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The problem of lack of fresh water resources becomes more and more serious. The coupling of low-temperature multi-effect distillation (LT-MED) seawater desalination technology in thermal power plants is widely used, because it can effectively reduce the cost of water production. Ebsilon software was used to model the power plant and a LT-MED seawater desalination coupling system. The influences of steam ejectors on the thermal economy of the water and power cogeneration system under wide load were analyzed. The results show that the coupled system has the optimal performance for single-stage steam ejector at the 75% THA condition design of the power plant. For a cogeneration system with a two-stage steam ejector, the system's electricity loss for water production (ELWP) is reduced by 13.65% than the system with single-stage steam ejector, when the plant load is at 75% THA. And the two-stage steam's ELWP is also lower than that of the single stage steam ejector system when the plant load is above 50% THA.

Abstract Sanding dust is the main source of dust emission during the manufacturing process of medium-density fiberboard (MDF), and particle size and shape characteristics are the fundamental properties influencing its environmental influence and handling behaviors. However, there are few deep and comprehensive researches on the morphology of MDF sanding dust. In this study, the morphological characteristics of MDF sanding dust were explored by sieve and image analyses. It was found that more than 95% of MDF sanding dust was inhalable particles smaller than 100 μm, which poses a considerable potential risk to human health and safety, especially with the presence of other chemical constituents. The particle size span of MDF dust was relatively wide though the particle surface texture was quite uniform. The particle geometric proportion represented by aspect ratio decreased markedly with the reduction of particle size. The larger particles presented typical anisotropic structure, while the smaller ones showed homogeneous appearance, indicating quite complex handling behaviors. In addition, image analysis was found to provide a better insight into the morphological characteristics of MDF sanding dust compared to sieve analysis, and could be a promising dust morphology evaluation technology.

Security constrained unit commitment (SCUC), with renewable resources integrated into power grid, is one core function in the day‐ahead market. However, it confronts with critical challenges as the heavy complicated security constraints are considered. Usually, it is observed that lots of security constraints are redundant, which can be identified and eliminated, so as to reduce the computational complexity. In this study, the authors first lift the uncertain feasible region of SCUC into a high dimensional space. Furthermore, a fast identification method is proposed to relax the original feasible region, which thus can be solved by the classical greedy algorithm. In order to prevent the over‐relaxation and find more redundant constraints, an efficient feasible‐based bound tightening strategy is utilised to provide a tighter bound. Numerical results on large‐scale test systems verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Decarbonization of the electricity sector is crucial to mitigate the impacts of climate change and global warming over the coming decades. The key challenges for achieving this goal are carbon emission trading and electricity sector regulation, which are also the major components of the carbon and electricity markets, respectively. In this paper, a joint electricity and carbon market model is proposed to investigate the relationships between electricity price, carbon price, and electricity generation capacity, thereby identifying pathways toward a renewable energy transition under the transactional energy interconnection framework. The proposed model is a dynamically iterative optimization model consisting of upper- level and lower-level models. The upper-level model optimizes power generation and obtains the electricity price, which drives the lower-level model to update the carbon price and electricity generation capacity. The proposed model is verified using the Northeast Asia power grid. The results show that increasing carbon price will result in increased electricity price, along with further increases in renewable energy generation capacity in the following period. This increase in renewable energy generation will reduce reliance on carbon-emitting energy sources, and hence the carbon price will decline. Moreover, the interconnection among zones in the Northeast Asia power grid will enable reasonable allocation of zonal power generation. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) will be an effective technology to reduce the carbon emissions and further realize the emission reduction targets in 2030-2050. It eases the stress of realizing the energy transition because of the less urgency to install additional renewable energy capacity.

Abstract Background The abundance and diversity of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the human respiratory microbiome remain poorly characterized. In the context of influenza virus infection, interactions between the virus, the host, and resident bacteria with pathogenic potential are known to complicate and worsen disease, resulting in coinfection and increased morbidity and mortality of infected individuals. When pathogenic bacteria acquire antibiotic resistance, they are more difficult to treat and of global health concern. Characterization of ARG expression in the upper respiratory tract could help better understand the role antibiotic resistance plays in the pathogenesis of influenza-associated bacterial secondary infection. Results Thirty-seven individuals participating in the Household Influenza Transmission Study (HITS) in Managua, Nicaragua, were selected for this study. We performed metatranscriptomics and 16S rRNA gene sequencing analyses on nasal and throat swab samples, and host transcriptome profiling on blood samples. Individuals clustered into two groups based on their microbial gene expression profiles, with several microbial pathways enriched with genes differentially expressed between groups. We also analyzed antibiotic resistance gene expression and determined that approximately 25% of the sequence reads that corresponded to antibiotic resistance genes mapped to Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus. Following construction of an integrated network of ARG expression with host gene co-expression, we identified several host key regulators involved in the host response to influenza virus and bacterial infections, and host gene pathways associated with specific antibiotic resistance genes. Conclusions This study indicates the host response to influenza infection could indirectly affect antibiotic resistance gene expression in the respiratory tract by impacting the microbial community structure and overall microbial gene expression. Interactions between the host systemic responses to influenza infection and antibiotic resistance gene expression highlight the importance of viral-bacterial co-infection in acute respiratory infections like influenza. Video abstract

This paper focuses on how to make a charging guidance for urgent charging electric vehicles (EVs) to fast charging stations. To avoid charging overload in the spatial-temporal scale and excessive waiting time for EV users, a charging guidance strategy based on the virtual service range is proposed. Considering the mutual influence among EVs' charging selections, the proposed strategy can unify the temporal shift and spatial shift of the charging load into the same time scale to control rather than other works only do the temporal shift. Specifically, the proposed strategy has two stages: the charging arrangement and the spatial-temporal shift. The charging arrangement stage is to determine whether an EV can be allowed to charge at a certain time and a given charging station while the spatial-temporal shift stage is to regulate the charging time or charging location. Besides, a bucketsort-based algorithm is proposed to solve the formulated problem in the charging arrangement stage. Finally, three scenarios have been designed to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed strategy and the performance of the presented algorithm is compared with the other decentralized algorithms.

Ancillary services (AS) are the services necessary to support the transmission of electric power from generators to consumers given the obligations of control areas and transmitting utilities within those control areas to maintain reliable operations of the interconnected transmission system. As a result of the increasing penetration of renewable resources, the new reliability needs are emerging so that the changes made to the AS market become necessary. This paper presents a new AS framework being implemented at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) in order to address the primary frequency control issues associated with the declining system inertia. This new design can balance the need for both reliability and economics while opening up the AS market to the traditional and non-traditional resources, including load resources with under-frequency relays and energy-limited resources like batteries. This paper also introduces a new way to quantify the benefits of the new AS design using ERCOT model and data.

