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The changes in gut microbiota have been implicated in colorectal cancer (CRC). The interplays between the host and gut microbiota remain largely unclear, and few studies have investigated these interplays using integrative multi-omics data. In this study, large-scale multi-comic datasets, including microbiome, metabolome, bulk transcriptomics and single cell RNA sequencing of CRC patients, were analyzed individually and integrated through advanced bioinformatics methods. We further examined the clinical relevance of these findings in the mice recolonized with microbiota from human. We found that CRC patients had distinct microbiota compositions compared to healthy controls. A machine-learning model was developed with 28 biomarkers for detection of CRC, which had high accuracy and clinical applicability. We identified multiple significant correlations between genera and well-characterized genes, suggesting the potential role of gut microbiota in tumor immunity. Further analysis showed that specific metabolites worked as profound communicators between these genera and tumor immunity. Integrating microbiota and metabolome perspectives, we catalogued gut taxonomic and metabolomic features that represented the key multi-omics signature of CRC. Furthermore, gut microbiota from CRC patients transplanted to compromise the response of CRC to immunotherapy. These phenotypes were strongly associated with the alterations in gut microbiota, immune cell infiltration as well as multiple metabolic pathways. The comprehensive interplays across multi-comic data of CRC might explain how gut microbiota influenced tumor immunity. Hence, we proposed that modifying the CRC microbiota using healthy donors might serve as a promising strategy to improve response to immunotherapy. more...

Polyphyllin II (PPII) is a natural steroidal saponin occurring in Rhizoma Paridis. It has been demonstrated to exhibit anti-cancer activity against a variety of cancer cells. However, the anti-colorectal cancer (CRC) effects and mechanism of action of PPII are rarely reported. In the present study, we showed that PPII inhibited the proliferation of HCT116 and SW620 cells. Moreover, PPII induced G2/M-phase cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, as well as protective autophagy, in CRC cells. We found that PPII-induced autophagy was associated with the inhibition of PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling. Western blotting results further revealed that PPII lowered the protein levels of phospho-Src (Tyr416), phospho-JAK2 (Tyr1007/1008), phospho-STAT3 (Tyr705), and STAT3-targeted molecules in CRC cells. The overactivation of STAT3 attenuated the cytotoxicity of PPII against HCT116 cells, indicating the involvement of STAT3 inhibition in the anti-CRC effects of PPII. PPII (0.5 mg/kg or 1 mg/kg, i.p. once every 3 days) suppressed HCT116 tumor growth in nude mice. In alignment with the in vitro results, PPII inhibited proliferation, induced apoptosis, and lowered the protein levels of phospho-STAT3, phospho-AKT, and phospho-mTOR in xenografts. These data suggest that PPII could be a potent therapeutic agent for the treatment of CRC. more...

Department of Chemistry, Qufu Normal University, Shandong, Qufu, Shandong 273165, P. R. China and State Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials, Shandong University, Shandong, Jinan 250100, P. R. China E-mail : zhengyu@mail.qfnu.edu.cn Departmen of Culture Foundational Education, Shandong Business Institute, Shandong, Yantai 264025 P.R. China Manuscript received 10 July 2007, revised 14 July 2008, accepted 25 August 2008 The geometry, electronic structure, energy and vibrational spectra of Mn(NO)3CO have been studied using B3P86, B3L YP and B3PW91 methods at 6-31G basis set level. Three states have been found and all states have been fully investigated employing the molecular orbital theory and vibrational analysis. From the calculation, we have found that the singlet state is the most stable one. more...

Erosion wear is the main failure cause of the throttling ring in artillery, which will lead to the reduction of the reliability of the throttling ring, which also will lead to degradation of the performance of recoil brake. According to the working conditions and environmental characteristics of the throttling ring, the finite element model of the erosion wear of the throttling ring is established, and the erosion wear simulation test is carried out to study the erosion wear rules of the throttling ring under different influencing factors, so as to evaluate the reliability of the throttling ring reasonably. It is of great theoretical and practical value to obtain the reliability information of the throttling ring under different working conditions and to ensure the normal performance of the recoil brake. more...

Porous Co/C composite nanofibers were fabricated by combination of electrospinning method and polymer blend. The phase composition, microstructure and electromagnetic characteristics of them were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and vector network analyzer (VNA), and their microwave absorption performances were studied. The results indicate that nanofibers were composited by amorphous carbon and face-centered cubic structured Co nanoparticle after sintering. The addition of PMMA is a key factor of nanofibers morphology and the aperture was improved with the increase of PMMA. When the thickness is 2.0 mm, the samples exhibit the best microwave absorption performance. Their effective absorpt ion bandwidths (RL < 10 dB) are 6.3 GHz, 6.2 GHz and 6.1 GHz, and it’s obviously superior to ordinary morphology nanofibers. more...

