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SummaryWe developed Quickomics, a feature-rich R Shiny-powered tool to enable biologists to fully explore complex omics statistical analysis results and perform advanced analysis in an easy-to-use interactive interface. It covers a broad range of secondary and tertiary analytical tasks after primary analysis of omics data is completed. Each functional module is equipped with customizable options and generates both interactive and publication-ready plots to uncover biological insights from data. The modular design makes the tool extensible with ease.AvailabilityResearchers can experience the functionalities with their own data or demo RNA-Seq and proteomics datasets by using the app hosted at http://quickomics.bxgenomics.com and following the tutorial, https://bit.ly/3rXIyhL. The source code under GPLv3 license is provided at https://github.com/interactivereport/Quickomics for local installation.Supplementary informationSupplementary materials are available at https://bit.ly/37HP17g.

Endophytic fungi are capable of bioactive metabolite production. Using endophytic fungi as a source, I am extracting the fungal metabolites to screen for their potential antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant activities. Fungal metabolites with notable bioactivities can present an alternative to new lead compounds. With consideration, they can be developed into novel drugs that are sustainable, cost-effective with minimal toxicity to combat multi-drug resistant pathogens.

Additional file 2. Supplementary Methods.

Additional file 1: Table S1. Summary data from all GWAS used in current study. Table S2. Genetic correlation between AD, ALS, PD and autoimmune disorders. Table S3. Risk loci associated with ALS conditional on autoimmune diseases. Table S4. eQTL revealing functional effects of shared risk SNPs in tissues from GTEx. Table S5. Functional annotation of shared risk genes. Figure S1. Manhattan-style plots showing the estimates of local genetic correlation between ALS and autoimmune disorders. Figure S2. Conditional Manhattan plots showing risk loci for ALS conditional on each autoimmune disease. Figure S3. Regional association plots for shared risk loci between ALS and each autoimmune disease

Iron stores at birth are essential to meet iron needs during the first 4–6 months of life. The present study aimed to investigate iron stores in normal birth weight, healthy, term neonates. Umbilical cord blood samples were collected from apparently normal singleton vaginal deliveries (n=854). Subjects were screened and excluded if C-reactive protein (CRP) > 5 mg/l or α1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) > 1 g/l, preterm ( 4000g. In total, 762 samples were included in the study. Serum ferritin, soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR), hepcidin, and erythropoietin (EPO) were measured in umbilical cord blood samples; total body iron (TBI) (mg/kg) was calculated using sTfR and ferritin concentrations. A total of 19.8% newborns were iron deficient (ferritin 35 μg/l) and an additional 46.6% had insufficient iron stores (ferritin < 76 μg/l). There was a positive association between serum ferritin and sTfR, hepcidin, and EPO. Gestational age was positively associated with ferritin, sTfR, EPO, and hepcidin. In conclusion, we demonstrate a high prevalence of insufficient iron stores in a Chinese birth cohort. The value of cord sTfR and TBI in the assessment of iron status in the newborn is questionable, and reference ranges need to be established.

Functional and genetic studies have identified association between several Zinc finger (ZNF) proteins and Parkinson's disease (PD). However, most of them were still awaiting further replications, especially in the Asian population. Here, we systematically selected PD-relevant ZNF genes and analyzed the genetic associations between these ZNFs and PD in a large Chinese PD cohort. We identified rare variants (minor allele frequency < 0.01) in 743 unrelated patients with early-onset PD (EOPD, age at onset < 50 years) using whole exome sequencing and evaluated the association between rare variants and EOPD at both allele and gene levels. Totally 91 rare variants were identified in ZNF746, ZNF646, ZNF184, ZNF165, ZND219, and GLIS1. One variant p.R373H in ZNF219 and two variants p.G161D and p.R158H in ZNF746 were significantly associated with EOPD, and gene-based burden analysis showed enrichment of rare variants of ZNF746 in EOPD. Our findings build up the connection between ZNF746 and PD from a genetic perspective for the first time, supplement current understanding for the genetic role of ZNFs in EOPD, and broaden the mutation spectrum in PD.

