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Background. Clear cell renal cancer (KIRC) is one of the most common cancers globally, with a poor prognosis. TLRs play a vital role in anticancer immunity and the regulation of the biological progress of tumour cells. However, the precise role of TLRs in KIRC is still ambiguous. Methods. Various bioinformatics analysis and clinical validation of tissues were performed to evaluate the prognostic value of TLRs and their correlation with immune infiltration in KIRC. Results. The expression of TLR2/3/7/8 was increased at both mRNA and protein levels in KIRC. TLRs in KIRC were involved in the activation of apoptosis, EMT, RAS/MAPK, and RTK pathways, as well as the inhibition of the cell cycle and the hormone AR pathway. Drug sensitivity analysis revealed that high expression of TLR3 and low expression of TLR7/9/10 were resistant to most of the small molecules or drugs from CTRP. Enrichment analyses showed that TLRs were mainly involved in innate immune response, toll-like receptor signalling pathway, NF-kappa B signalling pathway, and TNF signalling pathway. Furthermore, a high-level TLR3 expression was associated with a favourable prognosis in KIRC. Validation research further confirmed that TLR3 expression was increased in KIRC tissues, and high TLR3 levels were associated with poor overall survival. Moreover, TLR3 in KIRC showed a positive association with an abundance of immune cells, including B-cells, CD4+ T-cells, CD8+ T-cells, macrophage, neutrophils, and dendritic cells, and the expression of the immune biomarker sets. Several TLR3-associated kinase, miRNA, or transcription factor targets were also identified in KIRC. Conclusion. Our results indicate that TLR3 serves as a prognostic biomarker and associated with immune infiltration in KIRC. This work lays a foundation for further studies on the role of TLR3 in the carcinogenesis and progression of KIRC.

MXenes, an emerging two-dimensional (2D) transition metal carbides, nitrides and carbonitrides, have exhibited great potential as electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) due to the excellent characters, including excellent structural and chemical stability, superior electrical conductivity, and large active surface area. In this comprehensive study, firstly, the preparation advances of MXenes are systematically summarized. Then, the representative applications of MXenes-based HER electrocatalysts are introduced, from experimental and theoretical aspects. Thirdly, the strategies for improving HER catalytic activity of MXenes are demonstrated, such as optimizing active sites by termination modification and metal-atom doping, increasing active sites by fabricating various nanostructures. Finally, the existing challenges and new opportunities for MXenes-based electrocatalysts are also elucidated. This paper provides reference for the future development of new and efficient MXenes-based electrocatalysts for hydrogen production through water-splitting technology.

The gut microbiota of insects has been proven to play a role in the host's nutrition and foraging. The German cockroach, Blattella germanica, is an important vector of various pathogens and causes severe allergic reactions in humans. Food bait is an effective and frequently used method of controlling this omnivorous insect. Thus, understanding the relationships among diet, gut microbiota, and olfactory preferences could be useful for optimizing this management strategy. In this study, B. germanica was exposed to different foods, i.e., high-fat diet, high-protein diet, high-starch diet, and dog food (as control). Then their gut microbial and olfactory responses were investigated. 16S rRNA gene sequencing confirmed that the gut microbiota significantly differed across the four treatments, especially in relation to bacteria associated with the metabolism and digestion of essential components. Behavioral tests and the antenna electrophysiological responses showed that insects had a greater preference for other types of diets compared with their long-term domesticated diet. Moreover, continuously providing a single-type diet could change almost all the OR genes' expression of B. germanica, especially BgORco, which was significantly repressed compared to control. These results indicate that diet can shape the gut microbiota diversity and drive the olfactory preference of B. germanica. The association between gut microbiota profiles and diets can be utilized in managing B. germanica according to their olfactory preference.

Excitonic effects induced via Coulomb interactions and an appropriate interfacial contact of electrode modified materials play crucial roles in transfer/separation of interfacial charge carriers during the electrochemical sensing process. Herein, an oxygen vacancy (Vo) mediated step-scheme (S-scheme) heterojunction of WO2.9/g-C3N4 was fabricated by electrostatic self-assembly of high-purity commercial WO2.9 nanoparticles and ultrathin g-C3N4 nanosheets, where g-C3N4 nanosheets were prepared via polymerization followed ultrasonic-assisted exfoliation. The fabricated Vo-S-scheme WO2.9/g-C3N4 heterojunction-based sensor exhibited superior electrochemical performance for detecting environmental hormone 4-nitrophenol (4-NP). Due to the introduction of Vo, an increased free-charge-carriers, a built-in electric field and a high adsorption energy are generated at the heterojunction interface, which all can significantly improve the sensitivity of this proposed sensor. It also showed good reproducibility, high accuracy, good recovery, and strong feasibility for 4-NP detection in real samples. This work not only conduces significantly to understanding the defective structures and S-scheme heterojunctions, but also provides new insights into designing and constructing novel efficient electrochemical sensors.