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, progressive and systemic autoimmune disease mainly characterized by symmetric multijoint synovitis. Quercetin has anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidation and immune regulation activities, and therefore shows high medicinal value. The present study aimed to observe the effect of quercetin on fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs) in RA. Rheumatoid arthritis fibroblast-like synoviocytes (RAFLSs) were pretreated with 50 nmol/l quercetin for 2 h and were then stimulated using TNF-α for 24 h for subsequent experiments. RAFLSs were transfected with short interfering (si)-X-inactive specific transcript (XIST), microRNA (miR)-485 mimic, miR-485 inhibitor or si-PSMB8 or combination. ELISA, PCR and western blotting was used to evaluate the effect of quercetin on RAFLSs treated with TNF-α. It was revealed that quercetin inhibited the production of inflammatory cytokines and the expression of XIST in RAFLSs induced by TNF-α. Bioinformatics analysis indicated that XIST acted as a sponge for miR-485 and that proteasome subunit β type-8 (PSMB8) was a direct target of miR-485. Moreover, PSMB8 functioned as a suppressor in inflammatory cytokine production of RAFLSs induced by TNF-α. Overall, quercetin was observed to inhibit the production of inflammatory cytokines and the expression of XIST in RAFLSs induced by TNF-α. Moreover, XIST-silencing could suppress the inflammatory reaction by sponging miR-485 in cells treated with TNF-α. Altogether, quercetin could suppress the development of RA in vitro. more...

Ya Gao,1,&ast; Weiru Li,1,&ast; Xiaoyin Bu,1,&ast; Ying Xu,1 Shengchun Cai,1 Jinman Zhong,1 Meixue Du,1 Haitao Sun,2 Liping Huang,3 Yongjian He,4 Xiumei Hu,4 Qifa Liu,1 Hua Jin,1 Qian Wang,2,4 Baohong Ping5 1Department of Hematology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Laboratory Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510280, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Laboratory Medicine, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Hematology, Huiqiao Medical Center, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Baohong PingDepartment of Hematology, Huiqiao Medical Center, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +8615625042109Fax +862061642231Email nfyypingbaohong66@163.comQian WangDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +8613822251298Fax +862061643018Email wangqian@smu.edu.cnBackground: Acute graft versus host disease (aGVHD) remains a leading cause of transplant-related mortality following allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT). Human amniotic mesenchymal stem cells (hAMSCs) are a novel mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which have stronger proliferation and immunomodulatory ability compared with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs). Besides, as the amniotic membrane is often treated as medical waste after delivery, hAMSCs can be obtained conveniently and noninvasively. The aim of this study was to explore the therapeutic efficacy and underlying mechanisms of hAMSCs transplantation for the humanized aGVHD mouse model.Methods: We established a humanized aGVHD mouse model by transplanting human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) into NOD-PrkdcscidIL2rγnull (NPG) mice, human amniotic membrane collected from discarded placenta of healthy pregnant women after delivery and hAMSCs were extracted from amniotic membrane and expanded in vitro. Mice were divided into untreated group (Control), aGVHD group (aGVHD), and hAMSCs treatment group (aGVHD+hAMSCs), the hAMSCs labeled with GFP were administered to aGVHD mice to explore the homing ability of hAMSCs. T effector and regulatory T cells (Tregs) levels and cytokines of each group in target organs were detected by flow cytometry and cytometric bead array (CBA), respectively.Results: We successfully established a humanized aGVHD mouse model using NPG mice. The hAMSCs have the ability to inhibit aGVHD in this mouse model through reduced villous blunting and lymphocyte infiltration of the gut while reducing inflammatory edema, tissue destruction and lymphocyte infiltration into the parenchyma of the liver and lung. hAMSCs suppressed CD3+CD4+ T and CD3+CD8+ T cell expression and increased the proportion of Tregs, and besides, hAMSCs can reduce the levels of IL-17A, INF-γ, and TNF in aGVHD target organs.Conclusion: The NPG murine environment was capable of activating human T cells to produce aGVHD pathology to mimic aGVHD as in humans. The hAMSCs controlled aGVHD by decreasing inflammatory cytokine secretion within target organs by modulating the balance of Tregs and T effector cells in humanized mice.Keywords: acute graft versus host disease, humanized mouse model, NPG mice, amniotic mesenchymal stem cells, immunomodulatory more...

Background: Acute graft versus host disease (aGVHD) remains a leading cause of transplant-related mortality following allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation(allo-HCT). Although previous studies indicated that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) may be a salvage therapeutic agent for aGVHD, the mechanism is not yet fully clear. Human amniotic mesenchymal stem cells (hAMSCs) is a novel MSCs, compared with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, it has the advantage of being non-invasive, and also has stronger proliferation ability than that of BM-MSCs and equivalent immune regulation ability as BM-MSCs. The aim of this study was to explore the therapeutic efficacy and underlying mechanisms of human amniotic mesenchymal stem cells transplantation for the humanized aGVHD mouse model.Methods: We established a humanized aGVHD mouse model by transplanting human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) into NOD-PrkdcscidIL2rγnull (NPG) mice, hAMSCs collected from discarded placenta of healthy pregnant women after delivery. Mice were divided into control group (untreated), aGVHD group, and hAMSCs treatment group, the hAMSCs labeled with GFP were administered to aGVHD mice to explore the homing ability of hAMSCs. T effector and Treg cell levels and cytokines of each group in target organs were detected by flow cytometry and cytometric bead array (CBA) respectively.Results: We successfully established a humanized aGVHD mouse model using NPG mice. The hAMSCs have the ability to inhibit aGVHD in this mouse model through reduced villous blunting and lymphocyte infiltration into the lamina propria of the gut while reducing vascular endothelialitis and lymphocyte infiltration into the parenchyma of the liver and lung. hAMSCs suppressed xenogenesis CD3+CD4+ T and CD3+CD8+ T cell expression and increased the proportion of Treg cells, and besides, hAMSCs can reduce the levels of IL-17A, INF-γ, TNF, and IL-2 in aGVHD target organs.Conclusions: The NPG murine environment was capable of activating human T cells to produce aGVHD pathology to mimic aGVHD as in humans. The hAMSCs controlled aGVHD by decreasing inflammatory cytokine secretion within target organs by modulating the balance of Treg and T effector cells in humanized mice. more...

