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Objective: Colon cancer is associated with multiple levels of molecular heterogeneity. RNA processing converts primary transcriptional RNA to mature RNA, which drives tumourigenesis and its maintenance. The characterisation of RNA processing genes in colon cancer urgently needs to be elucidated. Methods: In this study, we obtained 1033 relevant samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases to explore the heterogeneity of RNA processing phenotypes in colon cancer. Firstly, Unsupervised hierarchical cluster analysis detected 4 subtypes with specific clinical outcomes and biological features via analysis of 485 RNA processing genes. Next, we adopted the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) as well as Cox regression model with penalty to characterise RNA processing-related prognostic features. Results: An RNA processing-related prognostic risk model based on 10 genes including FXR1 , MFAP1 , RBM17 , SAGE1 , SNRPA1 , SRRM4 , ADAD1 , DDX52 , ERI1 , and EXOSC7 was identified finally. A composite prognostic nomogram was constructed by combining this feature with the remaining clinical variables including TNM, age, sex, and stage. Genetic variation, pathway activation, and immune heterogeneity with risk signatures were also analysed via bioinformatics methods. The outcomes indicated that the high-risk subgroup was associated with higher genomic instability, increased proliferative and cycle characteristics, decreased tumour killer CD8 + T cells and poorer clinical prognosis than the low-risk group. Conclusion: This prognostic classifier based on RNA-edited genes facilitates stratification of colon cancer into specific subgroups according to TNM and clinical outcomes, genetic variation, pathway activation, and immune heterogeneity. It can be used for diagnosis, classification and targeted treatment strategies comparable to current standards in precision medicine. It provides a rationale for elucidation of the role of RNA editing genes and their clinical significance in colon cancer as prognostic markers.

The mechanisms underlying the impacts of climate change and vegetation dynamics on hydrological drought in humid regions are still lacking. In this study, we connected the four components of meteorology-soil-vegetation-runoff to investigate the spatio-temporal response relationship between vegetation growth and different drought types. Based on the Variable Infiltration Capacity model and the Self-organizing Map Algorithm, we proposed ecological risk bundles at the grid scale to characterize the potential impacts of different types and levels of drought on vegetation. Furthermore, we quantified the driving impact of temporal and spatial changes in vegetation coverage on the propagation of meteorological-hydrological drought. The study found that the centers of gravity for the occurrence frequencies of extreme and mild drought shifted towards regions where vegetation growth was influenced by climate change. In certain regions of the watershed, vegetation exhibits significant spatial and temporal heterogeneity in its response to stress caused by different drought types. From 2004 to 2014, the stress on vegetation caused by moderate and mild meteorological droughts weakened, while soil moisture stress intensified after 2014. Simultaneously, the impacts of climate change and vegetation growth on runoff reached 48.25 % and 35.13 % respectively, and their synergistic effects triggered changes in the risk of co-concurrent return periods for hydrological drought events. Under the 100-year design return period, the co-occurrence return period of runoff shifted from its natural state of 162.9 years to 52.8 years, and the joint return period reversed its scenario, becoming shorter than the co-occurrence return period.

Crafting an edge-based real-time object detector for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) aerial images is challenging because of the limited computational resources and the small size of detected objects. Existing lightweight object detectors often prioritize speed over detecting extremely small targets. To better balance this trade-off, this paper proposes an efficient and low-complexity object detector for edge computing platforms deployed on UAVs, termed EUAVDet (Edge-based UAV Object Detector). Specifically, an efficient feature downsampling module and a novel multi-kernel aggregation block are first introduced into the backbone network to retain more feature details and capture richer spatial information. Subsequently, an improved feature pyramid network with a faster ghost module is incorporated into the neck network to fuse multi-scale features with fewer parameters. Experimental evaluations on the VisDrone, SeaDronesSeeV2, and UAVDT datasets demonstrate the effectiveness and plug-and-play capability of our proposed modules. Compared with the state-of-the-art YOLOv8 detector, the proposed EUAVDet achieves better performance in nearly all the metrics, including parameters, FLOPs, mAP, and FPS. The smallest version of EUAVDet (EUAVDet-n) contains only 1.34 M parameters and achieves over 20 fps on the Jetson Nano. Our algorithm strikes a better balance between detection accuracy and inference speed, making it suitable for edge-based UAV applications.