Though literature reports models describing triplet energy transfer between inorganic semiconductors and organic molecules, a unified mechanism for this process is still lacking. Here, the authors report triplet energy transfer mechanism at lead halide perovskite nanocrystal/polyacene interfaces.

Abstract Background Chronic lumbar zygapophysial joint pain is a common cause of chronic low back pain. Percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is one of the effective management options; however, the results from the traditional RFA need to be improved in certain cases. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of percutaneous radiofrequency ablation under endoscopic guidance (ERFA) for chronic low back pain secondary to facet joint arthritis. Methods This is a prospective study enrolled 60 patients. The cases were randomized into two groups: 30 patients in the control group underwent traditional percutaneous radiofrequency ablation, others underwent ERFA. The lumbar visual analog scale (VAS), MacNab score, and postoperative complications were used to evaluate the outcomes. All outcome assessments were performed at postoperative 1 day, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months. Results There was no difference between the two groups in preoperative VAS (P > 0.05). VAS scores, except the postoperative first day, in all other postoperative time points were significantly lower than preoperative values each in both groups (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference between the two groups in VAS at 1 day, 1 month, and 3 months after surgery (P > 0.05). However, the EFRA demonstrated significant benefits at the time points of 3 months and 6 months (P > 0.05). The MacNab scores of 1-year follow-up in the ERFA group were higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05). The incidence of complications in the ERFA group was significantly less than that in the control group (P < 0.05). Conclusions ERFA may achieve more accurate and definite denervation on the nerves, which leads to longer lasting pain relief.

Climate change has important implication for the ecological environment and human social activities. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is a sensitive area for climate change, and the lakes on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are known as the “guardians” of climate change. However, there are few studies on the impact of climate variations on the exploitation of lithium resources in salt lakes. In this work, the collected data from Zabuye Salt Lake Observation Station and the experimental data of brine at different temperatures were employed as the research objects to investigate the relationship between regional climate change and lithium resources in salt lakes. The results indicated that Zabuye Salt Lake had abundant solar energy resources from 1991 to 2020 with the annual average sunshine duration of 3,122.4 h, the average annual evaporation of 2,579.07 mm/yr, and the annual average precipitation of 168.65 mm/yr. The average annual evaporation is around 15.3 times the average annual precipitation, owing to the short rainy season and the low rainfall. The phase diagram displayed that two lithium carbonate precipitation peaks clearly appeared at 25°C, and no obvious precipitation peak appeared at 15°C, indicating that a high-grade lithium carbonate mixed salt was prone to be formed at a higher temperature while lithium ions was more inclined to enrich in brine at a lower temperature. Therefore, Zabuye Salt Lake with the characteristics of low temperature, large temperature difference, less precipitation, strong radiation and large evaporation could be applied as unique lithium resources in the salt gradient solar pond, which would play a positive role in the development of salt lake resources.

The question of what heats the solar chromosphere and corona remains one of the most important puzzles in solar physics and astrophysics. Up to now, two mechanisms are considered to work in heating the chromosphere and corona: magnetic reconnection and wave (turbulent flow) dissipation. But it is still not understood which mechanism is dominant. To solve the heating problem, one important topic at this stage is that we should understand how much energy is contributing from the two mechanisms respectively to the heating. In the quiet Sun, the thermal energy signal is observed as brightenings. Here we report two kinds of bright knots with a total of 3605 in the chromosphere of the quiet Sun, using the data from the New Vacuum Solar Telescope at Yunnan Observatories. The first kind of 1537 bright knots, which is first detected in chromospheric fibrils where waves and their dissipation are ubiquitous, propagates along these fibrils with velocities from 5 to 69 km s ^−1 . The second kind of 2068 knots keeps stationary, and always appears at the footpoints of these fibrils where network magnetic fields exist, suggesting that magnetic reconnection locally produces these stationary knots. Based on the observations of thousands of bright knots, we display the different distribution patterns of the two kinds of bright knots in the quiet Sun, and deduce that half of the energy for heating the chromosphere is supplied by wave dissipation, and the other half by magnetic reconnection.

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) has disruptive effects on lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS). Recently, LPA has been reported to be involved in spinal cord neuronal injury and toxicity, promoting the pathogenesis of LSS. However, the exact effects of LPA on spinal cord neurons remain unknown. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of LPA (18 : 1) on spinal cord neuronal cytotoxicity, apoptosis, DNA damage, and oxidative stress. After clinical detection of LPA secretion, spinal cord neurons were treated with LPA (18 : 1); cell viability was analyzed by MTT assay, and LDH leakage was detected by LDH kit; cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry; ROS production was measured by DCFDA staining and MitoSOX Red Staining; the activation of the Gα12/Gα13 signaling pathway was detected by serum response factor response element (SRF-RE) luciferase reporter gene; the relationship among LPA, LPA4/6, and ROCK was examined by western blotting. In spinal cord neurons treated with LPA (18 : 1), cellular activity decreased and LDH release increased. The Rho kinase inhibitor (Y-27632) can attenuate LPA-induced apoptosis, DNA damage, and oxidative stress in spinal cord neurons. Moreover mechanistic investigation indicated that LPA (18 : 1) activates Gα12/13–Rho–ROCK2-induced apoptosis, DNA damage, and oxidative stress in spinal cord neurons by upregulating LPA4/LPA6 receptors. Further, the Rho kinase inhibitor Y-27632 attenuates the effects of LPA by downregulating LPA4/LPA6 receptors. Taken together, the possible mechanism by which LPA secretion in LSS patients aggravates patient injury was further elucidated using an LPA-induced spinal cord neuronal injury cell model in vitro.

This paper aims to present an overview and explore components or structures suitable for 3D printed concrete. Most traditional structural forms are not well suitable for 3D printed concrete. To be more specific, it cannot fully consider the characteristics and advantages of 3D printing such as individualization and digitalization. Several 3D-printing-specific structure forms (including hollow form, tree form, arch form, and structure-functional form) are classified and the relevant successful cases are demonstrated. Moreover, the application potential of 3D printed concrete structures is illustrated and the limitations as well as the solutions for the application of 3D printed concrete in practical projects are also summarized. Based on the classification of different reinforcement materials, several reinforcement methods are intensively discussed for 3D printed concrete including steel bars, fibers and other reinforcement materials. The comparison of economic and environmental benefits between 3D concrete printing technology and traditional construction method is discussed respectively. Finally, the expected evolution of 3D printed structures is put forward and recommended.