Background: Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease involving activation of adaptive and innate immune responses to antigens, including oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) and phosphorylcholine (PC). Dendritic cells (DCs), which are antigen-presenting cells that activate T cells, are present in atherosclerotic lesions and are activated in immune organs. However, the mechanism by which PC promotes atherosclerosis is unclear. Methods and Results: To evaluate whether PC promotes atherosclerosis via DCs, 2×105 DCs activated by PC-keyhole limpet hemocyanin (DCs+PC-KLH) were injected into ApoE−/− mice and the features of the plaques and the effects of the DCs on cellular and humoral immunity against PC-KLH were determined. Mice injected with DCs+PC-KLH had significantly larger atherosclerotic lesions than controls, with increased inflammation in the lesions and plaque instability. Furthermore, DCs+PC-KLH were characterized using flow cytometry after coculture of bone marrow-derived DCs and naïve T cells. DCs+PC-KLH showed an inflammatory phenotype, with increased CD86, CD40, and major histocompatibility complex Class II molecules (MHC-II), which promoted PC-specific T helper (Th) 1 and Th17 cell differentiation in vivo and in vitro. Moreover, 2 weeks after the administration of DCs+PC-KLH to mice, these mice produced PC- and oxLDL-specific IgG2a, compared with no production in the controls. Conclusions: These findings suggest that DCs presenting PC promote specific immunity to PC, increase lesion inflammation, and accelerate atherosclerosis, which may explain how PC promotes atherosclerosis. more...

To investigate the correlation of gene polymorphisms of interleukin-23 receptor (IL-23R) rs11465817 and rs10489629 loci to susceptibility and clinical efficacy of recurrent oral ulcer (ROU).A total of 150 ROU patients, who visited Stomatological Department of our hospital from January 2016 to December 2018, were selected as ROU group. A total of 150 healthy subjects who underwent physical examination at the same time in our hospital, were selected as healthy control group. Blood DNA was extracted from all subjects and amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) at sites of IL-23R rs11465817 and rs10489629 loci. The genotyping was determined by electrophoresis after enzymatic digestion of amplified products. Patients with ROU were treated with oral levamisole, vitamin C, vitamin B2 and cetylpyridnium chloride gargle. Ulcer area and pain index were used to evaluate the clinical efficacy before and in the first week after treatment. Correlation on gene polymorphisms of interleukin-23 receptor (IL-23R) rs11465817 and rs10489629 loci to susceptibility and clinical efficacy of ROU was analyzed. SPSS 22.0 software package was used for statistical analysis of the data.Genotyping distribution of IL-23R rs11465817 and il-23r rs10489629 loci in healthy control group met Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (P0.05). Distribution frequency of CC and CA genotypes of IL-23R rs11465817 loci in ROU group was significantly higher than that in healthy control group (P0.05), and logistic regression analysis showed that ROU risk in patients with CC and CA genotypes was significantly higher (P0.05). The genotyping frequency of IL-23R rs10489629 loci was not significantly different between both groups (P0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that genotyping of IL-23R rs10489629 loci was not correlated with ROU sensitivity (P0.05). The mean ulcer area and VAS score of ROU patients was significantly reduced after treatment (P0.05). The ulcer area and VAS score in patients with IL-23R rs11465817 loci of AA genotype was significantly lower than that in patients with IL-23R rs11465817 loci of CC or CA genotype (P0.05). Ulcer area and VAS score in patients with IL-23R rs10489629 locus of each genotype was not significantly different (P0.05).Polymorphism of IL-23R rs11465817 loci is probably related to susceptibility and clinical efficacy of ROU, while polymorphism of IL-23R rs 10489629 is not probably related to susceptibility and clinical efficacy of ROU. The results of this study need to be further validated by a clinical study with large sample size. more...