This study evaluates the characteristics of river runoff and sediment changes in the Wei River mainstream over the past 50 years based on runoff and sediment data and meteorological data from 1971 to 2020 at the Huaxian hydrological station in the lower reaches of the Wei River. The main research methods are the Mann–Kendall method, wavelet analysis, cross-wavelet analysis, and cumulative curve method. The results show that there is no significant decreasing trend and abrupt change in runoff volume in recent years, the decreasing trend of sediment transport is obvious, and the abrupt change occurs around 2006. The dominant periodicity of runoff is 12–13a, and the dominant periodicity of sediment transport is 5a. There is only a significant resonance periodicity of 3–5a in 1980–1990, which is roughly a positive correlation. The runoff–sediment series can be divided into four time periods, and the reasons for the change in the runoff–sediment relationship are different in each time period. The precipitation factor has a slightly greater impact on runoff and a weak impact on sediment transport, with contribution rates of 21.2 and 7.6%. Human activities such as subsurface changes and water conservancy construction have a greater impact on runoff and sediment load, with contribution rates of 78.8 and 92.4%. HIGHLIGHTS In this study, the resonance period between water and sediment is deeply studied by cross-wavelet analysis, and the mutual influence law between water and sediment in the mainstream of Weihe River is revealed.; This study quantitatively assessed the impacts of climate change and human activities on runoff and sediment transport and analyzed the impact process in detail.;

Background Although colonoscopy is considered the most effective tool for reducing colorectal cancer-related morbidity, the age at which average-risk individuals begin colonoscopic screening is undetermined. This study aimed to compare the adenoma and advanced adenoma detection rates according to age and sex in a large average-risk population in the rural areas of Eastern China. Methods This observational, single-center, retrospective study included patients with average colorectal cancer risk and examined the adenoma and advanced adenoma detection rates using age intervals of 5 years. We also compared the size and age of patients with and without advanced adenoma. Results We included 18 928 patients with a median age of 54 years (range 15–90 years), including 10 143 men and 8785 women. The adenoma and advanced adenoma detection rates were 17.08% and 5.24%, respectively, and increased with age in the whole population. The adenoma detection rates increased from 8.97% (aged 40–44) to 14.98% (aged 45–49) and 6.24% (aged 45–49) to 11.00% (aged 50–54) in men and women (both P < .001), respectively. The advanced adenoma detection rates increased from 2.19% (aged 40–44) to 4.76% (aged 45–49) and 1.89% (aged 45–49) to 3.13% (aged 50–54) in men ( P = .002) and women ( P = .056), respectively. Patients with advanced adenomas were significantly older than those with non-advanced adenomas ( P < .001). The tumors in the advanced adenoma group were significantly larger than those in the non-advanced adenoma group ( P < .001). Conclusion The adenoma and advanced adenoma detection rates increased significantly in average-risk population aged 45 years and older, especially in men.

Carfentanil is an ultra-potent synthetic opioid. The Russian police force used both carfentanil and remifentanil to resolve a hostage incident in Moscow. This reported use sparked an interest in the pharmacology and toxicology of carfentanil in the human body, and data on its metabolites were later published. However, there have been few studies on the synthesis of carfentanil metabolites, and biological extraction has also put forward large uncertainty in subsequent studies. The aim of the present study is to investigate the synthesis of biphasic metabolites that are unique to carfentanil. The purpose was to produce corresponding metabolites conveniently, quickly, and at low cost that can be used for comparison with published structures and to confirm the administration of carfentanil.

