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This paper is concerned with a stabilized approach to low-order mixed finite element methods for the Stokes equations. We will provide a posteriori error analysis for the method. We present two a posteriori error indicators which will be demonstrated to be globally upper and locally lower bounds for the error of the finite element discretization. Finally two numerical experiments will be carried out to show the efficiency on constructing adaptive meshes.

In the presence of modified Ferro ferric oxide, PMMA/Fe3O4 microspheres have been successfully synthesized via a facile suspension polymerization. The effect of modified Fe3O4 on the preparation of Fe3O4/PMMA microspheres was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), the morphology of magnetic microspheres was studied by Scanning electron microscope (SEM). Thermal performance of magnetic polymer microspheres was studied by Thermo gravimetric (TG). From the above, with the increase of modified iron oxide, the magnetic polymer microspheres have enhanced magnetic properties and heat resistance.

A highly effective analytical method for multi-residue determination of antibiotics in aquifer sediments was first established in this study. Microwave-assisted solvent extraction (MASE) and solid-phase extraction were used for sample pre-concentration and purification, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to hybrid quadrupole-high resolution Orbitrap mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap) was applied for detection. For high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), the target compounds were tentatively identified by retention time and accurate mass which was measured with precursor ions in Target-SIM scan, and then confirmed by the monitoring of daughter ion fragments which were generated in dd-MS(2) scan. The results provided good mass accuracy with mass deviations below 2ppm (except norfloxacin with -2.3ppm) for quantitative analysis of the compounds by HRMS. Reasonable recoveries of all analytes were obtained more than 60% (except doxytetracycline) in fortification samples at concentrations higher than 10μgkg(-1). Relative standard deviations of repeatability and inter-day precision were below 21% and 11%. Limits of detection (LOD) ranged from 0.1 to 3.8μgkg(-1), whereas limits of quantification (LOQ) were established between 0.3-9.0μgkg(-1). The method was applied to analyze real aquifer sediment samples in different aquifer depth of 4.0, 7.5, 13.0 and 18.0m. Chlorotetracycline and ofloxacin were observed at relative high concentrations of 53 and 19μgkg(-1) respectively in 18.0m deepness. The exposure to low doses of these compounds in subsurface environment increases concerns on long-term ecological security of underground system.

The mechanism of acquired aplastic anemia (AA), a bone marrow hematopoiesis failure disease, has not been fully understood. TNF-α is a pleiotropic cytokine involved in cell proliferation, differentiation and death, and inflammation through binding to specific receptors on cell membranes. Aberrant secretion of TNF-α contributes to a number of human diseases, including tumor development and inflammation. TNF-α is also an important negative regulator of hematopoiesis. Over-expression of TNF-α not only directly inhibits the proliferation and differentiation of hematopoietic cells, but also initiates the intracellular death pathway to induce hematopoietic cell death, leading to bone marrow hematopoiesis failure. In this review, we summarize the mechanisms underlying extrinsic apoptosis and necroptosis of hematopoietic cells induced by TNF-α, and discuss the role of TNF-α-induced programmed cell death in the pathogenesis of acquired AA.

Effective setting strategies using Monte Carlo simulation are presented to mitigate the irradiation damage in synchrotron radiation microangiography (SRA). A one-dimensional mouse head model and a segmented voxel phantom mouse head were simulated using theEGSnrc/DOSXYZnrccode to investigate the dose enhancement effect of an iodine contrast agent irradiated by a monochromatic synchrotron radiation source. The influence of the iodine concentration, vessel width and depth, protection with and without the skull layer, and various incident X-ray energies were all simulated. The dose enhancement effect and the absolute dose based on the segmented voxel mouse head phantom were evaluated. The dose enhancement ratio depended little on the irradiation depth, but strongly and linearly increasing on iodine concentration. The protection given by the skull layer cannot be ignored in SRA because a 700 µm-thick skull can decrease the dose by 10%. The incident X-ray energy can affect the dose significantly. Compared with a dose of 33.2 keV for 50 mgI ml−1, a dose of 32.7 keV decreased by 38%, whereas a dose of 33.7 keV increased by 69.2% and the variation strengthened more with enhanced iodine concentration. The segmented voxel mouse head phantom also showed that the average dose enhancement effect and the maximal voxel dose per photon depended little on the iodine voxel volume ratio but strongly on the iodine concentration. To decrease the damage caused by the dose in SRA, a high-Zcontrast agent should be used as little as possible and irradiation of the injection site of the contrast agent should be avoided immediately after the injection. The fragile vessel containing iodine should avoid being closely irradiated. Avoiding irradiating through a thin (or no) skull region, or attaching a thin equivalent material on the outside for protection are better methods. An incident X-ray energy as low as possible should be used as long as the SRA image quality is ensured. The use of the synergetic and synchronous shuttering technique in SRA is also very critical in order to effectively shorten the accumulative irradiation time inin vivoanimal irradiation experiments.

