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Aiming to problems in the pairwise registration of point clouds, such as keypoints are difficult to describe accurately, corresponding points are difficult to match accurately and convergence speed is slow due to uncertainty of initial transformation matrix, we propose a novel feature descriptor based on ratio of rotational volume to describe effectively keypoints, and on the basis of the feature descriptor, we proposed an improved coarse-to-fine registration pipeline of point clouds, in which we use coarse registration to obtain a good initial transformation matrix and then use fine registration based on a modified ICP algorithm to obtain an accurate transformation matrix. Experimental results show that our proposed feature descriptor has a good robustness to rotation, noise, scale and varying mesh resolution, less storage space and faster running speed than PFH, FPFH, SHOT and RoPS descriptors, and our improved pairwise registration pipeline is very effective to solve the problems in the pairwise registration of point clouds.

Objective To explore the relationship between activated dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1)-mediated mitochondrial function and energy metabolism after hemorrhagic shock and clarify its potential mechanisms. Methods Sixty C57 female mice (8-weeks old, weighing about 20 g) were randomly divided into shock+WT group (n=30, treated with hemorrhagic shock) and Normal+WT group (n=30). Thirty Drp1 KO C57 female mice (8-weeks old, weighing about 20 g) were treated with hemorrhagic shock as shock+Drp1 KO group, and the other 30 KO mice were regarded as Normal+Drp1 KO group. The changes of energy metabolism, mitochondrial metabolism, mitochondrial functions as well as Drp1 activity in vascular tissues after hemorrhagic shock were observed in WT and KO mice respectively. Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) were treated with Drp1 over-expression and exogenous glutathione (10 mmol/L) to confirm the effects of Drp1 and glutathione on mitochondrial functions after shock. Results After hemorrhagic shock, the energy metabolism and mitochondrial metabolism, such as glutathione, were decreased significantly (P < 0.05), mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) production were increased by 2.3 times (P < 0.05), ATP content was decreased by 67.8% (P < 0.05), and mitochondrial respiratory rates were decreased by 50% (P < 0.05). However, hypoxia resulted in the ROS production of VSMCs enhanced by 4 times and the mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) decreased by 76.7% (P < 0.05). What's more, both Drp1 activation and mitochondrial translocation were observed in shock-treated mice and hypoxia-induced VSMCs. The level of glutathione was 1.35±0.0.42 nmol/μg in normal+WT group, 0.55±0.20 nmol/μg in shock+WT group, while the level in shock+Drp1 KO group (0.94±0.30 nmol/μg) was much higher than that in shock+WT group (P < 0.05). Drp1 over-expression induced ROS level in VSMCs increased by 3.3 times and ΔΨm decreased by 70% (P < 0.05). After further exogenous glutathione supplementation, both ROS level and ΔΨm were improved significantly (P < 0.05). Conclusion Activated Drp1 after hemorrhagic shock induces mitochondrial dysfunctions and abnormal energy metabolism by inhibiting glutathione metabolism.

Objective: To explore the possible mechanism of Yi Xin Tai Formula (YXTF) in treating heart failure (HF) by network pharmacology method and to verify the related targets by western blotting. Methods: Using the traditional Chinese medicine systems pharmacology (TCMSP) database with its analysis platform for HF as a disease model, the active ingredients of YXTF were filtered according to the oral bioavailability (OB) and drug- likeness (DL), and the corresponding targets were predicted. The disease targets of HF were retrieved by Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO) database. Then, “YXTF compounds - Targets - HF” network was constructed in the Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins (STRING) database, the network visualized through the Cytoscape software, and the key nodes of the network achieved according to Degree (D), Closeness Centrality (CC), and Betweenness Centrality (BC). Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) gene function enrichment analysis was carried out for the key nodes with the help of GATHER database platform. The rabbit model of HF was established by coarctation of the abdominal aorta and perfusion of propylthiouracil (PTU). The pathological changes and protein expression of transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) protein were observed by western blotting. Results: “YXTF compounds - Targets - HF” network consisted of 403 nodes, 136 key nodes and 10 related KEGG pathways that included focal adhesions, cell cycles, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways, Toll-like receptor signaling pathways, Cytokine-cytokine receptor interactions, Gap junctions, adherens junctions, TGF-β signaling pathways, apoptosis and Wnt signaling pathways, respectively. The expression of TGF-β protein in myocardium decreased significantly. Conclusions: According to the network pharmacology, the treatment of YXTF for HF might be related to 10 metabolic pathways. The effects of the multicompound-multitarget-multi pathways and the synergistic effect drawn from the compounds that act as the monarch, minister, adjuvant, guide medicines were revealed through this study. Keywords: Yi Xin Tai Formula (YXTF), Heart failure (HF), Network pharmacology, Western blotting, TGF-β signal pathway

Inbreeding depression has been observed in many different species, but in humans a systematic analysis has been difficult so far. Here, analysing more than 1.3 million individuals, the authors show that a genomic inbreeding coefficient (FROH) is associated with disadvantageous outcomes in 32 out of 100 traits tested.