To solve the problems in the existing fully homomorphic encryption (FHE)-based secure multi-party computation (SMC) protocols such as low efficiency, the FHE scheme that supports multi-bit encryption was modified during the generation of the public key so that the users could generate their public keys independently without the common random string (CRS) matrix. Further, a multi-bit Gentry-Sahai-Waters scheme (MGSW) scheme without CRS was constructed. The modified LinkAlgo algorithm was adopted to expand the single-key ciphertext into the multi-key ciphertext and simplify the way of generating the expanded ciphertext. In this way, a multi-key FHE (MFHE) scheme was achieved based on the MGSW scheme. Finally, a three-round SMC protocol without CRS was constructed using the MFHE scheme and the decisional learning with errors (DLWE) assumption, which was secure in the semi-malicious model. Compared to the existing protocols, the protocol proposed herein can support multi-bit encryption and is found with smaller ciphertext size and lower storage overhead and generate the expanded ciphertext in a simpler way. Overall performance is better than existing protocols.

Cavitation has been proven to cause damage to hydraulic structures. In recent times, aeration has been receiving increasing attention as a suitable method for preventing or reducing the erosion effects of cavitation. In this study, an orifice with a micrometer-sized diameter was designed for introducing air bubbles in water to examine the reduction in erosion caused by cavitation in ultrasonic environments. The experimental results showed that cavitation erosion is significantly reduced by low air concentration, which also reduces structural damage due to cavitation. At a certain air concentration level, the erosion reduction effects of the material do not change when the conditions of the air are altered, and the wall surfaces are protected by aeration and corrosion reduction; the air bubble frequency also influences cavitation erosion, with a high air bubble frequency resulting in a more conducive environment for minimizing cavitation damage. The influence of cavitation damage under the same aeration concentration and different air bubble sizes was also analyzed. The analysis results indicated that the combination of air concentration that satisfies the corrosion reduction requirements and smaller bubble size is highly advantageous for achieving the aeration and corrosion reduction effect at a smaller aeration concentration. Therefore, the aeration and corrosion reduction effect can be effectively achieved through the size of the bubble, and, in water conservancy projects, it can be beneficial for designing and analyzing methods to reduce corrosion and aeration.

Background: Despite the essential functions of the intestinal microbiota in human physiology, little research was reported on gut microbiota alterations in intensive care patients. This investigation examined the dysbacteriosis of intestinal flora in critically ill patients and evaluated the prognostic performance of this dysbiosis to predict in-hospital mortality. Methods: A prospective cohort of patients were consecutively recruited in the Intensive Care Units (ICUs) in Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital from March 2017 through October 2017. Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score were assessed, and fecal samples were taken for examination within 24 hours of ICU admission. The taxonomic composition of the intestinal microbiome was determined using 16S rDNA gene sequencing. Patients were divided into survival and death groups based on hospital outcomes. The two groups were statistically compared using the Wilcoxon test and Metastats analysis. The genera of bacteria showing significantly different abundance between groups were assessed as predictors of in-hospital death. The prognostic value of bacterial abundance alone and in combination with APACHE II or SOFA score was evaluated using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC). Results: Among the 61 patients examined, 12 patients (19.7%) died during their hospital stay. Bifidobacterium abundance was higher in the survival group than the death group (P = 0.031). The AUROC of Bifidobacterium abundance in identifying in-hospital death at a cut-off probability of 0.0041 was 0.718 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.588-0.826). The panel of Bifidobacterium abundance plus SOFA (AUROC, 0.882; 95% CI, 0.774-0.950) outperformed SOFA (AUROC, 0.649; 95% CI, 0.516-0.767; P = 0.012) and Bifidobacterium abundance alone (P = 0.007). The panel of Bifidobacterium abundance plus APACHE II (AUROC, 0.876; 95% CI, 0.766-0.946) outperformed APACHE II (AUROC, 0.724; 95% CI, 0.595-0.831; P = 0.035) and Bifidobacterium abundance alone (P = 0.012). Conclusions: Dysbiosis of intestinal microbiota with variable degrees of reduction in Bifidobacterium abundance exhibited promising performance in the predicting of in-hospital mortality and provides incremental prognostic value to existing scoring systems in the adult intensive care unit (ICU) setting.