We propose a new input perturbation mechanism for publishing a covariance matrix to achieve $(\epsilon,0)$-differential privacy. Our mechanism uses a Wishart distribution to generate matrix noise. In particular, We apply this mechanism to principal component analysis. Our mechanism is able to keep the positive semi-definiteness of the published covariance matrix. Thus, our approach gives rise to a general publishing framework for input perturbation of a symmetric positive semidefinite matrix. Moreover, compared with the classic Laplace mechanism, our method has better utility guarantee. To the best of our knowledge, Wishart mechanism is the best input perturbation approach for $(\epsilon,0)$-differentially private PCA. We also compare our work with previous exponential mechanism algorithms in the literature and provide near optimal bound while having more flexibility and less computational intractability., Comment: A full version with technical proofs. Accepted to AAAI-16

The inhalation anesthetic isoflurane has been shown to induce mitochondrial dysfunction and caspase activation, which may lead to learning and memory impairment. Ginsenoside Rg1 is reported to be neuroprotective. We therefore set out to determine whether ginsenoside Rg1 can attenuate isoflurane-induced caspase activation via inhibiting mitochondrial dysfunction.We investigated the effects of ginsenoside Rg1 at concentrations of 12.5, 25, and 50 μmol/L and pretreatment times of 12 h and 24 h on isoflurane-induced caspase-3 activation in H4 naïve and stably transfected H4 human neuroglioma cells that express full-length human amyloid precursor protein (APP) (H4-APP cells). For mitochondrial dysfunction, we assessed mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) and adenosine-5'-triphosphate (ATP) levels. We employed Western blot analysis, chemiluminescence, and flowcytometry.Here we show that pretreatment with 50 µmol/L ginsenoside Rg1 for 12 h attenuated isoflurane-induced caspase-3 activation and mitochondrial dysfunction in H4-APP cells, while pretreatment with 25 and 50 µmol/L ginsenoside Rg1 for 24 h attenuated isoflurane-induced caspase-3 activation and mitochondrial dysfunction in both H4 naïve and H4-APP cells.These data suggest that ginsenoside Rg1 may ameliorate isoflurane-induced caspase-3 activation by inhibiting mitochondrial dysfunction. Pending further studies, these findings might recommend the use of ginsenoside Rg1 in preventing and treating isoflurane-induced neurotoxicity.

Geniposidic acid, one of the main active ingredients in Gardenia jasminoides J. Ellis (Rubiaceae), may also possess important pharmacological activities for cardiovascular disorders similar to other derivatives, such as geniposide.To evaluate its anti-atherosclerosis (anti-AS) effect, the related pharmacological activities and possible cellular mechanisms were studied.Thirty rabbits were randomly divided into normal control group, model control group, and geniposidic acid subgroups. In the AS model, its effects on the intima/media thickness ratio and aortic morphology were observed. In the study of primary cultured endothelial cells (ECs) and human umbilical artery smooth muscle cells (HUASMCs), its activities on both ECs and HUASMCs proliferation, HUASMCs' migration were also studied.Compared with the model control group, the plaque area, intima/media thickness ratio, and intimal foam cells number in geniposidic acid (80, 160, and 240 mg/kg) subgroups were significantly improved (p 0.05). By HE staining, the activities of geniposidic acid on relieving ECs shedding and improving aortic morphology disorders were also demonstrated. From the results of CCK-8 testing, only 100 μg/ml geniposidic acid performed significant inhibition on SMC proliferation. The relative IC50 of geniposidic acid on SMC inhibition was 87.73 μg/ml. Geniposide acid also showed promotion effect on ECs proliferation, and the related ED50 of geniposidic acid was 86.05 μg/ml. Besides, only 50 and 100 μg/ml geniposidic acid showed obvious inhibition on SMC migration from the upper chamber (p 0.05).The effects of geniposidic acid on protecting vascular endothelium and reversing plaque formation in an atherosclerotic model were demonstrated.