The majority of published GWAS was performed in European ancestry populations. Here, Kuchenbaecker et al., test to which extent lipid loci are shared and find that the major lipid loci are mostly transferrable between Europeans and Asians while there are notable exceptions for African populations.

The Dingbei area is an important exploration area in the Ordos Basin for SINOPEC, and natural gas exploration in the Upper Paleozoic strata in the area achieved a great breakthrough in recent years. However, the origin and source of natural gas are weakly studied, wherein there is no consensus on whether the Upper Paleozoic gas in the basin has experienced large-scale lateral migration. Studies on the geochemical characteristics of natural gas indicate that the Upper Paleozoic natural gas in the Dingbei area is typically dry gas with the dryness coefficient (C1/C1-5) ranging from 0.977 to 0.986, and the δ13C1, δ13C2, and δD1 values range from −30.6‰ to −28.6‰, −25.9‰ to −24.1‰, and −191‰ to −177‰, respectively. The above has positive carbon and hydrogen isotopic sequence between CH4 and C2H6. Carbon and hydrogen isotope compositions of alkane gas suggest that the Upper Paleozoic gas in the Dingbei area is typically coal-derived gas. The calculated RO values according to the two-stage fractionation mode of coal-derived gas are consistent with the measured RO values of the Upper Paleozoic source rocks; this indicates that the Upper Paleozoic gas in the Dingbei area was mainly derived from in-situ source rocks in the Taiyuan and Shanxi formations. In comparison to the Dingbei area, natural gas from the Daniudi gas field in northeastern Ordos Basin displays lower δ13C1, C1/C1-5, and C1/C2+3 values and higher C2/C1 ratios, suggesting the lower maturity of source rocks rather than migration effect. The Upper Paleozoic natural gas in the Ordos Basin has not experienced large-scale lateral migration. Keywords: Ordos Basin, Dingbei area, Geochemical characteristics, Origin of natural gas, Source rocks, Carbon and hydrogen isotopes

