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This study addresses the l² -- l∞ filter design issue for fuzzy Markov stochastic systems with sensor failures and packet dropouts. A more general failure model is used for Markov systems to better describe the sensor failures, and the packet dropouts are assumed to obey a series of Bernoulli processes which are formed into a diagonal matrix. Sufficient condition is established to guarantee that the filtering error system is stochastically stable and achieves the given l² -- l∞ performance. The parameters of the filter are then derived by solving linear matrix inequalities. Simulation results are given to demonstrate the usefulness and availability of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Ginkgo biloba, a typical dioecious plant, is a traditional medicinal plant widely planted. However, it has a long juvenile period, which severely affected the breeding and cultivation of superior ginkgo varieties. Results In order to clarify the complex mechanism of sexual differentiation in G. biloba strobili. Here, a total of 3293 miRNAs were identified in buds and strobili of G. biloba, including 1085 known miRNAs and 2208 novel miRNAs using the three sequencing approaches of transcriptome, small RNA, and degradome. Comparative transcriptome analysis screened 4346 and 7087 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in male buds (MB) _vs_ female buds (FB) and microstrobilus (MS) _vs_ ovulate strobilus (OS), respectively. A total of 6032 target genes were predicted for differentially expressed miRNA. The combined analysis of both small RNA and transcriptome datasets identified 51 miRNA-mRNA interaction pairs that may be involved in the process of G. biloba strobili sexual differentiation, of which 15 pairs were verified in the analysis of degradome sequencing. Conclusions The comprehensive analysis of the small RNA, RNA and degradome sequencing data in this study provided candidate genes and clarified the regulatory mechanism of sexual differentiation of G. biloba strobili from multiple perspectives.

Aims Flowering time has been suggested to be an important adaptive trait during the dispersal of invasive species, and identifying the molecular mechanisms underlying flowering time may provide insight into the local adaptation during the process of invasion. Here, we conducted a preliminary exploration on the genetic basis of the differentiation of flowering time in Ambrosia artemisiifolia. Methods Using relative real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction, we investigated the expression levels of eight floweringrelated genes, including AP1, FT, SOC1, CRY2, FKF1, GI, CO2 and SPY, in leaves and flowers at different time points in individuals from northern Beijing and southern Wuhan populations that exhibit significant differences in flowering times to identify any rhythmic changes in gene expression and their association with differential flowering times. Important Findings The differentiation of flowering time in the A. artemisiifolia populations was closely associated with five genes involved in flowering pathways. The floral pathway integrators FT and SOC1 and floral meristem identity gene AP1 exhibited increased expression during flowering. The photoreceptor CRY2 in the light-dependent pathway and the SPY gene in the gibberellin pathway displayed specific expression patterns over time. In earlier-flowering Beijing plants, CRY2 expression was lower and SPY expression was higher than in Wuhan plants. The expression patterns of these five genes suggest a molecular basis for the differentiation of flowering time in A. artemisiifolia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To investigate whether the measurement of serum zinc may improve the detection of prostate cancer (PCa) in men who had total prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels higher than 4.1 ng/mL. Methods: A mass screening for Pca of 3940 men over 50 years old was undertaken using total serum PSA. Of the 190 men (4.8 %) with elevated PSA, 143 (3.6 %) underwent a transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS)-guided biopsy of the prostate, and 42 men (1 % of total and 29.3 % of men undergoing biopsy) were found to have cancer. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC-AUC) were used to compare the diagnostic power of cancer detection by means of serum zinc, and free PSA/total PSA ratio (f/t). Results: The men with levels of serum zinc that ranged from 40 ng/mL–60 ng/mL, had an age-adjusted odds ratios(OR) of 5.0. A cutoff value of 100 μg/mL for serum zinc concentration provided a sensitivity of 90.5 % and a specificity of 32.7 % in elevated PSA range, and a sensitivity of 93.3 % and specificity of 27.1 % in gray zone, respectively. In the gray zone ranges of 4.1 ng/mL–10.0 ng/mL, the ROC-AUC for zinc was 73.0 % higher than 62.7 % of f/t PSA ratio and 56.7 % of total PSA. Conclusion: Pca displays a lower serum zinc concentration. The measurement of zinc levels improves Pca detection in the gray zone compared with the f/t PSA ratio and total PSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abies alba is native to the mountains of Europe and often used as Christmas trees. In this study, we reported the complete chloroplast genome of A. alba. The complete chloroplast genome is 121,243 bp in length, comprising a large single copy (LSC) region of 67,034 bp, a small single copy (SSC) region of 53,681 bp, and two inverted repeat regions (IRa and IRb) of 264 bp each. The genome contains 114 genes and they were 68 peptide-encoding genes, 35 tRNA genes, four rRNA genes, six open reading frames, and one pseudogene. Loss of ndh genes and inverted repeat sequences were identified in this genome. The phylogenetic analysis confirms that the Abies species are supported as monophyletic with high bootstrap values.

