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This study examines the impact of dimensionless roughness on flow separation structures and flow characteristics through a combination of experimental and numerical simulation methods. The findings indicate that a specific dimensionless roughness k + exists for the fixed airfoil that minimizes cascade loss. Furthermore, increasing surface dimensionless roughness can alter the flow separation structure and effectively prevent flow separation. The numerical simulation results indicate that as dimensionless roughness increases, the impact of open separation and separation bubbles on the flow state over the blade surface is reduced or eliminated. In cases where separation occurs in the cascade, increasing dimensionless roughness results in a reduction in the boundary layer thickness and the width of the wake jet, thereby leading to a smoother outlet angle and improved efficiency. Conversely, when there is no separation, increasing dimensionless roughness leads to the accumulation of low-energy fluid at the trailing edge of the cascade. This results in an increase in the boundary layer thickness and the width of the wake loss, a larger outlet angle of the blade, and a decrease in the efficiency of the cascade. By analyzing the influence of dimensionless roughness on flow separation in cascades, engineers can quickly identify the geometric roughness height to suppress flow separation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate debris flow susceptibility mapping (DFSM) plays a crucial role in enabling government authorities to devise rational policies to mitigate the threats posed by debris flows to human life and property. Nujiang Prefecture, located in the alpine canyon region, is prone to frequent debris flows in China. Therefore, this study focuses on Nujiang Prefecture as the research area. Based on the characteristics of debris flow development, the occurrence mechanism, and the actual conditions of the study area, small watersheds are selected as mapping units. Fifteen influencing factors, including elevation, slope, aspect, relief, surface roughness, Melton ratio, NDVI, lithology, distance to faults, rainfall, SPI, TWI, STI, watershed aera, and gully density, are considered in the mapping process. We explored the predictive performance of three single models, namely, the statistical model certainly factor (CF), the machine learning model support vector machines (SVM), and the deep learning model convolutional neural network (CNN). Additionally, we investigated the coupling models CF-LR (statistical model coupled with machine learning model) and CNN-SVM (machine learning model coupled with deep learning model) in the mapping of debris flow sensitivity. The analysis and comparison of model performance were conducted using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and the mean value (MV) and standard deviation (SD) of debris flow sensitivity values. The results demonstrate that all five models show promising performance in DFSM. Among them, the CNN-SVM coupled model (AUC = 0.933, MV = 0.211, SD = 0.199) outperforms the others, exhibiting the best predictive capability. These findings can serve as valuable references for debris flow prevention and control efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modularization and standardization have been recognized as an effective way to achieve mass customization and improve efficiency in the house-building industry. The construction industry has witnessed the entry of several bathpod manufacturers using new, digitally enabled business models to alter the traditionally incremental nature of off-site construction. These new players in the market are embracing higher levels of complexity with offerings that deliver value in terms of accelerated speed of construction, simplified design features, and certified quality, often becoming the means of connecting different stakeholders in the construction supply chain. The innovation that bathpod manufacturers are bringing to the construction industry is interesting to examine with a view to their business model. This paper informs and proposes theory by analyzing bathpod companies' business models from two perspectives: (1) the internal fit between business model components within the company, and (2) and the interactions between the bathpod companies and the external environment (partners and customers). This paper uses a qualitative research approach that incorporates a review of relevant literature, a market scan, and interviews with industry experts. The Business Model Canvas, which includes nine key elements, is employed to identify the interdependencies of bathpod companies that have successfully implemented varying levels of modularization and standardization. This enables the discussion of the archetype business model elements that enabled the theorizing of the archetypes. The paper presents six business model archetypes for bathpod manufacturers, e.g., project-driven production, integrated project service delivery, and modular enthusiast. These archetypes represent viable options for off-site manufacturing and production approaches