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Many naturally seleniferous soils are faced with Cd contamination problem, which severely limits crop cultivation in these areas. Straw returning has been widely applied in agricultural production due to its various benefits to soil physicochemical properties, soil fertility, and crops yield. However, effects of straw application on the fates of Se and Cd in Cd-contaminated seleniferous soils remain largely unclear. Therefore, the effects of straw application on the fates of Se and Cd in Cd-contaminated seleniferous soils were investigated in this study. The results showed that iron reduction driven by Clostridium and Anaeromyxbacter was responsible for the variations in Se and Cd fates in soil. Straw application respectively increased the gene copy numbers of Clostridium and Anaeromyxbacter by 19.5-56.3% and 33.6-39.8%, thus promoting iron reductive dissolution, eventually resulting in a high release amount of Se and Cd from Fe(III) (oxyhydr) oxides. Under reducing conditions, the released Cd was adsorbed by the newly formed metal sulfides or reacted with sulfides to generate CdS precipitates. Straw application decreased the soil exchangeable Se and soil exchangeable Cd concentration during flooding phase. However, straw application significantly increased Se/Cd in soil solution which had the highest bioavailability during flooding. In addition, straw application increased soil exchangeable Se concentration, but it had no significant effects on soil exchangeable Cd concentration after soil drainage. Taken together, straw application increased Se bioavailability and Cd mobility. Therefore, straw application is an effective method for improving Se bioavailability, but it is not suitable for the application to Cd-contaminated paddy soils. In the actual agricultural production, straw could be applied in seleniferous soils to improve Se bioavailability. At the same time, straw application should be cautious to avoid the release of Cd from Cd-contaminated soil.

Lotus leaf was used as raw material to prepare HNO

Background and aims The purpose of this study was to examine the developmental defects of cell walls and vessels at the ring sites of cotton petioles and thereby understand the effects of petiole rings on nutrient transport in cotton. Methods Boric acid was applied as basal fertilizer in boron-deficient cotton field to verify the relationship between boron concentration and ring formation on cotton petioles. Petiole samples were taken from boron-deficient cotton plants to analyze the differences in cell wall properties and anatomical structure between the ring and non-ring sites. Results Under boron deficiency stress, chloroplasts were deformed and slightly disintegrated at the ring sites of the petioles. The cell walls within the rings were irregularly thickened by 44.1%, while their mechanical strength was markedly reduced by 38.9% compared to those of the non-ring sites. There were also changes in the hydrogen bonding within carbohydrates and proteins and the structure of pectins along with cellulose accumulation in the cell walls at the ring sites. A large number of tiny vessels were formed in the petiole rings, resulting in the squeezing and rupture of vessels. Boron, magnesium, and manganese concentrations in various parts of the petioles varied substantially in the order of lower part > middle part > upper part. Conclusions Boron application reduces the probability of ring formation on the petioles of cotton. The cell walls and vessels are destructed at the ring sites of the petioles, which impairs their mechanical support and mineral nutrient transport functions in boron-deficient cotton.

Nonmetal mesoporous carbon exhibits environment friendliness and low cost, which attract much attention in energy storage and conversion. In this work, a N, P-doped mesoporous carbon (NPMC-T) was synthesized by the SiO2 hard template. The mesoporous structure and high N, P content for NPMC-T are beneficial to expose more active sites and accelerate electron transfer, and contribute to exhibit remarkable electrocatalytic activity for supercapacitors and hydrogen evolution reaction application. NPMC-800 is applied as electrode material for supercapacitors and exhibits high specific capacitance (219 F g−1 at 1 A g−1). Meanwhile, the NPMC-T is used as electrocatalyst for HER and shows the good electrocatalytic performance with small Tafel slope of 52 mV dec−1, low overpotential of 298 mV (10 mA cm−2) than that of most other reported analogous catalysts, and excellent stability (after 2000 cycles). This effective capability of N, P-doped multifunctional mesoporous carbon materials is expected to promote the application in supercapacitors and hydrogen evolution reaction widely. A multifunctional non-metal mesoporous carbon electrocatalysis catalyst NPMC-800 was synthesized by the SiO2 hard template method (BET surface area is 593.1 m2g−1). The mesoporous structure and N, P doping of NPMC-800 exhibited the high specific capacitance of 219 F g−1 at 1 A g−1 for supercapacitors, meanwhile, offered glorious electrocatalytic performance for HER with a low overpotential of 298 mV at 10 mA cm-2 , a small Tafel slope 52 mV dec−1 and the surpassing stability after 2000 cycles under acidic conditions.

Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), which consist of chromatin DNA filaments coated with granule proteins, are released by neutrophils to trap microorganisms1-3. Recent studies have suggested that the DNA component of NETs (NET-DNA) is associated with cancer metastasis in mouse models4-6. However, the functional role and clinical importance of NET-DNA in metastasis in patients with cancer remain unclear. Here we show that NETs are abundant in the liver metastases of patients with breast and colon cancers, and that serum NETs can predict the occurrence of liver metastases in patients with early-stage breast cancer. NET-DNA acts as a chemotactic factor to attract cancer cells, rather than merely acting as a 'trap' for them; in several mouse models, NETs in the liver or lungs were found to attract cancer cells to form distant metastases. We identify the transmembrane protein CCDC25 as a NET-DNA receptor on cancer cells that senses extracellular DNA and subsequently activates the ILK-β-parvin pathway to enhance cell motility. NET-mediated metastasis is abrogated in CCDC25-knockout cells. Clinically, we show that the expression of CCDC25 on primary cancer cells is closely associated with a poor prognosis for patients. Overall, we describe a transmembrane DNA receptor that mediates NET-dependent metastasis, and suggest that targeting CCDC25 could be an appealing therapeutic strategy for the prevention of cancer metastasis.

