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Ovarian cancer, a leading cause of cancer related deaths among women, has been notoriously difficult to routinely screen for and diagnose early. Researchers and clinicians continue to seek routinely usable, non-invasive, screening methods as early detection significantly improves survival. Biomarker screening is ideal; however, currently available ovarian cancer biomarkers lack desirable sensitivity and specificity. Furthermore, the most fatal forms, high grade serous cancers often originate in the fallopian tube; therefore, sampling from the vaginal environment provides more proximal sources for tumor detection. To address these shortcomings and leverage proximal sampling, we developed an untargeted mass spectrometry microprotein profiling method and identified a signature of cystatin A, validated this protein in an animal model, and sought to overcome the limits of detection inherent to mass spectrometry by demonstrating that cystatin A is present at 100 pM concentrations using a label-free microtoroid resonator. The findings highlight the potential utility for early-stage detection where cystatin A levels would be low.Significance StatementIt is now clear that high-grade serous ovarian cancer can originate in the fallopian tube epithelium. These tumors colonize the ovary and then metastasize throughout the peritoneum. This discovery has raised important, and yet unaddressed, questions how we might be able to detect and screen for this deadly disease for which there is no routine screening. We have leveraged vaginal lavages from a murine model of the disease as a complex biological fluid for untargeted discovery of microproteins using mass. We improved our limits of detection by conjugating a cystatin A antibody to the surface of a microtoroid resonator to allow us to specifically detect cystatin A from vaginal lavages at early time points across biological replicates.

Changes to macrophage polarization affect the local microenvironment of the placenta, resulting in pathological pregnancy diseases such as recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA). Macrophages are in close contact with trophoblasts during placental development, and trophoblast-derived cytokines are important regulators of macrophage polarization and function. Histone acetylation can affect the expression and secretion of cytokines, and ATP citrate lyase (ACLY) is an important factor that regulates histone acetylation. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of ACLY expression differences in trophoblast on macrophage polarization and its mechanism. Our data demonstrate that ACLY level in placental villi of patients with RSA is decreased, which may lead to the inhibition of histone acetylation in trophoblasts, thereby reducing the secretion of IL-10. Reduced IL-10 secretion activates endoplasmic reticulum stress in macrophages, thus inhibiting their M2 polarization.

Trametopsis is a worldwide genus belonging to Irpicaceae in the phlebioid clade, which can cause a white decay of wood. Previously, only three species were ascribed to the genus. In this study, we performed a morphological and phylogenetic study of Trametopsis. Molecular phylogenetic analyses of multiple loci included the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions, the large subunit nuclear ribosomal RNA gene (nLSU), the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (RPB1), the second largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (RPB2) and the translation elongation factor 1-α gene (TEF1). Phylogenetic trees were inferred from the combined datasets of ITS+nLSU sequences and ITS+nLSU+RPB1+RPB2+TEF1 sequences by using maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses. Combined with molecular data, morphological characters and ecological traits, two new species of Trametopsis are discovered. Trametopsis abieticola is characterised by its pileate, solitary or imbricate basidiomata, buff to buff-yellow pileal surface when fresh, becoming pinkish buff to clay-buff when dry, cream to buff pore surface when fresh, becoming pinkish buff to greyish brown upon drying, round to angular and large pores (0.5–1 per mm), cylindrical basidiospores (5.8–7.2 × 1.9–2.6 μm), distributed in the high altitude of mountains and grows on Abies sp. Trametopsis tasmanica is characterised by its resupinate basidiomata, cream to pinkish-buff pore surface when fresh, becoming honey-yellow to snuff brown upon drying, cylindrical basidiospores (5.2–6.3 × 1.8–2.2 μm), and by growing on Eucalyptus sp. Detailed descriptions and illustrations of the two novel species are provided.

