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Questions: Differences in the vertical structures of communities, nutrient cycling, multiple diversity attributes, and environmental factors are important forces driving ecosystem multifunctionality. However, the mechanisms underlying these processes remain unclear. Location: The study took place at the Ebinur Lake Wetland Nature Reserve of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. Methods: This study integrated taxonomic diversity, functional diversity, phylogenetic diversity, and environmental factors to evaluate ecosystem multifunctionality and the factors influencing nutrient cycling within 66 dryland communities with different vertical structures. Results: Both unweighted and weighted diversity had significant impacts on ecosystem multifunctionality and the cycling of C, N, and P. However, only weighted diversity had a significant impact on the woody and herb layers. The main factors influencing ecosystem multifunctionality at the community level were soil moisture and functional diversity, whereas those influencing the woody layer were soil moisture and plant functional traits, and those influencing the herb layer were phylogenetic diversity and taxonomic diversity. The multifunctionality of the woody layer and community showed a positive relationship with changes in soil moisture and salinity. Conclusions: The results of the study showed the existence of both mass ratio effects and richness effects of ecosystem multifunctionality at the community level, whereas the woody and herb layers were mainly affected by the complementary effects. Biotic and abiotic factors explained the multifunctionality and nutrient cycling of the ecosystem at the community level to a greater extent than those in the woody and herb layers separately. In addition, biotic and abiotic factors explain ecosystem multifunctionality more than nutrient cycling, and ecosystem multifunctionality was found to explain more than a single nutrient cycle. The multifunctionality of the ecosystem and the ability to restore specific nutrient cycles can be maximized through the hierarchical assessment of community diversity to prevent desertification in drylands.

Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) is a fluoroscopic technique used extensively in interventional radiology for visualizing blood vessels. It has also been used to evaluate blood perfusion. However, the perfusion obtained in previous techniques was extracted from signal intensity rather than by the transport of contrast material (CM) through blood flow. The main aim of this study is to evaluate the morphological effects on the hemodynamics and the CM concentration in the middle cerebral artery (MCA) stenosis. We proposed a quantitative parameter, i.e., contrast material remaining time (CMRT), to describe the variation in the transport of CM over time. Computational fluid dynamics simulations were performed on both reconstructive synthetic and patient-derived models. In the synthetic models, we evaluated the variation of flow patterns and the transport of CM with different degrees of stenosis and the location of the lesion. It was found that an increase in the degree of stenosis (from 30 to 80%) resulted in a significant increase in CMRT at the anterior cerebral artery (ACA) outlet (p = 0.0238) and a significant decrease in CMRT at the MCA outlet (p = 0.012). The patient-derived models were reconstructed from the pre- and post-interventional DSA images of a patient with MCA stenosis. Both blood flow velocity and CMRT increased at the ACA outlet but decreased at the MCA outlet. The perfusion analysis demonstrated that the perfusion function was improved after interventional surgery. In conclusion, changes in stenotic degree at MCA may lead to apparent differences in the hemodynamic distribution and the transport of CM. CMRT could be a quantitative indicator to evaluate the changes in blood perfusion after the intervention for MCA stenosis.

Response times (RTs) facilitate the quantification of underlying cognitive processes in problem-solving behavior. To provide more comprehensive diagnostic feedback on strategy selection and attribute profiles with multistrategy cognitive diagnosis model (CDM) and utilize additional information for item RTs, this study develops a multistrategy cognitive diagnosis modeling framework combined with RTs. The proposed model integrates individual response accuracy and RT into a unified framework to define strategy selection and make it closer to the individual's strategy selection process. Simulation studies demonstrated that the proposed model had reasonable parameter recovery and attribute classification accuracy and outperformed the existing multistrategy CDMs and single-strategy CDMs in terms of performance. Empirical results further illustrated the practical application and the advantages of the proposed model.

Forced-choice (FC) measures have been widely used in many personality or attitude tests as an alternative to rating scales, which employ comparative rather than absolute judgments. Several response biases, such as social desirability, response styles, and acquiescence bias, can be reduced effectively. Another type of data linked with comparative judgments is response time (RT), which contains potential information concerning respondents' decision-making process. It would be challenging but exciting to combine RT into FC measures better to reveal respondents' behaviors or preferences in personality measurement. Given this situation, this study aims to propose a new item response theory (IRT) model that incorporates RT into FC measures to improve personality assessment. Simulation studies show that the proposed model can effectively improve the estimation accuracy of personality traits with the ancillary information contained in RT. Also, an application on a real data set reveals that the proposed model estimates similar but different parameter values compared with the conventional Thurstonian IRT model. The RT information can explain these differences.

AIM: To compare the visual quality between implantable collamer lens(ICL)implantation and FS-LASIK for correcting moderate and high myopia.METHODS: Prospective study. Choose in June 2018 to December 2018 for ICL implantation of 58 patients(116 eyes)and 48 patients(96 eyes)underwent FS-LASIK. The diopter, visual acuity and visual quality of the two groups before and after surgery were analyzed and compared.RESULTS: After 3mo operation, the degree of spherical mirror in the ICL group was higher than that in the FS-LASIK group(0.19±0.22D vs 0.09±0.29D, PP>0.05). The modulation transfer function cut off frequency(MTF cut off), objective scatter index(OSI)and OV9% were significantly better in the ICL group than in the FS-LASIK group, while the SR was lower than the FS-LASIK group. Compared with the former, the MTF cut off was significantly increased in the ICL group, the SR and OSI values were decreased, and the SR value was decreased in the FS-LASIK group(all PCONCLUSION: Both ICL implantation and FS-LASIK can effectively improve the visual acuity and diopter of patients, ICL implantation for patients with moderate and high myopia provides relatively good visual quality.

The increased incidence of macrosomia has caused an enormous burden after the transition from the almost 40-year one-child policy to the universal two-child policy in 2015 and further to the three-child policy in 2021 in China. However, studies on risk factors of macrosomia in multipara under the new fertility policy in China are limited. We aim to explore the incidence and risk factors for macrosomia in multipara to provide the scientific basis for preventing macrosomia in multipara. A multi-center retrospective study was conducted among 6200 women who had two consecutive deliveries in the same hospital and their second newborn was delivered from January to October 2018 at one of 18 hospitals in 12 provinces in China. Macrosomia was defined as birth weight ≥ 4000 g. Logistic regression models were performed to analyze risk factors for macrosomia in multipara. The incidence of macrosomia in multipara was 7.6% (470/6200) and the recurrence rate of macrosomia in multipara was 27.2% (121/445). After adjusting for potential confounders, a higher prepregnancy BMI, higher gestational weight gain, history of macrosomia, a longer gestation in the subsequent pregnancy were independent risk factors of macrosomia in multipara (p < 0.05). Healthcare education and preconception consultation should be conducted for multipara patients with a history of macrosomia to promote maintaining optimal prepregnancy BMI and avoid excessive gestational weight gain to prevent macrosomia.

