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Background: Acquired dysphagia is common in patients with tracheal intubation and neurological disease, leading to increased mortality. This study aimed to ascertain the risk factors and develop a prediction model for acquired dysphagia in patients after neurosurgery.Methods: A multicenter prospective observational study was performed on 293 patients who underwent neurosurgery. A standardized swallowing assessment was performed bedside within 24 h of extubation, and logistic regression analysis with a best subset selection strategy was performed to select predictors. A nomogram model was then established and verified.Results: The incidence of acquired dysphagia in our study was 23.2% (68/293). Among the variables, days of neurointensive care unit (NICU) stay [odds ratio (OR), 1.433; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.141–1.882; P = 0.005], tracheal intubation duration (OR, 1.021; CI, 1.001–1.062; P = 0.175), use of a nasogastric feeding tube (OR, 9.131; CI, 1.364–62.289; P = 0.021), and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE)-II C score (OR, 1.709; CI, 1.421–2.148; P < 0.001) were selected as risk predictors for dysphagia and included in the nomogram model. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.980 (CI, 0.965–0.996) in the training set and 0.971 (0.937–1) in the validation set, with Brier scores of 0.045 and 0.056, respectively.Conclusion: Patients who stay longer in the NICU, have a longer duration of tracheal intubation, require a nasogastric feeding tube, and have higher APACHE-II C scores after neurosurgery are likely to develop dysphagia. This developed model is a convenient and efficient tool for predicting the development of dysphagia.

BackgroundSaffron crocus (Crocus sativus) is an expensive and valuable species that presents preventive and curative effects. This study aimed to screen the key proteins affecting the floral initiation of saffron under cold stress and thus increasing yield by regulating the temperature.ResultsProtein expression profiles in flowering and non-flowering saffron buds were established using isobaric tags for relative or absolute quantitation (iTRAQ). A total of 5,624 proteins were identified, and 201 differentially abundant protein species (DAPs) were further obtained between the flowering and non-flowering groups. The most important functions of the upregulated DAPs were “sucrose metabolic process,” “lipid transport,” “glutathione metabolic process,” and “gene silencing by RNA.” Downregulated DAPs were significantly enriched in “starch biosynthetic process” and several oxidative stress response pathways. Three new flower-related proteins, CsFLK, CseIF4a, and CsHUA1, were identified in this study. The following eight key genes were validated by real-time qPCR in flowering and non-flowering top buds from five different growth phases: floral induction- and floral organ development-related genes CsFLK, CseIF4A, CsHUA1, and CsGSTU7; sucrose synthase activity-related genes CsSUS1 and CsSUS2; and starch synthase activity-related genes CsGBSS1 and CsPU1. These findings demonstrate the important roles played by sucrose/starch biosynthesis pathways in floral development at the mRNA level. During normal floral organ development, the sucrose contents in the top buds of saffron increased, and the starch contents decreased. In contrast, non-flowering buds showed significantly decreased sucrose contents under cold stress and no significant changes in starch contents compared with those in the dormancy stage.ConclusionIn this report, the protein profiles of saffron under cold stress and a normal environment were revealed for the first time by iTRAQ. A possible “reactive oxygen species–antioxidant system–starch/sugar interconversion flowering pathway” was established to explain the phenomenon that saffron does not bloom due to low temperature treatment.

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) insecticidal protein genes are important tools in efforts to develop insect resistance in poplar. In this study, the Cry1Ac and Cry3A Bt toxin genes were simultaneously transformed into the poplar variety Populus × euramericana ‘Neva’ by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation to explore the exogenous gene expression and insect resistance, and to examine the effects of Bt toxin on the growth and development of Anoplophora glabripennis larvae after feeding on the transgenic plant. Integration and expression of the transgenes were determined by molecular analyses and the insect resistance of transgenic lines was evaluated in feeding experiments. Sixteen transgenic dual Bt toxin genes Populus × euramericana ‘Neva’ lines were obtained. The dual Bt toxin genes were expressed at both the transcriptional and translational levels; however, Cry3A protein levels were much higher than those of Cry1Ac. Some of the transgenic lines exhibited high resistance to the first instar larvae of Hyphantria cunea and Micromelalopha troglodyta, and the first and second instar larvae and adults of Plagiodera versicolora. Six transgenic lines inhibited the growth and development of A. glabripennis larvae. The differences in the transcriptomes of A. glabripennis larvae fed transgenic lines or non-transgenic control by RNA-seq analyses were determined to reveal the mechanism by which Bt toxin regulates the growth and development of longicorn beetle larvae. The expression of genes related to Bt prototoxin activation, digestive enzymes, binding receptors, and detoxification and protective enzymes showed significant changes in A. glabripennis larvae fed Bt toxin, indicating that the larvae responded by regulating the expression of genes related to their growth and development. This study lay a theoretical foundation for developing resistance to A. glabripennis in poplar, and provide a foundation for exploring the mechanism of Bt toxin action on Cerambycidae insects.

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death and a major public health problem all over the world. Immunotherapy is becoming a revolutionary clinical management for various cancer types. Restoration of aberrant immune surveillance on cancers has achieved markable progress in the past years by either in vivo or ex vivo engineering of the immune cells. Here, we summarized the central roles of immune cells in tumor progression and regression, and the existing and emerging strategies for different immune cell-based immunotherapies. In addition, the current challenges and the potential solutions in translating the immunotherapies into the clinic are also discussed.