Urban fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is a deleterious risk factor in the ambient air and is recognized to exacerbate atherosclerosis. Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) secretes a large number of inflammatory cytokines and plays a crucial role in the pathogenic microenvironment of atherogenesis. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the role of PVAT inflammation in the genesis of PM2.5-related atherosclerosis. The aim of this research was to probe the latent links between PM2.5 exposure and PVAT inflammation and further discovered the underlying mechanisms of PM2.5-triggered atherosclerosis pathogenesis. Apolipoprotein E-deficient (ApoE−/−) mice were exposed to real-world atmospheric PM2.5 or filtered clean air for three months, the Wnt5a inhibitor Box5 and the Ror2 inhibitor β-Arrestin2 were applied to verify the possible mechanisms. We noticed that the average daily PM2.5 mass concentration was 84.27 ± 28.84 μg/m3. PM2.5 inhalation might significantly expedite the deterioration of atherosclerosis, increase the protein and mRNA expressions of MCP-1, IL-6, TNF-α, Wnt5a, and Ror2 in PVAT tissues, upregulate the distributions of IL-6, TNF-α, MCP-1, and leptin in the histological sections of PVAT, promote lipid deposition in the aorta, elevate the plasma levels of leptin, MCP-1, IL-6, TNF-α, LDL-C, TC, and TG, however, decrease the plasma levels of adiponectin and HDL-C, downregulate the distribution of adiponectin. Nevertheless, these effects caused by PM2.5 exposure were dramatically diminished after the administration of Box5 or β-Arrestin2. This research illuminated that PVAT inflammation was involved in the PM2.5-induced atherosclerosis process, as well as lipid deposition, which was closely associated with the activation of the Wnt5a/Ror2 signaling pathway.

The feasibility of in vivo real-time monitoring of anti-factor Xa level had been explored using an integrated microdialysis-coupled microfluidic system. By customizing the dialysis membrane and utilizing a fluorogenic substrate, the performance of the integrated device was characterized and tested by continuous monitoring of the anti-factor Xa level in rats. Efficient sampling for low molecular weight heparin in the blood stream was demonstrated and the detection range of the device was determined to be 0.1-1.5 IU/ml. The anti-factor Xa profile was recorded for a period of 7 hours. Moreover, the results generated from this method agreed well with those from conventional assay. The present system provides a novel quantitative monitoring method with great precision, good reproducibility and full data coverage of treatment period. This study has paved the road for developing a bedside drug monitoring device in hospital setting.

Lithium, as the lightest alkali metal, is widely used in military and new energy applications. With the rapid growth in demand for lithium resources, it has become necessary to improve the effectiveness of extraction thereof. By using chemical grafting and electrospinning techniques, nanofibres containing crown ether were developed for adsorbing Li(I) from the brine in salt lakes, so as to selectively adsorb Li(I) on the premise of retaining specific vacancies of epoxy groups in crown ether. In lithium-containing solution, the adsorbing materials can reach adsorption equilibrium within three hours, and the maximum adsorption capacity is 4.8 mg g−1. The adsorption mechanisms of the adsorbing materials for Li(I) were revealed by combining Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) with density functional theory (DFT) calculation. The results indicated that in crown ether, O in epoxy groups was coordinated with Li(I) to form Li–O and four O atoms in the epoxy groups were used as electron donors. After coordination, two O atoms protruded from the plane and formed a tetrahedral structure with Li(I), realising the specific capture of Li(I). By desorbing fibres that adsorbed Li(I) with 0.5-M HCl, the adsorption capacity only decreased by 10.4% after five cycles, proving ability to regenerate such materials. The nanofibres containing crown ether synthesised by chemical grafting and electrospinning have the potential to be used in extracting lithium resources from the brine in salt lakes.

The ventilation rate of a greenhouse is one of the major factors to consider when assessing its ventilation performance. Compared with plain areas, high-altitude areas have lower air pressure, thinner air, and stronger solar radiation, which in turn affect the magnitude of the local greenhouse ventilation rate. This paper is based on the use of online monitoring and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques for modeling and model validation. The average relative error (ARE), mean absolute error (MAE), root-mean-square error (RMSE), and determination coefficient (R2) of the temperature were 4.88%, 1.396 °C, 1.428 °C, and 0.9982, respectively. The ARE, MAE, RMSE, and R2 of the velocity were 9.525%, 0.035 m/s, 0.049 m/s, and 0.9869, respectively. Then, the distributions of the wind pressure, Reynolds number (Re), thermal pressure, air density, air speed, and temperature in greenhouses in high-altitude and plain areas were researched to obtain the relevant factors affecting the ventilation rates of greenhouses in high-altitude areas. In addition, correlation analyses were conducted for five variables affecting the ventilation rate: the inlet velocity, the temperature difference between the inside and outside of the greenhouse, the air density difference between the inside and outside of the greenhouse, total indoor radiation, and the internal heat source of the crop, and the coefficients of their correlations with the greenhouse ventilation rate were 1.0, −0.83, −0.72, −0.72, and 0.68, respectively. A natural ventilation rate model for plateau areas was developed, with the ARE, RMSE, and R2 between the sample values and fitted values determined to be 4.55%, 0.543 m3/s, and 0.9997, respectively. The model was validated by predicting the greenhouse ventilation rate in winter (3 January 2022), and the ARE, RMSE, and R2 of the sample values and predicted values were 9.726%, 8.435 m3/s, and 0.9901, respectively. This study provides a theoretical basis for further research on greenhouse ventilation characteristics in high-altitude areas.

Understanding the dynamics of lung microbiota in tuberculosis patients, especially those who cannot be confirmed bacteriologically in clinical practice, is imperative for accurate diagnosis and effective treatment. This study aims to characterize the distinct lung microbial features between bacteriologically confirmed and negative tuberculosis patients to understand the influence of microbiota on tuberculosis patients. We collected specimens of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from 123 tuberculosis patients. Samples were subjected to metagenomic next-generation sequencing to reveal the lung microbial signatures. By combining conventional bacterial detection and metagenomic sequencing, 101/123 (82%) tuberculosis patients were bacteriologically confirmed. In addition to Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Staphylococcus aureus, Kluyveromyces lactis, and Pyricularia pennisetigena were also enriched in the bacteriological confirmation group. In contrast, Haemophilus parainfluenzae was enriched in the bacteriologically negative group. Besides, microbial interaction exhibits a different state between bacteriologically confirmed and negative tuberculosis patients. Mycobacterium tuberculosis was confirmed correlated with clinical characteristics such as albumin and chest cavities. Our study comprehensively demonstrates the correlation between unique features of lung microbial dynamics and the clinical characteristics of tuberculosis patients, suggesting the importance of studying the pulmonary microbiome in tuberculosis disease and providing new insights for future precision diagnosis and treatment.

