey cells. Using GalTag, we monitored the dynamics of cellular interactions and assessed the targeting ability of engineered cells. In particular, we recorded, for the first time, the footprints of Bacillus Calmette‐Guérin (BCG) invasion into the bladder tissue of living mice, providing a valuable perspective to elucidate the anti‐tumor mechanism of BCG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The C+L band elastic optical networks (C+L-EONs) increase the network capacity significantly. However, the introduction of an L band enhances the inter-channel stimulated Raman scattering effect (ISRS), consequently deteriorating the quality of transmission (QoT) of the signal. Furthermore, spectrum allocation leads to spectrum fragmentation inevitably, which escalates the bandwidth blocking rate. In addition, in C+L-EONs, a single fiber carries more services, and once one of the links fails, a huge number of requests will be interrupted, resulting in huge economic losses. Therefore, this paper proposes a survivability routing, band, modulation, and spectrum allocation (RBMSA) algorithm that effectively guarantees service survivability and reduces the impact of ISRS and spectrum fragmentation. The algorithm employs shared backup path protection and a band partitioning method, whereby the spectrum resource of the primary path is assigned in the L band and the backup path is assigned in the C band in order to minimize the impact of ISRS on the QoT of the request while ensuring the survivability of the network. Furthermore, a fragmentation metric accounting for both the free and shared spectrum resource is proposed to mitigate both free and shared spectrum fragmentation. The simulation results reveal that the proposed RBMSA algorithm reduces the bandwidth blocking probability (BBP) and the fragmentation rate (FR) by 47.7% and 21.3%, respectively, and improves the optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) by 4.17 dB in NSFNET. In COST239, the BBP, FR, and OSNR are 22.1%, 21.5%, and 4.71 dB, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aim to develop efficient and robust algorithms for nonsmooth nonlinear systems arising from complementarity problems. The semismooth Newton algorithm is popular due to its reliability and efficiency. However, it struggles with issues with imbalanced nonlinearities of the problems, leading to degraded convergence rates or failure despite help from the globalization techniques like linesearch or trust region. We introduce a right nonlinearly preconditioned semismooth Newton algorithm to address this difficulty. The critical success ingredient is that before each global Newton update, a nonlinear preconditioning step implicitly removes the so-called 'bad components' causing trouble via nonlinear subspace correction, inspired by Gaussian elimination but adapted nonlinearly to balance system nonlinearities. Additionally, our method integrates with a domain decomposition framework, enhancing parallelism. Numerical results on two classes of problems demonstrate significantly improved convergence over standard semismooth Newton methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: Mitochondrial encephalomyopathies represent a clinically heterogeneous group of disorders resulting from abnormal mitochondrial function. This study investigates the clinical and genetic characteristics of families with mitochondrial encephalomyopathy. Methods: The clinical manifestations, biopsy and gene detection were retrospectively analyzed for four probands with definitively diagnosed mitochondrial encephalomyopathy with lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes (MELAS) from three families with MELAS and/or maternally inherited diabetes and deafness (MIDD). Results: The initial symptoms of probands were convulsive headache and/or epilepsy. The members of the three families also had diabetes, deafness, muscle weakness and short statures. Typical characteristics were indicated by muscle biopsy and gene detection in all. Conclusion: We reveal that the same family can have MIDD and MELAS cases, which clearly show that the unique mutation may cause different syndromes in one family. Neurologists should take into account more possibilities and phenotypes in screening and genetic counselling for the families of probands.

The decision to disclose HIV serostatus is a complex and a challenging task because of potential stigma, blame, and fear associated with HIV infection. Despite continued research on HIV disclosure, literature on HIV disclosure to community is still scarce. The purpose of the study is to describe patterns of HIV status disclosure to community members in a sample of HIV-infected men and women in rural China. This study used the baseline data of a randomized controlled intervention trial for HIV-affected families in China. The data was collected between late 2011 to early 2013. In addition to demographic and HIV-related clinical characteristics, we collected the extent of HIV disclosure to members within the community. We first calculated descriptive statistics and frequencies to describe the demographics of the sample. We then compared the extents of HIV disclosure to different community members. We performed chi-square tests to determine whether the demographic and socioeconomic variables were associated with the extent of HIV disclosure to community. A total of 522 PLH were included in the study. The results show that age and family income are associated with the extent of disclosure of HIV status to members within the community, including neighbor, village leaders, people in the village, and coworkers. More disclosures were found among older age groups. People with less family income tend to disclose more to the community than those with higher family income. There is a need to explore the association of HIV disclosure to the community to help realize the public health and personal implications of disclosure. Our results underscore the potential benefits of age and socioeconomic status-specific interventions in the efforts to dispel barriers to HIV status disclosure to the community.