The scarcity of Groundwater on Earth increases the necessity to make full use of the ubiquitous atmospheric water (H2O). Photocatalytic conversion of the H2O from the air to hydrogen (H2) under visible-light irradiation by metal-free conjugated polymer photocatalysts (CMPs) would be an interesting and challenging route for fully utilizing H2O resources and converting to sustainable and green energy. However, there is no such strategy reported up to now, to the best of our knowledge. Here, for the first time, we used various CMPs for H2 production using captured moisture by ionic liquids (ILs) under visible-light irradiation. The presence of ILs in the H2O-absobed H2O/ILs mixtures could enhance photocatalytic H2 evolution rate when compared to the pure H2O. Particularly, the accelerated effect of [BMIM][BF4] was the highest (29-fold), with the highest H2 production rate of 96.5 μmol g−1 h−1 among all the IL-related systems investigated. We attributed the high efficiency of H2 photo-evolution from atmospheric H2O to the activation of H2O by ILs and the highly dispersion of photocatalysts in H2O/ILs system. This work might open a new field to convert sustainable and ubiquitous atmospheric H2O resources to clean H2 fuels.

Raptor, a member of the target of rapamycin complex 1 (TORC1), participates in the formation of complex proteins related to the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signalling. In this study, a 5,020 bp cDNA of Raptor with an open reading frame (ORF) of 3,804 bp encoding for 1,267 amino acids was cloned from Litopenaeus vannamei. The protein contains three conserved domains: Raptor N, HEAT and WD40 domains. The expression of Raptor gene was detected by qRT‐PCR in different tissues of L. vannamei, including hepatopancreas, intestinal, stomach, eyestalk, gill and muscle. The mRNA expression profiles of Raptor in muscle were also analysed under suppression or stimulation of mTOR signalling pathway. The level of Raptor mRNA significantly increased either at 0.5–6 hr after an injection of rapamycin (RAPA) or after 3 days starvation. Leucine or arginine alleviated the up‐regulation of Raptor gene expression caused by RAPA or starvation. The Raptor gene was successfully suppressed using RNA interference (RNAi) technology, and the gene expression and the protein phosphorylation level of 4EBP1 and S6K were significantly decreased. The results of the study suggested that the expression of Raptor was sensitive to the immunology status of L. vannamei and participated in nutritional metabolism.

Computation of the space charge effect within an ion trap may cost a few days to even years in clusters. Here, we report a statistical algorithm that can compute the space charge effect within a few minutes via a personal computer, without scarifying the accuracy. The key technology developed here was an effective electric field extracted from the statistics of N ions to replace the time-consuming computation of ion-ion Coulombic interactions, therefore reducing the computational burden from ∼N2 to ∼N; then, the burden was further reduced by shrinking the sampling size to Nsim = 500. For a linear ion trap (LIT) with an ion capacity N = 1 × 10 5∼1 × 106, this indicated an improved efficiency of N2/Nsim , i.e., 20 million∼2 billion-fold. Using the algorithm, space charge effects under different trapping conditions were explored, and the acquired knowledge enabled the spectral correction of the mass shift and peak broadening due to the effect in a miniature dual-LIT mass spectrometer.

Ion mobility (IM) has been increasingly used in combination with mass spectrometry (MS) for chemical and biological analysis. While implementation of IM with MS usually requires complex instrumentation with delicate controls, in this study we explored the potential of performing IM separation using dual-linear ion traps (LITs) in a miniature mass spectrometer, which was originally developed for performing comprehensive MS/MS scan functions with a simple instrumentation configuration. The IM separation was achieved by ion transfer between the LITs with dynamic gas flow. Its performance was characterized for analysis of a broad range of chemical and biological compounds including small organic compounds such as trisaccharides, raffinose, cellotriose, and melezitose, as well as protein conformers. The demonstrated technique serves as another example of developing powerful hybrid instrument functions with simple configurations and miniaturized sizes.

Organic materials are essential to increase soil organic carbon (SOC). However, it is unclear whether C sequestration is primarily affected by the form of organic materials or soil types. Wheat straw, tobacco straw, and their derived biochars were added to acidic soil, saline soil and calcareous soil in the same C concentration and incubated for 30, 90, and 180 days, respectively. The contents of humic substances (HS), the structural characteristic of SOC, and enzyme activities were investigated. The results revealed that both biochar-C and crop straw-C were mainly sequestered in humin (HU) across all soil types. Moreover, humic acid (HA) levels increased in straw treatments but not in biochar treatments. The cluster analysis and principal components analysis showed that HU had a significantly positive correlation with SOC. The aryl C of SOC increased in biochar treatments, while phenolic C and O-alkyl C of SOC increased in straw treatments. A positive correlation was found between aromatic C and SOC concentration, as well as between polyphenol oxidase activity and O-alkyl C. The formation of O-alkyl C was affected by polyphenol oxidase activity. These findings suggest that the form of organic materials and microbial activity, rather than soil types, influence the formation of HS and functional groups of SOC. Soil amended with biochar can sequester more recalcitrant C while also increasing the hydrophobicity of SOC.