Computer multistage adaptive test (MST) combines the advantages of paper and pencil-based test (P&P) and computer-adaptive test (CAT). As CAT, MST is adaptive based on modules; as P&P, MST can meet the need of test developers to manage test forms and keep test forms parallel. Cognitive diagnosis (CD) can accurately measure students’ knowledge states (KSs) and provide diagnostic information, which is conducive to student’s self-learning and teacher’s targeted teaching. Although MST and CD have a lot of advantages, many factors prevent MST from applying to CD. In this study, we first attempt to employ automated test assembly (ATA) to achieve the objectives of MST in the application of CD (called CD-MST) via heuristic algorithms. The mean correct response probability of all KSs for each item is used to describe the item difficulty of CD. The attribute reliability in CD is defined as the test quantitative target. A simulation study with the G-DINA model (generalized deterministic input noisy “and” gate model) was carried out to investigate the proposed CD-MST, and the results showed that the assembled panels of CD-MST satisfied the statistical and the non-statistical constraints.

Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire (INQ) is a self-report measure of perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness with five versions in recent studies. There are five versions of INQ. But results from studies using different versions are quite different. Current suicide behavior among teenagers has attracted much attention. But which version is more suitable for teenage samples is still uncertain. It is important to compare the potential differences in different versions of INQ to identify the most psychometrically available version to predict teenagers' acquired capability for suicide and provide them with timely help to reduce teenagers' suicide rates. This study compared the construct validity, internal consistency, validity, and average test information of each version in the sample of teenagers. Results showed the 10-item version provided the most average test information in both thwarted belongingness subscale and perceived burdensomeness subscale, and the INQ-10 is more suitable for teenage samples.

Atherosclerotic plaque rupture is responsible for a majority of acute vascular syndromes and this study aims to develop a prediction tool for plaque progression and rupture. Based on the follow-up coronary intravascular ultrasound imaging data, we performed patient-specific multi-physical modeling study on four patients to obtain the evolutional processes of the microenvironment during plaque progression. Four main pathophysiological processes, i.e., lipid deposition, inflammatory response, migration and proliferation of smooth muscle cells (SMCs), and neovascularization were coupled based on the interactions demonstrated by experimental and clinical observations. A scoring table integrating the dynamic microenvironmental indicators with the classical risk index was proposed to differentiate their progression to stable and unstable plaques. The heterogeneity of plaque microenvironment for each patient was demonstrated by the growth curves of the main microenvironmental factors. The possible plaque developments were predicted by incorporating the systematic index with microenvironmental indicators. Five microenvironmental factors (LDL, ox-LDL, MCP-1, SMC, and foam cell) showed significant differences between stable and unstable group (p < 0.01). The inflammatory microenvironments (monocyte and macrophage) had negative correlations with the necrotic core (NC) expansion in the stable group, while very strong positive correlations in unstable group. The inflammatory microenvironment is strongly correlated to the NC expansion in unstable plaques, suggesting that the inflammatory factors may play an important role in the formation of a vulnerable plaque. This prediction tool will improve our understanding of the mechanism of plaque progression and provide a new strategy for early detection and prediction of high-risk plaques.

As schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) increasingly prevails in the general population, a rapid and comprehensive measurement instrument is imperative to screen individuals at risk for SPD. To address this issue, we aimed to develop a computerized adaptive testing for SPD (CAT-SPD) using a non-clinical Chinese sample (N = 999), consisting of a calibration sample (N1 = 497) and a validation sample (N2 = 502). The item pool of SPD was constructed from several widely used SPD scales and statistical analyses based on the item response theory (IRT) via a calibration sample using a graded response model (GRM). Finally, 90 items, which measured at least one symptom of diagnostic criteria of SPD in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and had local independence, good item fit, high slope, and no differential item functioning (DIF), composed the final item pool for the CAT-SPD. In addition, a simulated CAT was conducted in an independent validation sample to assess the performance of the CAT-SPD. Results showed that the CAT-SPD not only had acceptable reliability, validity, and predictive utility but also had shorter but efficient assessment of SPD which can save significant time and reduce the test burden of individuals with less information loss.

Objective To explore the feasibility of using random forest (RF) machine learning algorithm in assessing normal and malignant peripheral pulmonary nodules based on in vivo endobronchial optical coherence tomography (EB-OCT). Methods A total of 31 patients with pulmonary nodules were admitted to Department of Respiratory Medicine, Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University, and underwent chest CT, EB-OCT and biopsy. Attenuation coefficient and up to 56 different image features were extracted from A-line and B-scan of 1703 EB-OCT images. Attenuation coefficient and 29 image features with significant p-values were used to analyze the differences between normal and malignant samples. A RF classifier was trained using 70% images as training set, while 30% images were included in the testing set. The accuracy of the automated classification was validated by clinically proven pathological results. Results Attenuation coefficient and 29 image features were found to present different properties with significant p-values between normal and malignant EB-OCT images. The RF algorithm successfully classified the malignant pulmonary nodules with sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 90.41%, 77.87% and 83.51% respectively. Conclusion It is clinically practical to distinguish the nature of pulmonary nodules by integrating EB-OCT imaging with automated machine learning algorithm. Diagnosis of malignant pulmonary nodules by analyzing quantitative features from EB-OCT images could be a potentially powerful way for early detection of lung cancer.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is one type of malignancy associated with migration and invasion through a currently unclear mechanism. We previously discovered S100A8/A9 levels were roughly elevated in the plasma of NPC patients as the promising biomarkers. However, their expressions and underlying functions in NPC tissues are still unknown. In the present study, we analyzed 49 NPC tissues and 20 chronic pharyngitis (CP) tissues. Immunohistochemical staining was performed in different tissues and analyzed by the Mann–Whitney U test statistically. Transwell migration and invasion experiments were further performed to determine S100A8/A9 effects on NPC. Our results showed that S100A8/A9 in NPC tissues were significantly higher than those in CP tissues, closely associated with NPC clinical stages. Intriguingly, exogenous S100A8/A9 protein stimulation could dramatically enhance NPC migration and invasion abilities. In addition, p38 MAPK pathway blockade could diminish the migration and invasion of NPC cells stimulated by S100A8/A9 proteins. The downstream tumor invasion and migration associated proteins (e.g., MMP7) were also elevated in NPC tissues, consistent with S100A8/A9 overexpression. Taken together, our present findings suggest that the secreted soluble inflammatory factors S100A8/A9 might promote cancer migration and invasion via the p38 MAPK signaling pathway along with invasion/migration associated proteins overexpression in the tumor microenvironment of NPC. This may shed light on the mechanism understanding of NPC prognosis and provide more novel clues for NPC diagnosis and therapy.