This study examines the effectiveness of animated movies (AM) in increasing students' vocabulary and determines what students think about English language learning in Pakistan. Particularly in the education field, vocabulary is an essential factor for foreign language learning in academic achievements. This research aimed to determine whether using animated images/movies aid students in learning new vocabulary by helping them to make connections between the words they know and real-world occurrences. The research used pre-tests and post-tests to examine the impact of AM on vocabulary acquisition. Total participants (N = 64) were 12th-grade students in Lahore, Pakistan, separated into controlled and experimental groups to make a judgment. In the second semester of college, half the students (N = 32) utilized AM to acquire English vocabulary, while the control group employed the conventional technique. The results were evaluated using a t-test for an independent sample to detect significant differences between the groups. The vocabulary exam was constructed and verified as a pre and post-test. The findings revealed a statistically significant difference in receptive vocabulary, productive vocabulary, and overall score in favor of the experimental group owing to the use of (AM). It added to the growing body of information by investigating how animated videos might support EFL education.

Abstract Stochastic volatility models play an important role in finance modeling. Under a mixed fractional Brownian motion environment, we study the continuity and estimates of a solution to a kind of stochastic differential equations with double volatility terms. Besides, we propose to price the vulnerable option with the discretization method and present the results using a Monte Carlo simulation.

Abstract Let X={X1,…,Xm} $X=\{X_{1} ,\ldots ,X_{m} \}$ be a system of smooth real vector fields satisfying Hörmander’s rank condition. We consider the interior regularity of weak solutions to an obstacle problem associated with the nonhomogeneous nondiagonal quasilinear degenerate elliptic system Xα∗(Aijαβ(x,u)Xβuj)=Bi(x,u,Xu)+Xα∗giα(x,u,Xu). $$X_{\alpha }^{\ast } \bigl( {A_{ij}^{\alpha \beta } (x,u)X_{\beta }u ^{j}} \bigr)= B_{i}(x,u,Xu)+X_{\alpha }^{\ast }g_{i}^{\alpha }(x,u,Xu). $$ After proving the higher integrability and a Campanato type estimate for the weak solutions to the obstacle problem for the homogeneous nondiagonal quasilinear degenerate elliptic system, the interior Morrey regularity and Hölder continuity of weak solutions to the obstacle problem for the nonhomogeneous system are obtained.

Abstract Introduction Ixekizumab, a humanized interleukin-17A antibody, has shown efficacy in ankylosing spondylitis (AS), with a greater proportion of ixekizumab-treated patients achieving an ASAS40 (Assessment of Spondyloarthritis International Society 40) endpoint compared to placebo. An ASAS40 response is a high standard that is not routinely used in clinical practice. The goals of this study were (a) to measure improvement in ixekizumab-treated patients in the four ASAS treatment response domains and in other patient-reported outcomes, and (b) to determine how the ASAS response was associated with changes in spinal pain at night, fatigue, sleep, and the Short Form 36-Item Physical Component Summary (SF-36 PCS). Methods The COAST-V and COAST-W trials were randomized, double-blind, controlled trials examining ixekizumab efficacy in patients with AS who were biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (bDMARD)-naïve and tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi)-experienced, respectively. Data for the ASAS treatment response domains and other outcomes were collected through 16 weeks. Comparisons between treatment groups were made using a mixed-effects model for repeated measures. To determine how the ASAS response was associated with the changes in spinal pain at night, fatigue, sleep, and SF-36 PCS, comparisons were made between patient groups according to their level of treatment response (ASAS40 vs. ASAS20 vs. ASAS20 nonresponse) using analysis of covariance. Results Compared with placebo, patients treated with ixekizumab reported significantly greater improvement in the four ASAS treatment response domains and other outcomes (p

Abstract Background Radiation exposure negatively affects the regenerative ability and makes reconstruction of bone defects after tumor section difficult. miR-34a is involved in radiation biology and bone metabolism. The aim of this study was to investigate whether miR-34a could contribute to bone regeneration in irradiated bone defects. Methods The expression of miR-34a was analyzed during the osteoblastic differentiation of irradiated BMSCs and bone formation in irradiated bone defects. miR-34a mimics and miR-34a inhibitor were used to upregulate or suppress the expression of miR-34a in BMSCs irradiated with 2 or 4 Gy X-ray radiation. In vitro osteogenesis and subcutaneous osteogenesis were used to assess the effects of miR-34a on the osteogenic ability of radiation-impaired BMSCs. Collagen-based hydrogel containing agomiR-34a or antagomiR-34a were placed into the 3-mm defects of irradiated rat tibias to test the effect of miR-34a on bone defect healing after irradiation. Results miR-34a was upregulated in the process of bone formation after irradiation. Transfecting radiation-impaired BMSCs with miR-34a mimics enhanced their osteoblastic differentiation in vitro by targeting NOTCH1. Overexpression of miR-34a enhanced the ectopic bone formation of irradiated BMSCs. In situ delivery of miR-34a promoted bone regeneration in irradiated bone defects. Conclusions miR-34a promoted the osteoblastic differentiation of BMSCs and enhanced the ectopic bone formation after irradiation. miR-34a promoted bone defect healing in irradiated rat tibias. miR-34a-targeted therapy might be a promising strategy for promoting the reconstruction of bone defects after radiotherapy.