The ever-increasing production of commercial lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) will result in a staggering accumulation of waste when they reach their end of life. A closed-loop solution, with effective recycling of spent LIBs, will lessen both the environmental impacts and economic cost of their use. Presently,5% of spent LIBs are recycled and the regeneration of graphite anodes has, unfortunately, been mostly overlooked despite the considerable cost of battery-grade graphite. Here, we develop an ultrafast flash recycling method to regenerate the graphite anode and recover valuable battery metal resources. Selective Joule heating is applied for only seconds to efficiently decompose the resistive impurities. The generated inorganic salts, including lithium, cobalt, nickel, and manganese, can be easily recollected from the flashed anode waste using diluted acid, specifically 0.1 M HCl. The flash-recycled anode preserves the graphite structure and is coated with a solid-electrolyte-interphase-derived carbon shell, contributing to high initial specific capacity, superior rate performance and cycling stability, when compared to anode materials recycled using a high-temperature-calcination method. Life-cycle-analysis relative to current graphite production and recycling methods indicate that flash recycling can significantly reduce the total energy consumption and greenhouse gas emission while turning anode recycling into an economically advantageous process. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Background The condensation complex gene non-SMC condensin I complex subunit G(NCAPG), a cell cycle-associated condensin, is over-expressed in various cancers. However, its biological function in colorectal cancer (CRC) has yet to be deciphered. In this study, we investigated the role of NCAPG in CRC progression. Methods Tissues and cells were used to measure NCAPG expression levels and their association with clinicopathological characteristics. NCAPG silencing and overexpression in CRC cells were used to measure its effect on proliferation, migration, invasion, and epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) progression. In addition, mRNA, and protein expression levels of key EMT biomarkers were measured. The underlying mechanism of NCAPG modulating CRC progression was further explored using western blotting, co-immunoprecipitation (CO-IP), and immunofluorescence (IF) assays. Results NCAPG was over-expressed in CRC tissues and cell lines. High expression levels were associated with differentiation levels, lymph metastasis, and vascular invasion in patients. NCAPG silencing suppressed, while NCAPG overexpression promoted the proliferative, migration, and invasive capacity of HCT116 and SW480 cells. Mechanistically, we discovered that NCAPG participated in regulating the EMT process and the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway to facilitate CRC invasion and metastasis. Additional experiments demonstrated that NCAPG activated the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway by binding to β-catenin in CRC cells. Conclusion NCAPG acts as an oncogene involved in the development and progression of CRC by binding to β-catenin to activate the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.

Conductive polymer composites (CPCs) with segregated structures can achieve excellent electrical conductivity with low conductive filler, however, the weak interfacial adhesion always impairs their mechanical performance and limits the practical applications. Herein, we developed a carbon nanotube (CNT)/thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) composite containing a novel co-continuous segregated structure, with a highly continuous TPU region and highly continuous CNT network among the interfaces of the TPU region, via the utilization of a 3D printed TPU skeleton. The electrical conductivity and mechanical performance were simultaneously improved. The co-continuous segregated CNT/TPU composite with only 4.0 wt% CNT achieves a superb electrical conductivity of 46.7 S m−1, which is 83% higher than that for the CNT/TPU composite with a conventional segregated structure. The tensile strength and the elongation at break of the co-continuous segregated CNT/TPU composite are 18.1 MPa and 281%, exhibiting 389% and 1238% enhancements in comparison to 3.7 MPa and 21% for the conventional segregated structure. Our work reveals a new methodology, i.e., the construction of a co-continuous segregated structure with a highly continuous polymer region and highly continuous conductive networks composed of interfacial distributed conductive fillers, to address the trade-off between electrically conductive performance and mechanical performance in CPCs, which can be extended to almost all other 3D-printed continuous polymer skeletons and even other 3D continuous polymer matrices (e.g., melt spun or mechanically woven 3D fabric).

This paper identified the dominant protozoan species in the four layers of rhizosphere soil during the six growth stages of Beta vulgaris L. and analyzed the correlations of the abundance and diversity of the dominant protozoan species with soil properties at different growth stages and soil depth. A total of 15 species of protozoa were identified; among them, Colpoda sp., Bodo sp., two kinds of Oxytricha sp., and Tachysoma sp. were the most dominant species of Beta vulgaris L. rhizosphere soil. The Colpoda sp. was eurytopic species in the Beta vulgaris L. rhizosphere soil and Tachysoma sp., Vorticella sp., Colpoda sp., Oxytricha sp.1, and Oxytricha sp. 2 were noted closely related to the acceleration function of circulation of N and P elements in soils. These dominant protozoan species were proposed to play a significant role of fertilization on N supply in rhizosphere soil during the initial growth of Beta vulgaris L.

A stretchable carbon nanotube (CNT)/thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) composite with an enhanced segregated structure was developed for use as an electrically driven heater. The segregated conductive networks can be repaired after multiple processing cycles, endowing the CNT/TPU composite with highly reliable electrical heating performance. The steady-state maximum temperature (TMAX) of the composite maintains a high retention of 95.2% even after the tenth cycle of processing, while the TMAX value for the CNT/TPU composite with a segregated structure suffers a 68.3% decrease after the second cycle of processing. Moreover, the enhanced segregated structure composite (ESSC) exhibits a tensile strength of 23.8 MPa and an elongation at break of 419.9%, which are almost doubled in comparison to the segregated structure composite (SSC); also, it meets the requirements for practical application as an electrically driven heater (EDH). The ESSC is capable of accommodating repeated heating and a large amount of strain and bending in a completely reversible fashion, thereby proving outstanding durability. This was proven by its application as a wearable electrical heater for personal heating management. This ESSC can facilitate an electrically driven heater with segregated networks for application in integrated flexible devices.