Abstract Background Surgery is the main treatment option for patients with local gastric cancer. However, surgery alone is usually not sufficient for stomach cancer patients, and combined therapies are recommended for these patients. In recent studies, some preoperative treatments have shown benefits. However, the treatment selection is still uncertain because previous studies failed to obtain a statistically significant difference between preoperative chemotherapy and preoperative chemoradiotherapy. Therefore, we plan to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare the benefits among these preoperative treatments. Methods/design This review includes randomized controlled trials with or without blinding as well as published studies, high-quality unpublished studies, full articles and meeting abstracts with an English context if sufficient results were provided for analysis. Data sources include the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, MEDLINE, major relevant international conferences and manual screening of references. Patients with a diagnosis of resectable primary gastric or EGJ adenocarcinoma (stage II or higher) who underwent surgery alone or preoperative treatment followed by surgery and who were pathologically confirmed as proposed by the AJCC 2017 guidelines without age, sex, race, subtypes of adenocarcinoma and molecular pathology limitations will be included. The following three interventions will be included: surgery alone, neoadjuvant chemistry followed by surgery and neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery. All-cause mortality, overall survival (OS, the time interval from diagnosis to death) and/or progression-free survival (PFS, the time interval from diagnosis to disease progression or death from any cause) will be defined as major results of concern. The clinical and pathological response rate (according to RECIST and tumour regression score), R0 resection rate, quality of life and grade 3 or above adverse events (according to the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, NCI-CTCAE) will be defined as the secondary outcomes. Discussion The aim of this systematic review is to compare the benefits of different preoperative treatments for patients with locoregional stomach cancer. This systematic review will improve the understanding of the relative efficacy of these treatment options by providing the latest evidence on the efficacy of various treatment options in the management of gastric cancer patients and may guide clinical practice. Systematic review registration PROSPERO CRD4202123718

Abstract Background The role of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in cancer biology is controversial, including colorectal cancer. The bell-shaped effect of H2S refers to pro-cancer action at lower doses and anti-cancer effect at higher concentrations. We hypothesized that overexpression of cystathionine-beta-synthase (CBS)/H2S exerts an inhibitory effect on colon cancer cell proliferation and metastasis. Methods Cell proliferation was assessed by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), clone-formation and sphere formation assay. Cell migration was evaluated by transwell migration assay. Intracellular H2S was detected by H2S probe. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analysis was carried out to examine DNA–protein interaction. Cell experiments also included western blotting, flow cytometry, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and immunofluorescence analysis. We further conducted in vivo experiments to confirm our conclusions. Results Overexpression of CBS and exogenous H2S inhibited colon cancer cell proliferation and migration in vitro. In addition, overexpression of CBS attenuated tumor growth and liver metastasis in vivo. Furthermore, CD44 and the transcription factor SP-1 was probably involved in the inhibitory effect of CBS/H2S axis on colon cancer cells. Conclusions Overexpression of CBS and exogenous provision of H2S inhibited colon cancer cell proliferation and migration both in vivo and in vitro. Molecular mechanisms might involve the participation of CD44 and the transcription factor SP-1.

Living grass mulching (LGM) is an important orchard floor management that has been applied worldwide. Although LGM can effectively enhance soil nutrient availability and fertility, its effects on microbial-mediated soil nutrient cycling and main drivers are unclear. Meanwhile, the variation of enzyme activities and soil nutrient availability with LGM duration have been rarely studied. This study aims to explore the effects of mulching age and soil layer on enzyme activities and soil nutrients in citrus orchards. In this study, three LGM (Vicia villosa) treatments were applied, i.e., mulching for eight years, mulching for four years, and no mulching (clean tillage). Their effects on the enzyme activities and soil nutrients were analyzed in different soil layers of citrus orchards in subtropical China, i.e., 0-10, 10-20, and 20-40 cm. Compared to clean tillage, mulching for four years had fewer effects on enzyme activities and soil nutrients. In contrast, mulching for eight years significantly increased available nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) nutrients, β-glucosidase, and cellobiohydrolase activities in the soil layer of 0-20 cm. In the soil layer of 0-40 cm, microbial biomass carbon (C), N, P, N-acetylglucosaminidase, leucine aminopeptidase, and acid phosphatase activities also increased (P < 0.05). Mulching for eight years significantly promoted C, N, and P-cycling enzyme activities and total enzyme activities by 2.45-6.07, 9.29-54.42, 4.42-7.11, and 5.32-14.91 times, respectively. Redundancy analysis shows that mulching treatments for eight and four years had soil layer-dependent positive effects on soil enzyme activities. Microbial C and P showed the most significant positive correlation with enzyme activities, followed by moisture content, organic C, and available N (P < 0.05). Available nutrients contributed almost 70% to affect enzyme activities significantly and were the main drivers of the enzyme activity variation. In summary, LGM could improve soil enzyme activities by increasing available nutrients. The promotion effect was more significant under mulching for eight years. Therefore, extending mulching age and improving nutrient availability are effective development strategies for sustainable soil management in orchard systems. Our study can provide valuable guidelines for the design and implementation of more sustainable management practices in citrus orchards.