Objective To investigate the therapeutic effect of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) on synovitis in a mouse model of osteoarthritis and explore the possible mechanism. Methods We assessed the therapeutic effect of LIPUS on synovitis in a mouse model of destabilization of medial meniscus (DMM). The histopathology of the synovium of the knee joint was examined in 7 mice with DMM (model group), 7 normal mice (control group) and 7 mice with DMM treated with LIPUS. The proportion of iNOS- and CD206-positive cells in F4/80-positive macrophages in the synovium was detected. Cultured THP-1 macrophages were divided into control group, LIPUS group, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) group and LPS+LIPUS group, and Raw 264.7 cells were divided into LPS group and LPS+LIPUS group with corresponding treatments. The mRNA levels of polarization-related indexes (IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-10 and Arg1) were detected using real-time quantitative PCR after the treatments, and the protein levels of p-JNK and p-NF-κB p65 were detected using Western blotting. Confocal laser scanning microscopy was used to observe the nuclear translocation of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) in THP-1 cells after LPS or LPS+LIPUS treatment. Results In the mouse models of DMM, treatment with LIPUS significantly reduced the thicknesses of the synovium (P < 0.05), decreased the proportion of M1 macrophages and upregulated the proportion of M2 macrophages in the synovium (P < 0.05). In THP-1 and Raw 264.7 macrophages stimulated with LPS, LIPUS treatment significantly lowered IL-1β and TNF-α levels but increased IL-10 and Arg1 levels (P < 0.05). LIPUS also decreased the protein levels of p-JNK and p-NF-κB p65 in LPS-stimulated macrophages (P < 0.05) and suppressed LPS-induced nuclear translocation of NF-κB (P < 0.05). Conclusion LIPUS produces anti-inflammatory effects on the synovium in the mouse model of osteoarthritis possibly by modulating the polarization of synovial macrophages through the JNK and NF-κB signaling pathways.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore the effects of physical injury and stromal cell-derived factor-1α (SDF-1α) on the proliferation of cardiomyocytes and chemotactic effects of cardiomyocytes on the migration of cardiac fibroblasts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Isolation and primary culture of rat cardiomyocytes and cardiac fibroblasts were performed; scratching was employed to induce physical injury on cells which were cultured with SDF-1α at different concentrations; proliferation ability of cardiomyocytes was checked with CCK-8 assay and migratory ability of cardiac fibroblasts under the chemotaxis of cardiomyocytes was detected with Transwell assay. RESULTS: SDF-1α enhanced the proliferation ability of cardiomyocytes with physical injury, especially at the concentration of 80 μg/L when the proliferation rate of cardiomyocytes increased most markedly. Moreover, physically injured cardiomyocyte that was cultured with SDF-1α significantly elevated migratory ability of cardiac fibroblasts, which tended to be more obvious along with the chemotactic culture time. CONCLUSIONS: SDF-1αenhanced the proliferation ability of cardiomyocytes with physical injury, and physically injured cardiomyocyte that was cultured with SDF-1α promoted the migration of cardiac fibroblasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: Previous study showed that peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptors (PBRs) are expressed in human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) and diazepam was found to inhibit hMCSs viability in high concentration. Midazolam, a benzodiazepine derivative, is widely used as an intravenous sedative in hospital. Peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptors (PBRs) affect a broad spectrum of cellular functions. We tested the cell viability and osteogenic differentiation of hMSCs. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Bone marrow was collected from 12 patients during the operation of spine internal fixation. Cultivated with basal medium, the hBMSCs were incubated with or without midazolam (0.1, 1, 5, 10, 15, 20 μM, respectively). Cell viability were tested with MTS assay after 2, 4, 6 hours respectively. Cell morphology was observed and recorded at 6 hour. After cultivated with osteogentic medium, the hBMSCs were incubated with or without midazolam (5, 10, 15, 20 μM, respectively). Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and alizarin red S staining were measured. Cultivated with osteogentic medium with or without treatment of 15 μM midazolam, the mRNA expression of ALP, type 1 collagen (COL1), Runx2 and PPARγ was analyzed by real-time RT-PCR. RESULTS: The treatments of midazolam inhibited cell viability to 85%-16% respectively (p < 0.05). Rounded up phenomenon with floating cells, Membrane-blebbed cells and cytoplasmic contraction were observed after 10, 15 or 20 μM midazolam treatment. The ALP activity and Calcium deposition of hBMSCs exposed to 15 and 20 μM midazolam was significantly inhibited at 7, 14 and 21 days (p < 0.05). And the mRNA expression of ALP, COL1 and PPARγ was significantly suppressed in the hBMSCs cultured with 15 μM midazolam (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Midazolam exert negative effect on cell viability and osteogenic differentiation of cultured hBMSCs. During sedation in critical care, the use of midazolam may suppress activity of hBMSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background: Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Despite considerable improvements in diagnosis and treatment, little is known about the short-term and long-term prognosis after a first stroke in low-income and middle-income countries, including China. We aimed to assess the short-term and long-term risk of recurrent stroke and mortality after a first stroke for each of the major pathological stroke types. Methods: This population-based cohort study included adults aged 35–74 years without disability who were recruited to the China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB). A baseline survey was conducted in ten geographical areas (five urban, five rural) in China, and participants had clinical measurements recorded. Participants were followed up by monitoring death registries and by electronic linkage to health registries and health insurance claims databases, with follow-up until Jan 1, 2017. Participants were excluded from analyses if they had a previous history of stroke, transient ischaemic attack, or ischaemic heart disease at baseline. All incidences of fatal and non-fatal stroke during the study period were recorded by type (ischaemic stroke, intracerebral haemorrhage, subarachnoid haemorrhage, and unspecified type). Primary outcome measures were 28-day mortality, recurrent stroke, major vascular events (recurrent stroke, myocardial infarction, or vascular death), vascular mortality, and all-cause mortality. Findings: Of 512 715 individuals in the CKB, 489 586 participants without previous ischaemic heart disease and stroke at recruitment were included, of whom 45 732 (42 073 [92%] confirmed by brain imaging) had a stroke during the study period. The mean age was 59·3 years (SD 9·8) for participants who had a stroke (54% women) and 50·8 years (10·3) for participants with no stroke (60% women). 36 588 (80%) of the incident cases of stroke were ischaemic stroke, 7440 (16%) were intracerebral haemorrhage, 702 (2%) were subarachnoid haemorrhage, and 1002 (2%) were an unspecified stroke type. 28-day mortality was 3% (95% CI 3–4) for ischaemic stroke, 47% (46–48)for intracerebral haemorrhage, 19% (17–22; 52% for rural areas and 32% for urban areas) subarachnoid haemorrhage, and 24% (22–27) for unspecified stroke. Among participants who survived stroke at 28 days, 41% (41–42) had recurrent stroke at 5 years (ischaemic stroke 41% [41–42], intracerebral haemorrhage 44% [42–46], subarachnoid haemorrhage 22% [18–27], unspecified stroke type 40% [35–44]) and mortality at 5 years was 17% ([17–18] ischaemic stroke 16% [15–16], intracerebral haemorrhage 28% [26–29], subarachnoid haemorrhage 16% [12–20], unspecified stroke type 15% [12–19]). After a first ischaemic stroke, 91% of recurrent strokes were also ischaemic stroke; after an intracerebral haemorrhage, 56% of recurrent strokes were intracerebral haemorrhage, and 41% of recurrent strokes were ischaemic stroke. Interpretation: After a first stroke, the risk of recurrence or death within 5 years was high among this population of Chinese adults. Urgent improvements to secondary prevention of stroke in China are needed to reduce these risks. Funding: Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council, British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Kadoorie Charitable Foundation, Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, National Natural Science Foundation of China. Copyright: © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.