Background: Lumbar pedicle subtraction osteotomy (PSO) can significantly correct thoracic kyphosis and relieve the compensatory pelvic backward tilt. However, hip involvement occurred in some advanced AS patients could restrict the rotation of the pelvis around the femoral heads, which may affect the postoperative radiographic outcomes after lumbar PSO. The aim of the study is to identify whether hip involvement will negatively impact the postoperative radiographic outcomes after lumbar PSO in AS patients with thoracolumbar kyphosis. Method s: From March 2009 to June 2013, a total of 44 consecutive AS patients with thoracolumbar kyphosis undergoing one-level lumbar PSO were retrospectively reviewed. All the patients had more than 2-year follow-up. Hip involvement was evaluated based on the Bath ankylosing spondylitis radiology index-hip (BASRI-hip) and defined by a score of at least 2. All patients were divided into group A (patients without hip involvement) and group B (patients with hip involvement). Radiographical measurements included sagittal vertical axis (SVA), global kyphosis (GK), thoracic kyphosis (TK), local kyphosis (LK), lumbar lordosis (LL), pelvic incidence (PI), pelvic tilt (PT), and sacral slope (SS). Results : The preoperative SVA and PT was not significantly different between group A and group B (SVA: 14.0 ± 6.3cm vs. 14.7 ± 6.0cm, P > 0.05; PT: 36.8° ± 7.1° vs. 37.3° ± 7.7°, P > 0.05), and both groups had similar magnitudes of kyphosis corrections (LK correction: 44.9° ± 4.9° vs. 44.2° ± 8.3°, P > 0.05). However, group B had significantly larger SVA and PT than group A (SVA: 7.6 ± 4.5cm vs 3.5 ± 3.4cm, P < 0.05; PT: 28.1° ± 8.6° vs. 19.0° ± 8.0°, P < 0.05) at the last follow-up. Conclusion: In AS patients with thoracolumbar kyphosis, hip involvement lead to insufficient correction of SVA and PT after lumbar PSO, which negatively impact postoperative radiographic outcomes. For these patients, additional osteotomies may be recommended for satisfactory correction outcomes. Key words: ankylosing spondylitis, thoracolumbar kyphosis, pedicle subtraction osteotomy, hip involvement

CaCO3 precipitation is one of the most common and important geochemical processes in the arid inland waters and it can be significantly affected by interaction of DOM with Ca2+. Effects of the drastic seasonal change of water salinity on interaction of DOM with Ca2+ in the arid inland waters were completely unknown. In the present study, complexation of DOM with Ca2+ in the freshwater (0.5‰ salinity) and hypersaline water (70‰ salinity) were comparatively examined by excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence quenching titration and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). The complexation of DOM with Ca2+ was significantly influenced by the drastic change of salinity. The ITC complexation is exothermic at 0.5‰ salinity but turns to an endothermic process at 70‰ salinity. More energy is needed for the complex reaction between DOM and Ca2+ under the hypersaline condition than in the fresh water. Fluorescence quenching titration indicates that DOM has stronger binding ability toward Ca2+ in the freshwater than in the saline water, and more fractions of DOM in the freshwater are accessible to Ca2+ than in the saline water. Ca2+ complexation in the DOM is dominated by the tryptophan-like components at both salinities and the complexation of Ca2+ with fulvic acid-like components is ignorable. The findings is important for understanding the aquatic geochemical processes in some lakes that seriously affected by irrigation water use in the arid zone.

The human leukocyte antigen B27 (HLA-B27) gene has been observed to significantly increase the risk of developing ankylosing spondylitis (AS). The HLA-B27 allele B*27:05, a genetic ancestor of all other HLA-B27 alleles, is strongly associated with AS, whereas its close relative B*27:09 does not predispose for AS, although they differ by only a single residue (D116H substitution). In the present study, an integrative biology strategy that combines in silico calculations with in vitro assays is described to perform quantitative sequence-activity model (QSAM)-based high-throughput virtual screening, molecular dynamics/energetics-based large-scale mutagenesis analysis and FACS-based HLA stabilization assay against 28,244 9-mer self-peptides derived from 17 human cartilage proteins as the antigen candidates of HLA-B27. It is revealed that the D116H mutation, which brings B*27:05 to B*27:09, does not substantially shift the peptide binding profile of HLA-B27, suggesting that the B*27:05 and B*27:09 share a similar peptide repertoire. However, few self-peptides that bind differently to B*27:05 and B*27:09 are identified; their sequences are primarily differed by C-terminus (but basically consistent in N-terminus and middle region). HLA stabilization assays substantiate that three identified self-peptides, 2515KRSSRHPRR2523 (Aggrecan), 200TRSVSHLRK208 (Annexin) and 131EKAFSPLRK139 (Biglycan), exhibit high affinity to B*27:05 (BL50 = 76.3, 28.5 and 8.6 nM, respectively) and strong selectivity for B*27:05 over B*27:09 (8.9-fold, 4.3-fold and 12.7-fold, respectively), which are highly promising as the potential candidates involved in AS elicitation.