While recent development, the freeways promote economic and traffic demand, but it also increases a lot of traffic congestion and accidents. The effective traffic volume forecasting technology can reduce traffic congestion, and improve traffic network planning and information management. In this research, a new ensemble forecasting model is proposed to forecast traffic volume. The framework of the model consists of the TCN model, the GRU model, and the ensemble SARSA algorithm. TCN and GRU are utilized as predictors to construct the prediction model for deep mining of the traffic volume data and SARSA can integrate the prediction results from these two predictors and achieve satisfactory results. We used two sets of the traffic data collected from a freeway in Changsha to verify the performance. The experiment results proved the effectiveness of the hybrid model that had the best accuracy in both cases, and the MAPEs of TCN-GRU-Sarsa are 7.8281% and 6.9015%.

Se-enrichment characteristics in water-soil-plant system and dietary Se status of local residents in seleniferous areas were investigated. Results showed that Se in well water might mainly derived from Se-enriched shales and coals, and Se mobility in seleniferous soils was relatively low with less than 6.7% bioavailable forms in high-Se areas. Soil Se with irrigation, precipitation and fertilization sources contributed more to soil Se than Se-enriched shales and coals in low-Se areas, resulting in slightly higher mobility of Se in low-Se soils. Se concentration in edible parts of main crops ranged from 0.005 mg kg

Big data has the traits such as “the curse of dimensionality,” high storage cost, and heavy computation burden. Self-representation-based feature extraction methods cannot effectively deal with the image-level structural noise in the data, so how to character a better relationship of reconstruction representation is very important. Recently, sparse representation with smoothed matrix multivariate elliptical distribution (SMED) using structural information to handle low-rank error images caused by illumination or occlusion has been proposed. Based on SMED, we present a new method named SMEDP for feature extraction. SMEDP firstly utilizes SMED to automatically construct an adjacency graph and then obtains an optimal projection matrix by maximizing the ratio of the local scatter matrix and the total scatter matrix in the PCA subspace. Experiments on the COIL-20 object database, ORL face database, and CMU PIE face database prove that SMEDP works well and can achieve considerable visual and recognition performance than the relevant methods.

Background. Berberine (BER) is a natural isoquinoline alkaloid which extensively been applied to treat bacterial infection in TCM for a long time. Alginate is an important component of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm. Herein, we investigated the effects of berberine and azithromycin (AZM) on alginate in the biofilm of P. aeruginosa PAO1. Methods. The MIC and synergistic activity of BER and AZM against PAO1 were determined using the micro broth dilution and checkerboard titration methods, respectively. The effect of BER on PAO1 growth was evaluated using a time-kill assay. Moreover, the effects of BER, AZM, and a combination of both on PAO1 biofilm formation, kinesis, and virulence factor expression were evaluated at subinhibitory concentrations. The alginate content in the biofilm was detected using ELISA, and the relative expression of alginate formation-related genes algD, algR, and algG was detected by qRT-PCR. Results. Simultaneous administration of berberine significantly reduced the MIC of azithromycin, and berberine at a certain concentration inhibited PAO1 growth. Moreover, combined berberine and azithromycin had synergistic effects against PAO1, significantly reducing biofilm formation, swarming, and twitching motility, and the production of virulence factors. The relative expression of alginate-related regulatory genes algG, algD, and algR of the combined treatment group was significantly lower than that of the control group. Conclusion. In summary, berberine and azithromycin in combination had a significant synergistic effect on the inhibition of alginate production by P. aeruginosa. Further molecular studies are in great need to reveal the mechanisms underlying the synergistic activity between berberine and azithromycin.

Background: Alterations in lipid metabolism have been implicated in the development of many tumors. However, the contribution of different lipid metabolism pathways to Breast invasive carcinoma (BRCA) remains to be fully established. Here, we attempted to ascertain the prognostic value of lipid metabolism-related genes in BRCA. Methods: We obtained RNA expression data and clinical information for BRCA and normal samples from public databases and downloaded a lipid metabolism-related gene set to harvest lipid metabolism-related genes. IPA was applied to identify the potential pathways and functions of DEGs related to lipid metabolism. Subsequently, univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were utilized to construct the prognostic gene signature and independent prognostic analyses. Thereafter, the differential expression of the selected marker genes SDC1 and SORBS1 in clinical tissue samples was verified by qRT-PCR, western blotting, and immunohistochemical experiments. Functional enrichment analysis of prognostic genes was achieved by the GO and KEGG databases. Moreover, Kaplan-Meier analysis, ROC curves, clinical immunohistochemistry conditions and follow-up results were employed to assess the prognostic potency. Potential compounds targeting prognostic genes were then screened by CMap database and a prognostic gene-drug interaction network was constructed using Comparative Toxicogenomics Database.Results: IPA demonstrated that the 162 lipid metabolism-related DEGs we obtained were involved in a variety of lipid metabolism and BRCA pathological signatures. Subsequent functional enrichment analysis of candidate prognostic lipid metabolism DEGs also revealed a similar outcome. The prognostic classifier we constructed comprising SDC1 and SORBS1 has a strong prognostic potency that was verified by the clinical conditions and follow-up results, it also can serve as an independent prognostic marker for BRCA. CMap filtered 37 potential compounds against prognostic genes. CTD indicated that the two prognostic genes had 16 drugs in common. Conclusion: Within this study, we identified a novel prognostic classifier based on two lipid metabolism-related genes: SDC1 and SORBS1. This classifier had accurately predicted the prognosis of our follow-up BRCA patients and this result highlighted a new perspective on the metabolic exploration of BRCA. In addition, SDC1 and SORBS1 could serve as a possible new target for the synthesis of BRCA drugs.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy of arthroscopic internal drainage (AID) and cyst wall resection (CWR) in children with popliteal cysts. Methods: This study included 16 pediatric patients with popliteal cysts and received arthroscopy using the double posteromedial (PM) portal system during June 2020 and June 2021 at The General Hospital of Northern Theater Command. Among these pediatric patients, 14 were males and two were females, with the mean age of nine years (range: 7-12 years). The left knee was affected in 12 cases, while the right knee was involved in the rest four cases. All patients underwent MR imaging before the procedure to assess whether there was intra-articular trauma and whether the popliteal cyst communicated with the knee-joint cavity. The MRI results showed that each patient had a simple popliteal cyst that involved a single knee joint without intra-articular trauma, which was classified as Grade-1 (n=3), Grade-2 (n =10) or Grade-3 (n =3) according to the Rauschning and Lindgren grading of knee joint symptoms. Arthroscopy was performed through anterolateral (AL) and PM portals to the knee joint for AID plus CWR, and the surgical outcomes were evaluated based on the Rauschning and Lindgren criteria. Results: No major vascular or nerve injury occurred during the operation. Postoperative complications such as wound infection and lower-extremity deep venous thrombosis were not recorded in these patients. Complications involving the saphenous nerve or the great saphenous vein or pseudocyst formation were not observed during the follow-up period. All patients completed the follow-up ranging from 3-12 months and were identified to have grade-0 (n=15) and grade-1 (n=1) popliteal cysts based on the Rauschning and Lindgren criteria, indicating significant improvement compared with the preoperative levels (all p