in construction projects and present emerging business model innovations leading to their current state. In conclusion, this paper highlights the potential for business model innovation in the construction industry through the adoption of modularization and the development of a deeper understanding of customer value. By identifying key interdependent elements of a successful business model and exemplar cases of bathpod business models, we have provided a foundation for future research and practical application in the industry. This paper provides several practical contributions to the literature on construction business models. By applying the business model concept to the bathpod manufacturing industry, it enables a comprehensive analysis of value creation, delivery, and capture within bathpod companies. The study introduces six distinct business model archetypes: project-driven production, integrated project service delivery, design and make, one-stop shop, modular enthusiast, and bathpod component catalogues. Furthermore, the proposed spectrum serves as more than a tool for practitioners to analyze and evaluate their business models; it also offers practical insights for navigating the spectrum, e.g., transitioning from project-oriented to product-oriented paradigms. Moreover, the research underscores the significance of fine-tuning business model elements and understanding their dynamic interdependencies within a product-oriented context. This highlights the delicate balance between allocating company resources and meeting customer requirements. In a broader context, the developed set of six business model archetypes is anticipated to be adaptable and scalable across various off-site manufacturing sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The discovery of longevity molecules that delay aging and prolong lifespan has always been a dream of humanity. Sitagliptin phosphate (SIT), an oral dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor, is an oral drug commonly used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes (T2D). In addition to being antidiabetic, previous studies have reported that SIT has shown potential to improve health. However, whether SIT plays a role in the amelioration of aging and the underlying molecular mechanism remain undetermined. Methods:Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) was used as a model of aging. Lifespan assays were performed with adult-stage worms on nematode growth medium plates containing FUdR with or without the specific concentration of SIT. The period of fast body movement, body bending rates, and pharyngeal pumping rates were recorded to assess the healthspan of C. elegans. Gene expression was confirmed by GFP fluorescence signal of transgenic worms and qPCR. In addition, the intracellular reactive oxygen species levels were measured using a free radical sensor H2DCF-DA. Results: We found that SIT significantly extended lifespan and healthspan of C. elegans. Mechanistically, we found that several age-related pathways and genes were involved in SIT-induced lifespan extension. The transcription factors DAF-16/FOXO, SKN-1/NRF2, and HSF-1 played important roles in SIT-induced longevity. Moreover, our findings illustrated that SIT-induced survival benefits by inhibiting the insulin/insulin-like signaling pathway and activating the dietary restriction-related and mitochondrial function-related signaling pathways. Conclusion: Our work may provide a theoretical basis for the development of anti-T2D drugs as antiaging drugs, especially for the treatment of age-related disease in diabetic patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Due to the overall favorable prognosis for p16+ oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC), de-escalation protocols are being implemented at a higher rate. However, there remains uncertainty regarding the best candidates for de-escalation therapy. Currently, tumor stage, p16 status, and history of smoking are widely accepted as influencing prognosis in OPSCC. Tumor and lymph node growth rates could potentially add to this growing list of prognosticators. Thus far, there is scant literature that defines tumor and nodal growth rate in OPSCC. In this study, we utilize radiation oncology software and interval CT scans to both define these rates and analyze their prognostic value. This analysis may offer a more comprehensive understanding of the natural course of OPSCC growth and aid head and neck surgeons, medical oncologists, and radiation oncologists in risk stratification. Though specific growth rate (SGR) has potential prognostic value for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC), there is sparse literature defining these rates. Our aims were to establish the SGRs of primary tumors (PTs) and lymph nodes (LNs) in OPSCC and to correlate SGR with oncologic outcome. A pilot study was designed with a retrospective analysis examining 54 patients from the University of California, Davis with OPSCC (diagnosed 2012–2019). Radiation oncology software and pretreatment serial CT scans were used to measure PT and LN volumes to calculate SGR and doubling time (DT). The