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The peach tree, Prunus persica (L.) Batsch, is widely cultivated in China, and its flowers have been used for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine to treat gut motility disorders. But few studies have explored the pharmacological effect of Prunus persica (L.) Batsch flowers on gastrointestinal motility. In this study, the activities of different extracts from Prunus persica (L.) Batsch flowers on the smooth muscle contractions were evaluated using isolated colon model, and the ethyl acetate extract (EAE) showed the strongest effects in vitro. EAE (10−8–10−5 g/mL) caused a concentration-dependent stimulatory effect in rat colonic tissue. Additionally, ketotifen (100 µM), cimetidine (10 µM), and pyrilamine (1 µM) produced a significant inhibition of contractions caused by EAE. Furthermore, immunofluorescence and toluidine blue staining revealed increased numbers of mast cells in the EAE group, and EAE increased histamine release from the colonic tissues. These data indicate that EAE has significant prokinetic activity and acts by a mechanism that mainly involves mast cell degranulation. Our study provides a pharmacological basis for the use of an extract of Prunus persica (L.) Batsch flowers in the treatment of gut motility disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of fluorene-based benzoxazine-endcapped copoly(ether ketone ketone)s (co-PEKKs) were successfully synthesized, in which the co-PEKKs were prepared with different molar ratios of 2,7-dihydroxy-9-fluorenone to bisphenol-A. The obtained phenol-ended co-PEKKs reacted with formaldehyde and n-butylamine to yield the benzoxazine-endcapped co-PEKKs (B-PEKKs). The structure of these oligomers was studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and the molecular mass of these phenol-ended co-PEKKs was detected by gel permeation chromatography. The thermal behaviors of these B-PEKKs were determined by differential scanning calorimetry. In addition, the thermal and dynamic mechanical properties of the polymer films were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis and dynamic mechanical analysis. The results indicate that the incorporation of co-PEKKs within the benzoxazine backbone considerably improves the toughness of the fluorene-containing polybenzoxazines without much sacrifice of their thermal properties. Furthermore, as the content of 2,7-dihydroxy-9-fluorenone increases, the T values decrease, while the T values and char yields of the prepared polymers increase to reach their highest values at 256 °C and 64 %, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering a single-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless system, this paper puts forward a novel sorted lattice reduction (SLR) algorithm for integer forcing (IF) linear receiver, which reduces the 2-norm of each lattice basis using a series of column-addition operations. The lower complexity and excellent performance of IF receivers are from the closed-loop property of integer domain and the optimization techniques of maximizing the signal-to-interference-noise-ratio (SINR) of each layer, which is equivalent to a famous NP-Hard problem, referred to as shortest independent vector problem (SIVP), in lattice theory. Thesorted lattice reduction algorithm in this paper can effectively alleviate the complexity of this problem in spite of a little orthogonality performance loss, which goes especially well with large MIMO systems. Computer simulations show that the proposed algorithm not only outperforms the famous LLL algorithm in terms of the length of the maximal lattice basis, but also has a relative lower practical complexity. Moreover, the integer forcing receiver based on the sorted lattice reduction algorithm defeats most linear receivers in terms of the bit-error-ratio (BER) performance and is closed to that of the optimal maximal likelihood (ML) receiver. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to use energy effectively, energy efficiency (EE) has been one of the main topics of green wireless communication research. To improve the energy efficiency of multi-antenna system, a generalized spatial modulation system based on energy efficiency optimization was proposed, named as EE-GSM. The proposed system was based on maximizing energy efficiency criteria, considered the case of large number of transmit antennas, and can be implemented by two steps. Firstly, transmit antenna selection algorithm was used to decide the optimal transmit antennas subsets. Then, the selected transmit antennas subsets were used to calculate the most appropriate radio frequency chain (RFC) number for the generalized spatial modulation system. The simulation results and analysis demonstrate that the proposed scheme compared with the traditional AS-MIMO (antenna se-lection-multi-input and