The leukocyte Fcγ receptor (FcγR)-mediated response is important for the efficacy of therapeutic antibodies; however, little is known about the role of FcγRs in other cell types. Here we identify a subset of fibroblasts in human breast cancer that express CD16 (FcγRIII). An abundance of these cells in HER2

Background China’s medical insurance schemes and poverty alleviation policy at this stage have achieved population-wide coverage and the system's universal function. At the late stage of the elimination of absolute poverty task, how to further exert the poverty alleviation function of the medical insurance schemes has become an important agenda for targeted poverty alleviation. To analyse the risk of catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) occurrence in middle-aged and older adults with vulnerability characteristics from the perspectives of social, regional, disease, health service utilization and medical insurance schemes. Methods We used data from the 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) database and came up with 9190 samples. The method for calculating the CHE was adopted from WHO. Logistic regression was used to determine the different characteristics of middle-aged and older adults with a high probability of incurring CHE. Results The overall regional poverty rate and incidence of CHE were similar in the east, central and west, but with significant differences among provinces. The population insured by the urban and rural integrated medical insurance (URRMI) had the highest incidence of CHE (21.17%) and health expenditure burden (22.77%) among the insured population. Integration of Medicare as a medical insurance scheme with broader benefit coverage did not have a significant effect on the incidence of CHE in middle-aged and older people with vulnerability characteristics. Conclusions Based on the perspective of Medicare improvement, we conducted an in-depth exploration of the synergistic effect of medical insurance and the poverty alleviation system in reducing poverty, and we hope that through comprehensive strategic adjustments and multidimensional system cooperation, we can lift the vulnerable middle-aged and older adults out of poverty.