Objects To introduce a new method for generating the clinical target volume (CTV) from gross tumor volume (GTV) using the geodesic distance calculation for glioma. Methods One glioblastoma patient was enrolled. The GTV and natural barriers were contoured on each slice of the computer tomography (CT) simulation images. Then, a graphic processing unit based on a parallel Euclidean distance transform was used to generate the CTV considering natural barriers. Three-dimensional (3D) visualization technique was applied to show the delineation results. Speed of operation and precision were compared between this new delineation method and the traditional method. Results In considering spatial barriers, the shortest distance from the point sheltered from these barriers equals the sum of the distance along the shortest path between the two points; this consists of several segments and evades the spatial barriers, rather than being the direct Euclidean distance between two points. The CTV was generated irregularly rather than as a spherical shape. The time required to generate the CTV was greatly reduced. Moreover, this new method improved inter- and intra-observer variability in defining the CTV. Conclusions Compared with the traditional CTV delineation, this new method using geodesic distance calculation not only greatly shortens the time to modify the CTV, but also has better reproducibility.

To evaluate the correlation between morphologic appearance of blebs at 3 month and long-term intraocular pressure (IOP) effect in patients with primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) after trabeculectomy.Multi-centered cases series. Data were collected from 176 patients aged ≥ 40 years with PACG who were participated in a randomized clinical trial that aimed at addressing the efficacy of augmented releasable sutures after trabeculectomy. The bleb morphology was graded using the Modified Indian Bleb Appearance Grading Scale (IBAGS) based on standard photos at 3 month after trabeculectomy. IOPs were measured with Goldmann applanation tonometer. The correlation between bleb components and other selected testing influencing factors and long-term IOP was tested by linear Logistic regression analysis.150 patients (85.7%) completed 18 months of follow up. IOP was (15.6 ± 5.4) mm Hg at 18 month of post-operation. 135 eyes had an IOP ≤ 21 mm Hg without additional medications, 10 eyes ≥ 21 mm Hg, and the remaining 5 eyes required one or two medications to maintain normal IOP. Using IBAGS system, bleb was graded in 142 eyes as follows: H(0) in 3 eyes, H(1) in 45 eyes, H(2) in 90 eyes, and H(3) in 4 eyes, while V(0) was observed in 66 eyes, V(1-3) in 76 eyes. IOP at 18 months in bleb with microcysts was 2.77 mm Hg lower (β = -2.77, 95%CI = -0.46 to -5.08) than those without microcysts and in bleb with non-vascular was 2.07 mm Hg lower (β = -2.07, 95%CI = -0.15 to -3.98) than those with vascular at 3 months after surgery. IOP was significantly (β = -1.20, 95%CI: -0.00 to -2.40) decreased by 1.2 mm Hg with 10 years of age increase (P0.05).Early filtering bleb with microcysts, vascular, and age are identified as important factors to predict long-term IOP effect in patients with PACG after trabeculectomy but not early morphological appearance of filtering bleb.

To investigate the protein expression of ERCC1 (excision repair cross complementation group 1) and survivin gene in platinum-resistant and platinum-sensitive epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC), and to explore the relationship among ERCC1 expression, survivin expression, the major clinicopathological characteristics as well as platinum sensitivity.Expression of ERCC1 and survivin were detected in 64 EOC tissues by immunohistochemical method.No significant differences were found in patients' age, FIGO stage, pathological type, histological grade, pelvic lymph node and/or vessel infiltration, in all of three pairs of comparison. They were platinum-sensitive group vs. platinum-resistant group, ERCC1-positive group vs. ERCC1-negative group and surviving-positive group vs. survivn-negative group (all P0.05). The positive rate of ERCC1 expression (67.85%, 19/28) in platinum-resistant patients' tissues was significantly higher than that in platinum-sensitive patients' tissues (25.00%, 9/36) (P = 0.001). While the positive rate of survivin in platinum-resistant patients' tissues (78.57%, 22/28) was slightly higher than that of in platinum-sensitive patients' tissues (75.00%, 29/36), however without significant (P = 0.74). No evidence was found that the expression of ERCC1 correlate with the expression of survivin (r(s) = 0.12, P = 0.36) too. The proportion of platinum-resistant in patients with coexpression of ERCC1 and surviving (65.22%, 15/23) was insignificantly lower than that of in patients with single expression of ERCC1 (80.00%, 4/5) (P = 0.91).Expression of ERCC1 in EOC patients' tumor tissue could be a predictive indicator for their platinum susceptibility and it might be helpful for prevention and reverse of platinum resistance in clinical practice. The expression of survivin seems of no definite value in prediction of platinum susceptibility.