multi-output) system, GSM system and SM system not only can effectively improve overall system energy efficiency, but also can improve BER and sum-rate capacity performance of GSM system, while the final desired number of RFC of the system is generally 2,3 or 4, which is consistent with the principles of green wireless communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to solve the problem of prematurity of swarm intelligence algorithm and slow speed of convergence of bacterial forging algorithm, an algorithm is proposed, which fuses quantum particle swarm together with bacteria foraging optimization, After considering the advantages of bacteria foraging optimization, quantum computing theory and particle swarm optimization, the proposed fusion algorithm takes the bacterial foraging algorithm as the main body and embedded quantum evolutionary algorithm and particle swarm optimization algorithm into it, thus improving the performance of the algorithm greatly. Through solving and validating the three criteria functions, the results show that the proposed fusion algorithm improves convergence precision and speed. Finally, the proposed algorithm is used to solve public health emergency service facility location problem and achieves good results, proving its effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complete mitochondrial genome of Choroterpides apiculata (Ephemeroptera: Leptophlebiidae) is typically a circular molecule of 15,199 bp in length, containing 37 genes (13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNAs, and two rRNAs) and one control region. The overall A + T content of the whole genome is 74% and the A + T content of the control region is 79.7%. In Bayesian inference and maximum-likelihood phylogenetic trees using 24 species from 13 families of Ephemeroptera, the monophyly of the families Isonychiidae, Heptageniidae, Vietnamellidae, Leptophlebiidae, Caenidae, and Baetidae were highly supported and C. apiculata was a sister group to Habrophlebiodes zijinensis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PURPOSE: To investigate the influence of different light irradiation modes on microhardness of dual-curing resin cements. METHODS: The cylindrical specimens (1 mm in thickness and 7.5 mm in diameter) of 5 self-adhesive resin cements (Biscem, Clearfil SA Cement, G-CEM LinkAce, Maxcem Elite and RelyX U100) and 2 universal resin cements (DUOLINK and Nexus 3) were irradiated respectively by a continuous mode (light-curing for 20 s) and a delayed mode (light-curing 5 s + auto-curing 60 s + light-curing 20 s), and then they were placed dry in a light-proof thermostat at 37°C. Surface microhardness of specimen was detected at 0.5, 24 h and 4 weeks post-irradiation. After that period of time, all specimens were soaked in ethanol for 24 h, their hardness were detected again, and the percentage of hardness reduction after soaking were calculated. Data were analyzed by SPSS 16.0 software package. RESULTS: The hardness of all resin cements under both irradiation modes increased mainly within 24 h post-irradiation. The irradiation mode did not affect the hardness of all resin cements 4 weeks after irradiation significantly (P>0.05), except for Biscem. However, after ethanol softening, 5 self-adhesive resin cements cured by the continuous mode had higher hardness reduction percentage than that cured by delayed mode (P<0.05); while hardness reduction percentage of 2 universal resin cements had no significant difference between continuous and delayed cure modes (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The self-adhesive resin cements cured by delayed mode had better anti-softening ability. Supported by Nanjing Medical Science and Technology Development Fund (ZKX09035), Nanjing Science and Technology Development Fund (201001083) and Nanjing Medical Science and Technology Development Fund (YKK10125). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND It has been speculated that zinc finger protein 148 (ZNF148) is a tumor suppressor. However, to the authors' knowledge, little is known about the clinical significance of ZNF148 expression in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). The objective of the current study was to clarify the association between ZNF148 expression and the postoperative prognosis of patients with CRC. METHODS Tissue microarrays containing 56 normal mucosa, 51 adenoma, 742 CRC (TNM stage I-IV), 16 familial adenomatous polyposis, and 21 metastatic CRC specimens were examined immunohistochemically for ZNF148 expression. RESULTS Expression of ZNF148 was found to increase consecutively from normal mucosa to stage I CRC, and then decreased consecutively from stage I to stage IV CRC. Lower expression of ZNF148 in tumors was found to be significantly associated with lymph node metastases, advanced TNM disease stage, poor differentiation, higher rate of disease