Water and energy are critical resources for human well-being. The quantification and explanation of the water–energy nexus is important to enrich our understanding of sustainable utilization of water and energy resources in a unified framework. Herein, from the perspective of production efficiency, this study investigates the water–energy nexus in China’s industrial sector by developing a network data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach. Under two practical principles, we evaluate the water and energy usage efficiencies as well as give projection points in terms of industrial production and wastewater treatment processes for 30 provinces or urban areas in China during 2011–2015. The results show that the overall efficiency values of most provinces in the industrial water–energy nexus system are high although the efficiency value of each province fluctuates up and down in the sample period. When comparing two subsystems, for most provinces, the sub-efficiencies of the industrial production subsystem are relatively higher than those of the wastewater treatment subsystem under the economic priority principle or environment priority principle. Considering the projection points, the potential improvement space of the environment priority strategy is higher than that of the economic priority strategy. Based on the empirical results, relevant policy suggestions are provided to improve the provincial or urban industrial water–energy nexus system in reality.

Weak electron-phonon scattering that can enable long-lived hot electrons in semiconductors is of interest in hot carrier solar cells. Here, the authors report copper-doped colloidal cadmium-selenide quantum dots with hot electron lifetime extended by more than 30-fold compared to undoped dots.

Thermal expansion coefficient (CTE) is a critical parameter of gun propellant because of its major role in fabrication, storage and combustion performance of the propellant. Further, controlling the CTE of the propellant is an effective solution to improve its loading density. Therefore, it is important to understand the thermal expansion of the propellant. To obtain the linear CTE of insensitive gun propellant, different weight percentages of NQ are added to the B# double-base absorbent propellant, the thermal mechanical analyzer (TMA) is employed to estimate their dimensional change over the temperature range of 213–323 K. The pure NQ flaky gun propellant exhibits a negative thermal expansion with a linear CTE of −2.006 × 10−4 mm/mm K−1. The results show that the linear CTE of the B# double-base absorbent propellant is decreased by 53.74% as the concentration of NQ is increased to 30%, whereas the glass transition temperature increases with increasing the NQ content. Keywords: Flaky gun propellant, Coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), Negative thermal expansion, Nitroguanidine (NQ), Glass transition temperature

Abstract Dual-specificity phosphatases (DUSPs) are a subset of protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs), many of which dephosphorylate the residues of phosphor-serine/threonine and phosphor-tyrosine on mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), and hence are also referred to as MAPK phosphatases (MKPs). Homologue of Vaccinia virus H1 phosphatase gene clone 5 (HVH-5), also known as DUSP8, is a unique member of the DUSPs family of phosphatases. Accumulating evidence has shown that DUSP8 plays an important role in phosphorylation-mediated signal transduction of MAPK signaling ranging from cell oxidative stress response, cell apoptosis and various human diseases. It is generally believed that DUSP8 exhibits significant dephosphorylation activity against JNK, however, with the deepening of research, plenty of new literature reports that DUSP8 also has effective dephosphorylation activity on p38 MAPK and ERKs, successfully affects the transduction of MAPKs pathway, indicating that DUSP8 presents a unknown diversity of DUSPs family on distinct corresponding dephosphorylated substrates in different biological events. Therefore, the in-depth study of DUSP8 not only throws a new light on the multi-biological function of DUSPs, but also is much valuable for the reveal of complex pathobiology of clinical diseases. In this review, we provide a detail overview of DUSP8 phosphatase structure, biological function and expression regulation, as well as its role in related clinical human diseases, which might be help for the understanding of biological function of DUSP8 and the development of prevention, diagnosis and therapeutics in related human diseases.

Environmental problems caused by traditional power production and the unbalanced distribution of energy resources and demand limit the development of sustainable societies. A feasible method to optimize the resource allocation has been proposed, and it involves cross-border and cross-regional electricity transactions. However, the uncertainty of renewable energy and the specific features of the cross-border electricity market are key issues which need to be considered in the trading mechanism design. Based on this, this paper sets up a long-term cross-border electricity trading model considering the uncertainty of renewable energy. First, annual transactions are matched according to the declared data of bidders with consideration of cross-border interconnection development benefits, potential benefit risks, and transmission costs. Second, for annual contract decomposition, the model uses the minimum generation cost function with a penalty item for power shortages to allocate electricity to each month. Additionally, the scenario reduction algorithm is combined with the unit commitment to construct a stochastic generation plan. Finally, a case study of the numerical results for the multinational electricity market in northeast Asia is used to show that the proposed trading model is feasible for cross-border electricity trading with high penetration of renewable energy. Keywords: Global energy interconnection, Pumped storage, Uncertainty, Scenario reduction, Stochastic programming

Static traffic assignment aims to disclose the spatial distribution of vehicular flow over a transportation network subject to given traffic demands, and plays an essential role in transportation engineering. User-optimal pattern adheres the individual rationality of motorists, in which everyone chooses a route that minimizes his own travel cost, while considering congestion effects influenced by the aggregated movement of vehicles. User optimal traffic assignment, which is also known as the user equilibrium, entails solving an optimization problem with a strictly convex objective function and linear constraints. However, the performances of general-purpose solvers are quite disappointing. This paper proposes two highly efficient computation models for the user equilibrium problem. The first one exploits the second-order cone reformulation of a convex power function, resulting in a second-order cone program, and no approximation is incurred. The second one approximates the convex objective function using a piece-wise linear function, and comes down to a linear program. An adaptive path generation oracle is devised in order to circumvent path enumeration in problem setup. Case studies demonstrate that the proposed method can deal with large-scale transportation systems, and outperforms the most popular iterative algorithm in the literature.