This study was carried out to examine the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) and Social Phobia Scale (SPS) in a sample of 1,001 Chinese college students (male: 34%; female: 66%). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) indicated that the two-factor shortened version of the SIAS-6/SPS-6 fit the data well. In addition, the item response theory (IRT) method confirmed the construct and items for the 12 items of the SIAS-6/SPS-6 with satisfactory discrimination, threshold parameters, and test information curve. It was concluded that the factor structure and psychometric properties of the SIAS-6/SPS-6 support their use for such assessment in a Chinese college sample.

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most prevalent modification in eukaryotic mRNA and potential regulatory functions of m6A have been shown by mapping the RNA m6A modification landscape. m6A modification in active gene regulation manifests itself as altered methylation profiles. The number of reports regarding to the profiling of m6A modification and its potential role in the placenta of preeclampsia (PE) is small. In this work, placental samples were collected from PE and control patients. Expression of m6A-related genes was investigated using quantitative real-time PCR. MeRIP-seq and RNA-seq were performed to detect m6A methylation and mRNA expression profiles. Gene ontology (GO) functional and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses were also conducted to explore the modified genes and their clinical significance. Our findings show that METTL3 and METTL14 were up-regulated in PE. In total, 685 m6A peaks were differentially expressed as determined by MeRIP-seq. Altered peaks of m6A-modified transcripts were primarily associated with nitrogen compound metabolic process, positive regulation of vascular-associated smooth muscle cell migration, and endoplasmic reticulum organisation. The m6A hyper-methylated genes of Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway, mTOR signalling pathway, and several cancer-related pathways may contribute to PE. We also verified that the significant increase of HSPA1A mRNA and protein expression was regulated by m6A modification, suggesting m6A plays a key role in the regulation of gene expression. Our data provide novel information regarding m6A modification alterations in PE and help our understanding of the pathogenesis of PE.

ObjectiveTo investigate the safety and efficacy of abdominal radical hysterectomy (ARH) and laparoscopic radical hysterectomy (LRH) in managing early-stage cervical cancer.MethodsThis retrospective study comprised patients with FIGO stage IA1 with lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI), IA2, and IB1 cervical cancer who underwent radical hysterectomy performed by a single gynecologic oncology team at Peking Union Medical College Hospital from 2000–2018. The clinicopathological characteristics, surgical outcomes, and survival outcomes were compared between the two groups.ResultsThe ARH and LRH groups consisted of 84 and 172 patients, respectively. The 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) rates were 89.3 and 95.9% in the ARH and LRH groups (P = 0.122, adjusted HR = 0.449, 95% CI: 0.162–1.239), respectively, while the 5-year overall survival (OS) rates were 95.2 and 98.8%, respectively (P = 0.578, adjusted HR = 0.650, 95% CI: 0.143–2.961). The presence of more than two comorbidities led to poor OS (P = 0.011). For patients with a BMI greater than 24 kg/m2, LRH was associated with better PFS (P = 0.039). Compared with ARH, LRH was associated with a shorter operation time (248.8 vs. 176.9 min, P < 0.001), less blood loss (670.2 vs. 200.9 ml, P < 0.001), and lower postoperative ileus rates (2.4% vs. 0%, P = 0.042). No significant differences were observed in PFS and OS between 2006–2012, 2013–2015, and 2016–2018 in the LRH group (P = 0.126 and P = 0.583).ConclusionCompared with ARH, LRH yields similar survival and improved surgical outcomes in patients with early-stage cervical cancer. LRH is not inferior to ARH for select cervical cancer patients treated by a single team with adequate laparoscopy experience.

ObjectiveTo detect the individual’s severity of alcohol use disorder (AUD) in an effective and accurate manner, this study aimed to build an item bank for AUD screening and derive the computerized adaptive testing (CAT) version of AUD (CAT-AUD).MethodsThe initial CAT-AUD item bank was selected from the Chinese version of the questionnaires related to AUD according to the DSM-5 criteria. Then 915 valid Chinese samples, covering the healthy individuals and the AUD high-risk individuals, completed the initial CAT-AUD item bank. By testing the unidimensionality, test fit, item fit, discrimination parameter and differential item functioning of the initial item bank, the final CAT-AUD item bank confirming to the requirements of the item response theory (IRT) were obtained. Subsequently, the CAT-AUD simulation study based on the real data of the final item bank conducted to detect characteristics, reliability, validity, and predictive utility (sensitivity and specificity) of CAT-AUD.ResultsThe CAT-AUD item bank meeting the IRT psychometric measurement requirements could be well geared into the graded response model. The Pearson’s correlation between the estimated theta via CAT-AUD and the estimated theta via the full-length item bank reached 0.95, and the criterion-related validity was 0.63. CAT-AUD can provide highly reliable test results for subjects whose theta above −0.8 with an average of 16 items. Besides, the predictive utility of CAT-AUD was better than AUDIT and AUDIT-C.ConclusionIn brief, the CAT-AUD developed in this study can effectively screen the AUD high-risk group and accurately measure the AUD severity of individuals.

BackgroundSeparation anxiety disorder (SAD) is one of the most common mental disorders among children and adolescents, and it may seriously affect their growth, daily life, and learning. Self-report scales have been used for diagnosis, which require lengthy testing and personnel.MethodsA total of 1,241 adolescents were recruited from 16 junior- and senior-high schools in China. The initial item bank was selected from classical SAD scales according to the DSM-5. First, the optimal model was selected using item response theory (IRT) according to data fit. Then, per the IRT analysis, items that did not meet the psychometric requirements were deleted (e.g., discriminating values < 0.2). Consequently, a computerized adaptive test (CAT) for SAD was formed (CAT-SAD).ResultsAn average of 17 items per participant was required to achieve and maintain a 0.3 standard error of measurement in the SAD severity estimate. The estimated correlation of the CAT-SAD with the total 68-item test score was 0.955. CAT-SAD scores were strongly related to the probability of a SAD diagnosis with the Separation Anxiety Assessment Scale—Child and Adolescent Version. Therefore, SAD could be accurately predicted by the CAT-SAD.ConclusionsExploratory factor analyses revealed that SAD was unidimensional. The CAT-SAD, which has good reliability and validity and high sensitivity and specificity, provides an efficient test for adolescents with SAD as compared to standard paper-and-pencil tests. It can be used to diagnose varying degrees of SAD quickly and reliably and ease the burden on adolescents. Potential applications for inexpensive, efficient, and accurate screening of SAD are discussed.