Summary: Background: Cooking practice has transitioned from use of solid fuels to use of clean fuels, with addition of better ventilation facilities. However, the change in mortality risk associated with such a transition remains unclear. Methods: The China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) Study enrolled participants (aged 30–79 years) from ten areas across China; we chose to study participants from five urban areas where transition from use of solid fuels to clean fuels for cooking was prevalent. Participants who reported regular cooking (weekly or more frequently) at baseline were categorised as persistent clean fuel users, previous solid fuel users, or persistent solid fuel users, according to self-reported fuel use histories. All-cause and cardiopulmonary mortality were identified through linkage to China's Disease Surveillance Point system and local mortality records. Findings: Between June 24, 2004, and July 15, 2008, 226 186 participants living in five urban areas of China were enrolled in the CKB Study. Among 171 677 participants who reported cooking regularly (weekly or more frequently), 75 785 (44%) were persistent clean fuel users, 80 511 (47%) were previous solid fuel users, and 15 381 (9%) were persistent solid fuel users. During a mean of 9·8 (SD 1·7) years of follow-up, 10 831 deaths were documented, including 3819 cardiovascular deaths and 761 respiratory deaths. Compared with persistent clean fuel users, persistent solid fuel users had significantly higher risks of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 1·19, 95% CI 1·10–1·28), cardiovascular mortality (1·24, 1·10–1·39), and respiratory mortality (1·43, 1·10–1·85). The excess risk of all-cause and cardiopulmonary mortality fell by more than 60% in 5 years after cessation of solid fuel use and continued to decrease afterwards. Use of ventilation was associated with lower all-cause mortality risk, even among persistent clean fuel users (HR 0·78, 0·69–0·89). Interpretation: Solid fuel use for cooking is associated with a higher risk of mortality, and cessation of solid fuel use cuts excess mortality risks swiftly and substantially within 5 years. Ventilation use also lowers the risk of mortality, even among people who persistently use clean fuels. It is of prime importance for both policy makers and the public to accelerate the transition from solid fuels to clean fuels and promote efficient ventilation to minimise further adverse health effects. Funding: National Natural Science Foundation of China, Wellcome Trust, and Kadoorie Charitable Foundation.

The lumped hydrological model and empirical model have the problems of low accuracy and short forecasting period in real-time flood forecasting of small- and medium-sized rivers in a mountainous watershed. The sharing of underlying surface data such as high-resolution DEM, land use data, soil data, and the popularization and application of the Internet of Things, big data, cloud computing, and intelligent calculation methods makes distributed hydrological model an effective method for real-time runoff simulation and prediction. The topographic, kinematic, approximation, and integration (TOPKAPI) model is a distributed hydrological model whose physical mechanism developed gradually in the late 20th century. It has great advantages in real-time flood forecasting in small- and medium-sized watersheds. Based on the data required by the TOPKAPI model, in this study, 26 selected flood events were simulated from 2000 to 2013 at the outlet section of the upper reach of the Zhenjiang River in Guangdong Province, and the effect of application of the model in flood forecasting of small- and medium-sized rivers was evaluated. The results show that the pass rate (considering the peak discharge as the evaluation item) of 18 flood events in the calibration period was 66.67%, and that of 8 flood events in the validation period was 75%, while the mean Nash efficiency coefficient of the selected 26 flood events was 0.789. According to the simulation results, real-time flood forecasting should be closely combined with the dispatching of the small- and medium-sized reservoirs in the basin. The application of the TOPKAPI model can make a scientific and rapid analysis of the flood control situation in the whole basin and provide accurate information and maximum convenience for flood forecasting consultation and decision making. Additionally, it can improve the efficiency of disaster prevention and mitigation work in small- and medium-sized river basins, and has a major significance in enhancing the modernization level of flood forecasting.

Blood pressure (BP) is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and more than 200 genetic loci associated with BP are known. Here, the authors perform discovery GWAS for BP in East Asians and meta-analysis in East Asians and Europeans and report ancestry-specific BP SNPs and selection signals.