Greenhouse technology has advanced over the past few decades in terms of environmental control (e.g., indoor temperature, relative humidity, and CO2 concentration). Ventilation is an effective way to adjust the indoor climate. Natural ventilation has gained significant research attention recently because of its low energy requirement. To evaluate the ventilation effectiveness, the ventilation rate is often used. This review summarizes the published review papers related to greenhouse ventilation. Ventilation models are reported under different conditions, including wind-induced, buoyancy-induced, and combined effects-induced ventilation in greenhouses. The influencing factors are described, such as the wind and buoyancy strength and distribution, greenhouse geometry, and vent arrangement. Various methods assessing natural ventilation in greenhouses are introduced, consisting of tracer gas techniques, the pressure difference method, the energy balance method, the emptying fluid-filling box method, and numerical simulation. The values of the key coefficients deduced and used in the literature are listed. This paper reports what has been done in the world and where we can start to develop dynamic ventilation models for solar and tunnel-type greenhouses in China. Further valuable investigations are discussed. The pressure distribution function in greenhouses with horizontal openings, a model for cross-ventilation induced by combined wind and buoyancy force, and an analytical plant-considered ventilation model with higher applicability are described. To ensure the accuracy of the ventilation models, other environmental variables, especially geography-dependent ones, can be added. More criteria are suggested to evaluate the ventilation performance rather than the ventilation rate to provide a comprehensive assessment.

Tropical cyclone-induced upwelling has an important influence on ocean temperature and chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentrations, which are modified by the existence of mesoscale eddies. This paper investigates the regional dynamics and associated variability in temperature and Chl-a during the passage of three typhoons (Kammuri, Nuri, and Hagupit) with similar tracks in the northern South China Sea (SCS) during 2008 using remote sensing and in situ observations. The measurements of wind and sea surface temperature obtained by a buoy and satellite were found to be similar, and both showed that typhoons have prominent impacts on the ocean’s upper layer. Sea surface cooling is first identified during the passage of each typhoon, particularly on the right side of typhoon tracks. Increased Chl-a concentrations were observed in the surrounding areas after the passage of typhoons Nuri and Hagupit, with large offshore blooms (Chl-a increases of 0.27–0.33 mg m−3) identified along the tracks of Nuri and Hagupit 3 to 4 days after their passage. Such blooms are highly dependent on the cooling associated with typhoon-induced mixing and upwelling. The pre-existing eddies modified the surface variations, and a perfect match was identified between the polarities of the eddies and the ocean surface changes. An anomalously high offshore Chl-a enhancement entrained by a cyclonic eddy occurred along the track of Nuri 4 days after its passage; in this instance, typhoon-induced upwelling was reinforced by the cyclonic eddy. In comparison, typhoon-induced upwelling is inhibited by anticyclonic eddies, resulting in much less prominent changes. The combination of typhoon winds and eddies can modify the productivity of marine phytoplankton, and a comprehensive understanding of typhoon-induced dynamics will aid in understanding ecosystem responses to typhoons.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is a common aggressive disease worldwide which usually progresses into incurable castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) in most cases after 18–24 months treatment. Androgen receptor (AR) has been considered as a crucial factor involved in CRPC and the study of AR as a potential therapeutic target in CRPC may be helpful in disease control and life-cycle management. In this study, we identified a potent small molecule compound, HG122, that suppressed CRPC cells proliferation and metastasis, and inhibited tumor growth both in subcutaneous and orthotopic tumor model. In addition, HG122 reduced the mRNA expression of PSA and TMPRSS2 which are target genes of AR, resulting in cell growth inhibition and metastasis suppression of CRPC, without affecting the expression of AR mRNA level. Mechanically, HG122 promoted AR protein degradation through the proteasome pathway impairing the AR signaling pathway. In conclusion, HG122 overcomes enzalutamide (ENZ) resistance in CRPC both in vitro and in vivo, thus suggesting HG122 is a potential candidate for the clinical prevention and treatment of CRPC.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged around December 2019 and have become a global epidemic disease currently. Specific antibodies against SAS-COV-2 could be detected in COVID-19 patients’ serum or plasma, but the clinical values of these antibodies as well as the effects of clinical drugs on humoral responses have not been fully demonstrated. In this study, 112 plasma samples were collected from 36 patients diagnosed with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 in the Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University. The IgG and IgM antibodies against receptor binding domain (RBD) and spike protein subunit 1 (S1) of SAS-COV-2 were detected by ELISA. We found that COVID-19 patients generated specific antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 after infection, and the levels of anti-RBD IgG within 2 to 3 weeks from onset were negatively associated with the time of positive-to-negative conversion of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid. Patients with severe symptoms had higher levels of anti-RBD IgG in 2 to 3 weeks from onset. The use of chloroquine did not significantly influence the patients’ antibody titer but reduced C-reaction protein (CRP) level. Using anti-viral drugs (lopinavir/ritonavir or arbidol) reduced antibody titer and peripheral lymphocyte count. While glucocorticoid therapy developed lower levels of peripheral lymphocyte count and higher levels of CRP, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), α-Hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase(α-HBDH), total bilirubin (TBIL), direct bilirubin (DBIL). From these results, we suggested that the anti-RBD IgG may provide an early protection of host humoral responses against SAS-COV-2 infection within 2 to 3 weeks from onset, and clinical treatment with different drugs displayed distinct roles in humoral and inflammatory responses.

We previously reported the elevated expression of circ_0057558 in prostate cancer tissues and cell lines. Here, we aimed to determine the biological function of circ_0057558 in prostate cancer. In the current study, circ_0057558 knockdown in prostate cancer cells significantly repressed cell proliferation and colony formation, but promoted cell arrest and enhanced the sensitivity to docetaxel. Bioinformatics analysis prediction and RNA-pull down assay identified miR-206 as the potential binding miRNA of circ_0057558. A negative correlation was observed between the expression of miR-206 and circ_0057558 in prostate cancer tissues. miR-206 mimics rescued the function of circ_0057558 overexpression on prostate cancer cells. Further, the bioinformatics analysis and luciferase assay suggested that miR-206 may target ubiquitin-specific peptidase 33 (USP33). USP33 mRNA expression has negative correlation with miR-206 expression and positive correlation with circ_0057558 expression in prostate cancer tissues. USP33 overexpression partially blocked the effects of miR-206 mimics on prostate cell proliferation. USP33 could bind and deubiquitinate c-Myc. Increased c-Myc protein by circ_0057558 overexpression was partially reversed by miR-206 mimics. The proliferation inhibition activity of MYC inhibitor 361 (MYCi361) was more prominent in primary prostate cancer cells and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) model with higher level of circ_0057558. Collectively, circ_0057558 gives an impetus to cell proliferation and cell cycle control in prostate cancer cell lines by sponging miR-206 and positively regulating the transcription of the miR-206 target gene USP33.