Narcissistic personality (NP) has recently attracted a great deal of attention. In this study, we mainly investigated the feasibility and effectiveness of using computerized adaptive testing (CAT) to measure NP (CAT-NP). The CAT in this study was simulated by the responses of several NP questionnaires of 1,013 university students as if their responses were collected adaptively. The item bank (85 items) that met the requirements of the psychometric properties of Item Response Theory (IRT) was first established, and then the CAT dynamically selected items according to the estimates of current trait level until the prespecified measurement precision is achieved. Finally, the efficiency and validity of the CAT were verified. The results showed that the proposed CAT-NP had reasonable reliability, validity, predictive utility, and high correlation. In addition, the CAT-NP could significantly save item usage without losing measurement accuracy, which greatly improves the test efficiency. The advantages and limitations of CAT in measuring NP and other psychological tests are discussed in the final section.

Background: Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease. Although Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) has been involved in inflammatory atherosclerosis, the exact mechanisms by which oxidized-low-density lipoproteins (ox-LDL) activates TLR4 and elicits inflammatory genesis are not fully known. Myeloid differentiation factor 2 (MD2) is an extracellular molecule indispensable for lipopolysaccharide recognition of TLR4. Method: Apoe−/−Md2−/− mice and pharmacological inhibitor of MD2 were used in this study. We also reconstituted Apoe−/− mice with either Apoe−/− or Apoe−/−Md2−/− marrow-derived cells. Mechanistic studies were performed in primary macrophages, HEK-293T cells, and cell-free system. Finding: MD2 levels are elevated in atherosclerotic lesion macrophages, and MD2 deficiency or pharmacological inhibition in mice reduces the inflammation and stunts the development of atherosclerotic lesions in Apoe−/− mice fed with high-fat diet. Transfer of marrow-derived cells from Apoe-Md2 double knockout mice to Apoe knockout mice confirmed the critical role of bone marrow-derived MD2 in inflammatory factor induction and atherosclerosis development. Mechanistically, we show that MD2 does not alter ox-LDL uptake by macrophages but is required for TLR4 activation and inflammation via directly binding to ox-LDL, which triggers MD2/TLR4 complex formation and TLR4-MyD88-NFκB pro-inflammatory cascade. Interpretation: We provide a mechanistic basis of ox-LDL-induced macrophage inflammation, illustrate the role of macrophage-derived MD2 in atherosclerosis, and support the therapeutic potential of MD2 targeting in atherosclerosis-driven cardiovascular diseases. Funding: This work was supported by the National Key Research Project of China (2017YFA0506000), National Natural Science Foundation of China (21961142009, 81930108, 81670244, and 81700402), and Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (LY19H020004). Keywords: Myeloid differentiation-2, Oxidized-LDL, Toll-like receptor 4, Atherosclerosis, Inflammation, Macrophages

The existing zoonotic coronaviruses (CoVs) and viral genetic variants are important microbiological pathogens that cause severe disease in humans and animals. Currently, no effective broad-spectrum antiviral drugs against existing and emerging CoVs are available. The CoV main protease (Mpro) plays an essential role in viral replication, making it an ideal target for drug development. However, the structure of the Deltacoronavirus Mpro is still unavailable. Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) is a novel CoV that belongs to the genus Deltacoronavirus and causes atrophic enteritis, severe diarrhea, vomiting and dehydration in pigs. Here, we determined the structure of PDCoV Mpro complexed with a Michael acceptor inhibitor. Structural comparison showed that the backbone of PDCoV Mpro is similar to those of alpha-, beta- and gamma-CoV Mpros. The substrate-binding pocket of Mpro is well conserved in the subfamily Coronavirinae. In addition, we also observed that Mpros from the same genus adopted a similar conformation. Furthermore, the structure of PDCoV Mpro in complex with a Michael acceptor inhibitor revealed the mechanism of its inhibition of PDCoV Mpro. Our results provide a basis for the development of broad-spectrum antivirals against PDCoV and other CoVs.

We propose and simulate the mid-infrared (MIR) frequency comb generation based on the Kerr nonlinear effect in a silicon microring resonator (MRR). The MRR is formed by the suspended ridge waveguides which are designed to have the anomalous group-velocity dispersion. Taking the thermal effect into consideration, the modified Lugiato–Lefever equation (LLE) is used to simulate the frequency comb generation. The stable dissipative cavity soliton and mode-locked combs in the MIR wavelength range of 2.5 μm–5.2 μm can be obtained under different pump conditions. It is found that the ternary-pump scheme has wider bandwidth and flatter frequency combs as compared with the dual-pump scheme. The lowest total pump power is required for the ternary-pump approach to produce the same comb span in these three pump conditions. Keywords: Kerr frequency combs, Microring resonator, Mid-infrared, Ternary-pump, Silicon photonics

Abstract Background ANXA2 (Annexin A2) is a pleiotropic calcium-dependent phospholipid binding protein that is abnormally expressed in various cancers. We previously found that ANXA2 is upregulated in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). This study was designed to investigate the functional significance of ANXA2 dysregulation and underlying mechanism in ESCC. Methods Proliferation, migration, invasion and metastasis assay were performed to examine the functional roles of ANXA2 in ESCC cells in vitro and in vivo. Real-time RT-PCR, immunoblotting, ChIP, reporter assay, confocal-immunofluorescence staining, co-immunoprecipitation and ubiquitination assay were used to explore the molecular mechanism underlying the actions of deregulated ANXA2 in ESCC cells. Results Overexpression of ANXA2 promoted ESCC cells migration and invasion in vitro and metastasis in vivo through activation of the MYC-HIF1A-VEGF cascade. Notably, ANXA2 phosphorylation at Tyr23 by SRC led to its translocation into the nucleus and enhanced the metastatic potential of ESCC cells. Phosphorylated ANXA2 (Tyr23) interacted with MYC and inhibited ubiquitin-dependent proteasomal degradation of MYC protein. Accumulated MYC directly potentiated HIF1A transcription and then activated VEGF expression. Correlation between these molecules were also found in ESCC tissues. Moreover, dasatinib in combination with bevacizumab or ANXA2-siRNA produced potent inhibitory effects on the growth of ESCC xenograft tumors in vivo. Conclusions This study provides evidence that highly expressed p-ANXA2 (Tyr23) contributes to ESCC progression by promoting migration, invasion and metastasis, and suggests that targeting the SRC-ANXA2-MYC-HIF1A-MYC axis may be an efficient strategy for ESCC treatment.