The ridge estimation-based dynamic system response curve (DSRC-R) method, which is an improvement of the dynamic system response curve (DSRC) method via the ridge estimation method, has illustrated its good robustness. However, the optimization criterion for the ridge coefficient in the DSRC-R method still needs further study. In view of this, a new optimization criterion called the balance and random degree criterion considering the sum of squares of flow errors (BSR) is proposed in this paper according to the properties of model-simulated residuals. In this criterion, two indexes, namely, the random degree of simulated residuals and the balance degree of simulated residuals, are introduced to describe the independence and the zero mean property of simulated residuals, respectively. Therefore, the BSR criterion is constructed by combining the sum of squares of flow errors with the two indexes. The BSR criterion, L-curve criterion and the minimum sum of squares of flow errors (MSSFE) criterion are tested on both synthetic cases and real-data cases. The results show that the BSR criterion is better than the L-curve criterion in minimizing the sum of squares of flow residuals and increasing the ridge coefficient optimization speed. Moreover, the BSR criterion has an advantage over the MSSFE criterion in making the estimated rainfall error more stable.

Folic acid, one of the 13 essential vitamins, plays an important role in cardiovascular development. Mutations in folic acid synthesis gene 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is associated with the occurrence of congenital heart disease. However, the mechanisms underlying the regulation of cardiac development by mthfr gene are poorly understood. Here, we exposed zebrafish embryos to excessive folate or folate metabolism inhibitors. Moreover, we established a knock-out mutant of mthfr gene in zebrafish by using CRISPR/Cas9. The zebrafish embryos of insufficient or excessive folic acid and mthfr−/− mutant all gave rise to early pericardial edema and cardiac defect at 3 days post fertilization (dpf). Furthermore, the folic acid treated embryos showed abnormal movement at 5 dpf. The expression levels of cardiac marker genes hand2, gata4, and nppa changed in the abnormality of folate metabolism embryos and mthfr−/− mutant, and there is evidence that they are related to the change of methylation level caused by the change of folate metabolism. In conclusion, our study provides a novel model for the in-depth study of MTHFR gene and folate metabolism. Furthermore, our results reveal that folic acid has a dose-dependent effect on early cardiac development. Precise dosage of folic acid supplementation is crucial for the embryonic development of organisms.

Urban floods have been exacerbated globally, associated with increasing spatial-temporal variations in rainfall. However, compared with rainfall variabilities of intensity and duration, the effect of rainfall movement direction is always ignored. Based on 1313 rainfall scenarios with different combinations of rainfall intensity and rainfall movement direction in the typically rainy city of Shenzhen in China, we find that the effect of rainfall movement direction on the peak runoff may reach up to 20%, which will decrease to less than 5% under heavy rainfall intensity conditions. In addition, our results show that the impact of rainfall movement direction is almost symmetrical and is associated with the direction of the river. The closer rainfall movement direction is to the Linear Directional Mean of rivers, the larger is the peak runoff of section. Our results reveal that rainfall movement direction is significant to urban peak runoff in the downstream reaches, which should be considered in urban hydrological analysis.

Background: Laterally spreading tumors (LSTs) are generally defined as superficial lesions ⩾10 mm in diameter that typically extend laterally rather than vertically along the colonic wall. LSTs are usually categorized into 2 subtypes: granular type and nongranular type. Large nodules or depressed areas in granular-type LSTs (LST-Gs) are endoscopic findings of a cancerous component and sometimes represent submucosal invasion. However, the lateral growth and development of LST-Gs remains unclear. Case presentation: This case report describes a case of 79-year-old woman who underwent total colonoscopy due to a positive fecal occult blood test and was detected a LST-G, about 30 mm in diameter in the lower rectum. The lesion consisted of not only aggregated small and large nodules typically seen in LST-Gs but also the hardly elevated flat parts. In the flat part, there were dilated round pits and no evident capillary vessels. Three months later, the flat part increased in height, the dilated round pits were partly replaced by type IIIL pits, and capillary vessels were evident. The lesion was removed by endoscopic submucosal dissection, and diagnosed pathologically as tubular adenoma. We performed the sequence analyses on KRAS, BRAF, NRAS and PIK3CA genes in flat part and nodular part separately, and a mutation of KRAS gene at codon 146 was observed at only nodular part, suggesting probable that nodular part be a precancerous lesion. Conclusion: This is a unique and suggestive case, providing information on progression of LST-Gs at the very early stage to carcinogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVES: We analyzed whether a method for identifying latent trajectories-latent class growth analysis (LCGA)-was useful for understanding outcomes for individuals subject to an intervention. METHODS: We used LCGA to reanalyze data from a published study of mentally ill homeless men in a critical time intervention (CTI) program. In that study, 96 men leaving a shelter's onsite psychiatric program were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The former received CTI services and the latter usual services. Each individual's housing circumstances were observed for 18 months after program initiation. Our outcome measure was monthly homelessness: a person was considered homeless in a month if he was homeless for even 1 night that month. RESULTS: Four latent classes were found among the control group, but just 3 among the experimental group. Control, but not experimental, group individuals showed a small class of chronically homeless men. The size of the never-homeless class was 19 percentage points larger for the experimental than for the control group. J- and inverted-U-shaped patterns were also found among both groups, but with important differences in timing of patterns. CONCLUSIONS: Our results reveal effects not apparent in the original analysis, suggesting that latent class growth models improve intervention evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copia and Gypsy play important roles in structural, functional and evolutionary dynamics of plant genomes. In this study, a total of 106 and 101, Copia and Gypsy reverse transcriptase (rt) were amplified respectively in the Morus notabilis genome using degenerate primers. All sequences exhibited high levels of heterogeneity, were rich in AT and possessed higher sequence divergence of Copia rt in comparison to Gypsy rt. Two reasons are likely to account for this phenomenon: a) these elements often experience deletions or fragmentation by illegitimate or unequal homologous recombination in the transposition process; b) strong purifying selective pressure drives the evolution of these elements through “selective silencing” with random mutation and eventual deletion from the host genome. Interestingly, mulberry rt clustered with other rt from distantly related taxa according to the phylogenetic analysis. This phenomenon did not result from horizontal transposable element transfer. Results obtained from fluorescence in situ hybridization revealed that most of the hybridization signals were preferentially concentrated in pericentromeric and distal regions of chromosomes, and these elements may play important roles in the regions in which they are found. Results of this study support the continued pursuit of further functional studies of Copia and Gypsy in the mulberry genome.