BackgroundHuman adenoviruses (HAdV) infection caused pneumonia remains a major threat to global children health. Currently, diagnosis of severe HAdV pneumonia in children is hampered by the lack of specific biomarkers. Also, the severity of adenovirus pneumonia in pediatric patients is generally based on clinical features and existing biomarkers do not reliably correlate to clinical severity. Here, we asked whether local and systemic inflammatory mediators could act as biomarkers predicting severe HAdV pneumonia in children.MethodsTotally 37 common inflammatory protein levels were determined by Luminex assay in plasma and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) from pediatric patients who were diagnosed with HAdV pneumonia, and their correlation with the disease severity and lung lesion were assessed using statistical and bioinformatic analysis.ResultsAmong 37 inflammatory cytokines, the protein levels of 4 TNF superfamily (TNFSF) members and their receptors (TNF receptor superfamily, TNFRSF) [TNFSF13B, TNFSF14, sTNF-R1 and sTNF-R2] in the plasma and 7 TNFSF/TNFRSF members [TNFSF12, TNFSF13, TNFSF13B, TNFSF14, TNFRSF8, sTNF-R1, and sTNF-R2] in the BAL were enhanced in patients with HAdV pneumonia compared with control subjects with airway foreign body. Moreover, the protein levels of all the tested TNFSF/TNFRSF members (except TNFSF12) were elevated in the BAL of severe group compared with non-severe HAdV pneumonia patients, while only TNFSF13B and TNFSF14 were dramatically increased in the plasma of severe cases, and positively related to the plasma CRP levels. In addition, ROC analysis indicated that TNFSF13B and TNFSF14 displayed a great potential to predict severe HAdV pneumonia.ConclusionIn pediatric HAdV pneumonia, TNFSF/TNFRSF members function as key molecules in local and systemic inflammatory network, and the plasma TNFSF13B and TNFSF14 may be the potential local and systemic inflammatory indicators of severe HAdV pneumonia in pediatric patients.

Severe community-acquired pneumonia (sCAP) early in life is a leading cause of morbidity, mortality, and irreversible sequelae. Herein, we report the clinical, etiological, and immunological characteristics of 62 children age

Mid-infrared (MIR) ultrashort laser pulses have a wide range of applications in the fields of environmental monitoring, laser medicine, food quality control, strong-field physics, attosecond science, and some other aspects. Recent years have seen great developments in MIR laser technologies. Traditional solid-state and fiber lasers focus on the research of the short-wavelength MIR region. However, due to the limitation of the gain medium, they still cannot cover the long-wavelength region from 8 to 20 µm. This paper summarizes the developments of 8–20 μm MIR ultrafast laser generation via difference frequency generation (DFG) and reviews related theoretical models. Finally, the feasibility of MIR power scaling by nonlinear-amplification DFG and methods for measuring the power of DFG-based MIR are analyzed from the author’s perspective.

Mastitis is an economically important disease in dairy cows, which is often caused by Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). Selenium is an indispensable element for physiological function and contributes to reduce injury of the mammary glands in mastitis. However, adequate sources of selenium have always been an important consideration for livestock. Therefore, the study aimed to explore the protective effect and mechanism of Selenohomolanthionine (SeHLan) on mastitis induced by S. aureus. The S. aureus-induced rat model was established and three doses (0.2, 2, 20 μg/kg body weight/day) of dietary OS were supplemented. The bacterial load, histopathology, and myeloperoxidase (MPO) of the mammary glands were performed and determined. Cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-1β, TNF-α, and IL-6, were detected using qRT-PCR. The key proteins of NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways were analyzed by Western blot. The results revealed that OS supplementation could reduce the recruitment of neutrophils and macrophages in mammary tissues, but did not decrease S. aureus load in the tissues. The overexpression levels of IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-6 induced by S. aureus were inhibited after OS treatment. Furthermore, the increased phosphorylation of NF-κB and MAPKs proteins were also suppressed. The results suggest that dietary supplementation with adequate OS during pregnancy contributes to protect the mammary glands from injury caused by S. aureus and alleviate the inflammatory response.

Schistosomes infect more than 200 million people worldwide, and globally, over 700 million people are at risk of infection. The snail Biomphalaria straminea, as one of the intermediate hosts of Schistosoma mansoni, consecutively invaded Hong Kong in 1973, raising great concern in China. In this study, a malacological survey was conducted over a period of four years, and investigations were performed on the mechanism of susceptibility of B. straminea to S. mansoni. B. straminea was investigated in China from 2014 to 2018. Out of 185 investigated sites, 61 were positive for stages of black B. straminea (BBS), which shows pigmented spots. Twenty of the 61 sites were positive for red B. straminea (RBS), which is partially albino and red colored. Phylogenetic analyses based on cox1 and 18S rRNA sequences demonstrated that both phenotypes were clustered with Brazilian strains. No S. mansoni infections were detected in field-collected snail. However, in laboratory experiments, 4.17% of RBS were susceptible to a Puerto Rican strain of S. mansoni, while BBS was not susceptible. The highest susceptibility rate (70.83%) was observed in the F2 generation of RBS in lab. The density of RBS has increased from south to north and from west to east in Guangdong since 2014. Five tyrosinase tyrosine metabolism genes were upregulated in BBS. Transcriptome comparisons of RBS and BBS showed that ficolin, C1q, MASP-like, and membrane attack complex (MAC)/perforin models of the complement system were significantly upregulated in BBS. Our study demonstrated that B. straminea is widely distributed in Hong Kong and Guangdong Province, which is expanding northwards very rapidly as a consequence of its adaptation to local environments. Our results suggest that B. straminea from South China is susceptible to S. mansoni, implying the high potential for S. mansoni transmission and increased S. mansoni infection risk in China.

The strain sensor based on microwave patch antenna is proposed to monitor structural strain in structural health monitoring. When patch antenna experiences deformation, the resonant frequency of patch antenna will shift. With these characteristics, the patch antenna can operate as both the strain-sensing element and communication component. This article chooses an RT-5880 rectangular patch antenna for strain measurement, focusing on its sensing performance. For distinguishing the influence of deformation in the antenna’s length direction and width direction, the numerical simulation is implemented, and then two kinds of laboratory experiments are conducted. The first approach is to paste antennas in longitudinal and transverse ways and solve the equation set. The other approach is to design another patch antenna with narrow width and compare the test results with the wide one. All results show that the influence of deformation in wide direction on sensitivity can be neglected, and the resonant frequency shift has a good linear relationship with the strain of antenna in length direction.