Aims Jumonji AT-rich interactive domain 2 (Jarid2) is an interacting component of PRC2 which catalyzes methylation of H3K27 (H3K27me3) and causes the downregulation of PTEN. In the present study, we aimed to explore whether Jarid2 could interact with H3K27me3 to regulate PTEN expression in bladder cancer. Main methods Jarid2 expression in bladder cancer tissues and cells were determined by western blotting and RT-PCR. CCK-8, flow cytometry, transwell chamber and in vivo xenograft assays were performed to assess cell growth, apoptosis, migration and tumorigenesis, respectively. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay was used to assess the methylation of PTEN. Key findings Jarid2 expression was increased in bladder cancer tissues and cells. Downregulation of Jarid2 with shRNA transfection obviously inhibited the proliferation, migration and tumorigenesis of bladder cancer T24 and HT-1376 cells and induced cell apoptosis. Jarid2 downregulation decreased the expression of p-AKT and increased PTEN expression. Besides, Jarid2 down-regulation repressed the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), whereas knockdown of PTEN impaired this effect. Moreover, upregulation of Jarid2 increased the combination of PTEN promoter and H3K27me3, and 5-aza-CdR rescued it. Meanwhile, 5-aza-CdR administration abolished Jarid2 roles in the promotion of EMT process and AKT activation, as well as the reduction of PTEN expression. Significance Overall, the present study elaborated that Jarid2 facilitated the progression of bladder cancer through H3K27me3-mediated PTEN downregulation and AKT activation, which might provide a new mechanism for Jarid2 in promoting bladder cancer progression.

Background: Bladder cancer is the ninth most-common cancer worldwide and it is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Tumor mutational burden (TMB) is an emerging biomarker in cancer characterized by microsatellite instability. TMB has been described as a powerful predictor of tumor behavior and response to immunotherapy. Methods: A total of 443 bladder cancer samples obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were analyzed for mutation types, TMB values, and prognostic value of TMB. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified from the TMB groupings. Functional analysis was performed to assess the prognostic value of the first 30 core genes. CIBERSORT algorithm was used to determine the correlation between the immune cells and TMB subtypes. Results: Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and C>T were reported as the most common missense mutations and we also identified a high rate of mutations in TP53, TTN, KMT2D. Bladder cancer patients with high TMB showed a better prognosis. Enrichment analysis of the DEGs revealed that they were involved in the regulation of the P13K-Akt signaling pathway, cytokine–cytokine receptor interaction, and Ras signaling pathway. The high expression of hub genes ADRA2A, CXCL12, S1PR1, ADAMTS9, F13A1, and SPON1 was correlated with poor overall survival. Besides, significant differences in the composition of the immune cells of T cells CD8, T cells CD4 memory activated, NK cells resting and Mast cells resting were observed. Conclusions: The present study provides a comprehensive and systematic analysis of the prediction of TMB in bladder cancer and its clinical significance. Also, the study provides additional prognostic information and opportunities for immunotherapy in bladder cancer.

Imaging techniques of upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) are presently limited. Upconversion particles (UCPs) could be used to target tumors for imaging. The present study aimed to assess the value of a nano-UCP as a diagnostic probe for deep tumor tissue, including UTUC. Polymer-coated water-soluble UCPs were synthesized. The pH Low Insertion Peptide (pHLIP) polypeptide was synthesized using the solid phase method. The silane shell surface was modified to present amino or carboxyl groups. Succinimidyl 4-(N-maleimidomethyl)cyclohexane-1-carboxylate was used for the coupling of the polypeptide to the UCPs. An animal model of subcutaneous tumor was established in 4-week old nude mice using UTUC cells. Urinary tract epithelial cancer T24 cells were injected into the diaphragm below the heart. PHLIP-UCP solution (1 ml) was injected into the abdominal cavity of each animal. Optical detection was performed using a small animal living body multispectral imaging system. UCPs dispersed in chloroform emitted no light under natural light, while they emitted a green light when excited with a 980-nm laser. The maximum emission wavelength of Ho3+-doped UCPs was ~550 nm and the red emission region was ~650 nm. As the coated UCPs possessed a tendency to agglomerate and precipitate, the yield of the UCPs in the aqueous phase was reduced. Tumors could be successfully imaged in tumor-bearing mice. NaYF4: Yb, Ho3+ UPCs could be used for the detection of UTUC, thus further studies are required to determine if it could be used in larger animals with deeper tumors.