Abstract In recent years, M oilfield has entered into high water cut stage. Two main problems are imposed in the process of development including sharp water cut rising rate and rapid oil production decline. These problems are difficult to solve, which may bring other problems. In order to slow down production decline rate and control the rising rate of water cut, it is necessary to control water injection rate. However, oil production rate can be affected if water injection rate is too low to provide enough water volume for maintaining reservoir pressure. A method to calculate reasonable injection–production ratio and predict water cut is provided in this paper. Its main mechanism is to resolve above contradictions by calculating reasonable water injection rate. Firstly, an equation to calculate reasonable injection–production ratio is deduced by material balance equation. It considers several parameters including rate of pressure recovery, water cut and other production indexes. Secondly, reasonable oil production rates and water cut of future 10 years are predicted. Oil production is predicted by the law of production decline, and water cut is predicted by regression equation of water drive characteristic curve. Lastly, reasonable water injection rates of next 10 years are calculated through predicted injection–production ratios and liquid production rates. Taking M oilfield as an example, this paper presents a method to determine reasonable water injection rate of multilayer sandstone water drive reservoir.

The Orthogonal neighborhood preserving embedding（ ONPE） is an unsupervised feature dimension reduction method and only use global neighborhood parameter,when it is used to high- dimension fault feature for feature dimension reduction,it is incapacity of using sample class label information and adaptive adjust neighborhood parameter while the space distribution of samples changed. Aiming at the problems above,a fault identification method based on improved supervised orthogonal neighborhood preserving embedding（ IS-ONPE） for feature dimension reduction is proposed. In IS- ONPE,the distance between different points is adjusted by utilizing class label information,thereby a new distance matrix is formed and the neighborhood is constructed through this new distance matrix,at the same time,the neighborhood parameter are adaptive adjusted according to local cluster coefficient. With the low- dimensional feature as inputs of support vector machine（ SVM） for identifying fault types. The experiment results of gear fault identification indicate that the proposed method can identification gear fault in high accuracy,it has some superiority.

In this study, the novel mixed-phase TiO2 nanocrystals (s-TiO2) with nearly equivalent anatase/rutile ratio were fabricated in the reagent of sec-butanol at the relatively low temperature of 80 °C by using a facile one-step condensing reflux method. The photocatalytic water splitting hydrogen production performance of s-TiO2 nanocrystals is close to that of commercial TiO2 (P25), and its photocatalytic degradation performance is about four times that of P25. The energy-level staggered interfaces and surface bridged hydroxyl groups significantly increased due to the anatase/rutile mixed-phase crystal structure and high specific surface area, which might generate the synergistic effect for the improvement of photocatalytic degradation.