Introduction: Allergic rhinitis is a chronic inflammatory disease which affects 1 out of 6 individuals. Perennial allergic rhinitis accounts for 40% of AR cases. Ciclesonide is one of the relatively new intranasal steroid for allergic rhinitis. Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of ciclesonide in the treatment of perennial allergic rhinitis. Methods: We searched Pubmed, Scientific Citation Index, Embase, Clinical Trial Registries for randomized controlled trials and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials to find out the randomized controlled Trial comparing ciclesonide with placebo for PAR. Results: Eight studies were included. In comparison with placebo groups, ciclesonide groups significantly decreased Reflective Total Nasal Symptom Score (MD = −0.56; 95% CI −0.72 to 0.39, p

With the development of the smart manufacturing, data-driven fault diagnosis has receiving more and more attentions from both academic and engineering fields. As one of the most important data-driven fault diagnosis method, deep learning (DL) has achieved remarkable applications. However, the DL based fault diagnosis methods still have the following two drawbacks: 1) One of the most major branch of deep learning is to construct the deeper structures, however the deep learning models in fault diagnosis is very shadow. 2) As stated by the no-free-lunch theorem, no single model can perform best on every dataset, and the individual deep learning model still suffers from the generalization ability. In this research, a new negative correlation ensemble transfer learning method (NCTE) is proposed. Firstly, the transfer learning based ResNet-50 is proposed to construct a deep learning structure that has 50 layers. Secondly, several fully-connected layers and softmax classifiers are trained cooperatively using negative correlation learning (NCL). Thirdly, the hyper-parameters of the proposed NCTE are determined by cross validation. The proposed NCTE is conducted on the KAT Bearing Dataset, and the prediction accuracy of NCTE is as high as 98.73%. This results show that NCTE has achieved a good results compared with other machine learning and deep learning method.

Novel superacid SO4H-functionalized ionic liquids (SFILs) were designed and prepared in this work. The catalytic activities of SFILs were evaluated in xylan hydrolysis and xylose dehydration to produce furfural. Combined with the results of acid strength of SFILs characterized by solid-state 31P MAS NMR, it was found that the catalytic performance of SFILs was positively correlated to their acid strength. The superacid SFIL [Ch-SO4H][CF3SO3] displayed the best catalytic performance with more than 80% yield of furfural, and it was also obviously superior to usual SO3H-functionalized acidic ILs, mineral liquid acids, and acidic resin Amberlyst-15 catalysts in catalytic activity under optimized conditions. In addition, the superacid SFIL [Ch-SO4H][CF3SO3] could be easily separated from reaction system and reused at least five times without obvious decrease. Keywords: Superacid, Ionic liquids, Hemicellulose, Hydrolysis, Furfural

The larger capacity of power converters increases with the size of wind turbines over the years, which implies more failures occur in the components of power converter. Meanwhile, the strategies of fault diagnosis of power converter in wind turbine are still under discussion and research. The main purpose of this paper is proposing a strategy containing wavelet transform, feature analysis, judgment and back propagation neural network (BPNN) classification (WT-FA-JD-BP) to identify the single and double power components open-circuit faults accurately, happen in grid-side converter (GSC) of permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) wind turbine systems. First, as the original signals, the three-phase bridge legs voltage of the GSC are collected under different faults. Second, wavelet transform is used to decompose and reconstruct the signals. Third, a new method includes feature analysis and judgment is conducted to amplify the divergence of data obtained by wavelet transform. Finally, the data are used as the inputs of BPNN for decision-making and classification. The simulation and experimental results show that the proposed strategy can classify the single and double open-circuit faults, and the accuracy is higher than that without data feature analysis and judgment.

In recent years, the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have exhibited significant market potential to greatly reduce the cost and time in the field of logistics. The use of UAVs to provide commercial courier has become an emerging industry, remarkably shifting the energy use of the freight sector. However, due to limited battery capacities, the flight duration of civilian rotorcraft UAVs is still short, hindering them from performing remote jobs. In this case, people customarily utilize ground vehicles to carry and assist UAVs in various applications, including cargo delivery. Most previous studies on vehicle-drone cooperative parcel delivery considered only one UAV, thereby suffering from low efficiency when serving a large number of customers. In this paper, we propose a novel hybrid genetic algorithm, which supports the cooperation of a ground vehicle and multiple UAVs for efficient parcel delivery. Our routing and scheduling algorithm allows multiple UAVs carried by the vehicle to simultaneously deliver multiple parcels to customers residing in different locations. The proposed algorithm consists of a pipeline of several modules: population management, heuristic population initialization, and population education. The performance evaluation results show that the proposed algorithm has significant efficiency over existing algorithms.

Sparse random linear network coding (SRLNC) is a promising solution for reducing the complexity of random linear network coding (RLNC). RLNC can be modeled as a linear operator channel (LOC). It is well known that the normalized channel capacity of LOC is characterized by the rank distribution of the transfer matrix. In this paper, we study the rank distribution of SRLNC. By exploiting the definition of linear dependence of the vectors, we first derive a novel approximation to the probability of a sparse random matrix being non-full rank. By using the Gauss coefficient, we then provide a closed approximation to the rank distribution of a sparse random matrix over a finite field. The simulation and numerical results show that our proposed approximation to the rank distribution of sparse matrices is very tight and outperforms the state-of-the-art results, except for the finite field size and the number of input packets are small, and the sparsity of the matrices is large.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is widely regarded as a key component of the Internet of the future and thereby has drawn significant interests in recent years. IoT consists of billions of intelligent and communicating “things”, which further extend borders of the world with physical and virtual entities. Such ubiquitous smart things produce massive data every day, posing urgent demands on quick data analysis on various smart mobile devices. Fortunately, the recent breakthroughs in deep learning have enabled us to address the problem in an elegant way. Deep models can be exported to process massive sensor data and learn underlying features quickly and efficiently for various IoT applications on smart devices. In this article, we survey the literature on leveraging deep learning to various IoT applications. We aim to give insights on how deep learning tools can be applied from diverse perspectives to empower IoT applications in four representative domains, including smart healthcare, smart home, smart transportation, and smart industry. A main thrust is to seamlessly merge the two disciplines of deep learning and IoT, resulting in a wide-range of new designs in IoT applications, such as health monitoring, disease analysis, indoor localization, intelligent control, home robotics, traffic prediction, traffic monitoring, autonomous driving, and manufacture inspection. We also discuss a set of issues, challenges, and future research directions that leverage deep learning to empower IoT applications, which may motivate and inspire further developments in this promising field.