mean PT-SGR was 1.2 ± 2.2%/day and the mean LN-SGR was 1.6 ± 1.9%/day. There was no statistically significant difference between slow-growing and fast-growing cohorts in terms of age, gender, smoking status, tumor subsite, HPV status (as determined with p16 staining), initial volume, or overall stage. SGR had no impact on 2-year overall survival, disease-free survival, or disease-specific survival. We found the average daily growth rates for OPSCC to be 1.2%/day and 1.6%/day. Our findings suggest PT- and LN-SGR are independent factors, not heavily influenced by known biomarkers and patient characteristics, without a statistical impact on prognosis. This information has value in patient counseling regarding tumor growth and in providing patients worried about fast-growing tumors the appropriate reassurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Unipedicular and bipedicular approaches for percutaneous kyphoplasty are reportedly both effective in treating osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (OVCFs). However, most studies have reported thoracolumbar fractures, with few reports describing the treatment of the lower lumbar spine. Here, we compared the clinical and radiological results of unipedicular and bipedicular approaches for percutaneous kyphoplasty for treating osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 160 patients who underwent percutaneous kyphoplasty for lower lumbar (L3–L5) osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures between January 2016 and January 2020. Patient characteristics, surgical outcomes, operation time, blood loss, clinical and radiological features, and complications were compared between two groups. Cement leakage, height restoration, and cement distribution were calculated from the radiographs. Visual pain analog scale (VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) were calculated before surgery, immediately post-surgery, and 2 years after surgery. Results: The mean age, sex, body mass index, injury time, segmental distribution, and morphological classification of fractures before surgery did not differ significantly between the groups. The results showed significant improvements in the VAS score, ODI score, and vertebral height restoration in each group (p < 0.05), with no significant differences between the two groups (p > 0.05). The mean operation time and extent of blood loss were lower in the unipedicular group than those in the bipedicular group (p < 0.05). Different types of bone cement leakage were observed in both groups. Leakage rate was higher in the bipedicular group than in the unipedicular group. Patients in the bipedicular group showed greater improvement in bone cement distribution than those in the unipedicular group (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The clinical and radiological results of unipedicular percutaneous kyphoplasty for treating osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures in the lower lumbar region were similar to those of bipedicular percutaneous kyphoplasty. However, the unipedicular approach resulted in shorter surgical time, less blood loss, and less bone cement leakage. Thus, the unipedicular approach may be preferable owing to its several advantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There have been few studies published on the use of contrast media (CM) in metformin-treated patients. In this study, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the relationship between metformin and contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI). Methods: A comprehensive search of the Medline, PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases for literature on associations between metformin use and CI-AKI incidence was conducted. The pooled odds ratio (OR), or relative risk, as well as the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs), was calculated to assess the relationship between metformin and CI-AKI risk as well as the incidence of lactic acidosis (LA). Results: In total, seven studies met our eligibility criteria on associations between metformin use and CI-AKI incidence, comprising 2,325 individuals, with 279 new cases of CI-AKI exposed to CM. The pooled analysis revealed no statistically significant increase in the risk of CI-AKI development in patients who used metformin continuously (random-effects OR: 1.15, 95% CI: 0.70–1.90, p = 0.57). No cases of LA that occurred during CM exposure were reported. Conclusion: Metformin can be safely used in patients with moderate renal impairment (eGFR ≥ 30 mL/min/1.73 m2) during CM exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: In 2017, a subset of cellular variants of myofibroma and myopericytoma with a smooth muscle‐like immunophenotype and harbouring recurrent SRF::RELA gene fusions was reported. Although the anatomical distribution was found to be quite broad, no tumours with these gene fusions in the female reproductive system have been illustrated to date. Methods and results: Herein, we report the histological and immunophenotypical features of three uterine tumours with SRF::RELA gene fusions. Microscopically, all three tumours were composed of