To assess the relationships between the risk factors and the incidence of nonfatal occupational injury of coal mine workers of Shanxi Province.A cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2013 to December 2013, and 4319 workers were recruited from more than 200,000 coal mine employees who are exposed to continuous potential risk of occupational injuries by using a two-stage stratified cluster sampling method. Trained interviewers having necessary medical knowledge conducted face-to-face interviews with the participants. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and the 95% confidence interval (CI).A total number of 3618 effective respondents were got from 4319 participants (83.77%) and the mean age of the participants was 41.5 years with the standard deviation of 8.65. Significant crude odds ratios were observed for all factors considered except for marital status, education, work duration, BMI, EPQ-RSC(P) scale and EPQ-RSC(L) scale. Results from multivariable logistic regression model showed significant adjusted odds ratios for risk factors including gender (female vs male 0.275, 0.094-0.800), age (≥55 vs ≤25yr 0.169, 0.032-0.900), work type (light physical labor vs heavy physical labor 0.504, 0.328-0.774), workplace (underground auxiliary vs underground front-line 0.595, 0.385-0.919), length of shiftwork experience (0~5yr vs no shift 2.075, 1.287-3.344 and ≥15yr vs no shift 2.076, 1.230-3.504) and EPQ-RSC(E) score (extraversion vs introversion 0.538, 0.334-0.867).Several risk factors of nonfatal occupational injury were identified including male, age, heavy physical labor, underground front-line, length of shiftwork experience and introversion. The coal mining enterprises should pay attention to controlling the hazards associated with frontline physical work. Workers' behaviors, life styles and personality traits should also be considered, so that the enterprises could set achievable targets for workers and lessen the exposed period to the risky underground workstation.

This paper investigates the H∞ synchronization of the coronary artery system with input delay and disturbance. We focus on reducing the conservatism of existing synchronization strategies. Base on the triple integral forms of the Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional (LKF), we utilize single and double integral forms of Wirtinger-based inequality to guarantee that the synchronization feedback controller has good performance against time-varying delay and external disturbance. The effectiveness of our strategy can be exhibited by simulations under the different time-varying delays and different disturbances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To examine the anticancer effect of salvianolic acid-A against human small cell lung cancer (SCLC) cells (H-69). Methods: In vitro antiproliferative effect of salvianolic acid against SCLC cell lines was evaluated by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Apoptosis induction by salvianolic acid-A in these cells was measured by videomicroscopy along with fluorescence microscopy using Hoechst 33258 staining. The effect of the compound on mitochondrial membrane potential loss was detected by flow cytometry using rhodamine-123 as fluorescent probe. Gel electrophoresis was used to analyze DNA fragmentation after salvianolic acid treatment. Results: The results revealed that salvianolic acid-A induces dose-dependent as well as timedependent growth inhibitory effects against SCLC cancer cells. Videomicroscopy analysis revealed that SCLC cells became rounded (dead) and refringent after drug treatment which increased with increase in salvianolic acid-A dose. Fluorescence microscopy demonstrated that salvianolic acid-A induced dosedependent chromatin condensation in SCLC cells which is characteristic of apoptosis. DNA fragmentation was induced by various doses of the compound again hinting at apoptosis. Flow cytometry analysis using rhodamine-123 showed that salvianolic acid-A also caused substantial loss of mitochondrial membrane potential. Conclusion: The results suggest that salvianolic acid-A is a potential anticancer and apoptotic agent against drug-resistant small cell lung cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The association between sarcopenia and cardiovascular disease (CVD) is well known. However, the clinical diagnosis of sarcopenia is complex and not suitable for early clinical identification and prevention of CVD. Relative muscle strength (RMS) is a relatively quantitative and straightforward indicator, but its association with CVD remains unclear. Hence, the objective of this research was to investigate the correlation between RMS and CVD incidence., Methods: This was a cross-sectional study, using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) in 2011. CVD events were assessed through self-reported physician diagnoses. The RMS was determined by dividing the maximum grip strength by the appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM). This study used multivariate logistic regression and restricted cubic spline (RCS) curves to explore the correlation between RMS and CVD incidence. Additionally, we conducted subgroup analyses to provide additional evidence supporting the association between the two variables., Results: A total of 8,733 people were included in our study, with 1,152 (13.19%) CVD patients and 7,581 (86.81%) non-CVD patients. When the data were grouped according to quartiles (Q) of RMS, the inverse association between CVD and RMS remained statistically significant even after controlling for all potential confounding factors. Compared with participants in Q1 of RMS, the ORs (95% CIs) of CVD among those in Q2-Q4 were 0.99 (0.83, 1.17), 0.81 (0.67, 0.98), and 0.70 (0.57, 0.85), respectively. Moreover, the RCS results showed a negative linear correlation between the RMS and CVD incidence (P for nonlinearity = 0.555). Subgroup analysis revealed no significant interaction in any of the groups except for the sex group (P for interaction = 0.046)., Conclusion: Our study indicated a stable negative correlation between RMS and CVD incidence. RMS is helpful for the early identification and prevention of CVD., (© 2024. The Author(s).)