As its name implies, ARAIM is an evolution of Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM) which has been used by aircraft for many years to support horizontal navigation [1, 2, 3]. RAIM is limited to GPS-only, L1-only measurements. It was developed in the 1990’s before the Satellite Based Augmentations Systems (SBASs) and the Ground Based Augmentations Systems (GBASs). These later augmentations developed much more detailed descriptions of potential threats to satellite ranging accuracy as well as more sophisticated analysis techniques for describing and bounding errors. ARAIM harmonizes the threat models with these augmentation systems and leverages their advanced techniques to analyze and mitigate the threats. ARAIM also supports the combination of signals on multiple frequencies and from other constellations in addition to GPS. A significant part of the ARAIM concept is to provide a transparent method to validate key integrity parameters and to transmit their numerical values to users through an Integrity Support Message (ISM). The parameters in this ISM convey the level of performance and trust that can be put into the system. In this paper, we describe the methodology used to evaluate these ISM parameters and to ensure that they conform to requirements [4, 5, 6]. The ISM parameters include 5 key elements. These are: P_sat – The probability that an individual satellite is in a faulted state at any given time P_const – The probability that multiple satellites are in a faulted state at any given time Alpha_URA – A multiplier to obtain the integrity overbound of the uncertainty on the SIS error b_nom – An overbound on the magnitude of the SIS long-term/deterministic bias error MFD – The Mean Fault Duration or average time that a satellite stays in a faulted state The paper will develop the following points: Signal-In-Space Range Error Estimation. The estimated instantaneous SISREs must accurately represent the effects of satellite orbit and clock errors (as well as other random components of other SISRE error sources) affecting the user’s pseudorange errors [7]. This could fail to happen in four primary ways: - Incorrect broadcast clock and ephemeris data - Incorrect precise clock and ephemeris data - Missing data (particularly during anomalous event) - Data is processed incorrectly We will briefly go over the methods to address these issues, as well as the use of precise orbits, and clock estimates. Long-Term System Behavior. The purpose of the ISM parameters is to describe expectations on future performance. Therefore, it is imperative to establish that operational behaviors will be maintained and not become worse than described. We will describe a set of analyses to measure the long term behavior. For GPS, these analyses confirm that the performance has steadily improved. Specific Risk Evaluation. It is important to identify predictable and/or repeatable behavior so that risk may be properly characterized. Averaging risk across different conditions is not safe to do if those conditions have significantly different levels of risk. The events associated with higher risk will be erroneously assessed to have better integrity than they actually do. We therefore consider the question of how to aggregate the data for this evaluation, and propose a set of partitions including: - Individual satellites - Satellite block type (including clock type) - Time (by year, by season, by month, or by day) - Satellite age - Age of navigation data Probability Overbounding. We will go over the steps involved in the overbounding process, as well as the different techniques and tools available to determine gaussian overbounds (symmetrical unimodal gaussian bounding and paired bounding) [8, 9, 10, 11]. Error Correlation. The overbounding results in the range domain depend on an assumption of independence. However, there are mechanisms that can impact the clock and ephemeris estimates such the errors are correlated, as, for example, the time transfer across the monitoring receivers, correlated errors at the monitoring stations etc. We therefore need to ensure that the errors can be treated as if they were independent and still end up with conservative error bounds. To demonstrate that the errors can be treated as if they were independent, we will examine the statistics of the sum of square normalized residuals for each vector errors affecting a user. Fault Rate Estimation. We will review methods to estimate upper limits of the fault rates (from which the probabilities Psat and Pconst can be derived) [12]. This will include the identification of faults (based on the definition of a fault for each constellation), their validation, and the estimation of the rate based on Poisson distributions. For each of these points we present the corresponding results for GPS and Galileo (whenever possible). REFERENCES [1] Working Group C, ARAIM Technical Subgroup, Milestone 3 Report, February 26, 2016. Available at: http://www.gps.gov/policy/cooperation/europe/2016/working-group-c/ http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=8690 [2] Working Group C, ARAIM Technical Subgroup, Milestone 2 Report, Issue 1.0, February 11, 2015. Available at: http://www.gps.gov/policy/cooperation/europe/2015/working-group-c/ http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=8191 [3] Working Group C, ARAIM Technical Subgroup, Interim Report, Issue 1.0, December 19, 2012. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/newsroom/cf/_getdocument.cfm?doc_id=7793 http://www.gps.gov/policy/cooperation/europe/2013/working-group-c/ARAIM-report-1.0.pdf [4] ICAO, Annex 10 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, Aeronautical Telecommunications, Volume I Radio Navigation Aids, Seventh Edition, July 2018 [5] GPS Standard Positioning Service (SPS) Performance Standard. 5th Edition, April 2020. [6] “Proposed amendments to Annex 10, Volume I: Galileo system provisions” ICAO working paper presented at the sixth meeting of the Navigation Systems Panel, 2-13 November 2020 [7] Walter, Todd, Gunning, Kazuma, Phelts, R. Eric, Blanch, Juan, "Validation of the Unfaulted Error Bounds for ARAIM", NAVIGATION, Journal of The Institute of Navigation, Vol. 65, No. 1, Spring 2018, pp. 117-133. [8] Perea, S., Meurer, M., Rippl, M., Belabbas, B., and Joerger, M. (2017) URA/SISA Analysis for GPS and Galileo to Support ARAIM. J Inst Navig, 64: 237– 254. doi: 10.1002/navi.199. [9] Blanch J., Walter, T., and Enge, P., “Gaussian Bounds of Sample Distributions for Integrity Analysis”. IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems.” PP. 1-1. 10.1109/TAES.2018.2876583. [10] DeCleene, B. “Defining Pseudorange Integrity - Overbounding,” Proceedings of the 13th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 2000), Salt Lake City, UT, September 2000, pp. 1916-1924 [11] J. Rife, T. Walter, and J. Blanch, “Overbounding SBAS and GBAS error distributions with excess-mass functions,” Proceedings of the 2004 International Symposium on GPS/GNSS, Sydney, Australia, 6-8 December, 2004. [12] Walter, T., Blanch, J., Gunning, K., Joerger, M., & Pervan, B. (2019). Determination of Fault Probabilities for ARAIM. IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, 55(6), 3505-3516. [8684918]. https://doi.org/10.1109/TAES.2019.2909727

Insertion of new material into the Escherichia coli peptidoglycan (PG) sacculus between the cytoplasmic membrane and the outer membrane requires a well-organized balance between synthetic and hydrolytic activities to maintain cell shape and avoid lysis. Since most bacteria carry multiple enzymes carrying the same type of PG hydrolytic activity, we know little about the specific function of given enzymes. Here we show that the DD-carboxy/endopeptidase PBP4 localizes in a PBP1A/LpoA and FtsEX dependent fashion at midcell during septal PG synthesis. Midcell localization of PBP4 requires its non-catalytic domain 3 of unknown function, but not the activity of PBP4 or FtsE. Microscale thermophoresis with isolated proteins shows that PBP4 interacts with NlpI and the FtsEX-interacting protein EnvC, an activator of amidases AmiA and AmiB, which are needed to generate denuded glycan strands to recruit the initiator of septal PG synthesis, FtsN. The domain 3 of PBP4 is needed for the interaction with NlpI and EnvC, but not PBP1A or LpoA. In vivo crosslinking experiments confirm the interaction of PBP4 with PBP1A and LpoA. We propose that the interaction of PBP4 with EnvC, whilst not absolutely necessary for mid-cell recruitment of either protein, coordinates the activities of PBP4 and the amidases, which affects the formation of denuded glycan strands that attract FtsN. Consistent with this model, we found that the divisome assembly at midcell was premature in cells lacking PBP4, illustrating how the complexity of interactions affect the timing of cell division initiation.