Simple sequence repeats (SSRs) are important molecular markers for assessing genetic diversity in Arachis hypogaea L. and many other crops and constructing genetic linkage maps for important agricultural traits. In this study, 29,357 potential SSRs were identified in 22,806 unigenes assembled from A. hypogaea transcript sequences. Of these unigenes, 1883 and 4103 were annotated and assigned in Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes Orthology and Eukaryotic Orthologous Groups databases, respectively. Among the SSR motifs, mono- (19,065; 64.94%) and trinucleotide (5033; 17.14%) repeats were the most common, and the three most dominant motifs were A/T (18,358; 62.54%), AG/CT (2804; 9.55%), and AAG/CTT (1396; 4.76%). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primer pairs were designed for 4340 novel SSR markers and 210 new SSRs were validated using 24 A. hypogaea varieties. Of the 210, 191 (91%) yielded PCR products, with 37 (18%) identifying polymorphisms. The 37 polymorphic SSR markers detected 146 alleles (2–10 alleles per locus), and the average polymorphic information content was 0.403 (with a range of 0.077 to 0.819). The new SSRs enrich the current marker resources for A. hypogaea and may also be useful for genetic diversity analysis, functional genomics research, and molecular breeding.

Hepatic infiltration of neutrophils is a hallmark of steatohepatitis; however, the role of neutrophils in the progression of steatohepatitis remains unknown. Methods: A clinically relevant mouse model of steatohepatitis induced by high-fat diet (HFD) plus binge ethanol feeding was used. Liver fibrosis was examined. In vitro cell culture was used to analyze the interaction of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and neutrophils. Results: HFD plus one binge ethanol (HFD+1B) feeding induced significant hepatic neutrophil infiltration, liver injury, and fibrosis. HFD plus multiple binges of ethanol (HFD+mB) caused more pronounced liver fibrosis. Microarray analyses showed that the most highly activated signaling pathway in this HFD+1B model was related to liver fibrosis and HSC activation. Blockade of chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 1 or intercellular adhesion molecule-1 expression reduced hepatic neutrophil infiltration and ameliorated liver injury and fibrosis. Disruption of the p47phox gene (also called neutrophil cytosolic factor 1), a critical component of reactive oxygen species producing nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-oxidase in neutrophils, diminished HFD+1B–induced liver injury and fibrosis. Co-culture of HSCs with neutrophils, but not with neutrophil apoptotic bodies, induced HSC activation and prolonged neutrophil survival. Mechanistic studies showed that activated HSCs produce granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and interleukin-15 to prolong the survival of neutrophils, which may serve as a positive forward loop to promote liver damage and fibrosis. Conclusions: The current data from a mouse model of HFD plus binge ethanol feeding suggest that obesity and binge drinking synergize to promote liver fibrosis, which is partially mediated via the interaction of neutrophils and HSCs. Microarray data in this article have been uploaded to NCBI’s Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO accession number: GSE98153).

AIM: To observe the clinical efficacy of limbal-conjunctival autograft transplant(LCAT)for double-head pterygium.METHODS: Prospective case study. Totally 46 patients(54 eyes)diagnosed with double-head pterygium collected in PLA 474 Hospital from January 2014 to July 2015, including 8 patients(16 eyes)with binocular double-head pterygium, 11 patients(11 eyes)with monocular double-head pterygium and the other eye with nasal side pterygium, pterygiun eyes only included as study subject, and 27 patients(27 eyes)with monocular double-head pterygium. The eyes with double-head pterygium underwent pterygium resection and autologous corneal limbal stem cell transplantation, nasal conjunctival flap was gotten from the superior bulbar conjunctiva of affected eye, and temporal conjunctival flap was gotten from the inferior bulbar conjunctiva of other eye. Follow-up the patients on 1d, 7d, 1mo and 1a after operation to complete the vision and slit lamps to observe the complications and pterygium recurrence.RESULTS: Forty-four patients(52 eyes)completed the follow-up of 1a, while 2 patients(2 eyes)were lost. Three patients(3 eyes)developed recurrence, and the recurrence rate was 6%. Two eyes with nasal side pterygium developed recurrence and 1 eye with temporal side pterygium developed recurrence, while there was no complication observed.CONCLUSION: Nasal conjunctival flap was gotten from the superior bulbar conjunctiva of affected eye, and temporal conjunctival flap was gotten from the inferior bulbar conjunctiva of other eye for double-head pterygium had good clinical effect and low recurrence rate, which provide a better way to treat double-head pterygium.

AIM: To evaluate the application and effect of bandage contact lens in pterygium excision combined with conjunctival transplantation(CAT).METHODS: In a prospective, randomized, controlled clinical study, 110 patients(110 eyes)diagnosed with primary pterygium were collected in PLA NO.474 Hospital from January 2015 to January 2016. The 110 patients enrolled in the study in turn, and divided into two groups by the odd and even number. The odd number divided into bandage contact lens group(CAT + bandage contact lens, n=55), while the even number divided into control group(CAT, n=55). Visual analog scale(VAS)and corneal irritation were evaluated on 1, 3 and 7d after operation. Cornea fluorescent staining testing was carried out on 3d after operation. Following-up all the patients with 1a at least observed the recurrence of pterygium. RESULTS:The score of VAS in bandage contact lens group less than that in control group on 1d(4.13±2.06 vs 5.80±1.93, t=4.391, Pvs 3.65±1.65, t=5.422, Pt=1.295, P=0.198)after operation. The corneal irritation in bandage contact lens group less than that in control group on 1d and 3d after operation(PP=0.052). Cornea fluorescent staining testing area in bandage contact lens group was less than that in control group on 7d after operation(0.33±0.37mm2 vs 2.73±2.21mm2, t=7.921, PP=1.000). CONCLUSION:Bandage contact lens could significantly release pain and corneal irritation, promote the healing of the corneal epitheliums in the defected area, and increase the postoperative comfort level in patients after operation.

AIM: To explore the possibility of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs), human umbilical vein endothelial cells (hUVECs), human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) and human periodontal ligament stem cells (hPDLSCs) serving as feeder cells in co-culture systems for the cultivation of limbal stem cells. METHODS: Different feeder layers were cultured in Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium (DMEM)/F12 and were treated with mitomycin C. Rabbits limbal stem cells (LSCs) were co-cultured on hUCMSCs, hUVECs, hDPSCs, hPDLSCs and NIH-3T3, and then comparative analysis were made between each group to see their respective colony-forming efficiency (CFE) assay and immunofluorescence (IPO13,CK3/12). RESULTS: The efficiency of the four type cells in supporting the LSCs morphology and its cellular differentiation was similar to that of NIH-3T3 fibroblasts as demonstrated by the immunostaining properties analysis, with each group exhibiting a similar strong expression pattern of IPO13, but lacking CK3 and CK12 expression in terms of immunostaining. But hUCMSCs, hDPSCs and hPDLSCs feeder layers were superior in promoting colony formation potential of cells when compared to hUVECs and feeder-cell-free culture. CONCLUSION: hUCMSCs, hDPSCs and hPDLSCs can be a suitable alternative to conventional mouse NIH-3T3 feeder cells, so that risk of zoonotic infection can be diminished.