Ginkgo biloba and Panax notoginseng are both herb medicines for cerebrovascular disease, and play an active role in treating ischemic cerebrovascular disease(ICVD). Their mechanisms of action include antioxidant stress, nerve protection, vascular protection. According to the comparative study of literatures, G. biloba has a certain protective effect from the early stage of free radical formation throughout the whole process of causing cell inflammation and apoptosis in antioxidant stress; while P. notoginseng has mainly anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptosis effects. In the nerve protection and repair of nerve damage caused by glutamate, both could promote neurogenesis, repair damaged axons and protect nerve cells. In addition, G. biloba could also relieve neurotoxicity caused by glutamate damage, while P. notoginseng have a unique effect in repairing blood-brain barrier(BBB) and blood vessel regeneration. In clinic, they are used as auxiliary drugs in combination with thrombolytic therapy, and play curative effects in alleviating inflammation, eliminating edema, improving the cure rate and the prognosis. For cerebral diseases caused by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion, G. biloba could reduce inflammation and improve cognition. In addition, G. biloba could protect neurocyte by adjusting the secretion of dopamine in vivo, and has a certain effect on antidepressant diseases, which however needs further studies.

Recent genetic studies clearly indicate that variants in several lysosomal genes act as risk factors for idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). Variants in the co-activator of glucocerebrosidase gene (GBA) and the four active saposins (Sap A-D) which are encoded by the prosaposin gene (PSAP) are of particular interest; however, their genetic roles in PD are unknown. Whole-exome sequencing and Sanger sequencing were used to assess the genetic etiology of 400 autosomal dominant inherited PD (ADPD) and 300 sporadic PD (SPD) patients. Variants from public databases, including Genome Aggregation Database-East Asian (GnomAD_EAS) and Chinese Millionome Database (CMDB), were used as control groups. Burden analysis based on gene and domains level were performed to investigate the role of rare PSAP variants in PD. Six rare and likely pathogenic variants, located in the Sap A-D domains, were identified and accounted for 0.75% (3/400) of ADPD and 1.33% (4/300) of SPD in the Chinese population. Based on the gene or domain, burden analysis showed that damaging missense variants in SapC had statistical significance on the risk of developing PD. Interestingly, rs4747203, an intronic variant potentially linked to PSAP expression, was associated with reduced risk for PD (p = 8.6e-7 in GnomAD EAS and p = 0.002 in Chinese). Clinically, patients carrying the likely pathogenic variants presented typical PD motor symptoms and responded well to levodopa treatment. Six out of seven patients carrying the likely pathogenic variants of PSAP presented slow disease progression, and none of the patients developed cognitive impairment. Our study expands the spectrum of mutations associated with the risk of developing PD and enhances the understanding of the relationship of the clinical phenotype of PD with PSAP variants.

2-Aminobenzoic acid (2-AA) is widely used as a labeling reagent to derivatize released N-glycans at their free reducing terminus by reductive amination. 2-AA-labeled glycans have increased mass spectrometric sensitivity for their identification and enable fluorescence-chromatography-based glycan quantification. Drawbacks are that the labeling process is labor intensive and time consuming. Clean up of labeled glycans via removal of excess of labeling reagents often leads to sample losses. Here, we report use of 2-AA for labeling N-glycans on a MALDI target through nonreductive amination, while simultaneously functioning as a matrix in MALDI-MS glycan analysis. Coupling 2-AA to glycans results in significant increases of glycan anionic signals as compared to that using the traditional 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (2,5-DHB) matrix. The on-MALDI-target sample preparation is a single-step protocol with high derivatization efficiency. It is also noticed that 2-AA-labeled glycan generated dominant deprotonated molecular anions with much fewer and low-intensity sodium adducts and therefore greatly simplified glycan profiles. We further explored its application in the N-glycan profile of a biotherapeutic monoclonal antibody and was able to achieve sensitive glycan identification at a low microgram level of glycoprotein. This 2-AA on-MALDI-target glycan derivatization eliminates tedious sample preparation and avoids sample loss. It is generally applicable for other applications (e.g., glycomics), where limited amounts of glycoproteins are available for analysis.