Parapelvic renal cysts are more likely to be symptomatic compared with that of simple peripheral renal cysts, and their treatment remains challenging. This study aimed to assess the feasibility and safety of flexible ureteroscopy in managing symptomatic endogenous renal cystic diseases.Thirty-five patients with symptomatic endogenous renal cystic diseases were treated by ureteroscopic unroofing and drainage into the collecting system. Surgical procedure, patient's outcome, and postoperative complications were retrospectively evaluated.Ureteroscopic unroofing and drainage were successful in 35 patients without conversion to open surgery. For patients with successful surgery, the mean operation and hospitalization times were 25.38 ± 3.71 min and 3.01 ± 0.57 d, respectively, with a curative standard rate of 74.3% (26/35). Three patients experienced Clavien grade I and II complications but no serious perioperative complications occurred. During the follow-up period averaging 36 mo, no cysts were detected in 74.3% of patients (26/35); noticeable relief was observed in four patients showing a simple renal cyst (diameter2 cm). In five patients who presented with polycystic kidneys, the renal volume was decreased by 93.76 ± 7.38 mL per side, on average, compared with pretreatment values. Pain was relieved in all 30 patients with renal cysts. Hydronephrosis disappeared in all 15 patients diagnosed with this condition at presentation. No secondary cyst lesions (such as infection, hematoma formation, and solid cystic changes) occurred.The transurethral flexible ureteroscopic incision and drainage for symptomatic endogenous renal cystic diseases has multiple advantages such as minimal trauma, rapid recovery, and a definite curative effect.

Fluorescence imaging is a broadly interesting and rapidly growing strategy for non-invasive clinical applications. However, because of interference from light scattering, absorbance, and tissue autofluorescence, the images can exhibit low sensitivity and poor quality. Upconversion fluorescence imaging, which is based on the use of near-infrared (NIR) light for excitation, has recently been introduced as an improved approach to minimize the effects of light scattering and tissue autofluorescence. This strategy is promising for ultrasensitive and deep tissue imaging applications. However, the emitted upconversion fluorescence signals are primarily in the visible range and are likely to be absorbed and scattered by tissues. Therefore, different anatomic structures could impose various effects on the quality of the images. In this study, we used upconversion-core/silica-shell nanoprobes to evaluate the quality of upconversion fluorescence at different anatomic locations in athymic nude mice. The nanoprobe contained an upconversion core, which was green (β-NaYF4:Yb3+/Ho3+) or red (β-NaYF4:Yb3+/Er3+), and a nonporous silica shell to allow for multicolor imaging. High-quality upconversion fluorescence signals were detected with signal-to-noise ratios of up to 170 at tissue depths of up to - 1.0 cm when a 980 nm laser excitation source and a bandpass emission filter were used. The presence of dense tissue structures along the imaging path reduced the signal intensity and imaging quality, and nanoprobes with longer-wavelength emission spectra were therefore preferable. This study offers a detailed analysis of the quality of upconversion signals in vivo inside different anatomic structures. Such information could be essential for the analysis of upconversion fluorescence images in any in vivo biodiagnostic and microbial tracking applications.

At present, intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) immunotherapy is recommended for prophylaxis purposes after transurethral resection of bladder tumor, but has chances of recurrence. Radical cystectomy reduces the risk of recurrence in bladder cancer patients, but may have chances of postoperative complications. The objective of the study was to test the hypothesis that radical cystectomy has overtreatment and definitive BCG immunotherapy has undertreatment in intermediate or high-risk nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer patients. Data regarding biopsies, ultrasound, the computed tomography scan, adopted treatment strategy, treatment-emergent adverse effect, and a follow-up period of 312 patients with confirmed nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer (pTa, pTis, or pT1 stage; intermediate or high-risk cancer) were reviewed. Patients who had received definitive intravesical BCG immunotherapy were included in BCG group (n = 210) and those who underwent radical cystectomy were included in RXC group (n = 87). Clinical decision-making for treatment strategies was evaluated for both groups. Cystitis was frequently observed in all patients who received BCG immunotherapy. In RXC group, ileus was frequently observed in all patients in early days after the operation. During 2 years of the follow-up period, biopsies, ultrasound, and the computed tomography scan reported that BCG group had fewer numbers of negative cancer patients after treatment than the RXC group after surgery (P