recurrence, worse overall survival (OS), and shorter disease-free survival. High expression of ZNF148 was also associated with improved OS ( P = .025) and disease-free survival ( P = .042) in patients with stages II to III CRC. On multivariate Cox analysis, lower ZNF148 expression in tumors, advanced TNM stage, colon cancer, and elevated serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) were found to be significant factors for a worse OS. In 16 patients with familial adenomatous polyposis, ZNF148 expression was upregulated at steps toward carcinogenesis. In 21 patients with metastatic CRC, although ZNF148 expression was higher in primary tumors compared with adjacent mucosa, its expression in metastatic tumors was significantly lower than that in primary tumors. CONCLUSIONS Although ZNF148 expression is related to colorectal carcinogenesis, high ZNF148 expression in patients with CRC appears to be inversely associated with malignant phenotypes and may serve as a significant prognostic factor after surgery for patients with CRC. Cancer 2013;119:2212-2222. © 2013 American Cancer Society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate the effects of left gastric artery embolization (LGAE) on plasma ghrelin levels, abdominal fat, and body weight in beagles. Methods: The institutional animal care and use committee approved this study. Fifteen healthy adult beagles (12 male and three female animals) were randomly divided into three experimental groups: LGAE was proceeded with mixed emulsion of bleomycin A(5) hydrochloride and lipiodol (group A), and polyvinyl alcohol particles (group B). Transcatheter saline injections in the left gastric artery were performed as a control. Weight and fasting plasma ghrelin levels were obtained at baseline and at weekly intervals for 8 weeks after the procedure in all animals. All animals were scanned and measured by multidetector computed tomography at baseline and at week 8 for evaluation of abdominal fat. Results: In LGAE-treated animals, plasma ghrelin and body weight significantly decreased compared to control animals (group A: P = 0.007 and P = 0.000; group B: P = 0.004 and P = 0.000, respectively). Subcutaneous fat size was also significantly reduced (P = 0.011 and P = 0.027 for groups A and B, respectively). The decreasing percentage in ghrelin levels at week 6 (peak of recovery) of LGAE-treated animals were negatively correlated with the size of area supplied by left gastric artery (r = -0.693, P = 0.026). Conclusion: LGAE could suppress the plasma concentration of ghrelin, which results in subcutaneous fat size reduction and weight loss. Compensatory ghrelin production might occur in the remnant gastric fundus after LGAE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To investigate the diagnostic status of colorectal cancer ( CRC) and the influence of early diagnosis and cancer stage in a tertiary care hospital in China. Methods Face-to-face interviews were conducted in 364 consecutive CRC patients who had never participated in CRC screening. Initial symptoms, diagnosis and treatment delay were determined using a questionnaire. Factors influencing diagnostic status were analyzed using univariate analysis and logistic regression model. Results A total of 307 patients were enrolled, in which 128 were with colon cancer and 179 with rectal cancer. The duration of diagnosis delay was significant longer than that of treatment delay. Unlike rectal cancer, colon cancer was likely to be treated at an advanced stage with a short interval between symptom onset and treatment. Colon cancer patients with a history of biliary tract or gallbladder stones, aged ≥ 50 years and with abdominal mass or intestinal obstruction as the initial symptom were diagnosed and treated much earlier. In rectal cancer, women and non-smokers were diagnosed and treated quickly. Factors correlated with early cancer stage were found in colon cancer, including bloody stool as the initial symptom ( OR = 2.63, 95% CI 1.08-6.25, P = 0.034) and a history of appendectomy ( OR = 4.00, 95% CI 1.15-14.29, P = 0.029). Conclusions The factors contributing to early cancer detection were identified but their clinical value is limited. Diagnosis by symptoms suggesting CRC needs to be improved and CRC screening should be vigorously promoted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nd-doped PbWO4 crystals are grown by using the modified Bridgman method. The spectroscopic properties of the crystals are investigated. The changes of the absorption band at 350 nm are discussed for samples annealed at 740 °C and 1040 °C. The radiative lifetime of the 4F3/2 level is calculated by using the Judd-Ofelt theory according to the absorption spectrum of 0.5 at.% Nd-doped PbWO4 crystal. The spontaneous Raman scattering properties of the crystals are analysed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]