To date, microglia subsets in the healthy CNS have not been identified. Utilizing autofluorescence (AF) as a discriminating parameter, we identified two novel microglia subsets in both mice and non-human primates, termed autofluorescence-positive (AF+) and negative (AF−). While their proportion remained constant throughout most adult life, the AF signal linearly and specifically increased in AF+ microglia with age and correlated with a commensurate increase in size and complexity of lysosomal storage bodies, as detected by transmission electron microscopy and LAMP1 levels. Post-depletion repopulation kinetics revealed AF− cells as likely precursors of AF+ microglia. At the molecular level, the proteome of AF+ microglia showed overrepresentation of endolysosomal, autophagic, catabolic, and mTOR-related proteins. Mimicking the effect of advanced aging, genetic disruption of lysosomal function accelerated the accumulation of storage bodies in AF+ cells and led to impaired microglia physiology and cell death, suggestive of a mechanistic convergence between aging and lysosomal storage disorders., eLife digest Microglia are a unique type of immune cell found in the brain and spinal cord. Their job is to support neurons, defend against invading microbes, clear debris and remove dying neurons by engulfing them. Despite these diverse roles, scientists have long believed that there is only a single type of microglial cell, which adapts to perform whatever task is required. But more recent evidence suggests that this is not the whole story. Burns et al. now show that we can distinguish two subtypes of microglia based on a property called autofluorescence. This is the tendency of cells and tissues to emit light of one color after they have absorbed light of another. Burns et al. show that about 70% of microglia in healthy mouse and monkey brains display autofluorescence. However, about 30% of microglia show no autofluorescence at all. This suggests that there are two subtypes of microglia: autofluorescence-positive and autofluorescence-negative. But does this difference have any implications for how the microglia behave? Autofluorescence occurs because specific substances inside the cells absorb light. In the case of microglia, electron microscopy revealed that autofluorescence was caused by structures within the cell called lysosomal storage bodies accumulating certain materials. The stored material included fat molecules, cholesterol crystals and other substances that are typical of disorders that affect these compartments. Burns et al. show that autofluorescent microglia contain larger amounts of proteins involved in storing and digesting waste materials than their non-autofluorescent counterparts. Moreover, as the brain ages, lysosomal storage material builds up inside autofluorescent microglia, which increase their autofluorescence as a result. Unfortunately, this accumulation of cellular debris also makes it harder for the microglia to perform their tasks. Increasing evidence suggests that the accumulation of waste materials inside the brain contributes to diseases of aging. Future work should examine how autofluorescent microglia behave in animal models of neurodegenerative diseases. If these cells do help protect the brain from the effects of aging, targeting them could be a new strategy for treating aging-related diseases.

The use of nanotechnology to overcome multidrug resistance (MDR) in cancer cells has been predominant. Herein, we report the conjugation of copper(II)–doxorubicin complexes on the surfaces of layered double hydroxide nanoparticles (LDHs) along with ascorbic acid intercalation in the gallery space to demonstrate synergistic effects to conquer MDR. The pH-sensitive release of doxorubicin (Dox) and the sustained release of ascorbic acid (AA) generate high amounts of hydrogen peroxide intracellularly that concomitantly results in conversion to cytotoxic free radicals through a copper(II)-catalyzed Fenton-like reaction. Therefore, the combination of the chemotherapeutic agent (Dox) and free radical attack can devastate the MDR for effective cancer treatment through the co-delivery system.

A statement issued by the Malaysian Bioethics Community

Tau-tubulin kinase 1 (TTBK1) is a CNS-specific, kinase that has been implicated in the pathological phosphorylation of tau in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD). TTBK1 is a challenging therapeutic target because it shares a highly conserved catalytic domain with its homolog, TTBK2, a ubiquitously expressed kinase genetically linked to the disease spinocerebellar ataxia type 11. The present study attempts to elucidate the functional distinctions between the TTBK isoforms and increase our understanding of them as distinct targets for the treatment of neurodegenerative disease. We demonstrate that in cortical neurons, TTBK1, not TTBK2, is the isoform responsible for tau phosphorylation at epitopes enriched in tauopathies such as Serine 422. In addition, although our elucidation of the crystal structure of the TTBK2 kinase domain indicates almost identical structural similarity with TTBK1, biochemical and cellular assays demonstrate that the enzymatic activity of these two proteins is regulated by a combination of unique extra-catalytic sequences and autophosphorylation events. Finally, we have identified an unbiased list of neuronal interactors and phosphorylation substrates for TTBK1 and TTBK2 that highlight the unique cellular pathways and functional networks that each isoform is involved in. This data address an important gap in knowledge regarding the implications of targeting TTBK kinases and may prove valuable in the development of potential therapies for disease.