Accumulating research has documented that microRNA-21 (miR-21) plays an important role in the development of human colorectal carcinoma (CRC). Our recent work also showed that antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) against miR-21 can impair the growth of CRC cells in vitro. However, the potential role of miR-21 in gene therapy against CRC remains to be fully elucidated. Here, we further observed the effect of ASOs against miR-21 on the growth and metastasis of CRC in vivo using a xenograft model of human CRC. We found that ASOs could effectively inhibit the growth and metastasis of CRC in vivo, accompanied by downregulated expression of miR-21 and reduced transduction of the AKT and ERK pathway. Mechanically, global gene expression analysis showed that the expression of DUSP8, a novel target of miR-21, was upregulated in tumor mass. Furthermore, overexpression of DUSP8 could remarkably suppress the proliferation and migration of CRC cells in vitro. Finally, downregulation of DUSP8 could abrogate the effects of ASOs against miR-21 on the proliferation and migration of CRC cells, as well as altered transduction of the AKT and ERK signaling pathway. Together, these data suggest that ASOs against miRNAs are an attractive and potential therapeutic for the treatment of human CRC and warrant further development. Keywords: miR-21, ASOs, colorectal carcinoma, growth, DUSP8

Background/Aims: Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the main cancers that damage males’ health severely with high morbidity and mortality, but there is still no ideal molecular marker for the diagnosis and prognosis of prostate cancer. Methods: To determine whether the differentially expressed circRNAs in prostate cancer can serve as novel biomarkers for prostate cancer diagnosis, we screened differentially expressed circRNAs using SBC-ceRNA array in 4 pairs of prostate tumor and paracancerous tissues. A circRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory network for the differential circRNAs and their host genes was constructed by Cytoscape3.5.1 software. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis (qRT-PCR) was performed to confirm the microarray data. Results: We found 1021 differentially expressed circRNAs in PCa tumor using SBC-ceRNA array and confirmed the expression of circ_0057558, circ_0062019 and SLC19A1 in PCa cell lines and tumor tissues through qRT-PCR analysis. We demonstrated that combination of PSA level and two differentially expressed circRNAs showed significantly increased AUC, sensitivity and specificity (0.938, 84.5% and 90.9%, respectively) than PSA alone (AUC of serum PSA was 0.854). Moreover, circ_0057558 was correlated positively with total cholesterol. The functional network of circRNA-miRNA-mRNA analysis showed that circ_0057558 and circ_0034467 regulated miR-6884, and circ_0062019 and circ_0060325 regulated miR-5008. Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that differentially expressed circRNAs (circ_0062019 and circ_0057558) and host gene SLC19A1 of circ_0062019 could be used as potential novel biomarkers for prostate cancer.

Abstract Background The specific interactions of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), and the lung microbiota in infection are entirely unexplored. Studies in cancer and other infectious diseases suggest that there are important exchanges occurring between host and microbiota that influence the immunological landscape. This can result in alterations in immune regulation and inflammation both locally and systemically. To assess whether Mtb infection modifies the lung microbiome, and identify changes in microbial abundance and diversity as a function of pulmonary inflammation, we compared infected and uninfected lung lobe washes collected serially from 26 macaques by bronchoalveolar lavage over the course of infection. Results We found that Mtb induced an initial increase in lung microbial diversity at 1 month post infection that normalized by 5 months of infection across all macaques. Several core genera showed global shifts from baseline and throughout infection. Moreover, we identified several specific taxa normally associated with the oral microbiome that increased in relative abundance in the lung following Mtb infection, including SR1, Aggregatibacter, Leptotrichia, Prevotella, and Campylobacter. On an individual macaque level, we found significant heterogeneity in both the magnitude and duration of change within the lung microbial community that was unrelated to lung inflammation and lobe involvement as seen by positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) imaging. By comparing microbial interaction networks pre- and post-infection using the predictive algorithm SPIEC-EASI, we observe that extra connections are gained by Actinomycetales, the order containing Mtb, in spite of an overall reduction in the number of interactions of the whole community post-infection, implicating Mtb-driven ecological reorganization within the lung. Conclusions This study is the first to probe the dynamic interplay between Mtb and host microbiota longitudinally and in the macaque lung. Our findings suggest that Mtb can alter the microbial landscape of infected lung lobes and that these interactions induce dysbiosis that can disrupt oral-airway boundaries, shift overall lung diversity, and modulate specific microbial relationships. We also provide evidence that this effect is heterogeneous across different macaques. Overall, however, the changes to the airway microbiota after Mtb infection were surprisingly modest, despite a range of Mtb-induced pulmonary inflammation in this cohort of macaques.

The technique of targeted expression of interesting genes, including distinct delivery systems and specific gene promoter-operating expression, is an important strategy for gene therapy against cancers. Up to now, extensive literature documented the efficacy of distinct delivery systems, such as the liposome system, nano-particle system, polyetherimide (PEI) system, and so on, in cancer gene therapy. However, a related document on the potential value of using a specific gene promoter, such as a tumor suppressor, in cancer gene therapy was still scary. The main obstacle might be that the selection of an ideal gene promoter to operate interesting gene expression in cancer gene therapy is still not fully understood. Therefore, many efforts need to be done in order to make it a real power tool for the human clinical treatment of cancer patients. The purpose of this review is to clarify the current state and some problematics in development of promoter-operating targeted expression of interesting genes and highlight its potential in cancer gene therapy.

AbstractIn recent years, the global energy interconnection (GEI) has more and more profound influence around the world, which is a highly practical way for humans to handle the energy crisis. In the studies of GEI, the economic dispatch (ED) is a basic and important content. In this paper, a model of dynamic economic dispatch (DED) of GEI is presented, which include the renewable energy generation. The objective function of this model is composed of the operating costs and the renewable energy curtailment. A series of case studies for the transnational energy interconnection in Northeast Asia are given to verify the superiority of GEI and for further analysis. Keywords: Global energy interconnection, Dynamic economic dispatch, Renewable energy resources

Conventional state estimators, such as the weighted least squares estimator, have been widely employed for state estimation in power systems. However, these methods have difficulty addressing the leverage effect and rejecting erroneous measurements simultaneously. In light of these factors, this paper proposes a multi-objective robust state estimator for systems measured by phasor measurement units (PMUs) to eliminate the leverage effect and reject erroneous measurements automatically. To reduce the computational complexity, the multi-objective state estimation is solved by the normal boundary intersection method, and is then transformed into a series of single-objective linear optimization problems. Numerical simulations based on the IEEE 14-bus system and an actual provincial 760-bus system monitored by PMUs are conducted to verify the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed estimator compared with two other estimators.