This data article contains extended, complementary analysis related to the research articles entitled “Desmoglein 3, via an interaction with E-cadherin, is associated with activation of Src” (Tsang et al., 2010) [1] and figures related to the review article entitled “Desmoglein 3: a help or a hindrance in cancer progression?” (Brown et al., 2014) [2]. We show here that both Src and caveolin-1 (Cav-1) associate with Dsg3 in a non-ionic detergent soluble pool and that modulation of Dsg3 levels inversely alters the expression of Src in the Cav-1 complex. Furthermore, immunofluorescence analysis revealed a reduced colocalization of Cav-1/total Src in cells with overexpression of Dsg3 compared to control cells. In support, the sequence analysis has identified a region within the carboxyl-terminus of human Dsg3 for a likelihood of binding to the scaffolding domain of Cav-1, the known Src binding site in Cav-1, and this region is highly conserved across most of 18 species as well as within desmoglein family members. Based on these findings, we propose a working model that Dsg3 activates Src through competing with its inactive form for binding to Cav-1, thus leading to release of Src followed by its auto-activation. Keywords: Desmoglein, Src signaling, Caveolin, Sequence alignment

Summary: Background: China has high stroke rates despite the population being relatively lean. Uncertainty persists about the relevance of adiposity to risk of stroke types. We aimed to assess the associations of adiposity with incidence of stroke types and effect mediation by blood pressure in Chinese men and women. Methods: The China Kadoorie Biobank enrolled 512 891 adults aged 30–79 years from ten areas (five urban and five rural) during 2004–08. During a median 9 years (IQR 8–10) of follow-up, 32 448 strokes (about 90% confirmed by neuroimaging) were recorded among 489 301 participants without previous cardiovascular disease. Cox regression analysis was used to produce adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for ischaemic stroke (n=25 210) and intracerebral haemorrhage (n=5380) associated with adiposity. Findings: Mean baseline body-mass index (BMI) was 23·6 kg/m2 (SD 3·2), and 331 723 (67·8%) participants had a BMI of less than 25 kg/m2. Throughout the range examined (mean 17·1 kg/m2 [SD 0·9] to 31·7 kg/m2 [2·0]), each 5 kg/m2 higher BMI was associated with 8·3 mm Hg (SE 0·04) higher systolic blood pressure. BMI was positively associated with ischaemic stroke, with an HR of 1·30 (95% CI 1·28–1·33 per 5 kg/m2 higher BMI), which was generally consistent with that predicted by equivalent differences in systolic blood pressure (1·25 [1·24–1·26]). The HR for intracerebral haemorrhage (1·11 [1·07–1·16] per 5 kg/m2 higher BMI) was less extreme, and much weaker than that predicted by the corresponding difference in systolic blood pressure (1·48 [1·46–1·50]). Other adiposity measures showed similar associations with stroke types. After adjustment for usual systolic blood pressure, the positive associations with ischaemic stroke were attenuated (1·05 [1·03–1·07] per 5 kg/m2 higher BMI); for intracerebral haemorrhage, they were reversed (0·73 [0·70–0·77]). High adiposity (BMI >23 kg/m2) accounted for 14·7% of total stroke (16·5% of ischaemic stroke and 6·7% of intracerebral haemorrhage). Interpretation: In Chinese adults, adiposity was strongly positively associated with ischaemic stroke, chiefly through its effect on blood pressure. For intracerebral haemorrhage, leanness, either per se or through some other factor (or factors), might increase risk, offsetting the protective effects of lower blood pressure. Funding: UK Wellcome Trust, UK Medical Research Council, British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Kadoorie Charitable Foundation, Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, Chinese National Natural Science Foundation.

Summary: Background: The age-specific association between blood pressure and vascular disease has been studied mostly in high-income countries, and before the widespread use of brain imaging for diagnosis of the main stroke types (ischaemic stroke and intracerebral haemorrhage). We aimed to investigate this relationship among adults in China. Methods: 512 891 adults (59% women) aged 30–79 years were recruited into a prospective study from ten areas of China between June 25, 2004, and July 15, 2008. Participants attended assessment centres where they were interviewed about demographic and lifestyle characteristics, and their blood pressure, height, and weight were measured. Incident disease was identified through linkage to local mortality records, chronic disease registries, and claims to the national health insurance system. We used Cox regression analysis to produce adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) relating systolic blood pressure to disease incidence. HRs were corrected for regression dilution to estimate associations with long-term average (usual) systolic blood pressure. Findings: During a median follow-up of 9 years (IQR 8–10), there were 88 105 incident vascular and non-vascular chronic disease events (about 90% of strokes events were diagnosed using brain imaging). At ages 40–79 years (mean age at event 64 years [SD 9]), usual systolic blood pressure was continuously and positively associated with incident major vascular disease throughout the range 120–180 mm Hg: each 10 mm Hg higher usual systolic blood pressure was associated with an approximately 30% higher risk of ischaemic heart disease (HR 1·31 [95% CI 1·28–1·34]) and ischaemic stroke (1·30 [1·29–1·31]), but the association with intracerebral haemorrhage was about twice as steep (1·68 [1·65–1·71]). HRs for vascular disease were twice as steep at ages 40–49 years than at ages 70–79 years. Usual systolic blood pressure was also positively associated with incident chronic kidney disease (1·40 [1·35–1·44]) and diabetes (1·14 [1·12–1·15]). About half of all vascular deaths in China were attributable to elevated blood pressure (ie, systolic blood pressure >120 mm Hg), accounting for approximately 1 million deaths (