Abstract The diastereospecific formation of β-amino-α-cyclopropenyl phosphonates has been achieved in moderate yields from the cyclopropenation of 1-alkynes with dialkyl α-diazophosphonates. The reaction was performed by using a combined catalyst consisting of Cu(MeCN)4BF4 and BF3·Et2O as additive in dichloromethane at 40 °C. A possible mechanism for the reaction has been proposed to explain the origin of the activation and the asymmetric induction. This method provides a versatile approach to β-amino-α-cyclopropenylphosphonates containing a quaternary stereogenic center with good efficiency and diastereoselectivity.

AIM: To investigate the clinical characteristics and follow-up of 191 patients with lacrimal glandoccupying lesions. METHODS: We selected 191 patients(221 eyes)with lacrimal gland occupancy from January 2011 to August 2015. All patients underwent lacrimal gland tumor removal and were followed up for 1a. RESULTS: In the 191 patients(221 eyes), 44 were male(49 eyes)and 147 were female(172 eyes). There were inflammatory lesions in 171 eyes, constituted by IgG4 sclerosing dacryocystitis 66 eyes, 27 eyes of chronic lacrimal gland, lacrimal gland prolapse with inflammatory enlargement 54 eyes, Grave's disease in 24 eyes; 16 eyes of lymphoid hyperplastic lesions, constituted by malignant lymphoma in 6 eyes, benign lymphoid hyperplasia in 10 eyes; epithelial lesions in 34 eyes, constituted by pleomorphic adenoma in 26 eyes, 2 eyes of pleomorphic adenocarcinoma, adenoid cystic carcinoma in 3 eyes, 3 eyes of adenocarcinoma. Lacrimal glandoccupying lesions with IgG4 sclerosing dacryocystitis, lacrimal gland prolapse associated with inflammatory enlargement were the most common, of which 159 eyes of Han, Uighur 36 eyes, Kazak 16 eyes, 10 eyes of Mongolian. After surgery, mainly symptoms were dry eye, crying with no tears, with bilateral lacrimal gland removed significantly, but the local use of artificial tears can ease those symptoms with no serious adverse reactions. CONCLUSION: History and imaging characteristics of lacrimal gland-occupying lesions give a great help to the diagnosis and differential diagnosis. In Xinjiang region, lacrimal gland, with non-epithelial lesions is the most common, followed by epithelial lesions, occurred in the Han, Uighur patients, and rare occurred in other ethnic. Dry eye after surgery and crying with no tears are the main symptoms. Patients with short course of disease and dry eye tend to delay the removal of patients.

Most existing instruments for depression are developed based on classical test theory, factor analysis, or sometimes, item response theory, and focus on the accurate measurement of the severity of depressive disorder. Nevertheless, they tend to be less useful in supporting the decision based on ICD-10 or DSM-5 because of the lack of detailed information for symptoms. To gain rich and valid information at the symptom level, this article developed a depression test under the framework of cognitive diagnosis models (CDMs), referred to as CDMs-D. A total of 1,181 individuals were finally recruited and their responses were used to examine the psychometric properties of CDMs-D. After excluding poor items for statistical reasons (e.g., low discrimination, poor model-fit or having DIF), 56 items were included in the CDMs-D. The CDMs-D measures all ten symptom criteria for depression defined in ICD-10 and covers five domains of depression defined by Gibbons et al. (2012). Comparing with the existing self-report measures (such as PHQ-9, SDS, CES-D and so on), a distinguishing feature of the CDMs-D is that it can provide both overall information about the severity of depressive disorder and the assessment information about specific symptoms, which could be useful for diagnostic and interventional purposes.

Internet addiction disorder has become one of the most popular forms of addiction in psychological and behavioral areas, and measuring it is growing increasingly important in practice. This study aimed to develop a computerized adaptive testing to measure and assess internet addiction (CAT-IA) efficiently. Four standardized scales were used to build the original item bank. A total of 59 polytomously scored items were finally chosen after excluding 42 items for failing the psychometric evaluation. For the final 59-item bank of CAT-IA, two simulation studies were conducted to investigate the psychometric properties, efficiency, reliability, concurrent validity, and predictive validity of CAT-IA under different stopping rules. The results showed that (1) the final 59 items met IRT assumptions, had high discrimination, showed good item-model fit, and were without DIF; and (2) the CAT-IA not only had high measurement accuracy in psychometric properties but also sufficient efficiency, reliability, concurrent validity, and predictive validity. The impact and limitations of CAT-IA were discussed, and several suggestions for future research were provided.

Sortilin is a member of the vacuolar protein sorting 10 protein (VPS10P) domain receptor family, which carries out signal transduction and protein transport in cells. Sortilin serves as the third, G-protein uncoupled, receptor of neurotensin that can modulate various brain functions. More recent data indicate an involvement of sortilin in mood disorders, dementia and Alzheimer-type neuropathology. However, data regarding the normal pattern of regional and cellular expression of sortilin in the human brain are not available to date. Using postmortem adult human brains free of neuropathology, the current study determined sortilin immunoreactivity (IR) across the entire brain. Sortilin IR was broadly present in the cerebrum and subcortical structures, localizing to neurons in the somatodendritic compartment, but not to glial cells. In the cerebrum, sortilin IR exhibited differential regional and laminar patterns, with pyramidal, multipolar and polymorphic neurons in cortical layers II–VI, hippocampal formation and amygdaloid complex more distinctly labeled relative to GABAergic interneurons. In the striatum and thalamus, numerous small-to-medium sized neurons showed light IR, with a small group of large sized neurons heavily labeled. In the midbrain and brainstem, sortilin IR was distinct in neurons at the relay centers of descending and ascending neuroanatomical pathways. Dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, cholinergic neurons in the basal nuclei of Meynert and noradrenergic neurons in the locus coeruleus co-expressed strong sortilin IR in double immunofluorescence. In comparison, sortilin IR was weak in the olfactory bulb and cerebellar cortex, with the mitral and Purkinje cells barely visualized. A quantitative analysis was carried out in the lateral, basolateral, and basomedial nuclei of the amygdaloid complex, as well as cortical layers II–VI, which established a positive correlation between the somal size and the intensity of sortilin IR among labeled neurons. Together, the present study demonstrates a predominantly neuronal expression of sortilin in the human brain with substantial regional and cell-type variability. The enriched expression of sortilin in pyramidal, dopaminergic, noradrenergic and cholinergic neurons suggests that this protein may be particularly required for signal transduction, protein trafficking and metabolic homeostasis in populations of relatively large-sized projective neurons.