Background: Marital status has been reported as an independent prognostic factor for survival in various cancers, but it has been rarely studied in renal clear cell carcinoma (ccRCC). In this study, we aimed to assess the impact of marital status on the survival of ccRCC patients. Methods: We retrospectively investigated the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database and identified 68599 of ccRCC patients between 1973 and 2015. These patients were divided into married, single, divorced and widowed groups. The survival differences among these groups were assessed by Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test. Multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to identify the overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) independent factors. Furthermore, 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was performed to minimize the potential confounding factors. Results: Of the 68599 ccRCC patients, 44553 (64.95%) patients were married, 7410 (10.80%) were divorced, 10663 (15.54%) were single, and 5973 (8.71%) were widowed. The 5-year OS was 79.0%, 73.8%, 77.3%, and 66.4 % in the married, divorced, single, and widowed groups, respectively (p = 0.001) and the corresponding 5-year CSS rates were 85.5%, 83.3%, 80.8%, 76.5%, respectively. Multivariate Cox regression analysis marital status was the independent prognostic factor for OS and CSS. Compared with the married patients, the divorced, single, and widowed patients faced increased higher mortality risks for OS and CSS. In stratified analyses by sex, surgery conditions and cancer stages, those unmarried patients still had worse prognosis. The results were further confirmed in the 1: 1 matched group. Conclusion: Unmarried ccRCC patients experienced worse survival than their married counterparts. Among the unmarried patients, the widowed suffered the highest mortality risks for OS and CSS. more...

Background The potential risk for cognitive impairment following surgery and anesthesia is a common concern, especially in the elderly and more fragile patients. The risk for various neurocognitive effects is thus an area of importance. The independent impact of surgery and anesthesia is still not known. Likewise, the independent effect of different drugs used during anesthesia is a matter of debate, as is the number and amounts of drugs used and the “depth of anesthesia.” So, understanding the drug-related phenomenon and mechanisms for postoperative cognitive impairment is essential. This meta-analysis aims to compare the effects of propofol and sevoflurane anesthesia on postoperative cognitive function in elderly patients with lung cancer. Methods This study is a systematic review and meta-analysis for controlled clinical studies. Public-available online databases were searched to identify eligible randomized placebo-controlled trials or prospective cohort studies concerning the effects of propofol and sevoflurane on postoperative cognitive function. The primary endpoints are postoperative mini-mental state examination (MMSE) scores at various time points; the secondary endpoint is the serum S100beta concentration 24 h after surgery. Standard mean differences (SMDs) along with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were extracted and analyzed using random or fixed-effects models. Analyses regarding heterogeneity, risk of bias assessment, and sensitivity were performed. Results We searched 1626 eligible publications and 14 studies of 1404 patients were included in the final analysis. The majority of included studies had been undertaken in Asian populations. Results suggested that propofol has a greater adverse effect on cognitive function in the elderly patients with lung cancer than sevoflurane. There were significant differences in issues of MMSE 6 h (11 studies; SMD -1.391, 95% CI -2.024, − 0.757; p p p p p Conclusion Propofol has a more significant adverse effect on postoperative cognitive function in elderly patients with lung cancer than sevoflurane. more...

This paper presents a novel augmented reality (AR)-based neurosurgical training simulator which provides a very natural way for surgeons to learn neurosurgical skills. Surgical simulation with bimanual haptic interaction is integrated in this work to provide a simulated environment for users to achieve holographic guidance for pre-operative training. To achieve the AR guidance, the simulator should precisely overlay the 3D anatomical information of the hidden target organs in the patients in real surgery. In this regard, the patient-specific anatomy structures are reconstructed from segmented brain magnetic resonance imaging. We propose a registration method for precise mapping of the virtual and real information. In addition, the simulator provides bimanual haptic interaction in a holographic environment to mimic real brain tumor resection. In this study, we conduct AR-based guidance validation and a user study on the developed simulator, which demonstrate the high accuracy of our AR-based neurosurgery simulator, as well as the AR guidance mode’s potential to improve neurosurgery by simplifying the operation, reducing the difficulty of the operation, shortening the operation time, and increasing the precision of the operation. more...

Using elastic mechanics and fracture mechanics, analyzing the coal seam hydraulic fracturing breakdown pressure, given its theoretical formula. According to hydraulic fracturing stress status, given the form of two typical hydraulic fracture morphology. Analyzing hydraulic fracturing highly elliptical shape. The displacement field in plane stress state is given, and the theoretical formula of fracturing radius of hydraulic fracturing is deduced. The fracturing technology of underground fracturing is presented, and the fracturing location and fracturing parameters are determined. In Sihe Coal Mine conducted fracturing test, the test results showed that: the average of drainage volume of fracturing hole improved 4.4 times compared with non-pressed-hole. The extraction compliance time is reduced by 38%. Roadway tunneling speed was improved by 15%. It can solve the problem of gas overrun in roadway excavation well, and has a good application and popularization value. more...