Background: Despite the essential functions of the intestinal microbiota in human physiology, little research has been reported on the gut microbiota alteration in intensive care patients. This investigation aimed to explore the dysbacteriosis of intestinal flora in critically ill patients, and evaluate the prognostic performance of this dysbiosis to predict in-hospital mortality. Methods: A prospective cohort of patients were consecutively recruited at Intensive Care Units (ICUs) in Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital from March 2017 through October 2017. Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score were assessed, and fecal samples were taken for examination within 24 hours of ICU admission. The taxonomic composition of intestinal microbiome was determined using 16S rDNA gene sequencing. Patients were divided into survival and death group based on the outcomes in hospital. The two groups were statistically compared using the independent samples t test and Metastats analysis. Genera of bacteria showing significantly different abundance between groups were assessed for predictors of in-hospital death. The prognostic value of bacterial abundance alone and in combination with APACHE II or SOFA score were evaluated using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC). Results: Among the 61 patients that were examined, a total of 12 patients (19.7%) died during hospital stay. Bifidobacterium differed significantly in abundance between survival and death group ( P =0.031). The AUROC of Bifidobacterium abundance identifying in-hospital death at a cut-off probability of 0.0041 was 0.718 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.588-0.826). The panel of Bifidobacterium abundance plus SOFA (AUROC, 0.882; 95% CI, 0.774-0.950) outperformed SOFA (AUROC, 0.649; 95% CI, 0.516-0.767; P =0.012) and Bifidobacterium abundance alone ( P =0.007). The panel of Bifidobacterium abundance plus APACHE II (AUROC, 0.876; 95% CI, 0.766-0.946) outperformed APACHE II (AUROC, 0.724; 95% CI, 0.595-0.831; P =0.035) and Bifidobacterium abundance alone ( P =0.012). Conclusions: Dysbiosis of intestinal microbiota with variable degree of reduction in Bifidobacterium abundance exhibits promising performance in predicting in-hospital mortality, and provides incremental prognostic value to existing scoring systems in the adult intensive care unit (ICU) setting.

Background Spastic paraplegia type 11 (SPG11) mutations are the most frequent cause of autosomal recessive hereditary spastic paraplegia (ARHSP). We are aiming to identify the causative mutations in SPG11 among families referred to our center with ARHSP in a Chinese population. Methods Targeted next-generation sequencing was performed on the patients to identify disease-causing mutations. Variants were analyzed according to their predicted pathogenicity and their relevance to the clinical phenotypes. The segregation in the family members was validated by Sanger sequencing. Results A total of 12 mutations in SPG11 gene from 9 index cases were identified, including 6 frameshift mutations, 3 missense mutations, 1 nonsense mutation, 1 splicing mutation, and 1 intron deletion mutation. In 6 of these patients, the mutations were homozygous, and the other 3 patients carried two compound heterozygous mutations. Six mutations were novel; 2 were classified as pathogenic, 1 were considered as likely pathogenic, and the other 3 were variants of unknown significance. Additionally, 1 missense heterozygous variant we found was also carried by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patient. Clinically and electrophysiologically, some of our ARHSP patients partially shared various features of autosomal-recessive juvenile amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ARJALS), including combination of both UMN and LMN degeneration. Conclusions The results contribute to extending of the SPG11 gene mutation spectrum and emphasizing a putative link between ARHSP and ARJALS.

Errors are ubiquitous in time series data as sensors are often unstable. Existing approaches based on constraints can achieve good data repair effect on abnormal values. The constraint typically refers to the speed range of data changes. If the speed of data changes is not in the range, it is identified as abnormal data violating the constraint and needs repair, like if the oil consumption per hour of a sedan is negative or greater than 15 gallons, it is probably abnormal data. However, existing methods are only limited to specific type of data whose value change speed is stable. They will be inefficient when handling the data stream with sharp fluctuation because their constraints based on priori, fixed speed range might miss most abnormal data. To make up the gap in this scenario, an online cleaning approach based on dynamic speed constraints is proposed for time series data with fluctuating value change speed. The dynamic constraints proposed is not determined in advance but self-adaptive as data changes over time. A dual window mechanism is devised to transform the global optimum of data repair problem to local optimum problem. The classic minimum change principle and median principle are introduced for data repair. With respect to repair invalidation of minimum change principle facing consecutive data points violating constraints, we propose to use the boundary of the corresponding candidate repair set as repair strategy. Extensive experiments on real datasets demonstrate that the proposed approach can achieve higher repair accuracy than traditional approaches.