The reliable operation, dynamic performance analysis and control strategy research of a switched reluctance motor (SRM) require an online monitoring system to display and record its operating status. However, due to the large amount of data, the nonlinear electromagnetic characteristics and the harsh working environment of SRM, it is very difficult to monitor a SRM’s operation status in real time. In order to solve these problems, a new structure of the SRM monitoring system, which uses Digital Signal Processor (DSP) and the hardwired Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol embedded Ethernet controller W5500, is presented in this paper. The W5500 and DSP’s direct memory access modules are employed for data capture and transfer to reduce the digital signal processing workload. The digital signal processing program is implemented by the hybrid programming method, which shortens the filtering time. Consequently, the DSP has sufficient resources to acquire multiple signals with a high sampling frequency and can adopt a more complex filtering algorithm, which enhances the accuracy and real-time performance of the system. Moreover, the amplitude–frequency characteristics of signals are analyzed. Then, the detection circuits and finite impulse response filters are designed to achieve the targeted acquisition and filtering. Besides, the impact of harsh environment on the system is reduced by adjusting the data transmission modes according to different working conditions. As a result, the scope of application of the system has been extended. The proposed system has a novel structure and strong practicability, which exhibits great guiding significance for the development of a SRM.

Three widely-used self-report anxiety scales, including the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and the State Anxiety Inventory (S-AI), were used to simultaneously compare the psychometric properties via an item response theory (IRT) model with Chinese university students as the sample. Although these scales were probably to measure the same underlying construct, namely, anxiety, their psychometric properties were different. Results showed that the BAI’s measurement error was fewer than that of the other scales, with their anxiety severity ranging approximately from the 0.8 standard deviations below the mean to 3 standard deviations above the mean, while the S-AI’s measurement error was fewer than that of the other degrees of anxiety. The S-AI provided more information than the other scales when the student’s scale was less than approximately 0.8 standard deviations below the mean of anxiety severity. In general, the BAI showed better, for it provided more information than the other scales at the broadest range of anxiety severity. The SAS provided less information than the other scales at all anxiety severity range. In conclusion, BAI shows good psychometric quality. Finally, the three instruments were combined on a common scale by using IRT model and a conversion table was provided so as to achieve the transformation of each scale score.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0192730.].

The Arabic Scale of Death Anxiety (ASDA), as one of the most widely used measures of death anxiety (DA), has increasingly been applied in many studies. However, the structures derived from different studies are highly inconsistent. In this study, both traditional and novel (bifactor) modeling approaches were used, to investigate the most optimal structure of the ASDA in a sample of 984 Chinese college students. After a series of comparisons, the results showed that the bifactor model, with a dominant general DA factor and three distinct sub-dimensions, was the most optimal measurement structure, and measurement invariance of this bifactor model between sexes was also confirmed. Based on the implications of this bifactor model, the discussion was focused mainly on whether distinct dimensions should be interpreted or not. Some strengths and limitations of the study were also discussed at the end of the paper.

Intracellular lipopolysaccharide (LPS) triggers the non-canonical inflammasome pathway, resulting in pyroptosis of innate immune cells. In addition to its well-known proinflammatory role, LPS can directly cause regression of some tumors, although the underlying mechanism has remained unknown. Here we show that secretoglobin(SCGB)3A2, a small protein predominantly secreted in airways, chaperones LPS to the cytosol through the cell surface receptor syndecan-1; this leads to pyroptotic cell death driven by caspase-11. SCGB3A2 and LPS co-treatment significantly induced pyroptosis of macrophage RAW264.7 cells and decreased cancer cell proliferation in vitro, while SCGB3A2 treatment resulted in reduced progression of xenograft tumors in mice. These data suggest a conserved function for SCGB3A2 in the innate immune system and cancer cells. These findings demonstrate a critical role for SCGB3A2 as an LPS delivery vehicle; they reveal one mechanism whereby LPS enters innate immune cells leading to pyroptosis, and they clarify the direct effect of LPS on cancer cells.

AIM: To discuss the effect of laser exposure on visual acuity and macula. METHODS: Retrospective and consecutive case series. A retrospective analysis of 11 patients(11 eyes)with laser retinal injury was carried out from January 2014 to June 2015 in Ophthalmology Department of No. 474 Hospital of Chinese PLA. All individuals underwent visual acuity, best corrected visual acuity(BCVA), and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography(SD-OCT)for macular at first visit, and fundus fluorescein angiography(FFA), visual field, and multifocal electroretinogram(mf ERG)were perform if necessary. Symptomatic therapies, supportive therapies and pars plana vitrectomy(PPV)were performed depended on the patient's condition. The patients were followed-up at 1, 3 and 6mo after the first visit, and patients were undertaken visual acuity, BCVA, macular SD-OCT and so on. RESULTS: Eight patients(73%)were under 18 years old and all patients were young males, who were injured by laser pointers when playing. Three patients(27%)over 18 years old were injured accidentally at work. Ten(91%)patients' BCVA were ≤0.3, while one(9%)patient's BCVA was higher ≥0.3. Full-thickness macular holes(the diameter 224-519 μm)were detected in 10 patients(91%), while sub-foveal RPE changes and IS/OS injury in 1 patient(9%). Macular hole with traction or cystoid edema in 6 eyes(55%)were received PPV, while the other 5 eyes(4 eyes with stable macular hole and 1 eyes with RPE injury)received conservative treatment. Macular hole closed successfully in 1 eye(17%)after PPV, while macular hole in the other 5 eyes(83%)were stable after PPV of which the cystoid edema faded. The 4 patients with macular hole and 1 patient with RPE injury were stable during follow-up period. However, the BCVA in all patients had no significant improvement at end. CONCLUSION: Exposure to laser devices could lead to severe macula injury that could reduce central vision, which is permanent.

AIM: To demonstrate the changes in ultrastructure and histopathology of the cornea in acute corneal alkaline burns after femtosecond laser-assisted deep lamellar keratoplasty. METHODS: The New Zealand white rabbits treated with alkaline corneal burn were randomized into two groups, Group A (16 eyes) with femtosecond laser-assisted deep lamellar keratoplasty 24h after burn and Group B (16 eyes) without keratoplasty as controls. All eyes were evaluated with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) at 1, 2, 3, and 4wk follow-up, then all corneas were tested by hematoxylin and eosin staining histology. RESULTS: The corneal grafts in Group A were transparent, while those in Group B showed corneal stromal edema and loosely arranged collagen fibers. One week after treatment, TEM revealed the intercellular desmosomes in the epithelial layers and intact non-dissolving nuclei in Group A. At week 4, the center of the corneas in Group A was transparent with regularly arranged collagen fibers and fibroblasts in the stroma. In Group B, squamous cells were observed on the corneal surface and some epithelial cells were detached. CONCLUSION: Femtosecond laser-assisted deep lamellar keratoplasty can suppress inflammatory responses, prevent toxic substance-induced injury to the corneal endothelium and inner tissues with quicker recovery and better visual outcomes.