Due to the unique physical processes of mesoscale eddies, the physical and biogeochemical properties within the subsurface anticyclonic eddy (SSAE) and in the surrounding water are distinct. Analyses using satellite and model data have revealed distinct seasonal variations in the central potential density structure of a long-standing SSAE south of Japan; this SSAE exhibits a normal concave isopycnals structure from January to April and a convex lens isopycnals structure from May to December, and these variations may be related to the subduction of low-potential vorticity (PV) mode water. In contrast to the idea of the self-sustained oscillation mechanism, the strength of the SSAE was enhanced due to the eddy kinetic energy provided by dramatic increasing of the positive baroclinic conversion rate during the Kuroshio path transition period from the non-large meander (NLM) path to the large meander (LM) path. Twofold to threefold enhancement of chlorophyll (CHL) was detected in the subsurface CHL maximum layers at the core of the SSAE, and this enhancement was related to the injection of nutrients into the euphotic layer due to winter mixing and the convex of isopycnals. During the period from May to December, elevated CHL and dissolved oxygen (DO) levels and reduced nitrate levels were observed along the periphery of the eddy below the maximum subsurface CHL anomaly depth. The combined result of these two processes: (1) the central downward displaced isopycnals caused by intensified SSAE, and (2) winter mixing deepened to the nutricline due to the thickened mixed layer depth (MLD) and weakened stratification in winter 2017 (during the NLM period) may have led to numerous nutrients and CHL enrichments throughout the mixed layer, thus generating a CHL bloom in the following April. The SSAE intensified in winter 2018 (during the LM period), whereas the shallower MLD and stronger stratification limited the depth of CHL downward displacement.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) was considered a potential spectroscopic technique for applications of molecular detection and has drawn great research interest during the past decade. So far, fabrications of cost-effective SERS substrates with high sensitivity and stability and the corresponding enhanced mechanisms are always among the list of research topics, although great progress has been made. In this work, Au particles were decorated on Si, ZnO film and ZnO nanorod arrays simultaneously by an economical method of ion sputtering, generating three kinds of SERS substrates for R6G detection. The morphology difference of Au particles on different samples and the consequent influence on Raman scattering were studied. The experiment results exhibited that substrates with Au particles decorated on ZnO nanorods had the highest Raman enhancement factor. Furthermore, multi-effect enhanced mechanisms summarized as localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) filed coupling, electron transferring induced by LSPR of Au particles and whispering gallery mode (WGM) effect of the ZnO cavity were presented. This work provides a convenient and efficient method of fabricating SERS substrates and indicates that such proper metal/semiconductor composite structures are promising candidates for SERS applications.

Background: There are various therapeutic methods for treating stage IA (T1N0M0) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but no studies have systematically assessed multiple treatments to determine the most effective therapy. Methods: Stage IA NSCLC patient data collected between 2004 and 2018 were gathered from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Treatment modalities included observation, chemotherapy alone (CA), radiation alone (RA), radiation+chemotherapy (RC), surgery alone (SA), surgery+chemotherapy (SC), surgery+radiation (SR) and surgery+radiation+chemotherapy (SRC). Comparisons were made of overall survival (OS) and lung cancer-specific survival (LCSS) among patients based on different therapeutic methods by survival analysis. Results: Ultimately, 89147 patients with stage IA NSCLC between 2004 and 2018 were enrolled in this study. The order of multiple treatment modalities based on the hazard ratio (HR) for OS for the entire cohort revealed the following results: SA (HR: 0.20), SC (HR: 0.25), SR (HR: 0.42), SRC (HR: 0.46), RA (HR: 0.56), RC (HR: 0.72), CA (HR: 0.91) (P<0.001), and observation (HR: Ref). The SA group had the best OS and LCSS, and similar results were found in most subgroup analyses (all P<0.001). The order of surgical modalities based on the HR for OS for the entire cohort revealed the following results: lobectomy (HR: 0.32), segmentectomy (HR: 0.41), wedge resection (HR: 0.52) and local tumor destruction (HR: Ref). Lobectomy had the best effects on OS and LCSS, and similar results were found in all subgroup analyses (all P<0.001). Conclusion: SA appeared to be the optimal treatment modality for patients with stage IA NSCLC, and lobectomy was associated with the best prognosis. There may be some indication and selection bias in our study, and the results of this study should be confirmed in a prospective study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, a high‐efficiency nano‐fungicide with synergistic effect was obtained by combining polycrystalline MoS2 with layered nano‐BP to form heterojunction, which had a new photothermal‐photocatalytic antibacterial mechanism to Gram‐positive bacteria, Gram‐negative and drug‐resistance bacteria under NIR. BP/MoS2 whose lethality of bacteria could reach nearly 100 % at 400 μg/L, exhibited the highest photothermal lysis efficiency against E. coli, B. pumilus and A. baumannii. It was found that the heterojunction could be heated up to 51.8 °C within 5 minutes by photothermal conversion, and it also had an excellent performance of photothermal cycle. High temperature and stability of the material endowed it with an outstanding and long‐lasting bactericidal effect. In addition, a series of in vitro free radical experiments was designed, the existence of ⋅O2− and 1O2 in BP/MoS2‐NIR system was verified. And the Way of ROS production and the mechanism of action were discussed by EPR test. Subsequently, two mechanisms of synergistic antibacterial action were summarized, that is, abundant ROS and high temperature could destroy cell wall damage and lysis of bacteria effectively. This study provides a theoretical basis for the synergistic antibacterial action of NIR photothermal and photocatalysis of BP system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]