Colon cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death worldwide. Long non-coding RNA highly up-regulated in liver cancer (HULC) is an essential cancer-associated long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), contributing to the development and progression of several cancers. However, the exact effects of HULC in colon cancer progression and the underlying molecular mechanism are still unknown. In the study, we explored the detailed role of HULC in human clinical tumor tissue samples and colon cancer cell lines. The results indicated that lncRNA-HULC was markedly increased in colon cancer cell lines and accelerated colon cancer cell growth by targeting miR-613. HULC knockdown suppressed the proliferation, DNA synthesis and metastasis of human colon cancer cells in vitro. Additionally, the modulation of rhotekin (RTKN) by miR-613 was necessary in HULC-induced colon cancer cell proliferation and metastasis. The findings in the study suggested that HULC might inhibit the tumor growth through miR-613 dependent RTKN modulation. Together, our data suggested that HULC might be an oncogenic lncRNA, promoting the progression of colon cancer and could be considered as an effective therapeutic target in human colon cancer.

Remaining useful life (RUL) estimation is one of the most important component in prognostic health management (PHM) system in modern industry. It defined as the length from the current time to the end of the useful life. With the rapid development of the smart manufacturing, the data-driven RUL approaches have been widely investigated in both academic and engineering fields. Deep learning, which is a new paradigm in machine learning, has been applied in the RUL related fields, and has achieved remarkable results. However, classical deep learning algorithms also encounter the vanishing/exploding gradient problem found in artificial neural network with gradient-based learning methods and backpropagation. In this research, a new residual convolutional neural network (ResCNN) is proposed. ResCNN applies the residual block which skips several blocks of convolutional layers by using shortcut connections, and can help to overcome vanishing/exploding gradient problem. What's more, the ResCNN is enhanced by using the k-fold ensemble method. The proposed ensemble ResCNN is conducted on the C-MAPSS data provided by NASA. The results show that the proposed ensemble ResCNN has achieved significant improvement in both the mean and the standard deviation of the prediction RUL values. The proposed ensemble ResCNN has also compared with other famous machine learning and deep learning methods, including Multilayer Perceptron, Support Vector Machines, Deep Belief Networks, Long Short-Term Memory Model, Convolutional Neural Network and many other methods in literatures. The comparison results show that ensemble ResCNN achieved the start-of-the-art results, and outperform almost all of them.

Agapanthus praecox is a monocotyledonous, herbaceous, and perennial plant, which has been used as an ornamental and medicinal plant. Here, we assembled and characterized the complete chloroplast (cp) genome of A. praecox by de novo high throughput sequencing. The results revealed that the cp genome of A. praecox was 157,038 bp in total length, including a large single-copy (LSC) region of 85,195 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) region of 18,113 bp, and two invert repeats (IR) regions of 26,865 bp. The total plastid genome of A. praecox included 132 genes comprising 86 protein-coding genes, 38 tRNA genes, and eight rRNA genes. The phylogenetic analysis was conducted based on the complete cp genomes of 17 species and it indicated that A. praecox is closely related to A. coddi in Agapanthaceae family.

In this paper, an improved rotor structure with cross-shaped flux-barriers was proposed to improve the torque output capacity and reduce the torque ripple of the synchronous reluctance motor (SynRM). Firstly, an improved rotor structure of synchronous reluctance motor with cross-shaped flux-barriers, which can be described by two main parameters, is presented. Second, the improved motor is qualitatively analyzed by using magnetic equivalent circuit (MEC), and then the effects of the main parameters of the improved flux-barriers on the distribution of air-gap flux density, average torque, and torque ripple were analyzed by using the finite element method. Based on the above analysis, the rotor structure parameters of the proposed cross-shaped flux-barriers were obtained, and the performance was compared with that of the initial motor. The results show that the proposed rotor structure with cross-shaped flux-barriers can significantly reduce the torque ripple and increase the average torque.

Estrogens added illegally to dietary supplements are hazardous to human health. Traditional detection and analysis methods have many limitations, and we have developed an assay that combines thin-layer chromatography with Raman imaging microscopy (TLC-RIM). The five estrogens (estrone, estradiol, estriol, ethinyl estradiol, and diethylstilbestrol) were initially separated by TLC, then detected by area scanning Raman imaging with a 532 nm laser under a microscope. Raman spectra were obtained for each estrogen, which were used for detecting estrogen illegally added to botanical dietary supplements. The LOD of each estrogen was 0.4, 1.0, 0.8, 0.2, and 0.2 mg/mL, respectively. The matrix in the real sample did not interfere with the detection of estrogens. The method was fast, sensitive, stable, specific, and reliable.

Purpose - The influence of road surface temperature (RST) on vehicles is becoming more and more obvious. Accurate predication of RST is distinctly meaningful. At present, however, the prediction accuracy of RST is not satisfied with physical methods or statistical learning methods. To find an effective prediction method, this paper selects five representative algorithms to predict the road surface temperature separately. Design/methodology/approach - Multiple linear regressions, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator, random forest and gradient boosting regression tree (GBRT) and neural network are chosen to be representative predictors. Findings - The experimental results show that for temperature data set of this experiment, the prediction effect of GBRT in the ensemble algorithm is the best compared with the other four algorithms. Originality/value - This paper compares different kinds of machine learning algorithms, observes the road surface temperature data from different angles, and finds the most suitable prediction method.