Many hyperspectral image (HSI) super-resolution (SR) methods have been proposed and have achieved good results; however, they do not sufficiently preserve the spectral information. It is beneficial to sufficiently utilize the spectral correlation. In addition, most works super-resolve hyperspectral images using high computation complexity. To solve the above problems, a novel method based on a channel multilayer perceptron (CMLP) is presented in this article, which aims to obtain a better performance while reducing the computational cost. To sufficiently extract spectral features, a local-global spectral integration block is proposed, which consists of CMLP and some parameter-free operations. The block can extract local and global spectral features with low computational cost. In addition, a spatial feature group extraction block based on the CycleMLP framework is designed; it can extract local spatial features well and reduce the computation complexity and number of parameters. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our method achieves a good performance compared with other methods.

In order to solve the problem that the size of the synthesized metal nanowires is single and the magnetic property is limited due to the limitation of the diameter of the anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) pore,anodic alumina (AAO) templates with different pore sizes were prepared by twice anodic oxidation method, and then Ni nanowire arrays were grown in AAO templates with different pore sizes by template-assisted electrodeposition method.The morphology, microstructure and composition of the prepared Ni nanowire arrays were characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD and EDS techniques. The magnetic properties of Ni nanowires were investigated by physical property measurement system (PPMS).The results show that the growth mechanism of Ni nanowires is the interaction between the reduction of positive half period Ni2+ by alternating current and the dissolution of negative half period Ni atoms. Ni nanowires have magnetic anisotropy, and with the increase of the diameter, the easy magnetization direction of Ni nanowires gradually changes from parallel to the axis of the nanowire to perpendicular to the axis of the nanowire. The change of easy magnetization direction is caused by the change of the effective anisotropic field and the magnetic domain structure with the diameter of the nanowire.The study of electrodeposition Ni nanowire arrays and their magnetic properties can provide theoretical and experimental basis for further study of the growth mechanism and magnetization mechanism of magnetic nanowires prepared by alternating current electrodeposition, it lays a foundation for widening the application field of magnetic nanowire.

The construction of ecological security patterns (ESPs) from the perspective of ecosystem services is vital in regional sustainability. However, previous approaches have often not considered the complex trade-offs between ecosystem services during the construction of ESPs. Taking the Daning river basin in karst areas of southwest China as our study area, we improve the current methodological framework to construct an ESP by integrating ecosystem service trade-offs, typical characteristics of the karst area, and circuit theory. The multi-criterion decision method of ordered weighted averaging was used to balance ecosystem service trade-offs and to determine the ecological sources with the optimum conservation efficiency. The resistance surface based on land use was modified by the nighttime light intensity and rocky desertification index. Circuit theory was then applied to identify corridors, pinch points and barriers. The results showed that the spatial patterns of the six ecosystem services (food provision, carbon sequestration, soil retention, water yield, habitat quality and ecological recreation) varied considerably within the study area. By comparing the conservation efficiencies, scenario 5 was selected as the optimal scenario, and the conservation efficiencies of six ecosystem services within the ecological sources were > 1 and were more balanced, illustrating the flexibility and feasibility of our method. The modified resistance surface comprehensively reflected the dual influence of human activity and rocky desertification on ecosystems. The ESP in the Daning river basin included 34 ecological sources, 66 key corridors, ecological corridors with an area of 957 km2, and 100 pinch points and 36 barriers distributed on the corridors. The ecological sources mostly covered by forest land were mainly distributed in the north and east of the study area. The key and ecological corridors were densely located in the south and central areas, where pinch points were also mainly concentrated. Barriers were distributed on the edge of ecological sources and corridors. Based on ESP, the Daning river basin was divided into ecologically important areas in northern and eastern and ecologically improving areas in central and southern, the corresponding ecological restoration measures were also proposed. In summary, this study makes up for the shortcomings of constructing ESPs by the simple spatial overlaying of ecosystem services. Our findings could also effectively enhance the robustness and sustainability of ESPs in karst areas.