Herein, gold–nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dot (Au/NGQD) composite modified electrodes were fabricated and applied as “on–off” nanosensors for the photo-electrochemical (PEC) detection of caffeic acid under visible-light irradiation. An effective and simple strategy was established for the preparation of Au/NGQD composites by hydrothermal and calcination methods. Owing to the quantum confinement effect of NGQDs, the local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect of Au nanoparticles (NPs), and the synergistic effect between Au and NGQDs NPs, the Au/NGQDs showed excellent PEC performance, with wide linear concentration ranges (0.11 to 30.25 μM and 30.25 to 280.25 μM), a low detection limit (0.03 μM), excellent sensitivity, and high stability. The present study may provide an advanced strategy for the simple design of Au/NGQD composites to allow their effective application for selective and sensitive sensing of small biological molecules.

The design of test Q matrix can directly influence the classification accuracy of a cognitive diagnostic assessment. In this paper, we focus on Q matrix design when attribute hierarchies are known prior to test development. A complete Q matrix design is proposed and theorems are presented to demonstrate that it is a necessary and sufficient condition to guarantee the identifiability of ideal response patterns. A simulation study is also conducted to detect the effects of the proposed design on a family of conjunctive diagnostic models. The results revealed that the proposed Q matrix design is the key condition for guaranteeing classification accuracy. When only one type of item pattern in R matrix is missing from the associated test Q matrix, the related attribute-wise agreement rate will decrease dramatically. When the entire R matrix is missing, both the pattern-wise and attribute-wise agreement rates will decrease sharply. This indicates that the proposed procedures for complete Q matrix design with attribute hierarchies can serve as guidelines for test blueprint development prior to item writing in a cognitive diagnostic assessment.

With the increasing prevalence of depression, creating a simple and precise tool for measuring depression is becoming more important. This study developed a computer adaptive testing for depression (CAT-Depression) from a Chinese sample. The depression item bank was constructed from a sample of 1,135 participants with or without depression using the Graded Response Model (GRM; Samejima, 1969). The final depression item bank with strict unidimensionality comprised 68 items, which had local independence, good item-fit, high discrimination, no differential item functioning (DIF), and each item measured at least one symptom of diagnostic criteria for depression in ICD-10. In addition, the mean IRT discrimination of the item bank reached 1.784, which clearly showed that the item bank of CAT-Depression was high-quality. Moreover, a simulation CAT study with real response data was conducted to investigate the characteristics, marginal reliability, criterion-related validity, and predictive utility (sensitivity and specificity) of CAT-Depression. The results revealed that the proposed CAT-Depression had acceptable and reasonable marginal reliability, criterion-related validity, and sensitivity and specificity.

To overcome the overstiffness and imprecise magnetoelectroelastic coupling effects of finite element method (FEM), we present an inhomogeneous cell-based smoothed FEM (ICS-FEM) of functionally graded magnetoelectroelastic (FGMEE) structures. Then the ICS-FEM formulations for free vibration calculation of FGMEE structures were deduced. In FGMEE structures, the true parameters at the Gaussian integration point were adopted directly to replace the homogenization in an element. The ICS-FEM provides a continuous system with a close-to-exact stiffness, which could be automatically and more easily generated for complicated domains, thus significantly decreasing the numerical error. To verify the accuracy and trustworthiness of ICS-FEM, we investigated several numerical examples and found that ICS-FEM simulated more accurately than the standard FEM. Also the effects of various equivalent stiffness matrices and the gradient function on the inherent frequency of FGMEE beams were studied.

The white-striped longhorn beetle Batocera horsfieldi (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) is a polyphagous wood-boring pest that causes substantial damage to the lumber industry. Moreover olfactory proteins are crucial components to function in related processes, but the B. horsfieldi genome is not readily available for olfactory proteins analysis. In the present study, developmental transcriptomes of larvae from the first instar to the prepupal stage, pupae, and adults (females and males) from emergence to mating were built by RNA sequencing to establish a genetic background that may help understand olfactory genes. Approximately 199 million clean reads were obtained and assembled into 171,664 transcripts, which were classified into 23,380, 26,511, 22,393, 30,270, and 87, 732 unigenes for larvae, pupae, females, males, and combined datasets, respectively. The unigenes were annotated against NCBI's non-redundant nucleotide and protein sequences, Swiss-Prot, Gene Ontology (GO), Pfam, Clusters of Eukaryotic Orthologous Groups (KOG), and KEGG Orthology (KO) databases. A total of 43,197 unigenes were annotated into 55 sub-categories under the three main GO categories; 25,237 unigenes were classified into 26 functional KOG categories, and 25,814 unigenes were classified into five functional KEGG Pathway categories. RSEM software identified 2,983, 3,097, 870, 2,437, 5,161, and 2,882 genes that were differentially expressed between larvae and males, larvae and pupae, larvae and females, males and females, males and pupae, and females and pupae, respectively. Among them, genes encoding seven candidate odorant binding proteins (OBPs) and three chemosensory proteins (CSPs) were identified. RT-PCR and RT-qPCR analyses showed that BhorOBP3, BhorCSP2, and BhorOBPC1/C3/C4 were highly expressed in the antenna of males, indicating these genes may may play key roles in foraging and host-orientation in B. horsfieldi. Our results provide valuable molecular information about the olfactory system in B. horsfieldi and will help guide future functional studies on olfactory genes.

AIM: To compare the safety and efficacy of conjunctival autograft transplant(CAT)and limbal-conjunctival autograft transplant(LCAT)for primary pterygium.METHODS: In this prospective, randomized and controlled clinical study, 120 patients(120 eyes)diagnosed with primary pterygium were collected in NO.474 Hospital of Chinese PLA from January 2014 to January 2015. The 120 patients enrolled in the study in turn, and divided into two group by the odd and even number. The odd number underwent CAT and the even number underwent LCAT.RESULTS:One hundred and seven patients(107 eyes)completed the follow-up of 1a, including 54 patients(54 eyes)from the CAT group and 53 patients(53 eyes)from the LCAT group. Four patients(4 eyes, recurrence rate 7.4%)in the CAT group and 2 patients(2 eyes, recurrence rate 3.8%)in the LCAT group developed recurrence. However, there were no significant in recurrence rate between CAT group and LCAT group(P=0.678).CONCLUSION:CAT and LCAT might be both effective treatment for primary pterygium for reducing the recurrence rate of pterygium. However, LCAT is the optimal surgical method for primary pterygium.