Objective To observe the possible mechanism of Biejiajian Pill (BP) in fighting a- gainst hepatic fibrosis of hepatic stellate cell T6 ( HSC-T6) by studying effect of BP containing serum on inhibiting proliferation and inducing apoptosis of HSC-T6. Methods Forty Wistar rats were randomly di- vided into the negative control group (NC) , the positive drug control group (P) , high, middle, and low dose groups (H, M, L) , 8 in each group. BP suspension was administered by gastrogavage to rats in Group H, M, L at 21. 87, 43. 75, and 87. 50 mg/mL, respectively. Rats in Group NC were administered with equal volume of normal saline. Rats in Group P were administered with 0. 01 mg/mL colchicine solu- tion by gastrogavage. Each rat received 2 mL corresponding solution, twice per day, with an interval of 12 h gastrogavage, a total of 7 successive times to prepare drug containing serum. HSC-T6 cells were then randomly divided into drug containing serum groups (group H/M/L/NC) , colchicine positive control group (group P) , and the blank control group (BC). Cells in Group H/M/L/NC/P were fed with correspond- ing drug containing serums, while those in-Group BC were cultured with free drug serum. The proliferation inhibition rate of HSC-T6 was detected using CCK8 method at 24, 48, and 72 h, respectively. The apop- totic rate and cell cycle were detected using flow cytometry. Protein expressions of B cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) and Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax) were detected using Western blot. Results Compared with Group NC, 24-h proliferation inhibition rate of HSC-T6 was obviously elevated in Group M, H, P (P0. 05). Compared with Group NC, 48- and 72-h proliferation inhibition rate of HSC-T6 was obviously ele- vated in Group L, M, H, P (P0. 05). But there was no statistical difference in 24-, 48-, and 72-h prolif- eration inhibition rate of HSC-T6 among Group L, M, H, P (P0. 05). Compared with Group NC and BC, early-and late-stage apoptosis rates of HSC-T6 obviously increased in Group M, H, P (P0. 05) ; G,/G1 phase cell number obviously increased in Group M, H, P (P0. 05) ; S phase and G2/M phase cell num- bers obviously decreased in Group L, M, H, P (P0. 05). There was no statistical difference in Bcl-2 protein expression among each group (P0. 05). Compared with Group NC, Bax protein expression ob- viously increased Group L, M, H, P (P0. 01). Conclusion The mechanism of BP for fighting against hepatic fibrosis might be associated with inhibiting proliferation of HSC-T6 and inducing apoptosis. more...

Kif5b-driven anterograde transport and clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) are responsible for opposite intracellular trafficking, contributing to plasma membrane homeostasis. However, whether and how the two trafficking processes coordinate remain unclear. Here, we show that Kif5b directly interacts with clathrin heavy chain (CHC) at a region close to that for uncoating catalyst (Hsc70) and preferentially localizes on relatively large clathrin-coated vesicles (CCVs). Uncoating in vitro is decreased for CCVs from the cortex of kif5b conditional knockout (mutant) mouse and facilitated by adding Kif5b fragments containing CHC-binding site, while cell peripheral distribution of CHC or Hsc70 keeps unaffected by Kif5b depletion. Furthermore, cellular entry of vesicular stomatitis virus that internalizes into large CCV is inhibited by Kif5b depletion or introducing a dominant-negative Kif5b fragment. These findings showed a new role of Kif5b in regulating large CCV-mediated CME via affecting CCV uncoating, indicating Kif5b as a molecular knot connecting anterograde transport to CME. more...

Accurate estimation of the recurrence of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors help with prognosis, guide follow-up, and avoid futile treatments.To investigate whether MRI features could preoperatively estimate the recurrence of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs) and to refine a novel prognostic model through developing a nomogram incorporating various MRI features.Retrospective.In all, 81 patients with clinicopathologically confirmed nonmetastatic PNETs.1.5 T MR, including TQualitative and quantitative MRI features of PNET were assessed by three experienced radiologists.Uni- and multivariable analyses for recurrence-free survival (RFS) were evaluated using a Cox proportional hazards model. The MRI-based nomogram was then designed based on multivariable logistic analysis in our study and the performance of the nomogram was validated according to C-index, calibration, and decision curve analyses.MRI features, including tumor size (hazard ratio [HR]: 14.131; P = 0.034), enhancement pattern (HR: 21.821, P = 0.032), and the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values (HR: 0.055, P = 0.038) were significant independent predictors of RFS at multivariable analysis. The performance of the nomogram incorporating various MRI features (with a C-index of 0.910) was improved compared with that based on tumor size, enhancement pattern, and ADC alone (with C-index values of 0.672, 0.851, and 0.809, respectively). The calibration curve of the nomogram exhibited perfect consistency between estimation and observation at 0.5, 1, and 2 years after surgery. The decision curve showed that a nomogram incorporating three features had more favorable clinical predictive usefulness than any single feature.MRI features can be considered effective recurrence predictors for PNETs after surgery. The preliminary nomogram incorporating various MRI features could assess the risk of recurrence in PNETs and may be used to optimize individual treatment strategies.4 Technical Efficacy: Stage 2 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2019;50:397-409. more...

Flavonoids extracted fromCastanea mollissimaBlume shell using response surface methodology by ultrasonic-assisted. The effects of liquid/ materials ratio, ethanol concentration, ultrasonic temperature,and ultrasonic time on the flavonoids extraction rate were investigated by Box-Benhnken center composite design. The results showed that the optimum conditions were as follows: liquid/ materials ratio 8:1 (mL/g), ethanol concentration 40 %, ultrasonic temperature 60 °C,and ultrasonic time 25 min, the highest absorbance was obtained under the optimum conditions, and the extract absorbance can be reached 0.702. more...