Summary: Background: In developed countries, smoking is associated with increased risk of diabetes. Little is known about the association in China, where cigarette consumption has increased (first in urban, then in rural areas) relatively recently. Moreover, uncertainty remains about the effect of smoking cessation on diabetes in China and elsewhere. We aimed to assess the associations of smoking and smoking cessation with risk of incident diabetes among Chinese adults. Methods: The prospective China Kadoorie Biobank enrolled 512 891 adults (59% women) aged 30–79 years during 2004–08 from ten diverse areas (five urban and five rural) across China. Participants were interviewed at study assessment clinics, underwent physical measurements, and had a non-fasting blood sample taken. Participants were separated into four categories according to smoking history: never-smokers, ever-regular smokers, ex-smokers, and occasional smokers. Incident diabetes cases were identified through linkage with diabetes surveillance systems, the national health insurance system, and death registries. All analyses were done separately in men and women and Cox regression was used to yield adjusted hazards ratios (HRs) for diabetes associated with smoking. Findings: 68% (n=134 975) of men ever smoked regularly compared with 3% (n=7811) of women. During 9 years' follow-up, 13 652 new-onset diabetes cases were recorded among 482 589 participants without previous diabetes. Among urban men, smokers had an adjusted HR of 1·18 (95% CI 1·12–1·25) for diabetes. HRs increased with younger age at first smoking regularly (1·12, 1·20, and 1·27 at ≥25 years, 20–24 years, and

The molecular composition, stable carbon and hydrogen isotopes, and light hydrocarbons of the Lower Paleozoic natural gas in the Daniudi gas field in the Ordos Basin were investigated to study the geochemical characteristics. The Lower Paleozoic gas in the Daniudi gas field displays methane contents of 87.41–93.34%, dryness coefficients (C 1 /C 1–5 ) ranging from 0.886 to 0.978, δ 13 C 1 and δ 13 C 2 values ranging from −40.3 to −36.4‰, with an average of −38.3‰, and from −33.6 to −24.2‰, with an average of −28.4‰, respectively, and δD 1 values ranging from −197 to −160‰. The alkane gas generally displays positive carbon and hydrogen isotopic series, and the C 7 and C 5–7 light hydrocarbons of the Lower Paleozoic gas are dominated by methylcyclohexane and iso-alkanes, respectively. The Lower Paleozoic gas in the Daniudi gas field is mixed from coal-derived and oil-associated gases, similar to that observed in the Jingbian gas field. The oil-associated gas in the Lower Paleozoic gas is secondary oil cracking gas and displays a lower cracking extent than that in the Jingbian gas field. The coal-derived gas in the Lower Paleozoic gas in the Daniudi gas field migrated from the Upper Paleozoic gas through the window area where the iron–aluminum mudstone caprocks in the Upper Carboniferous Benxi Formation were missing. The oil-associated gas in the Lower Paleozoic gas in the Daniudi gas field was probably derived from presalt source rocks in the Lower Ordovician Majiagou Formation rather than the limestone in the Upper Carboniferous Taiyuan Formation. It seems unlikely that the marlstone in the Upper Ordovician Beiguoshan Formation and shale in the Middle Ordovician Pingliang Formation on the western and southwestern margins of the Ordos Basin contributed to the oil-associated gas in the Lower Paleozoic gas in the Daniudi gas field.

Soy protein isolate (SPI) provides a potential alternative biopolymer source to fossil fuels, but improving the mechanical properties and water resistance of SPI composites remains a huge challenge. Inspired by the synergistic effect of natural nacre, we developed a novel approach to fabricate high-performance SPI nanocomposite films based on 2D graphene (G) nanosheets and 1D carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) using a casting method. The introduction of web-like NFC promoted the uniform dispersion of graphene/CNTs in the biopolymer matrix, as well as a high extent of cross-linkage combination between the fillers and SPI matrix. The laminated and cross-linked structures of the different nanocomposite films were observed by field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) images. Due to the synergistic interactions of π–π stacking and hydrogen bonding between the nanofillers and SPI chains, the tensile strength of SPI/G/CNT/NFC film significantly increased by 78.9% and the water vapor permeability decreased by 31.76% in comparison to neat SPI film. In addition, the ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) light barrier performance, thermal stability, and hydrophobicity of the films were significantly improved as well. This bioinspired synergistic reinforcing strategy opens a new path for constructing high-performance nanocomposites.