Abstract Background Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been shown to participate in multiple biological processes and confer drug resistance. However, it remains unclear whether lncRNAs are involved in conferring cetuximab resistance in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells. Methods Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assays were performed to assess the sensitivity of CRC cell lines to cetuximab treatment. We incubated Caco-2 cells, which are partially responsive to cetuximab, with increasing concentrations of cetuximab for approximately 6 months to generate Caco-2 cetuximab-resistant (Caco-2 CR) cells. Microarray analysis comparing Caco-2 CR with Caco-2 cells was used to identify lncRNAs that were potentially related to cetuximab resistance. Caco-2 cells were stably transduced with cetuximab resistance-associated RNA transcript 16 (CRART16) or an empty vector using lentiviral infection; the cells were designated Caco-2-CRART16 and Caco-2-NC, respectively, and were analyzed with RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was performed to investigate RNA expression. Flow cytometry and TUNEL assays were used to assess apoptosis levels induced by cetuximab. The cell cycle, stemness biomarkers and membrane proteins of CRC cells were assessed via flow cytometry. RNA fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was used to examine CRART16 localization and expression. Bioinformatics analysis was performed to predict the potential mechanism of CRART16, which was further validated by a dual-luciferase reporter assay. Differences in measurement data were compared using Student’s t test, one-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett’s test and two-way ANOVA. Results The novel lncRNA CRART16 was upregulated in Caco-2 CR cells. CRART16 overexpression reversed the effects of cetuximab on cell viability and reduced cetuximab-induced apoptosis. Meanwhile, CRART16 overexpression led to increases in the proportion of CD44+/CD133+ cells. In addition, CRART16 acts as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) for miR-371a-5p to regulate V-Erb-B2 Erythroblastic Leukemia Viral Oncogene Homolog 3 (ERBB3) expression. MiR-371a-5p mimics counteracted the cetuximab resistance induced by CRART16 overexpression. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis revealed that after CRART16 was overexpressed, the resulting differentially expressed mRNAs were mainly enriched in the MAPK signaling pathway. Conclusions CRART16 overexpression may contribute to cetuximab resistance through the miR-371a-5p/ERBB3/MAPK pathway. Additionally, CRART16 contributes to the acquisition of stemness properties.

Pansharpening is an effective technology to obtain high resolution multispectral (HRMS) images by fusing low resolution multispectral (LRMS) images and high resolution panchromatic (PAN) images. With the rapid development of deep learning, some pansharpening methods based on deep learning have been proposed. Although fused images are greatly improved, there are still some areas for improvement. For example, the spectral preservation is not good enough and the details of fused images are not rich enough. To address the above problems, a two-stage pansharpening method based on convolutional neural network (CNN) is proposed. In the first stage, image super-resolution technology with residual block is used to enhance LRMS. In order to preserve spectra, inspired by the SAM (spectral angle mapper) index, a new spectral loss function is proposed. The second stage is the fusion stage. Detail injection block is proposed by combining detail injection and CNN in this stage. Experiments on WorldView2 and GeoEye1 images demonstrate that our fused images present more spatial details and better spectra by comparing with existing methods.

The spectral resolution of hyperspectral images (HSIs) is very high. Nevertheless, their spatial resolution is low due to various hardware limitations. Therefore, it is important to study HSI super resolution to improve their spatial resolution. In this article, for hyperspectral single-image super resolution, we propose a multiscale feature fusion and aggregation network with 3-D convolution (MFFA-3D) by cascading the MFFA-3D block. The MFFA-3D block includes a group multiscale feature fusion part and a multiscale feature aggregation part. In group multiscale feature fusion part, a novel group multiscale feature fusion method is proposed. Group feature fusion module and two-step multiscale module are proposed in multiscale feature aggregation part. In order to prevent spectral distortion, a spectral gradient loss function is proposed and combined with the mean square error loss function to form the final loss function. Since the proposed super-resolution (SR) network is a full 3-D convolutional network, our method can perform direct super-resolution transfer even if the number of the bands of test images is different from that of the training images. The experiments over simulated and real HSIs demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method in terms of qualitative and quantitative evaluation.