The genetic type, source and distribution of hydrocarbon gases in the Junggar Basin were clarified through the carbon isotope analysis. Mature to post mature oil-type gas, mature to post mature coal-type gas, transition gas and biogas are identified in the Junggar Basin. Partly reversed order of carbon isotope of hydrocarbon gases in the Junggar Basin are attributed to one or several of the following reasons: mixing of oil-type and coal-type gases, mixing of coal-type gases of different source, mixing of coal-type gases of varied maturity, and microbial action. Three types of coal-type gases in the Junggar Basin are identified. The first type of coal-type gases characterized with high δ13C values of heavy hydrocarbon gases (δ13C2>−26.0‰) are the mature to high mature gases that are generated from Jurassic source rocks. The second type of coal-type gases characterized with low δ13C values of heavy hydrocarbon gases (δ13C2

Abstract In this study, glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) liposomes were successfully prepared using lyophilization monophase solution method. Preformulation studies comprised evaluation of solubility of soybean phosphatidylcholine (SPC), cholesterol, and GA in tert-butyl alcohol (TBA)/water co-solvent. The influences of TBA volume percentage on sublimation rate were investigated. GA after lyophilization using TBA/water co-solvent with different volume percentage was physicochemically characterized by DSC, XRD, and FTIR. The XRD patterns of GA show apparent amorphous nature. FTIR spectroscopy results show that no chemical structural changes occurred. Solubility studies show aqueous solubility of GA is enhanced. The optimum formulation and processing variables of 508 mg SPC, 151 mg cholesterol, 55% volume percentage of TBA, 4:1 trehalose/SPC weight ratio were obtained after investigating by means of Box-Benhnken design and selection experiment of lyoprotectant. Under the optimum conditions, satisfactory encapsulation efficiency (74.87%) and mean diameter (191 nm) of reconstituted liposomes were obtained. In vitro drug release study showed that reconstituted liposomes have sustained-release properties in two kinds of release medium. Furthermore, in vitro cell uptake study revealed that uptake process of drug-loaded liposomes by Hep G2 cells is time-dependent.

Exposure to adverse events in early life increases the risk of chronic metabolic disease in adulthood. The objective of this study was to determine the significance of milk fat globule membrane (MFGM)-mediated alterations in the gut microbiome to the metabolic health of offspring in the long-term. Female C57BL/6 mice were fed either a high-fat diet (HFD) or a control diet for 3 weeks before pregnancy and throughout pregnancy and lactation. During lactation, pups from the HFD group were breast-fed with or without 1,000 mg/kg BW/day MFGM supplementation (HFD and HFD-MS group, respectively). After weaning, the offspring in each group were divided into male and female subgroups. The weaned mice were then shifted to a control diet for 8 weeks. At the eleventh week, stool samples were collected for 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Serum biochemical parameters were analyzed, and intraperitoneal glucose and insulin tolerance tests were performed. Neonatal supplementation with MFGM ameliorated metabolic disorder and improved glucose tolerance in offspring exposed to maternal HFD in a sex-specific manner. Furthermore, maternal HFD induced gut microbiota perturbation in offspring in adulthood. Neonatal MFGM supplementation significantly enriched g-Parabacteroides, g-Bifidobacterium, g-Faecalibaculum, and g-Lactobacillus in male offspring exposed to maternal HFD, while significantly enriched g-Parabacteroides and g-Alistipes in female offspring exposed to maternal HFD. These bacteria may be associated with the favorable changes in metabolism that occur in adulthood. Sex differences in the changes of metagenomic pathways related to oxidative phosphorylation, citrate cycle, electron transfer carries, and ubiquinone biosynthesis were also observed in the offspring. Maternal HFD has an adverse effect on the metabolism of offspring in later life. Neonatal MFGM supplementation could modulate the structure of gut microbiota communities and may have long-term protective effects on lipid and glucose metabolism, but these effects are sex dimorphic.

These data include secondary analysis of publicly available RNA-seq data from castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) patients as well as RT-qPCR and Western blotting analyses of patient-derived xenograft models and a CRPC cell line. We applied Spearman correlation analysis to assess the relationship between canonical androgen receptor (AR) splicing and alternative AR splicing. We also assessed the ratio of AR splice variants (AR-Vs) to the full-length AR (AR-FL) at the RNA and protein levels by absolute RT-qPCR and Western blotting, respectively. These data are critical for studying the mechanisms underlying upregulated expression of AR-Vs after AR-directed therapies and the importance of AR-Vs to castration-resistant progression of prostate cancer. Data presented here are related to the research article by Ma et al., “Increased transcription and high translation efficiency lead to accumulation of androgen receptor splice variant after androgen deprivation therapy”, Cancer Lett. In Press [1].

In this study, we assembled and annotated the chloroplast (cp) genome of the Euonymus species Euonymus fortunei, Euonymus phellomanus, and Euonymus maackii, and performed a series of analyses to investigate gene structure, GC content, sequence alignment, and nucleic acid diversity, with the objectives of identifying positive selection genes and understanding evolutionary relationships. The results indicated that the Euonymus cp genome was 156,860–157,611bp in length and exhibited a typical circular tetrad structure. Similar to the majority of angiosperm chloroplast genomes, the results yielded a large single-copy region (LSC) (85,826–86,299bp) and a small single-copy region (SSC) (18,319–18,536bp), separated by a pair of sequences (IRA and IRB; 26,341–26,700bp) with the same encoding but in opposite directions. The chloroplast genome was annotated to 130–131 genes, including 85–86 protein coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and eight rRNA genes, with GC contents of 37.26–37.31%. The GC content was variable among regions and was highest in the inverted repeat (IR) region. The IR boundary of Euonymus happened expanding resulting that the rps19 entered into IR region and doubled completely. Such fluctuations at the border positions might be helpful in determining evolutionary relationships among Euonymus. The simple-sequence repeats (SSRs) of Euonymus species were composed primarily of single nucleotides (A)n and (T)n, and were mostly 10–12bp in length, with an obvious A/T bias. We identified several loci with suitable polymorphism with the potential use as molecular markers for inferring the phylogeny within the genus Euonymus. Signatures of positive selection were seen in rpoB protein encoding genes. Based on data from the whole chloroplast genome, common single copy genes, and the LSC, SSC, and IR regions, we constructed an evolutionary tree of Euonymus and related species, the results of which were consistent with traditional taxonomic classifications. It showed that E. fortunei sister to the Euonymus japonicus, whereby E. maackii appeared as sister to Euonymus hamiltonianus. Our study provides important genetic information to support further investigations into the phylogenetic development and adaptive evolution of Euonymus species.