With the scale of small and medium hydropower increasing gradually, it is difficult to establish a detailed model because the parameters of each generating unit can barely be obtained. To build a dynamic equivalent model of the hydropower generator group, this paper presents an estimation-based equivalent method, which will keep the dynamic responses and the transient stability consistent before and after the equivalence. A 3rd order generator and a parallel static characteristic ZIP load model are selected as the dynamic equivalent model of hydropower generator group. Based on phasor measurements in the tie line which connects to the modeled hydropower generator group, the self-adaptive control parameters modified differential evolution (SACPMDE) algorithm is used to obtain the parameters of equivalent model. The proposed method is verified in the small and medium hydropower generator group with simulation in an actual power grid of China. The results show that the proposed equivalent model has highly precision on the dynamic responses and the parameters identification method is stable. The proposed method can be used for modeling a group of small and medium hydropower generators whose structures and parameters are unknown.

Owing to the increasing connection of large-scale wind farms to the grid, recent electrical power system significantly requires much more precise decisions in the dispatching and operation. In some parts of China, the insufficient of local consumptive ability for wind energy, for the lack of peak regulation ability in power system, leads to a large amount of abandoned wind energy in valley period. Therefore, considering the operational characteristics of wind power and the peak regulation ability of power system when planning a generating units maintenance scheduling will be of great significance for the exploit of wind power and safe operation of power system. In addition, more and more recent research on maintenance scheduling pay attention to the peak regulation problem. In the power system including large-scale wind farms, a maintenance scheduling model for generating units with a synthetic consideration of maintenance reliability, economy and peak regulation pressure balance is proposed. The objective function of this model is a combination of generating costs, maintenance costs and peak regulation pressure penalty fee, along with the constraint including the basic ones such as reliability of power system, continuity, duration and resources of generating units maintenance, and an additional one for peak regulation pressure balance. For the reason that the proposed model above is a nonlinear optimization problem comprising a plurality of constraints, genetic algorithm is applied to solve the proposed model due to its wide adaptability and good robustness. The proposed method has been explored on the IEEE reliability test system (IEEE-RTS), and the wind power data is provided by a wind farm in Hunan province for which this old system itself is not included. A comparison is made in this study between two situations that for one the peak regulation pressure balance is considered and the other one is not. Finally, the feasibility and effectiveness of the prosed model is confirmed by the test result.

Cyclin-dependent kinase 6 (Cdk6) controls the cell cycle and aberrant expression of Cdk6 is involved in cancer progression. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of Cdk6 in bladder cancer development. Cdk6 expression was examined in 31 cases of bladder cancer and 29 tissues adjacent to bladder transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) using an immunohistochemistry assay. The correlation between Cdk6 expression and clinical characteristics was also analyzed. Compared with the adjacent tissues, cytoplasmic and nuclear Cdk6 expression levels were significantly increased in the invasive bladder cancer cases (P=0.005 and P0.001, respectively), but not in the non-invasive superficial cases of bladder cancer (P0.05 for both). Cytoplasmic and nuclear Cdk6 expression levels were correlated with bladder cancer stage (superficial vs. invasive, P=0.026 and P=0.006, respectively). The results therefore indicate that increased Cdk6 expression contributes to bladder cancer development and may serve as a biomarker for bladder cancer.

The widely use of wind power generation in modern power system exerts much pressure on peak regulation, especially after the large-scale wind power plants was connected to the grid. Information of newest researches about wind power integration and peak regulation are introduced at the beginning of the paper. Although there are many methods and theory about increasing the peak regulation capacity proposed, it is hard to avoid wind curtailment totally. In this paper, the operation costs of wind power plants are calculated and it can be inferred that the output of wind power plants and the unit cost of electricity has a nonlinear inverse relationship. Therefore, an appropriate wind curtailment capacity can exert prominent effects on improving the peak regulation ability with low costs. According to the situation that there are many provinces affluent in both water and wind resources, the optimized wind and water combined curtailment strategy is proposed in this paper. It can make the capacity of wind curtailment stay in an appropriate range with the cooperative work of water curtailment. Wind castoff rate and peak adopting rate are calculated in the paper to provide criterion for optimizing the ratio between wind and water curtailment, in order to increase the peak regulation capacity with low cost, especially for the areas which affluent in water resource. In the second half of the paper, a calculate example come from Houlong area of Hunan province is processed by the optimized method. The results and analysis demonstrate that the optimized wind and water combined curtailment strategy is effective and adaptability.