Polyposis is an end form of chronic mucosal inflammation in a number of disorders and has an important impact on patient's life quality. Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) is involved in many inflammatory processes such as asthma and allergic rhinitis (AR). The aim of this study is to elucidate the role of TSLP in the pathogenesis of polyposis.Ninety-four patients with nasal polyposis (NP) and/or allergic rhinitis (AR) were treated with inferior turbinectomy and polyp resection. Levels of TSLP in the nasal epithelial layer were measured; expression of TSLP receptor and OX40 ligand (OX40L) was assessed in isolated nasal mucosal dendritic cells (DC); tumor necrosis factor (TNF), interleukin (IL)-4 and interferon (IFN)-γ expressions were determined in isolated nasal mucosal CD4(+) T cells.The levels of TSLP in nasal epithelial layer were higher in the NP group than in the non-NP group. Higher expression of TSLP receptor and OX40L were detected in DCs of NP nasal mucosa. TNF-α(+) IL-4(+)CD4(+) T cells were detected in NP/AR nasal mucosa; TNF(+) IFN-γ(+) CD4(+) T cells were identified in NP/non-AR nasal mucosa. TSLP-primed DCs drove naive CD4(+) T cells to become TNF(+) IL-4(+) CD4(+) T cells, whereas TSLP/lipopolysaccharide-primed DCs induced naive CD4(+) T cells to become TNF(+) IFN-γ(+) T cells.The data indicate that TSLP is involved in the pathogenesis of polyposis.

Image denoising algorithms based on non-linear diffusion PDE models, such as Perona-Malik and total variation denoising tend to converge to a piecewise constant image. Although these models have been demonstrated to preserve edges efficiently while smoothing noises, they often lost some small details like textures. In this paper, we propose a noise removal PDE based algorithm combining with a spatially varied gradient fidelity term. The new model can both avoid the trouble of choosing a proper parameter and preserving better textures and other small details while removing the staircase effect in smooth regions. Experimental results on several classical images illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme in image denoising.

A novel planar tree-shaped fractal dipole patch antenna using arc branch is proposed. The advances in development of tree-shaped fractal antenna are outlined in the paper; a novel tree-shaped fractal antenna is designed, which is fed by a simpler balun. The resonant frequency of the two iterative fractal antenna is 37.5% lower than the zero iterative fractal one. The two iterative fractal antenna is fabricated and measured, and the measured results are found in good agreement with the simulated results.

To search for an effective therapy for depression.One hundred and twenty cases were randomly divided into two groups. The acupuncture group (60 cases) was treated with acupuncture at Zhong wan (CV 12) and Si-guan points [Taichong (LR 3) and Hegu (LI 4)] selected as main acupoints, combined with Baihui (GV 20), Sishencong (EX-HN 1), etc. , meanwhile, the reinforcing-reducing manipulation of respiration was adopted. The western medicine group (60 cases) was treated with oral administration of Fluoxetine Hydrochloride at the dosage of 20 mg every day. These treatments lasted for 8 weeks in both groups. The depression severities were assessed with Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) before treatment and at the 8th week of the treatment and adverse reactions were appraised respectively with Treatment Emergent Symptom Scale (TESS).The total effective rate was 95.0% in the acupuncture group and 91.7% in the western medicine group with no significant difference between the two groups (P0.05). After treatment, the HAMD score had very significant changes in the two groups as compared with those before treatment (both P0.01), but there was no significant difference between the two groups (P0.05). After treatment, there was a significant difference between two groups in TESS score (P0.01). There was almost no adverse reaction in the acupuncture group, while the main clinical manifestations in the western medicine group were nausea, anorexia, diarrhea, etc.Acupuncture at Zhongwan (CV 12) and Si-guan points combined with reinforcing-reducing manipulation of respiration can significantly improve symptoms of depression patients with a similar therapeutic effect to oral administration of Fluoxetine Hydrochloride and it is a safe method for depression without adverse reactions.