Wheat powdery mildew (Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici) and stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis Westend f. sp. tritici) restrict wheat production in southwest China. Nitrogen fertilizers may influence outbreaks of these wheat diseases where wheat/faba beans are intercropped. To clarify how intercropping and varying nitrogen levels influence wheat powdery mildew and stripe rust and their relationship with crop yield, two consecutive field experiments were conducted from 2015 to 2017. Three cropping regimens (monocropped wheat, monocropped faba beans, and intercropped wheat/faba beans) and four nitrogen levels [N0 (0 kg⋅ha–1), N1 (90 kg⋅ha–1), N2 (180 kg⋅ha–1), and N3 (270 kg⋅ha–1)] were evaluated. In two consecutive planting seasons, the incidence and disease index of powdery mildew and stripe rust increased, while the disease index was more affected by nitrogen levels than their incidence. Both diseases were most prevalent at the N3 level. Compared with monocropping, intercropping (N0–N3 levels) reduced the incidence of powdery mildew by 2.8–37.0% and disease index by 15.5–47.4%, increased the relative control effect by 10.7–56.2 and 16.3–47.2%, reduced the incidence of stripe rust by 2.9–42.7% and disease index by 8.3–42.2%, and increased the relative control effect by 5.9–43.7 and 8.8–42.1%. The relative control efficacy of intercropping was most affected by N2 level. Intercropping yield increased with increasing nitrogen by 25.0–46.8%, and overall land equivalent ratio (LER) was 1.30–1.39. The correlation coefficient between disease index and wheat yield for both diseases was −0.7429 to −0.9942, a significant negative correlation, most significant at N1. Nitrogen regulation in intercropped wheat/faba beans can control powdery mildew and stripe rust, and optimize wheat yield. Intercropping at 180 kg ha–1 N2 resulted in the highest yield.

Previous studies have demonstrated positive correlations between children’s interpersonal trust and social adjustment. However, the psychological mechanism underlying this effect is still unclear. The current study tested the indirect roles of teacher–student relationships from both students’ and teachers’ perspectives in a Chinese context. In total, 709 pupils from grade three to grade five, and their 17 head teachers from a Chinese public primary school participated in this study. The Children’s Generalized Trust Beliefs Scale, Social Adjustment Scale for Children and Adolescents, and Teacher–Student Relationship Questionnaire were used in this study. All these variables were correlated with each other. Structural equation models showed that the interpersonal trust indirectly influenced social adjustment through the teacher–student relationship from students’ perspectives, while the teacher–student relationship from teachers’ perspectives did not play an indirect role. These findings suggest that the teacher–student relationship perceived by students is more important for children’s social adjustment than that perceived by teachers. Both parents and teachers should pay more attention to developing children’s interpersonal trust, build better teacher–student relationships, and focus more on how children feel about the relationship.

The balancing holes in centrifugal pumps with seals mounted in both suction and discharge sides are one of the approaches used by pump manufacturers to reduce the axial thrust. The balance hole diameter directly affects the axial force of the centrifugal pump. The flow characteristics in the balance chamber are closely related to the balance hole diameter. However, research is not very clear on the internal flow of the balanced chamber, due to the small axial and radial sizes and the complicated flow conditions in the chamber. In this paper, we analyzed the influence of the balance hole diameter on the liquid leakage rate, flow velocity, and vortex motion in the balance chamber. The results indicated that when the balance hole diameter was lower than the design value, the volume flow rate of leakage flow was proportional to the diameter. The liquid flow rate and vortex distribution rules in the balance chamber were mainly associated with the coeffect of radial leakage flow in the rear sealing ring interval and the axial balance hole leakage flow. The research has revealed the mechanisms of leakage flow of the balance chamber in the centrifugal pump and that this is of great significance for accurate calculation and balancing of the axial force.

BackgroundContinuous cropping has resulted in the accumulation of self-toxic substances in faba beans which has restricted their global production. Intercropping is widely used to alleviate these problems.AimsTo explore the role of cinnamic acid stress in faba bean physiology and disease resistance, and the potential mitigating effects of intercropping the faba bean with wheat.MethodsFaba bean seedlings were grown with or without wheat in both field and hydroponic conditions in the presence of different cinnamic acid concentrations and Fusarium oxysporum (FOF), the occurrence of. Fusarium-mediated wilt and oxidative stress, as well as plant growth indices and the anti-pathogen defense system were analyzed.ResultsCinnamic acid significantly increased Fusarium pathogenicity, inhibited the activity of defense enzymes and reduced the ability of plants to resist pathogens, indicating the importance of cinnamic acid in the promotion of Fusarium wilt resulting in reduced seedling growth. Intercropping with wheat improved plant resistance by alleviating cinnamic acid-induced stress, which promoted crop growth and decreased the incidence and disease index of Fusarium wilt.ConclusionCinnamic acid promotes Fusarium wilt by stimulating pathogen enzyme production and destroying the defense capability of faba bean roots. Intercropping reduces Fusarium wilt by alleviating the damage caused by cinnamic acid to the defense system of the faba bean root system.