OBJECTIVE: To compare the immunomodulatory effects of human amniotic mesenchymal stem cell (hAMSCs) and human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs) on peripheral blood T lymphocytes in an in vitro co-culture system. METHODS: hAMSCs and hBMSCs isolated using enzymatic digestion and Ficoll-Hypaque density gradient centrifugation, respectively, were culture-expanded in vitro to obtain the 4th-generation cells. The two MSCs were co-cultured separately with human peripheral blood mononuclear cells stimulated with phytohemagglutinin (PHA-PBMSC) to investigate the changes in T lymphocyte subsets using flow cytomety and the production of interleukin-2 (IL-2) and IL-10 by the T lymphocytes using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS: Co-culture with either hAMSCs or hBMSCs significantly increased the proportions of Treg, Th2 and Tc2 and decreased Th1 and Tc1 cell subsets in the PBMCs as compared with the PBMCs cultured alone (P < 0.05), and the changes in the PBMCs were similar between the two co-culture systems (P>0.05). In both of the two co-culture systems, IL-2 production by the lymphocytes was significantly lowered (P < 0.05) and IL-10 production was significantly increased (P < 0.05) as compared with their levels in the PBMCs cultured alone; no significant difference was found in IL-2 or IL-10 levels between the two co-culture systems (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The MSCs derived from human amnion and bone marrow have similar immunomodulatory effects on the T lymphocytes, suggesting the possibility of using hAMSCs in the treatment of graft-versus-host disease after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. more...

Xinjiang, as one of the high strength reinforced promote pilot provinces, application in high strength steel has made a lot of data and experience. Based on pilot cities of karamay high-strength steel promote pilot project high strength steel is analyzed, compared with 500 MPa and 400 MPa steel dosage and cost in the same project, this paper applied the advantages of high strength steel, and puts forward the problems existing in the application of high strength steel, are for reference only. more...

Bilirubin is the main pigment in human bile, which is closely related to human health. Bilirubin combining with fluorescent protein represents a new type of fluorescent chromophore and has important applications in the field of biological imaging and biosensor. Due to the lack of efficient and accurate electronic structure methods, the electronic structure and excited-state properties of bilirubin molecule are not characterized quantitatively and accurately. Firstly, the vertical absorption energy, oscillator strength and vertical emission energy of the lowest singlet excited state of bilirubin molecule are calculated by combining the implicit solvent model and the linear response time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) method. Compared to the experimental data and high-level RI-ADC(2) calculation, the prediction performance of a series of density functional methods is systematically investigated. The results show that the optimally-tuned range separated density functional method has the best overall performance and the minimum absolute and relative errors. This is obviously due to the fact that the suitable proportion of exact exchange included in density functionals can produce neither delocalized nor localized electronic structures. Based on the produced wavefunction by the optimally-tuned method, the excited-state characteristics of the S1 state of bilirubin molecule indicate a hybrid local and charge transfer excitation, based on the quantitative characterization using hole-electron analysis and interfragment charge transfer method. This work can provide a theoretical basis for the study of excited-state dynamics and spectral properties of bilirubin molecules and the optimally tuned range-separated DFT method also provide a reliable and efficient theoretical tool to study the excited-state properties of other biomolecular systems in the future. more...

Aiming at the problem of artificial preservation in seafood transportation, this article has designed an intelligent preservation system during seafood transportation based on Proportion Integration Differentiation (PID) and Evolvable Hardware (EHW). This system can collect real-time humidity and temperature information by the sensor-module, and upload the data through GPRS network. We can analyze and process the data received in the remote control office, pattern-match it in the control-module libraries, and then take effective measures to preserve corresponding live seafood. The system is highly real-time and reliability and can solve the preservation problem in seafood transportation scientifically and effectively. more...

Objective The present study was designed to investigate (1) whether the non-human primate would be an appropriate animal model for the study of spontaneous periodontitis and its association with metabolic syndrome (MetS), and (2) whether microRNAs (miRNAs) play roles in the co-development of metabolic disorders and periodontitis. Design Rhesus monkeys (aged 12–29 years) with or without MetS were analyzed for the prevalence of periodontitis. The potential mechanisms underlying the association between MetS and periodontitis were explored using miRNA profiling of the gingival tissues from the MetS monkey groups with or without periodontitis as well as the age-matched controls. Results Among the 57 rhesus monkeys examined, 18 were diagnosed with periodontitis according to the inclusion criteria, with an overall prevalence of 31.6%. Moreover, the prevalence of periodontitis was 8.3% in the control group, 18.2% in the at-risk group, and 44.1% in the MetS group. The C-reactive protein level was doubled in the MetS periodontitis group, compared to the non-periodontitis sub-groups. Most importantly, only 3 miRNAs were confirmed to be differentially expressed between the MetS periodontitis and non-periodontitis subgroups while other miRNAs showed similar expression profiles. Conclusions The results indicate that the monkey with MetS is an ideal model for studies of spontaneous periodontitis and its association with MetS. miRNA profiling using this unique model showed that miRNAs play roles in the co-development of MetS and periodontitis. more...

Due to the limitations that the current interwell connectivity can not consider shut-in wells and the inversion solving method is not reliable, a novel model that can consider the compressibility and shut-in situations is established. In order to further decrease the ill-posedness of the solutions for the connectivity model, a constraint optimization algorithm by using Bayesian theories and projection gradient method are proposed. The tests for a synthetic reservoir model and a real oil field indicate that the proposed methodology can efficiently estimate the interwell connectivity with high precision and reliability for practical application. more...