Fluorescence imaging is a broadly interesting and rapidly growing strategy for non-invasive clinical applications. However, because of interference from light scattering, absorbance, and tissue autofluorescence, the images can exhibit low sensitivity and poor quality. Upconversion fluorescence imaging, which is based on the use of near-infrared (NIR) light for excitation, has recently been introduced as an improved approach to minimize the effects of light scattering and tissue autofluorescence. This strategy is promising for ultrasensitive and deep tissue imaging applications. However, the emitted upconversion fluorescence signals are primarily in the visible range and are likely to be absorbed and scattered by tissues. Therefore, different anatomic structures could impose various effects on the quality of the images. In this study, we used upconversion-core/silica-shell nanoprobes to evaluate the quality of upconversion fluorescence at different anatomic locations in athymic nude mice. The nanoprobe contained an upconversion core, which was green (β-NaYF4:Yb3+/Ho3+) or red (β-NaYF4:Yb3+/Er3+), and a nonporous silica shell to allow for multicolor imaging. High-quality upconversion fluorescence signals were detected with signal-to-noise ratios of up to 170 at tissue depths of up to - 1.0 cm when a 980 nm laser excitation source and a bandpass emission filter were used. The presence of dense tissue structures along the imaging path reduced the signal intensity and imaging quality, and nanoprobes with longer-wavelength emission spectra were therefore preferable. This study offers a detailed analysis of the quality of upconversion signals in vivo inside different anatomic structures. Such information could be essential for the analysis of upconversion fluorescence images in any in vivo biodiagnostic and microbial tracking applications.

Grasping the maximum length of each wind farm collector lines which can be extended is of great importance to wind farm planning and design, especially for siting of booster substation and determination that whether adjacent wind farms could share one booster station to send out wind power rapidly. To overcome the deficiencies of the existing technology, this paper proposes a method for rapid calculation of maximum length of collector lines in wind farm. This method establishes relation between voltage of the tail wind generator collecting point and the maximum length of collector line based on voltage equation of pi-type equivalent circuit, accurately taking the power loss of box-transformer, collector lines ground capacitance, booster transformer and transmission line into account, together with grid power system parameters, which have impacts on wind farm voltage distribution. This method makes up the defect of excessive error of usual engineering estimation method and reduces the calculation complexity of detail method greatly. Taking an actual wind farm in Hunan China as an example, the calculated results show that the proposed method has high-er precision compared with the engineering method, and it can be used for the planning and design of wind farm.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have recently been shown to down-regulate gene expression by targeting mRNA translation and to play a critical role in tumorigenesis; how they regulate bladder tumor development, particularly in patients, is, however, poorly understood. The difference in miRNA expression in a bladder tumor compared with healthy tissue from the same patients was examined using microRNA arrays in seven patients. Here, we showed that up-regulation of miRNA was not commonly found in this limited number of patients, and four miRNAs (miR-26a, miR-29c, miR-30c, miR-30e-5p) were down-regulated as a common marker in patients with a 1-3 grade of disease. Our data suggest that instead of up-regulation of carcinogenic miRNAs, loss of regulation of these miRNA may be critical for bladder tumor development in patients.

This paper investigates communication protocols used to implement the network-103 substation communication protocol, which is generally applied in China, simulates a representative substation communication system, and presents an experimental comparison of different transport protocols used to transmit network-103 traffic. Simulation studies in the article make use of the EPOCHS (Electric Power and Communication Synchronizing Simulator) platform, which enables the simultaneous study of substation data flows according to both electric power, using PSCAD/EMTDC, and communication network, using NS2, perspectives. EPOCHS allows users to see how faults in the power network, modeled in PSCAD/EMTDC, impact communication traffic levels, within NS2, within and between substations and other power data sources. EPOCHS can be used to strictly simulate the time field characteristics of emergent events such as relay actions and breaker trips. At present, the network-103 protocol is often adopted in conjunction with the 104protocol/TCP communication protocol. This paper creates a 104protocol/UDP scheme, and compares its real-time performance with that of the 104protocol/TCP scheme within a simulated substation using the EPOCHS platform.

Cyclin-dependent kinase 6 (Cdk6) controls the cell cycle and aberrant expression of Cdk6 is involved in cancer progression. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of Cdk6 in bladder cancer development. Cdk6 expression was examined in 31 cases of bladder cancer and 29 tissues adjacent to bladder transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) using an immunohistochemistry assay. The correlation between Cdk6 expression and clinical characteristics was also analyzed. Compared with the adjacent tissues, cytoplasmic and nuclear Cdk6 expression levels were significantly increased in the invasive bladder cancer cases (P=0.005 and P0.05 for both). Cytoplasmic and nuclear Cdk6 expression levels were correlated with bladder cancer stage (superficial vs. invasive, P=0.026 and P=0.006, respectively). The results therefore indicate that increased Cdk6 expression contributes to bladder cancer development and may serve as a biomarker for bladder cancer.