BackgroundNeuroinflammation and cellular apoptosis caused by spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury result in neurological dysfunction. MicroRNAs (miRs) have crucial functions in spinal cord I/R injury pathogenesis according to previous evidences. Herein, whether miR-128-3p contributes to spinal cord I/R injury by regulating specificity protein 1 (SP1) was assessed.MethodsA rat model of spinal cord I/R injury was established by occluding the aortic arch for 14 min. Then, miR-128-3p’s interaction with SP1 was detected by dual-luciferase reporter assays. Next, miR-128-3p mimic and inhibitor, as well as adenovirus-delivered shRNA specific for SP1 were injected intrathecally for assessing the effects of miR-128-3p and SP1 on rats with spinal cord I/R injury. SP1, Bax and Bcl-2 expression levels in I/R injured spinal cord tissues were evaluated by Western blotting, while IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-6 were quantitated by ELISA. Tarlov scores were obtained to detect hind-limb motor function. Evans blue (EB) dye extravasation was utilized to examine blood–spinal cord barrier (BSCB) permeability. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining was performed for neuronal apoptosis assessment.ResultsMiR-128-3p expression was decreased, while SP1 amounts were increased in rat spinal cord tissue specimens following I/R. SP1 was identified as a miR-128-3p target and downregulated by miR-128-3p. MiR-128-3p overexpression or SP1 silencing alleviated I/R-induced neuroinflammation and cell apoptosis, and improved Tarlov scores, whereas pretreatment with miR-128-3p inhibitor aggravated the above injuries.ConclusionOverexpression of miR-128-3p protects neurons from neuroinflammation and apoptosis during spinal cord I/R injury partially by downregulating SP1.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become the leading cause of liver disease in children, with evidence that the maternal diet and the early life nutritional environment are potential risk for such disease. This study was aimed to investigate the effects of maternal high-fat diet (HFD) on the occurrence of NAFLD in offspring rats and the underlying mechanisms. In this study, the incidence of NAFLD was compared in F1 offspring rats between the maternal HFD group and standard chow (SC) group. In addition, the expression levels of inflammatory cytokines in the placenta, in the umbilical cord blood, and in the livers of neonate offsprings were compared between two groups. HepG2 cells were treated with recombinant IL6 (rIL6) to assess stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (SCD1) expression and lipid synthesis in an inflammatory condition. Lipid accumulation was assayed in both SCD1 overexpression and interference HepG2 cells as well as in neonatal rats. Our results showed that HFD exposure before and throughout the pregnancy induced the elevated hepatic TG content of F1 neonates. The levels of inflammatory cytokines in the placenta, umbilical cord blood, and the livers of HFD F1 neonates were significantly higher than those of the SC group. In addition, rIL6 treatment led to TG accumulation accompanied by the upregulation of SCD1 in HepG2 cell lines. Overexpression of SCD1 led to the accumulation of TG contents in HepG2 cells, whereas Scd1 knockdown attenuated the effects of rIL6 treatment. Overexpression of SCD1 in F1 neonatal rats led to hepatic lipid accumulation. Our study indicated that maternal HFD led to intrauterine inflammation, which subsequently caused transgenerationally abnormal hepatic lipid metabolism of F1 neonates. This modulation might be mediated by upregulating SCD1 expression in hepatic cells.

The sensing mechanism of InAlN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) is investigated systematically by numerical simulation and theoretical analysis. In detail, the influence of additional surface charge on device performance and the dependence of surface sensing properties on InAlN barrier thickness are studied. The results indicate that the saturation output drain current Idsat and two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) concentration increase with the increase of positive surface charge density, which decrease with the increase of negative surface charge. The influence of negative surface charge on device performance is more remarkable than that of positive surface charge. Additionally, the modulation ability of surface charge on device performance increases with the decrease ofInAlN barrier thickness. The modulation of surface charge on device performance and the influence of barrier thickness on surface sensing sensitivity are mainly attributed to the variation of the energy band structure, surface potential and 2DEG concentration in the HEMT heterostructure. This work provides important support for structural optimization design of GaN-based HEMT sensors.

Si-based group III-V material enables a multitude of applications and functionalities of the novel optoelectronic integration chips (OEICs) owing to their excellent optoelectronic properties and compatibility with the mature Si CMOS process technology. To achieve high performance OEICs, the crystal quality of the group III-V epitaxial layer plays an extremely vital role. However, there are several challenges for high quality group III-V material growth on Si, such as a large lattice mismatch, highly thermal expansion coefficient difference, and huge dissimilarity between group III-V material and Si, which inevitably leads to the formation of high threading dislocation densities (TDDs) and anti-phase boundaries (APBs). In view of the above-mentioned growth problems, this review details the defects formation and defects suppression methods to grow III-V materials on Si substrate (such as GaAs and InP), so as to give readers a full understanding on the group III-V hetero-epitaxial growth on Si substrates. Based on the previous literature investigation, two main concepts (global growth and selective epitaxial growth (SEG)) were proposed. Besides, we highlight the advanced technologies, such as the miscut substrate, multi-type buffer layer, strain superlattice (SLs), and epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELO), to decrease the TDDs and APBs. To achieve high performance OEICs, the growth strategy and development trend for group III-V material on Si platform were also emphasized.