Objectives: To investigate the clinical efficacy of exposure enhancement technique and femoral condyle pushing technique applying in the posterior horn of the medial meniscus of the knee. Methods: From January 2016 to June 2019, 52 patients with injury in the medial meniscus treated in our department were selected. The horizontal tear of the posterior horn of the medial meniscus was repaired by exposure enhancement technique and femoral condyle pushing technique using the meniscus suture system. Postoperatively, the efficacy was evaluated using the Lysholm scoring system. Results: These 52 patients were all followed up for 3~18 months, with an average of 12.5 ± 7.3 months. The pain and activity of all patients were significantly improved compared with those before surgery. Conclusion: Exposure enhancement technique and femoral condyle pushing technique in the repair of the posterior horn of the medial meniscus presents satisfactory efficacy. It can improve the pain and activity of the knee, and enhance the stability of residual meniscus. Therefore, it is worth promoting. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.6.5176 How to cite this:Liu X, Xiang D, Zi Y, Han T, Xue C. Application of exposure enhancement technique combined with femoral condyle pushing technique in repairing the posterior horn of the medial meniscus under knee arthroscopy. Pak J Med Sci. 2022;38(6):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.6.5176 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Background: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a special subtype of breast cancer with poor prognosis. DNA damage response (DDR) is one of the hallmarks of this cancer. However, the association of DDR genes with the prognosis of TNBC is still unclear.Methods: We identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between normal and TNBC samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). DDR genes were obtained from the Molecular Signatures Database through six DDR gene sets. After the expression of six differential genes were verified by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), we then overlapped the DEGs with DDR genes. Based on univariate and LASSO Cox regression analyses, a prognostic model was constructed to predict overall survival (OS). Kaplan–Meier analysis and receiver operating characteristic curve were used to assess the performance of the prognostic model. Cox regression analysis was applied to identify independent prognostic factors in TNBC. The Human Protein Atlas was used to study the immunohistochemical data of six DEGs. The prognostic model was validated using an independent dataset. Gene Ontology and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis were performed by using gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA). Single-sample gene set enrichment analysis was employed to estimate immune cells related to this prognostic model. Finally, we constructed a transcriptional factor (TF) network and a competing endogenous RNA regulatory network.Results: Twenty-three differentially expressed DDR genes were detected between TNBC and normal samples. The six-gene prognostic model we developed was shown to be related to OS in TNBC using univariate and LASSO Cox regression analyses. All the six DEGs were identified as significantly up-regulated in the tumor samples compared to the normal samples in qRT-PCR. The GSEA analysis indicated that the genes in the high-risk group were mainly correlated with leukocyte migration, cytokine interaction, oxidative phosphorylation, autoimmune diseases, and coagulation cascade. The mutation data revealed the mutated genes were different. The gene-TF regulatory network showed that Replication Factor C subunit 4 occupied the dominant position.Conclusion: We identified six gene markers related to DDR, which can predict prognosis and serve as an independent biomarker for TNBC patients.

Phagocytosis is required for the optimal efficacy of many approved and promising therapeutic antibodies for various malignancies. However, the factors that determine the response to therapies that rely on phagocytosis remain largely elusive. Here, we demonstrate that mitochondrial fission in macrophages induced by multiple antibodies is essential for phagocytosis of live tumor cells. Tumor cells resistant to phagocytosis inhibit mitochondrial fission of macrophages by overexpressing glutamine-fructose-6-phosphate transaminase 2 (GFPT2), which can be targeted to improve antibody efficacy. Mechanistically, increased cytosolic calcium by mitochondrial fission abrogates the phase transition of the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP)-Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome interacting protein (WIP) complex and enables protein kinase C-θ (PKC-θ) to phosphorylate WIP during phagocytosis. GFPT2-mediated excessive use of glutamine by tumor cells impairs mitochondrial fission and prevents access of PKC-θ to compartmentalized WIP in macrophages. Our data suggest that mitochondrial dynamics dictate the phase transition of the phagocytic machinery and identify GFPT2 as a potential target to improve antibody therapy.

Ion trapping using radio-frequency (RF) devices has been widely used in mass spectrometry (MS). The pseudopotential well (PW) model enables the use of a pseudopotential depth, D, to evaluate the ion trapping capability of the RF devices in the pure electric field. It remains unclear how gas pressures regulate the ion trapping and D. Here, we calculated the D of a linear ion trap (LIT) from 1 mTorr to 2 Torr, a pressure range critical for the operation of the RF devices, through ion cloud simulations. Compared with the case of pure electric field, ion-neutral collision effects at pressures of 1 to 100 mTorr were beneficial for the ion trapping and revealed an optimal trapping depth, D, at around 10 mTorr. We explained the mechanism and validated the observation via ion trapping experiments performed in a home-made dual LIT mass spectrometer. We also showed that near the stability boundary, the RF heating became comparable with the D, which led to the decrement of ion trapping capability characterized by the available D.

Artificial neurons and synapses are critical units for processing intricate information in brain-inspired neuromorphic systems. Memristors are frequently engineered as artificial synapses due to their simple structures, nonlinear dynamics, and high-density integration. However, the development of artificial neurons on memristors has less progress. In this letter, we propose a rich dynamics-driven artificial neuron based on two-dimensional materials MXene. Partial essential neural features of neural processing, including leaky integration, automatic threshold-driven fire, and self-recovery, were successfully emulated in a unified manner. The space-charge-limited current (SCLC) model accompanied by electrochemical metallization effect was used to explain electrical characteristics. This work will provide a useful guideline for designing and manipulating memristor as artificial neurons for brain-inspired systems.