In this letter, an antistretch edge detector has been proposed for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. Traditional detectors using anisotropy edge detection filters often incur severe edge stretch. If isotropy edge detection filters are used, the detectors usually have poor edge resolution. Hence, we skillfully fuse an anisotropy edge detection filter with an isotropy one. By embedding the fused filter into the routine ratio-based SAR edge detector, an antistretch edge detector is proposed. Benefiting from the fused edge detection filter, the proposed edge detector can obtain a good antistretch ability and keep a high edge resolution. A theoretical analysis indicates that the computational complexity of the proposed edge detector is close to conventional ratio-based edge detectors. The fusion operation will not affect the constant false alarm rate property. The receiver-operating-characteristic curves are used to objectively evaluate the proposed detector. Experimental studies show that the proposed detector has a lower false positive rate than the majority of detectors using only anisotropy filters or isotropy filters. Furthermore, the experimental results on simulated and real-world SAR images show that the proposed antistretch edge detector can obtain an accurate edge map.

Gamma-glutamyltransferase 5 (GGT5) is a member of the gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase gene family with the capacity of cleaving the gamma-glutamyl moiety of glutathione, but its role in cancer progression has never been revealed. In this study, we found that gene GGT5 was highly expressed in cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in lung adenocarcinoma, predicting the unfavorable survival of patients with lung adenocarcinoma. Cell growth, foci formation and spheres formation analyses showed that cancer cell proliferation was attenuated under treatment with the conditioned media from GGT5-silenced CAFs. Moreover, high expression of GGT5 in CAFs enhanced the drug resistance of cancer cells by increasing intracellular glutathione and reducing the intracellular reactive oxygen species in cancer cells. In mouse xenograft model, we proved that targeting GGT5 with a small-molecule inhibitor GGsTop could inhibit tumor growth and increase the chemosensitivity of cancer cells. Taken together, our study illuminates that high level of GGT5 in CAFs contributes to cancer cell survival and drug resistance, indicating that GGT5 may be a promising therapeutic target in lung adenocarcinoma.

Objective To evaluate the changes of heart rate variability (HRV) after subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Methods Retrieve relevant cohort studies from online databases (January 1, 2000-December 1, 2017) in PubMed, EMBASE/SCOPUS, Cochrane Online Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Data and VIP database with key words: subthalamic nucleus, deep brain stimulation, DBS, STN, electrical stimulation, Parkinson disease, heart rate variability. Low-frequency power (LF), high-frequency power (HF) and LF/HF of HRV were applied as evaluation indexes. Quality of studies was evaluated by using Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). All data were pooled by RevMan 5.3 software for Meta-analysis. Results We enrolled 28 English articles, from which 6 studies with NOS score 7 were chosen after excluding duplicates and those not meeting the inclusion criteria. A total of 101 PD patients undergoing STN-DBS were included. Meta-analysis showed that there were no significant differences in the LF of HRV (SMD = 0.050, 95%CI: -0.230-0.330; P = 0.740), HF of HRV (SMD = 0.160, 95%CI: - 0.120-0.430; P = 0.270), and LF/HF of HRV (SMD = 0.110, 95%CI: -0.220-0.440; P = 0.500) in patients with PD before and after the treatment of STN-DBS. Conclusions STN-DBS does not change HRV of patients with PD.

The evolution of microstructure of ZL205A alloy during equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) by route A at room temperature was investigated by OM, SEM and XRD, and the hardness of cast and heat treatment alloy from different strain were tested. The results showed that the grain of cast alloy were obviously refined, the massive q phase along the grain boundary were crushed, and prompts the distribution of q streamline after one pass through ECAP. After two passes of ECAP, the distribution of q phase is more uniform. After heat treatment through ECAP, the grains were also obviously refined, and elongated in axial direction, which also prompts the distribution of q streamline. The hardness was significantly improved after ECAP. The hardness of cast alloy increases from 65HV to 132HV after two passes, and that of heat treatment alloy increases from 112HV to 198HV. With the increase of extrusion passes, the number of dimples gradually increased and evenly distributed, the depth of dimples was of a similar level, and the distribution of precipitated phase is more uniform.