Lyme disease (LD) is a common arthropod-borne inflammatory disorder prevalent in the northern hemisphere. LD is caused by a spirochete named Borrelia burgdorferi s.l., which is transmitted to humans by ticks. Climate, environment, and other factors affect land use; recreational-behavior changes affect human contact with infected ticks. Studies in Europe and North America have looked at these aspects, but studies in Asia have not. We searched databases to identify all relevant abstracts published until March 2021. A meta-analysis was undertaken using the standard methods and procedures established by the Cochrane Collaboration. Ninety-one articles were included in our meta-analysis. The literature search identified data from nine countries (China, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia Siberia region, South Korea, Thailand and Turkey). Furthermore, 53,003 ticks from six genera (Amblyomma, Dermacentor, Haemaphysalis, Hyalomma, Ixodes and Rhipicephalus) were inspected for infection with B. burgdorferi. The pooled prevalence was 11.1% (95% CI = 8.3–14.2%). Among the nine countries, China had the most studies (56) and Malaysia had the highest infection rate (46.2%). Most infected ticks were from the genera Ixodes and Haemaphysalis. Ticks of the genus Ixodes had the highest infection rate (16.9%). Obvious heterogeneity was noted in our meta-analysis. We analyzed the heterogeneity with regard to countries, genera, time points, and detection methods. This study suggests that Ixodes, Haemaphysalis and Dermacentor may be the most common tike of B. burgdorferi-positive in Asia. The highest proportion of ticks infected by B. burgdorferi were from the genus Ixodes. This meta-analysis is the first attempt to explain the B. burgdorferi infection of hard-body ticks in Asia. The infection rate for each country and infection rate of different tick genera were analyzed: there were large differences between them. The literature is concentrates mainly on East Asia, and data are limited. Our study can provide a reference for a more comprehensive and in-depth investigation of ticks in Asia infected by B. burgdorferi spirochetes.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are endogenous RNAs that have critical regulatory roles in numerous biological processes. However, it remains largely unknown whether circRNAs are induced in response to plant virus infection in the insect vector of the virus as well as whether the circRNAs regulate virus infection. Rice black-streaked dwarf virus (RBSDV) is transmitted by Laodelphax striatellus (Fallén) in a persistent propagative manner and causes severe losses in East Asian countries. To explore the expression and function of circRNAs in the regulation of virus infection, we determined the circRNA expression profile in RBSDV-free or RBSDV-infected L. striatellus midgut tissues by RNA-Seq. A total of 2,523 circRNAs were identified, of which thirteen circRNAs were differentially expressed after RBSDV infection. The functions of these differentially circRNAs were predicted by GO and KEGG pathway analyses. The expression changes of five differentially expressed circRNAs and eight parental genes were validated by RT-qPCR. The circRNAs-microRNAs (miRNAs) interaction networks were analyzed and two miRNAs, which were predicted to bind circRNAs, were differentially expressed after virus infection. CircRNA2030 was up-regulated after RBSDV infection in L. striatellus midgut. Knockdown of circRNA2030 by RNA interference inhibited the expression of its predicted parental gene phospholipid-transporting ATPase (PTA) and enhanced RBSDV infection in L. striatellus. However, none of the six miRNAs predicting to bind circRNA2030 was up-regulated after circRNA2030 knockdown. The results suggested that circRNA2030 might affect RBSDV infection via regulating PTA. Our results reveal the expression profile of circRNAs in L. striatellus midgut and provide new insight into the roles of circRNAs in virus–insect vector interaction.

Background: Oral commensals contribute to microbe-host symbiosis in periodontal homeostasis, and Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis) as the keystone pathogen critically accounts for the shift of symbiosis to dysbiosis and periodontal destruction. Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor (NLR) family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome-mediated interleukin-1β (IL-1β) is significantly involved in periodontal diseases, and notably P. gingivalis enables to modulate the induction and expression of NLRP3. Whereas, the exact mechanism by which NLRP3 inflammasome is regulated in response to commensal and pathogenic bacteria remains unclear.Methods: To examine the expression of IL-1β and NLRPs inflammasome in tissues with severe chronic periodontitis, and further investigate how Caspase-4-dependent non-canonical NLRP3 inflammasome pathways functioned during the interactions of Streptococcus mitis (S. mitis) and P. gingivalis with human THP-1 cells.Results: IL-1β and NLRP3, NLRP6, NLRP12, and absent in melanoma 2 (AIM2) inflammasomes are highly expressed in gingival tissues with severe chronic periodontitis. In human THP-1 cells, P. gingivalis activates the synthesis and secretion of IL-1β to higher levels than S. mitis. Importantly, NLRP3-, Caspase-1-, and Caspase-4-siRNA knockdown THP-1 cells treated with P. gingivalis exhibited a lower expression level of IL-1β as compared to the control cells. In addition, silencing of either CASP4 or CASP1 can lead to a concurrent or reciprocal decrease in the expression of the other. Of note, the IL-1β induction is not affected in the S. mitis-treated THP-1 cells with the silence of NLRP3, Caspase-1, and Caspase-4 genes.Conclusion: NLRP3/Caspase-4 and NLRP3/Caspase-1 dependent IL-1β production may crucially contribute to the dysregulated immuno-inflammatory response in periodontal pathogenesis.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in a variety of biological functions through transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation. However, little is known about their functions in the process of insect mediated virus transmission. In the present study, we analyzed using RNA-Seq, the lncRNAs that were differentially expressed in response to Rice black-streaked dwarf virus (RBSDV) infection in Laodelphax striatellus (Fallén) midgut. A total of 13,927 lncRNAs were identified and over 69% were assigned to intergenic regions. Among them, 176 lncRNAs were differentially expressed and predicted to target 168 trans-regulatory genes. Ten differentially expressed lncRNAs were selected and their expression changes were validated by RT-qPCR. KEGG analysis showed that these target genes were enriched in the essential biological process, such as Purine metabolism, Valine, leucine and isoleucine degradation, and Fatty acid elongation. The expression levels of the differentially expressed lncRNAs and the predicted target genes that were significantly enriched in the Human papillomavirus infection pathway were analyzed by RT-qPCR. The results showed that several lncRNAs were co-expressed with their target genes. One of the lncRNAs called MSTRG15394 and its target gene, encoding a secreted protease inhibitor (PI), were up-regulated at the transcriptional level after RBSDV infection. Knockdown of MSTRG15394 could down-regulate the PI expression at mRNA level. Inhibition of either MSTRG15394 or PI expression by RNA interference promoted RBSDV accumulation in L. striatellus midgut. Our finding provides new insights into the function of lncRNAs in regulating virus infection in an important insect vector.