cellular oval to spindle cells arranged in intersecting fascicles with variable amounts of collagen and a rich capillary network. Mitotic figures were scant. Regarding immunohistochemistry, diffuse staining for desmin, oestrogen receptor and progesterone receptor was observed in all three cases. The first case exhibited focal staining for h‐caldesmon, whereas the latter two cases had diffuse staining. Furthermore, SRF::RELA rearrangement was observed in all three cases by using next‐generation sequencing (NGS). Follow‐up, ranging from 11 to 15 months, was available for these three patients, all of whom were well without evidence of disease. Conclusions: In conclusion, we reported a special group of uterine neoplasms with myogenic differentiation harbouring SRF::RELA rearrangement. Although the follow‐up time was limited, morphological characteristics and other studies with follow‐up data supported that this type of uterine neoplasm appeared to behave in a benign manner. Further studies with longer follow‐up are needed to clarify the biological nature of this particular type of uterine tumour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concerns regarding the increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration has aroused global interest in renewable fuels and conversion of CO2 into chemicals. This study provides a sustainable strategy for fixing CO2in situ during the production of ethanol in a single cell expressing formate dehydrogenase (FDH) without the addition of a cofactor. Glucose was converted to ethanol, with the main by-product CO2 fixed to formate, increasing the yield of ethanol and glucose fermentation efficiency in the recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae-fdh. Higher concentrations of glucose and amount of ScFDH1 yielded more formate, confirming the feasibility of CO2 fixation. Significantly, the glucose consumption rate and ethanol yield increased by 30% and 13% after the overexpression of ScFDH1, respectively. Finally, the increase in CO2 concentration with the addition of zeolite imidazole framework-8 (ZIF-8) further demonstrated the CO2 fixation in situ, increasing the production of formate 2.1 times. Due to ZIF-8, up to 60.67 mg L−1 formate was produced. Our findings establish a green, economical, and sustainable alternative for CO2 conversion in situ, contributing to the ethanol yield by ScFDH1 without extra energy input and cofactor supply. This synergistic strategy has significance for both the energy and environmental crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To enhance the performance of bio-asphalt, an attempt was made to modify bio-asphalt using graphene oxide (GO). Two bio-asphalts were prepared and modified with different GO dosage levels of 0 to 0.08% to obtain GO-modified bio-asphalts (GOMBA). The two GOMBA were tested in the conventional properties (penetration, softening point, and ductility), high- and low-temperature rheological properties, and aging properties. The results showed that the penetration decreases and the ductility increases slightly with the increase in the dosage of GO, while the softening point increases stably to the maximum by 17.84%, and 15.99% for the two GOMBA, respectively. GO is beneficial to improve the high temperature performance and the recovery after the deformation of the GOMBA; on the contrary, it does not significantly affect the low temperature cracking resistance of those. The maximum residual penetration ratio is 10.58% and 8.84%, respectively, and the maximum residual ductility is 10.79% and 27.51%, respectively, for the two GOMBA after short-term aging. GO modification plays a role in the change of carbonyl index (CI) and sulfoxide index (SI) of the GOMBA before and after aging based on the FT-IR spectra, indicating that the GO can effectively improve the antiaging performance of bio-asphalt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Staphylococcus aureus is a major human pathogen, and the appearance of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) renders S. aureus infections more challenging to treat. Therefore, new antimicrobial drugs are urgently needed to combat MRSA infections. Drug repurposing is an effective and feasible strategy. Here, we reported that the clinically approved anti-hepatitis C virus drug simeprevir had strong antibacterial activity against MRSA, with a minimum inhibitory concentration of 2–8 µg/mL. Simeprevir did not easily induce in vitro resistance. In addition, simeprevir significantly prevented S. aureus biofilm formation. Furthermore, simeprevir displayed limited toxicity in in vitro and in vivo assays. Moreover, simeprevir showed synergistic antimicrobial effects against both type and clinical strains of S. aureus. Simeprevir combined with gentamicin effectively reduced the bacterial burden in an MRSA–infected subcutaneous abscess mouse model. Results from a series of experiments, including membrane permeability assay, membrane potential assay, intracellular ATP level assay, and electron microscope observation, demonstrated that the action of simeprevir may be by disrupting bacterial cell membranes. Collectively, these results