As the most commonly used cathode material for thermal batteries, FeS2 has the advantages of low price and abundant resources. However, the preparation of FeS2 by hydrothermal method is complicated, and FeS2 prepared by solid-phase method has a larger particle size. In this study, surface nanoscale FeS2 was synthesized using a milling method, and add nano WS2 with sulfur vacancies (WS2-Vs) to enhance thermal stability and conductivity. The results showed that the thermal decomposition temperature of FeS2 after adding 3% nano WS2-Vs ball milling for 4 h (FeS2@3%WS2-Vs-4h) was 100 °C higher than that of FeS2 ball milling for 4 h (FeS2–4h). In addition, the step-pulse discharge showed that single cell with FeS2@3%WS2-Vs-4h sample as the cathode active material has a lower internal resistance. Therefore, the discharge specific capacity of FeS2@3%WS2-Vs-4h is increased by 10.5% compared to pristine FeS2. The FeS2 doped with nano WS2-Vs retained the small particle size after ball milling, which not only did not excessively reduce the thermal stability, but also effectively improved its electrical conductivity with the increase of the discharge depth during the discharge process, thus achieve the effect of killing two birds with one stone. This work provides a novel cathode additive for thermal battery.

Phellodon is a genus of ectomycorrhizal fungi belonging to the group known as the stipitate hydnoids. It is associated with coniferous trees in forest ecosystems and is widely distributed in the northern hemisphere. Phellodon, together with Hydnellum, and Sarcodon, is classified in the Bankeraceae, members of which are generally considered as symbiotic fungi. Ectomycorrhizal fungi can help plant roots fix nitrogen and improve the absorption capacity of soil nutrients by trees, so they play an important role in ecosystem protection. Taxonomic and phylogenetic studies of Chinese Phellodon collections were carried out. Four new Phellodon species were discovered from southwestern China based on a combination of morphological characters and molecular data. Phellodon atroardesiacus is characterized by the blackish blue to dark grey pileus, dark grey to ash grey spines, and presence of clamp connections in spines. Phellodon cinereofuscus is distinguished by a cottony tomentose pileal margin, long spines which become clay-buff when dry, and echinulate basidiospores. Phellodon stramineus is characterized by a depressed and tomentose pileus, straw buff-colored pileal surface, and dark grey to ash grey spines. Phellodon yunnanensis is distinguished by a clay-pink to brown pileus, pale brown to white spines, and the presence of clamp connections in the outer layer of stipe. Detailed descriptions, illustrations, and ecological traits for the new taxa are provided. Phylogenetic analyses inferred from the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions confirmed that the four new species are distinct within Phellodon.

In our previous study, we proposed a Restricted Color Number (RCN) algorithm based on graph coloring for interference coordination in cluster-wise distributed MU-MIMO in ultra-dense RAN. In this algorithm, we applied Delaunay Triangulation to help decide the interference relationship, which is different from the common-used threshold setting method. In this paper, we will discuss about the advantages of the Delaunay Triangulation method over the threshold method in graph coloring algorithm for interference coordination.

A surface grating loaded VCSEL structure is proposed and the modeling of slow-wave propagation is carried out. The narrow stop band in the grating-loaded VCSEL is presented thanks to large slow-wave dispersion. The numerical results on mode selectivity, threshold gain, and coupling constant are given for single-mode long-cavity grating-loaded VCSEL.

Object recognition based on LIDAR data is crucial in automotive driving and is the subject of extensive research. However, the lack of accuracy and stability in complex environments obstructs the practical application of real-time recognition algorithms. In this study, we proposed a new real-time network for multicategory object recognition. The manually extracted bird’s eye view (BEV) features were adopted to replace the resource-consuming 3D convolutional operation. Besides the subject network, we designed two auxiliary networks to help the network learn the pointwise features and boxwise features, aiming to improve the category and bounding boxes’ accuracy. The KITTI dataset was adopted to train and validate the proposed network. Experimental results showed that, for hard mode, the total average precision (AP) of the category reached 97.4%. For an intersection over a union threshold of 0.5 and 0.7, the total AP of regression reached 93.2% and 85.5%; especially, the AP of car’s regression reached 95.7% and 92.2%. The proposed network also showed consistent performance in the Apollo dataset with a processing duration of 37 ms. The proposed network exhibits stable and robust object recognition performance in complex environments (multiobject, unordered objects, and multicategory). And it shows sensitivity to occlusion of the LIDAR system and insensitivity to close large objects. The proposed multifunction method simultaneously achieves real-time operation, high accuracy, and stable performance, indicating its great potential value in practical application.