Objective. To explore the implementation of incident learning for quality management of radiotherapy in a new established radiotherapy program.Materials and Methods. With reference to the consensus recommendations by American Association of Physicist in Medicine, an incident learning system was specifically established for reporting, investigating, and learning of individual incidents. The incidents that occurred in external beam radiotherapy from February, 2012, to February, 2014, were reported.Results. A total of 28 near misses and 5 incidents were reported. Among them, 5 originated in imaging for planning, 25 in planning, and 1 in plan transfer, commissioning, and delivery, respectively. One near miss/incident was classified as wrong patient, 7 wrong sites, 6 wrong laterality, and 5 wrong dose. Five reported incidents were all classified as grade 1/2 of dosimetric severity, 1 as grade 0, and the other 4 as grade 1 of medical severity. For the causes/contributory factors, negligence, policy not followed, and inadequate training contributed to 19, 15, and 12 near misses/incidents, respectively. The average incident rate per 100 patients treated was 0.4.Conclusion. Effective implementation of incident learning can reduce the occurrence of near misses/incidents and enhance the culture of safety. more...

In order to investigate the influence of the erosion and wear on artillery ballistic performance, artillery ballistic model was founded, and graphic integration was used for providing the calculation of internal ballistic parameters. Base on this method, the influence of the erosion and wear on artillery internal ballistic performance was analyzed with the help of numerical simulation. more...

The Key Problem of Command&Control Simulation is to solve how to communicate between Command&Control information and operation models of simulation system. Aiming at such problem, the BML and BOM technical are used together. Meanwhile, both models are presented in XML. Thus the Command&Control Simulation System Framework is built. At the same time , the basic solution thought for the key problems during the building of the simulation system has been put forward . more...

Objectives: Human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs) have been used for the prevention and treatment of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) in post-hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients. In this study, we compared the biological characteristics and immunosuppressive activity of human amniotic mesenchymal stem cells (hAMSCs) and hBMSCs to provide experimental evidence for the potential use of hAMSCs for treating aGVHD, thus solving the problem of insufficient hBMSCs sources. Methods: HAMSCs were isolated by enzymatic digestion. hBMSCs were isolated using Ficoll-Hypaque density gradients. The biological characteristics of both stem cell types were compared by morphological analysis, analysis of cell growth, cell cycle profiling, immunophenotyping, and immunofluorescence assays. An in vitro co-culture of MSCs and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was performed and lymphocyte proliferation measured using the Cell Counting Kit-8(CCK-8) assay. IFN-γ production was determined in the co-culture supernatant using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: Both hAMSCs and hBMSCs had fibroblast-like morphology. hAMSCs could be maintained for at least 15 culture passages, but hBMSCs started to show signs of aging and remarkably reduced proliferation at 6-7 passages. There was no significant difference in the proportion of cells in G2/M phase between hAMSCs and hBMSCs (P>0.05). Immunophenotyping revealed positive expression of CD105, CD90, and CD73 and negative expression of CD34, CD45, CD11b, CD19, and HLA-DR on the surface of both hAMSCs and hBMSCs. hAMSCs were positive for Oct-3/4, but hBMSCs were not. Both hAMSCs and hBMSCs expressed vimentin. PHA-stimulated PBMCs proliferation was inhibited by hAMSCs and hBMSCs. This inhibition was stronger, as the proportion of MSCs increased. There were not significant differences between the inhibitory effects of the two MSCs types on PBMCs proliferation (P>0.05). Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) production was lower when PBMCs were co-cultured with either hAMSCs or hBMSCs than when they were cultured alone (P 0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrated that hAMSCs have higher proliferation activity and clearer stem cell properties than hBMSCs. Both hAMSCs and hBMSCs were able to suppress the proliferation of allogeneic peripheral blood lymphocytes and reduce IFN-γ secretion stimulated by PHA in vitro. more...

Hilbert-Huang Transform (HHT) Spectrum is analyzed, and is compared with Wigner-Ville distribution(WVD). And it is proposed a method that is “band pass filtering --signal purification and reconstruction --HHT spectrum analyses” method to carry on the state recognition and fault diagnosis of the mechanical equipment. The compared signals include: the signals of harmonic, amplitude modulation and frequency modulation, and the mixed signals that are composed of these single signal, then it is pointed out: HHT Spectrum have higher frequency resolution than WVD, and it has overcome the latter influence of cross-term interference. At last, real signals of fault gear are analyzed by this method, and it is indicated that the method can offer a new and effective method for fault diagnosis and condition monitoring. more...