To detect the expression of RhoC and Ki67 in squamous carcinoma of cervix and to reveal the correlation of RhoC and Ki67 with clinic pathological parameters of cervix carcinoma.The expressions of RhoC and Ki67 were evaluated in 26 cases of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and 57 cases of squamous carcinoma of cervix(SCC) by immunohistochemistry, while 14 cases of normal cervical epithelium(NCE) were taken as control.Immunohistochemical staining demonstrated RhoC expression in 82.46% (47/57) of SCC, 15.38% (2/13) of CIN II/III, and negative expression in NCE and CIN I. The positive rate of RhoC expression in SCC was significantly higher than that in NCE and CIN (P0.05). The expression of RhoC in SCC was significantly correlated with pelvic lymph node metastasis and depth of stroma infiltration, but not correlated with age, FIGO staging,histologic grade and vascular space involvement. The positive rates of Ki67 expression in NCE, CIN I, CIN II/III and SCC were 28.57%, 38.46%, 100% and 96.49% respectively. The positive rates of Ki67 expression in SCC and CIN II/III were significantly higher than those in NCE and CIN I (P0.05). The expression of Ki67 in SCC was not correlated with the major clinic pathological parameters. There was no obvious relationship between the expression of RhoC gene and Ki67 antigen in SCC (P0. 05).The overexpression of RhoC may play an important role in the invasion and metastasis of SCC. RhoC may be a potential marker to identify SCC patients with high risk of invasion and metastasis.

Ovarian choriocarinoma is a rare tumor and has not been described before in a true hermaphrodite condition. A 23-year-old karyotype 46XX parous female was admitted to hospital because of amenorrhea, irregular vaginal bleeding, an adnexal mass, and an increased beta-hCG serum level. Ectopic pregnancy was suspected three times and exploratory laparoscopy done each time removing the right ovarian mass and local pelvic and omental spread. Final pathology revealed a true hermaphrodite state with testicular tissue with distinct tubules, ovarian tissue with follicles, and ovarian choriocarinoma with necrosis and hemorrhage. She received chemotherapy followed by radical pelvic surgery.

Phosphoribosylaminoimidazole carboxylase/phosphoribosylaminoimidazole succinocarboxamide synthetase (PAICS) is an important bifunctional enzyme in de novo purine biosynthesis in vertebrate with both 5-aminoimidazole ribonucleotide carboxylase (AIRc) and 4-(N-succinylcarboxamide)-5-aminoimidazole ribonucleotide synthetase (SAICARs) activities. It becomes an attractive target for rational anticancer drug design, since rapidly dividing cancer cells rely heavily on the purine de novo pathway for synthesis of adenine and guanine, whereas normal cells favor the salvage pathway. Here, we report the crystal structure of human PAICS, the first in the entire PAICS family, at 2.8 A resolution. It revealed that eight PAICS subunits, each composed of distinct AIRc and SAICARs domains, assemble a compact homo-octamer with an octameric-carboxylase core and four symmetric periphery dimers formed by synthetase domains. Based on structural comparison and functional complementation analyses, the active sites of SAICARs and AIRc were identified, including a putative substrate CO(2)-binding site. Furthermore, four symmetry-related, separate tunnel systems in the PAICS octamer were found that connect the active sites of AIRc and SAICARs. This study illustrated the octameric nature of the bifunctional enzyme. Each carboxylase active site is formed by structural elements from three AIRc domains, demonstrating that the octamer structure is essential for the carboxylation activity. Furthermore, the existence of the tunnel system implies a mechanism of intermediate channeling and suggests that the quaternary structure arrangement is crucial for effectively executing the sequential reactions. In addition, this study provides essential structural information for designing PAICS-specific inhibitors for use in cancer chemotherapy.

An effective dual-DNAzyme-based unimolecular probe design employing intramolecular signal transduction is demonstrated. The probe is composed of three domains: a DNA-cleaving DNAzyme, a substrate, and an HRP-mimicking DNAzyme. When the probe meets its target, cleavage of the substrate by the DNA-cleaving DNAzyme activates the HRP-mimicking DNAzyme, producing a colorimetric signal. The Cu(2+)-dependent DNAzyme engineered to demonstrate this design revealed a sensitivity corresponding to 65 ppb, which is sufficient to detect Cu(2+) in drinking water. The new probe has excellent selectivity toward Cu(2+). This three-component design is simple and easy to engineer. It may provide the basis for future development of other nucleic acid-based probes for toxicological and environmental monitoring.