Summary: Deciphering the regulatory network for human naive and primed pluripotency is of fundamental theoretical and applicable significance. Here, by combining quantitative proteomics, phosphoproteomics, and acetylproteomics analyses, we revealed RNA processing and translation as the most differentially regulated processes between naive and primed human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). Although glycolytic primed hESCs rely predominantly on the eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E)-mediated cap-dependent pathway for protein translation, naive hESCs with reduced mammalian target of rapamycin complex (mTORC1) activity are more tolerant to eIF4E inhibition, and their bivalent metabolism allows for translating selective mRNAs via both eIF4E-dependent and eIF4E-independent/eIF4A2-dependent pathways to form a more compact naive proteome. Globally up-regulated proteostasis and down-regulated post-translational modifications help to further refine the naive proteome that is compatible with the more rapid cycling of naive hESCs, where CDK1 plays an indispensable coordinative role. These findings may assist in better understanding the unrestricted lineage potential of naive hESCs and in further optimizing conditions for future clinical applications

Gastric cancer is one of the most heterogeneous tumors with multi-level molecular disturbances. Sustaining proliferative signaling and evading growth suppressors are two important hallmarks that enable the cancer cells to become tumorigenic and ultimately malignant, which enable tumor growth. Discovering and understanding the difference in tumor proliferation cycle phenotypes can be used to better classify tumors, and provide classification schemes for disease diagnosis and treatment options, which are more in line with the requirements of today’s precision medicine. We collected 691 eligible samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, combined with transcriptome data, to explore different heterogeneous proliferation cycle phenotypes, and further study the potential genomic changes that may lead to these different phenotypes in this study. Interestingly, two subtypes with different clinical and biological characteristics were identified through cluster analysis of gastric cancer transcriptome data. The repeatability of the classification was confirmed in an independent Gene Expression Omnibus validation cohort, and consistent phenotypes were observed. These two phenotypes showed different clinical outcomes, and tumor mutation burden. This classification helped us to better classify gastric cancer patients and provide targeted treatment based on specific transcriptome data.

A good prediction model is useful to accurately predict patient prognosis. Tumor–node–metastasis (TNM) staging often cannot accurately predict prognosis when used alone. Some researchers have shown that the infiltration of M2 macrophages in many tumors indicates poor prognosis. This approach has the potential to predict prognosis more accurately when used in combination with TNM staging, but there is less research in gastric cancer. A multivariate analysis demonstrated that CD163 expression, TNM staging, age, and gender were independent risk factors for overall survival. Thus, these parameters were assessed to develop the nomogram in the training data set, which was tested in the validation and whole data sets. The model showed a high degree of discrimination, calibration, and good clinical benefit in the training, validation, and whole data sets. In conclusion, we combined CD163 expression in macrophages, TNM staging, age, and gender to develop a nomogram to predict 3- and 5-year overall survivals after curative resection for gastric cancer. This model has the potential to provide further diagnostic and prognostic value for patients with gastric cancer.

Abstract Background The aim of the present study was to clarify the correlations between SPARC expression in gastric cancer-associated fibroblasts (GCAFs) and the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer and to elucidate the role of GCAF-derived SPARC in stemness transformation and 5-fluorouracil resistance in gastric cancer. Methods One hundred ninety-two patients were enrolled in the present study. SPARC expression levels were evaluated by immunohistochemical staining. Primary GCAFs were obtained and cultured from cancer patients for in vitro study, and a lentivirus infection method was employed to knock down SPARC expression in GCAFs. The stemness phenotype and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) response of gastric cancer cells were assessed via a 3D co-culture model. The apoptotic status and stemness alterations were monitored by flow cytometry and western blotting. Additionally, label-free quantification proteomics was used to identify the differentially expressed proteins and potential pathways in gastric cancer cells treated with GCAF-derived SPARC. Results Low expression of GCAF-derived SPARC was associated with decreased differentiation and reduced 5-year overall survival and was an independent predictive factor for prognosis in gastric cancer. The 3D tumour growth and 5-FU resistance abilities of gastric cancer cells were elevated after treatment with GCAFs with SPARC knockdown relative to these abilities in negative control cells. Additionally, suppressing SPARC expression in GCAFs facilitated the phenotypic alteration of gastric cancer cells towards CD44+/CD24− cancer stem cell (CSC)-like cells. Quantification proteomics analysis revealed that the differentially expressed proteins in gastric cancer cells were mainly involved in the AKT/mTOR and MEK/ERK signalling pathways. Conclusions SPARC expression in GCAFs is a useful prognostic factor in patients with gastric cancer. Low expression of GCAF-derived SPARC can lead to CSC transformation and 5-FU resistance. Additionally, the AKT/mTOR and MEK/ERK signalling pathways may participate in the malignant process.