The fluorescent dye, PKH26, which mainly binds to the cell membrane, has been used as the cell tracer to locate the transplanted cells in host for a long time. However, there was no detailed report that whether the PKH26 dye was specific to the transplanted cells. Therefore, the aim of this article is to explore the effect of cells debris as the cracking cells from the PKH26-labeled adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) on the cells in vitro and the host in vivo. After we tested the proliferation and toxicity of PKH26 to the ADSCs by the Cell Count-8 kit and alamar blue assay, we constructed 2 models, coculturing lots of PKH26-labeled cell debris with the unlabeled ADSCs in vitro and injecting via the tail vein in rat, to evaluate the specificity of the PKH26 dye. The result indicated that the PKH26 didn't inhibit the proliferation and had no toxicity to the ADSCs compared with the unlabeled ADSCs, but the cell debris cracking from PKH26-labeled transplanted cells can cause the unlabeled cells to emit red fluorescence in vitro and also lead the tissues displaying red fluorescence in vivo. We can conclude that the PKH26 dye, used as a cell tracer for a long time, was not an ideal cell tracer. more...

A simple, small-size, compact and high-sensitivity refractive-index sensor composed of a short no-core fiber (NCF) about 20 mm in length sandwiched between two pieces of single-mode fibers is proposed in this paper. The index measurement is experimentally demonstrated with the sensitivity of 7792.85 nm/ RIU in the range from 1.440 to 1.454 and 227.14 nm/ RIU in the range from 1.300 to 1.430. This sensing mechanism is based on the induced multi-mode interfering wavelength shift in the no-core fiber when the reflective index of the fiber outside is changed. more...

To evaluate the effect of root canal therapy (RCT) of maxillary first molars and the relevant influential factors.A total of 170 maxillary first molars undergoing endodontic treatment were retrospectively studied. 100 molars were treated with vertical compaction technique (VCT) using warm gutta- percha under dental operating microscope (DOM), while 70 molars with traditional lateral compaction technique (LCT) under naked eyes. All patients were asked to revisit 5 years later and 5-year success rate was evaluated. Reversion 3.0.2 software package was used to analyze the data.The immediate high quality rates of RCT of VCT and LCT were 91% and 75.7%, respectively, which has significant difference (P0.05). After 5 years, VCT kept high quality rate of RCT, while the high quality rate of RCT with LCT dropped from 75.7% to 68.6%. The 5-year clinical success rates of RCT with VCT and LCT were 98% and 81.4%, respectively; which had significant difference (P0.05).VCT has excellent clinical effect in RCT of maxillary first molars. The use of DOM can increase the detection rate of the second mesiobuccal canal (MB2). more...

Firstly the research situation for grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) is introduced, then, the engineering mathematical model of PV cells is introduced. The perturbation and observation algorithm is chosen as the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm. The SPWM double-loop control strategy with outer voltage loop and inner current loop is described and a three-phase grid-connected photovoltaic model is established. The simulation results demonstrate the validity and correctness of the simulation model built in this paper. more...

An indirect radial basis neural network (IRBNN) is proposed for improving the accuracy of the approximated functions. The IRBNN is constructed by new prompted functions generated from the Nth order derivative of the approximated function. In this way, high accuracy derivatives in different order can be obtained, so that more accuracy of the numerical results would be given while the IRBNN is employed for creating approximated functions in numerical methods. Numerical results through applications in elasticity show the effectiveness and accuracy of the IRBNN method. more...

The present paper focuses on the fluid-structure interaction of flexible marine propellers. The aim is to develop a simulation method to predict the hydro-elastic performance. To compare with the experimental results, the geometry of propeller DTMB4119 is used. The solution procedure first computes the hydrodynamic pressures due to rigid-blade rotation via the BEM (Boundary Element Methods, BEM). The hydrodynamic pressures are then applied as external normal surface traction for the FEM (Finite Element Methods, FEM) solid model to obtain the deformed geometry. The commercial FEM code is then used to solve the equation of motion in the rotating blade-fixed coordinate system. User-defined subroutines are developed to generate FEM models using 8-node linear solid volumetric elements. Iterations are implemented between BEM and FEM solvers until the solution converges. This study shows that the simulation method developed in this paper is reasonable. more...

BACKGROUND AND AIM: To investigate the role of group-specific component globulin (Gc-globulin) in the early process of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 37 patients with SAP and 31 patients with mild acute pancreatitis (MAP) were enrolled in the study. Twenty healthy individuals served as controls. Blood samples were taken from SAP and MAP patients on the day of admission (day 1), day 7, and day 14. Serum total Gc-globulin levels were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: On admission, the total Gc-globulin levels of patients in the SAP group were 368 (270-455) mg/l (expressed as medians with interquartile range), which were significantly lower (P=0.007) compared with the control group [420 (299-585) mg/l]. In the SAP group, a significant decrease in serum total Gc-globulin was observed in patients who developed organ dysfunction [267 (242-306) mg/l] compared with patients who did not [414 (329-513) mg/l, P more...

In this paper a new rotary position sensing structure based on a pair of fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) is experimentally demonstrated with capability of detecting rotating angle of a rotor which is rotated in arbitrary direction or rotated in the same direction infinitely. Moreover, owing to its miniature size, this structure can also be used for small rotary apparatus as a tiny rotating position sensor. The operation mechanism is mainly based on the difference between the wavelength shifts of two FBGs respectively due to the axial strain caused by bending the cantilever towards the angular direction corresponding to the rotating position of rotary shaft. A deviation of 1.1 degrees for rotary angle detecting is obtained. more...