This study aimed to obtain carbon fluxes in the Zoige peatlands on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in the contemporary (recent years) and modern era (recent decades) and ancient times (during the Holocene or even longer) using flux tower and modeling approaches. The goal was to understand the carbon fate of alpine peatlands under climate change. Time-weighted average net carbon balance (g C m−2 yr−1) of Zoige peatlands was 189.3 ± 33.0 in the contemporary era, 80.6 ± 13.5 in the modern era and 33.5 ± 5.5 during the Holocene. Historical net carbon balance on these peatlands showed a ladder pattern. The observed carbon accumulation rate was 117.2 ± 14.2 g C m−2 yr−1 over the past 50 years and 94.3 ± 12.3 g C m−2 yr−1 over the past 100 years, which were nearly three times the rate of 36.6 ± 4.3 g C m−2 yr−1 over the long term, even though they had spatial discrepancy due to limited data. Our results indicated variable climatic factors may influence net carbon balance to some extent, and the primary determinant was temperature in the contemporary era, water table in the modern era and temperature in the Holocene, probably.

Even though the internet has become an essential infrastructure of modern society, the centralized domain name system (DNS) is unable to provide high-quality services and secure management and controlling. To face this challenge, we have proposed a reconfigurable multi-identifier network architecture and have developed a prototype of the multi-identifier system. We optimized network security using consortium blockchain, improved forwarding speed using HPT for FIB, and enhanced scalability through a tunnel algorithm. Experiments and tests of this prototype on the network of the two largest telecommunication service providers in China demonstrate that the system is considerably robust to support real-world traffic. Moreover, it can be applied to sovereign networks and other private networks with multiple identifiers, which may become a Chinese solution of network security to the world.

Five flexible chain & rigid skeleton complementation polycarbazole networks P-Fo, PBT-C1 (C2, C4, C6) were designed and synthesized for gas storage. Increasing the length of alkyl groups from naked to –CH3 to –n-C6H12, the morphology (SEM) and thermostability (TGA) got tremendous changes. PBT-C1 exhibited Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) specific surface area of 685 m2 g−1, which is larger than network P-Fo without TTF substitutions. Nevertheless, further replacing the alkyl-substituted TTF motifs with longer alkyl chains (PBT-C2, C4, C6) would bring a dramatic drop of BET surface areas to less than 100 m2 g−1, similar trends have found for H2, CO2, and CH4 adsorption as side chains changed. It need to be mention that decorating the alkyl group, CH4 adsorption enthalpy can be significantly improved to 52.1 kJ mol−1 (PBT-C4) at zero loading, indicating that alkyl segment can promote the adsorption potential between microporous and CH4 molecule, while have futile effect on H2 and CO2 molecule. These results demonstrated that rational flexible chain grafted into the rigid skeleton at one hand can block the microporous, but it will also have more beneficial on the BET surface areas, pore volume and gas adsorption ability, especially for methane.

In this study, controlled-release isocyanate microcapsules were synthesized as functional crosslinking to slowdown the rate of cross-linking reactions. The isocyanate microcapsules were prepared by...

Consuming selenium (Se)‐rich fruit may play an important role in human health by supplementing Se. The aims of this study were to (1) determine the Se tolerance of pear trees and (2) explore the effects of different Se sources and spraying dates on Se concentrations and transformation of inorganic Se into organic Se compounds in various parts of the pear tree and on fruit quality. Spraying Se(IV) or Se(VI) at a concentration of > 40 mg L⁻¹ resulted in leaf yellowing, marginal withering, and finally leaf abscission. Furthermore, fruit growth and appearance were adversely affected at high Se doses. At the same application stage, Se concentrations in different parts of the fruit were 1.1–4.7 times higher under Se(VI) compared to Se(IV) treatment. For the same Se source, Se concentrations under treatment at the fruit expanding stage were 1.9–2.5 times higher than under treatment at the fruit‐setting stage. Of the total Se in the fruit, 40% accumulated in the juice under Se(IV) treatment and > 70% under Se(VI) treatment. However, regardless of the Se source, the Se in the juice was almost all inorganic, while the transformation of inorganic Se into organic Se compounds was > 80% and 70% in the peel and pomace, respectively. Foliar Se application somewhat improved fruit quality by increasing the concentration of soluble solids. Compared to other species, Se tolerance in pear trees was relatively low. Given the high accumulation of Se and efficient transformation of inorganic Se into organic Se compounds in the peel, consumption of unpeeled Se‐rich pears is recommended.

Porphyromonas gingivalis , a clinically important oral pathogen causing periodontal disease, is difficult to culture in routine conditions. Hence, it is necessary to establish a reliable technique to detect this pathogen. Previously, our laboratory developed a new isothermal detection method, called MB-LAMP (molecular beacon-Loop-mediated isothermal amplification), which combines the advantages of LAMP and qPCR through the accurate and quantitative detection of LAMP products. This approach offers significant potential for the point-of-care detection of P. gingivalis. Here, MB-LAMP was used to detect P. gingivalis targeting a specific fragment, and the sensitivity was as high as 1.4 × 10−1 pg μL–1. The method showed no cross-reaction with 14 other bacterial pathogens. For clinical samples, this assay showed a high diagnostic sensitivity (100%) and specificity (100%), equivalent to that of real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (real-time qPCR). Moreover, detection with MB-LAMP was significantly faster than that with real-time qPCR, reducing the time required for clinical diagnosis. Finally, we established an absolute quantification method with MB-LAMP for P. gingivalis using pilot samples. Thus, the highly specific, sensitive, and rapid assay developed in this study makes it feasible to diagnose P. gingivalis.