demonstrated the potential of simeprevir as an antimicrobial agent for the treatment of MRSA infections. Key points: • Simeprevir showed strong antibacterial activity against MRSA. • The antibacterial mechanism of simeprevir was mediated by membrane disruption and intracellular ATP depletion. • In vitro and in vivo synergistic antimicrobial efficacy between simeprevir and gentamicin was found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioethanol from lignocellulosic biomass is a promising and sustainable strategy to meet the energy demand and to be carbon neutral. Nevertheless, the damage of lignocellulose-derived inhibitors to microorganisms is still the main bottleneck. Developing robust strains is critical for lignocellulosic ethanol production. An evolved strain with a stronger tolerance to formate and acetate was obtained after adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE) in the formate. Transcriptional analysis was conducted to reveal the possible resistance mechanisms to weak acids, and fdh coding for formate dehydrogenase was selected as the target to verify whether it was related to resistance enhancement in Saccharomyces cerevisiae F3. Engineered S. cerevisiae FA with fdh overexpression exhibited boosted tolerance to both formate and acetate, but the resistance mechanism to formate and acetate was different. When formate exists, it breaks down by formate dehydrogenase into carbon dioxide (CO2) to relieve its inhibition. When there was acetate without formate, FDH1 converted CO2 from glucose fermentation to formate and ATP and enhanced cell viability. Together, fdh overexpression alone can improve the tolerance to both formate and acetate with a higher cell viability and ATP, which provides a novel strategy for robustness strain construction to produce lignocellulosic ethanol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Gastrointestinal symptoms have been reported in patients with COVID-19. Several clinical investigations suggested that gastrointestinal symptoms were associated with disease severity of COVID-19. However, the relevance of gastrointestinal symptoms and mortality of COVID-19 remains largely unknown. We aim to investigate the relationship between gastrointestinal symptoms and COVID-19 mortality. Methods: We searched the PubMed, Embase, Web of science and Cochrane for studies published between Dec 1, 2019 and May 1, 2021, that had data on gastrointestinal symptoms in COVID-19 patients. Additional literatures were obtained by screening the citations of included studies and recent reviews. Only studies that reported the mortality of COVID-19 patients with/without gastrointestinal symptoms were included. Raw data were pooled to calculate OR (Odds Ratio). The mortality was compared between patients with and without gastrointestinal symptoms, as well as between patients with and without individual symptoms (diarrhea, nausea/vomiting, abdominal pain). Results: Fifty-three literatures with 55,245 COVID-19 patients (4955 non-survivors and 50,290 survivors) were included. The presence of GI symptoms was not associated with the mortality of COVID-19 patients (OR=0.88; 95% CI 0.71–1.09; P=0.23). As for individual symptoms, diarrhea (OR=1.01; 95% CI 0.72–1.41; P=0.96), nausea/vomiting (OR=1.16; 95% CI 0.78–1.71; P=0.46) and abdominal pain (OR=1.55; 95% CI 0.68–3.54; P=0.3) also showed non-relevance with the death of COVID-19 patients. Conclusions: Gastrointestinal symptoms are not associated with higher mortality of COVID-19 patients. The prognostic value of gastrointestinal symptoms in COVID-19 requires further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, cell-based therapy, such as adoptive immunotherapy and stem cell restorative therapy, was followed with interest. However, restricted understanding of the metabolic and functional characteristics of the adoptive cells in vivo hinders the clinical translation of these therapeutic cells. For example, the distribution, proliferation, and homing of CAR-T cells in vivo are not clear, so the potential side effect of this cell therapy is unpredictable. In vivo imaging can accurately reveal the physiological status of cells in vivo, including cell activities and migration, which is an important method of life science and clinical research. Currently used cell labeling method, including direct labeling and indirect labeling, offers opportunities to reveal the trace of therapeutic cells in vivo. In this review, we explain the basic methods and application of cell labeling. • Summary of application and significance of cell markers in basic research and clinical practice. • Comparison the advantages and disadvantages of direct marking and indirect marking. • Application and comparison of optical imaging, MRI and radiometric imaging in cell labeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: High‐resolution synchrotron radiation X‐ray phase contrast microtomography (PC‐μCT) images often suffer from severe ring artifacts, which are mainly caused by undesirable responses of detector elements. In the medical imaging field, the existence of ring artifacts can lead to degraded visual quality and can directly affect