Background The etiology of neurodegenerative disease remains unclear. Recently, SNP rs11868035, located in an intron of the sterol regulatory element binding factor (SREBF1) gene, was found to be associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD) in a large European population in a genome-wide association study. To examine the possible genetic association of rs11868035 with sporadic PD, sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and multiple system atrophy (MSA) in a Chinese population, we conducted this large case-control study. Methods A total of 3115 subjects, which included 1150 sporadic PD, 833 sporadic ALS, 318 MSA patients, and 814 controls, were recruited in the study. All of the subjects were genotyped for rs11868035 using the Sequenom iPLEX Assay. Results Significant differences in the genotype distributions and minor allele frequency (MAF) of rs11868035 were observed between early onset ALS (EOALS) and matched controls (P = 0.001 and P = 0.002, respectively) and between female ALS patients and matched controls (P = 0.016 and P = 0.010, respectively). The minor allele “G”of rs11868035 is associated with a reduced risk for EOALS (OR = 0.55[0.38–0.80]) and ALS in women (OR = 0.74[0.59–0.93]). No significant differences in the genotype distributions and MAF of rs11868035 were observed between PD or controls, and between MSA and controls. Conclusion Our results suggested that rs11868035 is likely to be associated with ALS in early-onset or female patients but not with PD or MSA in the Chinese population.

Aiming at the problems of large ciphertext size and low efficiency in the current secure multi-party computation (SMC) protocol based on fully homomorphic encryption (FHE), the paper proves that the fully homomorphic encryption scheme that supports multi-bit encryption proposed by Chen Li et al. satisfies the key homomorphism. Based on this scheme and threshold decryption, a three-round, interactive, leveled, secure multi-party computation protocol under the Common Random String (CRS) model is designed. The protocol is proved to be safe under the semi-honest model and the semi-malicious model. From the non-interactive zero-knowledge proof, it can be concluded that the protocol is also safe under the malicious model. Its security can be attributed to the Decisional Learning With Errors (DLWE) and a variant of this problem (some-are-errorless LWE). Compared with the existing secure multi-party computation protocol based on fully homomorphic encryption under the CRS model, the ciphertext size of this protocol is smaller, the efficiency is higher, the storage overhead is smaller, and the overall performance is better than the existing protocol.

The mechanical properties of metal components are determined by the solidification behaviour and microstructure. A quantitative phase field model is used to investigate the microstructure evolution of fused-coating additive manufacturing, by which to improve the quality of deposition. During the fused-coating process, the molten metal in a crucible flows out of a nozzle and then reaches the substrate. The solidification happens at the moment when the molten metal comes into contact with substrate moving in three-dimensional space. The macroscopic heat transfer model of fused-coating is established to get the temperature field considered as the initial temperature boundary conditions in the phase field model. The numerical and experimental results show that the morphology of grains varies with different solidification environments. Columnar grains are observed during the early period at the bottom of fused-coating layer and the equiaxed grains appear subsequently ahead of the columnar grains. Columnar dendrites phase field simulations about the grains morphology and solute distribution are conducted considering the solidification environments. The simulation results are in good agreement with experimental results.

Dam observations indicated that low-air concentration can avoid cavitation erosion. In the present study, a device with micron-scale orifice diameters was designed to introduce air bubbles in water, to study the effects of the reduction of cavitation erosion in an ultrasonic environment. The experimental results showed that low-air concentration imposes prominent effects on the development of cavitation erosion and can significantly reduce the effect of cavitation on the structural damage. If the air concentration and bubble quantity reach certain values, the erosion reduction effects do not change as the air conditions are altered. Based on the analysis of the average erosion reduction efficiency of a single-air bubble, aeration and erosion protection for the wall surface can be achieved. Moreover, a discharge tunnel with high-head and high-speed water flow is analyzed. With a high velocity and low-air concentration flow in the open channel, no cavitation erosion on the tunnel structure was observed. Combined with the present experimental results, this shows that the effect of the aeration erosion reduction can be evaluated and analyzed if the air bubble quantity meets the erosion reduction requirement. Consequently, the effect of aeration can be recognized effectively by number of air bubbles, and can promote the design and analysis of the aeration erosion reduction in hydraulic engineering.