Abstract Background Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) play important roles in tumor progression. However, the behaviors of activated CAFs in gastric cancer remain to be determined. The aim of the present study was to investigate the correlations between activated gastric CAFs and the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer, and to determine the effects of activated CAFs on the malignant phenotype and 5-fluorouracil resistance in this cancer. Methods Ninety-five patients with primary gastric cancer were enrolled in this study. Activation states of gastric CAFs were evaluated by immunohistochemistry. A modified method for the primary culture of gastric CAFs was employed. Types of CAFs and activation states were identified by immunocytochemical and immunofluorescent staining. Cell co-culture and gastric CAF conditioned medium transfer models were established to investigate the paracrine effects of activated CAFs on the migration and invasion of gastric cell lines. The half maximal inhibitory concentration of 5-fluorouracil and levels of cell apoptosis were examined using cell viability assay and flow cytometry, respectively. Protein expression levels of associated molecules were measured by Western blotting. Results Kaplan–Meier survival curves showed that activated gastric CAFs identified via fibroblast activation protein were significantly related to poorer cumulative survival in gastric cancer patients. Five strains of CAFs were successfully cultured via the modified culture method, and three gastric CAFs strains were identified as activated gastric CAFs. The migration and invasion abilities of gastric cells were significantly enhanced in both the co-culture group and the conditioned medium group. The half maximal inhibitory concentration for 5-fluorouracil in BGC-823 cells was elevated after treatment with conditioned medium, and early apoptosis was inhibited. Additionally, an obvious elevation of epithelial–mesenchymal transition level was observed in the conditioned medium group. Conclusions Activated gastric CAFs correlate with a poor prognosis of cancer patients and may contribute to the malignant phenotype and the development of resistance to 5-fluorouracil via paracrine action in gastric cancer. Gastric CAFs with a specific activation state might be used as a tumor biomarker within the microenvironment for prognosis and as a new therapeutic target for chemoresistant gastric cancer.

Regarding PMSG-based wind turbine generation system, this study proposes a super-capacitor energy storage unit (SCECU) connected parallel to the DC-link of the back-to-back converter to enhance its high voltage ride through performance. The analysis of the operation and control for the grid-side converter and SCECU are conducted. Based on real-time digital simulators (RTDS), a model of PMSG-based wind turbine with SCECU is developed, and the simulation results show that the SCECU absorbs the imbalanced energy and the grid-side converter absorbs inductive reactive power during the period of voltage swell. The simulation results based on RTDS verify the correctness and feasibility of the high voltage ride through control strategy.

Regarding PMSG-based wind turbine generation system, this paper proposes a supercapacitor energy storage unit (SCESU) which is connected in parallel with the DC-link of the back-to-back converter to enhance its high voltage ride through performance. The analysis of the operation and control for the grid-side converter and SCESU are conducted. Based on real time digital simulators (RTDS), a model and a Hardware-in-the-Loop (HiL) platform of PMSG-based wind turbine with SCESU is developed, and the simulation results show that the SCESU absorbs the imbalanced energy and the grid-side converter absorbs inductive reactive power during the period of voltage swell and verify the correctness and feasibility of the high voltage ride through control strategy.

ZnO and Fe-doped ZnO thin films are prepared on glass substrate by sol-gel method, and the surface morphology, structure and optical property are analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometer. The results show that both films have a smooth surface and a hexagonal wurtzite structure with orienting along the (101) plane. Compared with the ZnO film, the surface of Fe-doped ZnO film becomes smoother, and its grain size decreases from 58.512 nm of the ZnO film to 36.460 nm. Moreover, after Fe doping, the orientation degree of (101) plane is weakened, and the optical band gap energy increases from 3.1 eV of the ZnO film to 3.4 eV.