diagnosis accuracy. Thus, removing or at least effectively reducing ring artifacts is indispensable. Method: The existing ring artifacts removal algorithms mainly focus on two‐dimensional (matrix‐based) priors, and these algorithms fail to consider correlations hidden in sequential computed tomography (CT) images. This paper proposed a novel three‐dimensional (tensor‐based) ring artifacts removal algorithm for synchrotron radiation X‐ray PC‐μCT images. In the sinogram domain, ring artifacts manifest as vertical stripe artifacts. From an image decomposition perspective, a degraded sinogram can be decomposed into a stripe artifacts component and an underlying clean sinogram component. The proposed algorithm is designed to detect and remove stripe artifacts from a degraded sinogram by fully identifying the characteristics of the two components. Specifically, for the stripe artifacts component, tensor Tucker decomposition is used to describe its low‐rank character. For the underlying clean sinogram component, spatial–sequential total variation regularization is adopted to enhance the piecewise smoothness. Moreover, the Frobenius norm term is further used to model Gaussian noise. An efficient augmented Lagrange multiplier method is designed to solve the proposed optimization model. Results: The proposed method is evaluated utilizing both simulations and real data containing different ring artifacts patterns. In the simulations, the human chest CT images are used for evaluating the proposed method. We compare the peak signal‐to‐noise ratio (PSNR), structural similarity (SSIM), and mean absolute error (MAE) results of our algorithm with the Naghia's method, the RRRTV method, the wavelet–FFT method, and the SDRSD‐GIF method. The proposed method was also evaluated on real data from rat liver samples and rat tooth samples. Our proposed method outperforms the competing methods in terms of both qualitative and quantitative evaluation results. Additionally, the 3D visualization results were presented to make the ring artifacts removal effect more intuitive. Conclusion: The experimental results on simulations and real data clearly demonstrated that the proposed algorithm can significantly improve the quality of PC‐μCT images compared with the existing popular algorithms, and it has great potential to promote the application of high‐resolution imaging for visualizing biological tissues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP), percutaneous mesh-container-plasty (PMCP), and pedicle screw fixation plus vertebroplasty (PSFV) were three methods for osteoporotic vertebral burst fractures (OVBF). The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the clinical safety and efficacy of PKP, PMCP, and PSFV for OVBFs. Methods: This retrospective study included 338 consecutive patients with thoracolumbar OVBFs who underwent PKP (n = 111), PMCP (n = 109), or PSFV (n = 118) and compared their epidemiological data, surgical outcomes, and clinical and radiological features. Clinical evaluations of VAS and ODI and radiological evaluations of height restoration, deformity correction, cement leakage, and canal compromise were calculated preoperatively, postoperatively, and 2 years postoperatively. Results: Cement leakage (31/111 vs. 13/109 and 16/118, P < 0.05) was significantly higher in group PKP than in groups PSFV and PMCP. VAS and ODI scores improved postoperatively from 7.04 ± 1.15 and 67.11 ± 13.49 to 2.27 ± 1.04 and 22.00 ± 11.20, respectively, in group PKP (P < 0.05); from 7.04 ± 1.29 and 67.26 ± 12.79 to 2.17 ± 0.98 and 21.01 ± 7.90, respectively, in group PMCP (P < 0.05); and from 7.10 ± 1.37 and 67.36 ± 13.11 to 3.19 ± 1.06 and 33.81 ± 8.81, respectively, in the PSFV group (P < 0.05). Moreover, postoperative VAS and ODI scores were significantly higher in group PSFV than in groups PKP and PMCP (P < 0.05). However, VAS scores were not significantly different in the three groups 2 years postoperatively (P > 0.05). Postoperative anterior (81.04 ± 10.18% and 87.51 ± 8.94% vs. 93.46 ± 6.42%, P < 0.05) and middle vertebral body height ratio (83.01 ± 10.16% and 87.79 ± 11.62% vs. 92.38 ± 6.00%, P < 0.05) were significantly higher in group PSFV than in groups PMCP and PKP. Postoperatively, Cobb angle (10.04 ± 4.26° and 8.16 ± 5.76° vs. 4.97 ± 4.60°, P < 0.05) and canal compromise (20.76 ± 6.32 and 19.85 ± 6.18 vs. 10.18 ± 6.99, P < 0.05) were significantly lower in group PSFV than in groups PMCP and PKP. Conclusion: Despite relatively worse radiological results, PMCP is a safe and minimally invasive surgical method that can obtain better short-term clinical results than PKP and PSFV for OVBFs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The main limitation of current immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in the treatment of cervical cancer comes from the fact that it benefits only a minority of patients. The study aims to develop a classification system to identify immune subtypes of cervical squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), thereby helping to screen candidates who may respond to ICIs.Methods: A real-world cervical SCC cohort of 36 samples were analyzed. We used a nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) algorithm to separate different expression patterns of immune-related genes (IRGs). The immune characteristics, potential immune biomarkers, and somatic mutations were compared. Two independent data sets containing 555 samples were used for validation.Results: Two subtypes with different immunophenotypes were identified. Patients in sub1 showed favorable progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in the training and validation cohorts. The sub1 was remarkably related to increased immune cell abundance, more enriched immune activation pathways, and higher somatic mutation burden. Also, the sub1 group was more sensitive to ICIs, while patients in the sub2 group were more likely to fail to respond to ICIs but exhibited GPCR pathway activity. Finally, an 83-gene classifier was constructed for cervical SCC classification.Conclusion: This study establishes a new classification to further understand the immunological diversity of cervical SCC, to assist in the selection of candidates for immunotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Propagation-based x-ray phase-contrast computed tomography (PB-PCCT) images often suffer from severe ring artifacts. Ring artifacts are mainly caused by the nonuniform response of detector elements, and they can degrade image quality and affect the subsequent image processing and quantitative analyses. To remove ring artifacts in PB-PCCT images, a novel method combined sparse-domain regularized stripe decomposition (SDRSD) method with guided image filtering (GIF) was proposed. In this method, polar coordinate transformation was utilized to convert the ring artifacts to stripe artifacts. And then considering the directional and sparse properties of the stripe artifacts and the continuity characteristics of the sample, the SDRSD method was designed to remove stripe artifacts. However, for the SDRSD method, the presence of noise may destroy the edges of the stripe artifacts and lead to incomplete decomposition. Hence, a simple and efficient smoothing technique, namely GIF, was employed to overcome this issue. The simulations and real experiments demonstrated that the proposed method could effectively remove ring artifacts as well as preserve the structures and edges of the samples. In conclusion, the proposed method can serve as an effective tool to remove ring artifacts in PB-PCCT images, and it has high potential for promoting the biomedical and preclinical applications of PB-PCCT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: β cell mass (BCM) and function are essential to the diagnosis and therapy of diabetes. Diabetic patients serve β cell loss is, and damage of β cells leads to severe insulin deficiency. Our understanding of the role of BCM in diabetes progression is extremely limited by lacking efficient methods to evaluate BCM in vivo. In vitro methods of labeling islets, including loading of contrast reagent or integration of exogenous biomarker, require artificial manipulation on islets, of which the clinical application is limited. Imaging methods targeting endogenous biomarkers may solve the above problems. However, traditional reagents targeting GLP-1R and VAMT2 result in a high background of adjacent tissues, complicating the identification of pancreatic signals. Here, we report a non-invasive and quantitative imaging technique by using radiolabeled glycine mimics ([18F]FBG, a boron-trifluoride derivative of glycine) to assay islet function and monitor BCM changes in living animals. Methods: Glycine derivatives, FBG, FBSa, 2Me-FBG, 3Me-FBG, were successfully synthesized and labeled with 18F. Specificity of glycine derivatives were characterized by in vitro experiment. PET imaging and biodistribution studies were performed in animal models carring GLYT over-expressed cells. In vivo evaluation of BCM with [18F]FBG were performed in STZ (streptozocin) induced T1D (type 1 diabetes) models. Results: GLYT responds to excess blood glycine levels and transports glycine into islet cells to maintain the activity of the glycine receptor (GLYR). Best PET imaging condition was 80 min after given a total of 240 ~ 250 nmol imaging reagent (a mixture of [18F]FBG and natural glycine) intravenously. [18F]FBG can detect both endogenous and exogenous islets clearly in vivo. When applied to STZ induced T1D mouse models, total uptake of [18F]FBG in the pancreas exhibited a linear correlation with survival BCM. Conclusion: [18F]FBG targeting the endogenous glycine transporter (GLYT), which is highly expressed on islet cells, avoiding extra modification on islet cells. Meanwhile the highly restricted expression pattern of GLYT excluded the background in adjacent tissues. This [18F]FBG-based imaging technique provides a non-invasive method to quantify BCM in vivo, implying a new evaluation index for diabetic assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The inhibitory effect of toxic by-products was relieved by microaeration. • The postglucose effect was relieved by microaeration. • Robustness has related to ribosomes and amino acids biosynthesis pathways. The inhibitory effect of toxic