In order to address the inconvenience of having to stop to charge the battery of an electric vehicle, wireless on-road charging technology, also known as charge-while-driving, has garnered much attention in recent studies. However, wireless charging devices may have a higher charge cost than traditional plug-in charging devices. Therefore, a multi-objective route optimization model based on model predictive control is established in this paper to determine an optimal route for drivers to coordinate wireless and plug-in charging strategies. To reduce the complexity of the proposed model due to its bilinear terms, the Big-M approach is employed to exactly linearize the bilinear terms by introducing dummy variables and additional constraints, which leads to a mixed integer linear programming model that can be solved efficiently. Finally, two systems are tested, including a real-world road map in Xi'an city to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

The detailed topology of renewable resource bases may have the impact on the optimal power flow (OPF) of the voltage source converter (VSC)‐based high‐voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission network. To address this issue, this study develops an OPF with the hybrid VSC‐HVDC transmission and active distribution networks to optimally schedule the generation output and voltage regulation of both networks, which leads to a non‐convex programming model. Furthermore, the non‐convex power flow equations are based on the second‐order cone programming (SOCP) relaxation approach. Thus, the proposed model can be relaxed to an SOCP that can be tractably solved. Numerical results on a three‐bus VSC‐HVDC network and the European system verify the effectiveness of the proposed model and suggest that the proposed model can guarantee the voltage magnitudes of both networks within the allowable ranges.

Abstract This systematic review and meta-analysis was designed to investigate whether maternal psychological stress and recent life events are associated with an increased risk of miscarriage. A literature search was conducted to identify studies reporting miscarriage in women with and without history of exposure to psychological stress (the only exposure considered). The search produced 1978 studies; 8 studies were suitable for analysis. A meta-analysis was performed using a random-effects model with effect sizes weighted by the sampling variance. The risk of miscarriage was significantly higher in women with a history of exposure to psychological stress (OR 1.42, 95% CI 1.19–1.70). These findings remained after controlling for study type (cohort and nested case-control study OR 1.33 95% CI 1.14–1.54), exposure types (work stress OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.10–1.47), types of controls included (live birth OR 2.82 95% CI: 1.64–4.86). We found no evidence that publication bias or study heterogeneity significantly influenced the results. Our finding provides the most robust evidence to date, that prior psychological stress is harmful to women in early pregnancy.

Background/Aims: Overproliferation of mesangial cells was believed to play an important role in the progress of diabetic nephropathy, one of the primary complications of diabetes. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a well-known and pungent gas with the distinctive smell of rotten eggs, was discovered to play a protective role in diabetic nephropathy. Methods: MTT assay was used to examine the viability of mesangial cells. Small interfering RNA was used to knock down the expression of TLR4 while specific inhibitor LY294002 to suppress the function of PI3K. H2S generation rate was determined by a H2S micro-respiration sensor. Results: Glucose of 25mM induced significant mesangial cells proliferation, which was accomplished by significantly inhibited endogenous H2S synthesis. And exogenous H2S treatment by NaHS markedly mitigated the overproliferation of mouse mesangial cells. Furthermore, it was found that H2S deficiency could result in TLR4 activation. And H2S supplementation remarkably inhibited TLR4 expression and curbed the mesangial cell overproliferation. Besides, PI3K/Akt pathway inhibition also significantly ameliorated the cell overproliferation. Conclusion: High glucose (HG) induces mouse mesangial cell overproliferation via inhibition of hydrogen sulfide synthesis in a TLR-4-dependent manner. And PI3K/Akt pathway might also play a vital part in the HG-induced mesangial cell overproliferation.

ABSTRACT Factors that contribute to enhanced susceptibility to severe bacterial disease after influenza virus infection are not well defined but likely include the microbiome of the respiratory tract. Vaccination against influenza, while having variable effectiveness, could also play a role in microbial community stability. We collected nasopharyngeal samples from 215 individuals infected with influenza A/H3N2 or influenza B virus and profiled the microbiota by target sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. We identified signature taxonomic groups by performing linear discriminant analysis and effective size comparisons (LEfSe) and defined bacterial community types using Dirichlet multinomial mixture (DMM) models. Influenza infection was shown to be significantly associated with microbial composition of the nasopharynx according to the virus type and the vaccination status of the patient. We identified four microbial community types across the combined cohort of influenza patients and healthy individuals with one community type most representative of the influenza virus-infected group. We also identified microbial taxa for which relative abundance was significantly higher in the unvaccinated elderly group; these taxa include species known to be associated with pneumonia. IMPORTANCE Our results suggest that there is a significant association between the composition of the microbiota in the nasopharynx and the influenza virus type causing the infection. We observe that vaccination status, especially in more senior individuals, also has an association with the microbial community profile. This indicates that vaccination against influenza, even when ineffective to prevent disease, could play a role in controlling secondary bacterial complications.

Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is one of the most lethal forms of stroke. From the limited previous studies and our preliminary data, white matter is considered a key predictor of the outcome and potential target of recovery. The traditional ICH model induced by injection of autologous blood or bacterial collagenase into striatum (ST) demonstrated a spontaneous functional recovery within one or 2 months. We hypothesis that an internal capsule (IC) lesion might lead to long-term axonal damage and long lasting functional deficits. Thus in this study, a modified internal capsule ICH model was conducted in rats, and the axonal damage, neurological deficits, histopathology as well as electrophysiology were characterized. The finding demonstrated that compared to ST group, the modified IC lesioned model exhibited a relatively smaller lesion volume with consistent axonal loss/degeneration and long-lasting neurological dysfunction at 2 months after ICH. Functionally, the impairment of the mNSS, ratio of contralateral forelimb usage, four limb stand index, contralateral duty cycle and ipsilateral SSEPs amplitude remained significant at 56 days. Structurally, the significant loss of PKCγ in ipsilateral cortical spinal tracts of IC group and the consistent axonal degeneration with several axonal retraction bulbs and enlarged tubular space was observed at 56 days after ICH. This study suggested that a modified IC lesioned model was proved to have long lasting neurological deficits. A comprehensive understanding of the dynamic progression after experimental ICH should aid further successful clinic translation in animal ICH studies, and provide new insights into the role of whiter matter injury in the mechanism and therapeutic targets of ICH.