Hierarchically porous metal-organic frameworks with micropores, mesopores, and macropores have been successfully fabricated by using compressed CO2. Not any acid or addition but compressed CO2 was added into the synthesis system for achieving hierarchically porous materials. TEM, SEM, N2 adsorption, XRD, TG, FTIR, and EDX were employed to character structural and component of the obtained materials. The mesopores size of resultant MOFs prepared by this approach can be expanded as large as 28 nm, which is rather difficult to obtain by conventional syntheses method. In addition, the amount and proportion of micropores, mesopores, and macropores distributed in the obtained samples can be controlled by adjusting CO2 pressure. Furthermore, the resulting hierarchically porous MOFs (HP-MOFs) can be utilized to absorb selectively on CO2 and CH4, which demonstrate the enhanced adsorption behavior. The liquid phase adsorption performances of the as-prepared HP-MOFs samples are evaluated by using methylene blue as a model adsorbate. The possible mechanism of formation of HP-MOFs by using compressed CO2 was proposed according to results of the experiments. Compared with traditional synthetic methods, the compressed CO2 plays many roles in the synthesis of HP-MOFs. Notably, this versatile approach can be applied to prepare other hierarchically porous materials in the organic solvent–water miscible system.

Cadmium (Cd) accumulation in edible part of crop threatens human health. The beneficial effects of selenium (Se) have been established in improving plant growth and reducing Cd accumulation in plant under Cd stress. This study investigated the effect of Se in reducing Cd concentration in seed, and revealed the underlying regulating mechanisms in root of rape. Results showed that when plants were grown in Cd contaminated soil, the application of exogenous Se significantly reduced Cd concentration in seed. Under 5 μmol L−1 Cd stress, the photosynthesis and photosynthetic pigment contents in leaf tissue were improved with the addition of Se; Se reduced Cd concentration in root, while root morphology showed little variation by comparison with Cd treated alone. Further studies on root revealed that Se addition increased the concentration of Cd with inactive forms. Except that, Se increased the contents of pectin and hemicellulose 2, which was consistent with the elevated Cd concentration in root cell walls. Findings in this study may indicate that with the application of Se, the proportion of less mobile Cd-complex is enhanced, and the Cd binding to root cell wall increases along with the elevated contents of pectin and hemicellulose 2; all of these contribute to the reduction of Cd uptake in root and therefore transportation to stem, pod, and finally seed.

As a major class of mammalian lipids, phosphatidylcholines (PCs) often contain mixtures of structural isomers, resulting from different lipogenesis pathways. Profiling PCs at the isomer level, however, remains challenging in lipidomic settings, especially for characterizing the positions of fatty acyls on the glycerol backbone (sn-positions) and the locations of carbon–carbon double bonds (CCs) in unsaturated acyl chains. In this work, we have developed a workflow for profiling PCs down to sn- and CC locations at high coverage and sensitivity. This capability is enabled by radical-directed fragmentation, forming sn-1 specific fragment ions upon collision-induced dissociation (CID) of bicarbonate anion adducts of PCs ([M + HCO3]−) inside a mass spectrometer. This new tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) method can be simply incorporated into liquid chromatography by employing ammonium bicarbonate in the mobile phase without any instrument modification needed. It is also compatible with the online Paterno–Buchi reaction and subsequent MS/MS for the assignment of CC locations in sn-1 fatty acyl chains of unsaturated PCs. The analytical performance of the workflow is manifested by identification of 82 distinct PC molecular species from the polar extract of bovine liver, including quantification of 19 pairs of sn-isomers. Finally, we demonstrate that five pairs of PC sn-isomers show significant compositional changes in tissue samples of human breast cancer relative to controls, suggesting a potential for monitoring PC sn-isomers for biomedical applications.

Carcinoma‐associated fibroblasts (CAFs) consist of heterogeneous subpopulations that play a critical role in the dynamics of the tumor microenvironment. The extracellular signals of CAFs have been attributed to the extracellular matrix, cytokines, cell surface checkpoints, and exosomes. In the present study, it is demonstrated that the CD10 transmembrane hydrolase expressed on a subset of CAFs supports tumor stemness and induces chemoresistance. Mechanistically, CD10 degenerates an antitumoral peptide termed osteogenic growth peptide (OGP). OGP restrains the expression of rate‐limiting desaturase SCD1 and inhibits lipid desaturation, which is required for cancer stem cells (CSCs). Targeting CD10 significantly improves the efficacy of chemotherapy in vivo. Clinically, CD10‐OGP signals are associated with the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer. The collective data suggest that a nexus between the niche and lipid metabolism in CSCs is a promising therapeutic target for breast cancer., CD10, a transmembrane hydrolase expressed by a subset of carcinoma‐associated fibroblasts, drives tumor progression by degrading an anti‐tumoral peptide, osteogenic growth peptide (OGP). OGP impairs tumor lipid desaturation and consequently suppresses cancer stem cells (CSCs). This study sheds new light on a nexus between the niche and lipid metabolism in CSCs.