byproducts mainly derived from the pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass is one of the limiting factors hindering industrial application. In this work, a simple yet practicable aeration strategy was proposed to enhance microbial tolerance to inhibitors, including formic acid, acetic acid, furfural, and 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (5-HMF). Batch fermentation by Kluyveromyces marxianus CICC 1727−5 using xylose and glucose alone and in combination under different aeration conditions coupled with multiple inhibitors was performed. The fermentation time and residual xylose significantly decreased with high xylitol production (0.7 g/g) and high ethanol production (0.42 g/g) at an aeration rate of 0.5 vvm. The postglucose effect was effectively relieved during co-fermentation by the microaeration strategy. Transcriptomics analysis was performed to determine the mechanism of inhibitor resistance. Transcription of genes related to DNA replication, protein processing, carbon metabolism, biosynthesis of the ribosome, amino acids, peroxidase, sterols, and unsaturated fatty acids were significantly upregulated accompanied by downregulated expression of genes related to autophagy under aeration conditions in the presence of multiple inhibitors. These results provide a valuable reference for future studies on biofuel fermentation from lignocellulosic biomass by a facultative fermenting microbe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim of this study was to identify the risk factors and prognosis of patients with cancer‐associated myositis (CAM). Method: Four hundred and eighty‐seven patients with dermatomyositis (DM), clinical amyopathic dermatomyositis (CADM) and polymyositis (PM) from 3 clinical centers were enrolled retrospectively in this study. Clinical and laboratory data of CAM and non‐CAM patients were compared. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify risk factors of CAM. Results: Out of the 487 patients with DM/CADM/PM, 7.0% (34/487) of patients were classified as CAM. Older age (53.91 ± 13.32 vs. 48.76 ± 14.34 years), heliotrope rash (61.8% vs. 41.9%), shawl sign (41.2% vs. 22.1%), V sign (58.8% vs. 38.6%) were observed significantly more commonly in patients with CAM than those without CAM (all P <.05). Fever (17.7% vs. 37.8%), arthralgia/arthritis (23.5% vs. 45.7%), interstitial lung disease (ILD, 38.2% vs 68.9%) were significantly less common in the CAM group than the non‐CAM group. Age at onset (odds ratio [OR] 1.036, 95% CI 1.001‐1.072, P =.042), shawl sign (OR 2.748, 95% CI 1.107‐6.822, P =.029), anti‐transition initiation factor (TIF)‐1γ antibody (OR 4.012, 95% CI 1.268‐12.687, P =.018) were identified as the initial risk factors for the onset of CAM, and ILD was identified as a protective factor for CAM (OR 0.292, 95% CI 0.115‐0.739, P =.009). All‐cause mortality was significantly higher in CAM patients compared with non‐CAM patients (P =.001). Conclusion: The mortality of patients with CAM was higher than DM/CADM/PM patients without cancer. Malignancy should be screened in DM/CADM/PM patients especially with risk factors, including older age, shawl sign, anti‐TIF‐1γ antibody, and lack of ILD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several silica-alumina modified with Ag were examined as catalysts in the dehydration of 1,3-butanediol to 1,3-butadiene (BD). Among several catalysts tested, an amorphous silica-alumina (SAL-3) modified with Ag operated in H 2 flow gave the highest improvement in catalytic activity and stability. The improvement of catalytic activity and stability of this Ag/SAL-3 was due to the generation of reversible acid sites. Several parameters, such as reaction temperature, contact time, Ag content, and carrier gas, influenced the catalytic activity of the Ag/SAL-3 catalyst. The highest BD yield of 82.5 % was attained at 225 °C, while the highest BD productivity of 1.33 g g cat -1 h-1 with a BD selectivity of 68.9 % was achieved at 250 °C. The role of the Brønsted and Lewis acid sites was revealed by poisoning experiments of co-feeding 2,6- or 3,5-dimethylpyridine with 1,3-butanediol. [Display omitted] • Efficient dehydration of 1,3-butanediol (1,3-BDO) to 1,3-butadiene (BD) proceeded over Ag-modified silica-alumina (Ag/SAL-3). • The presence of Ag and the operation in H 2 flow improved the activity and stability of SAL-3. • Ag/SAL-3 catalyst employed in H 2 gas generated reversible acid sites. • Both Brønsted and Lewis acid sites played essential roles in the dehydration of 1,3-BDO to BD. • The highest BD yield of 82.5 % was achieved at 225 °C over Ag/SAL-3 at a Ag content of 3 wt%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The modified RSEI is more suitable for the evaluation of ecological quality in CYUA. • The ecological status of CYUA shows an improving trend and is better in western part. • Vegetation, climate and human activities are important in altering ecological quality. • The projections indicate that MRSEI of CYUA will continue to improve in 2025 and 2029. To promote the sustainable development of the karst region, investigating the spatial–temporal evolution of ecological quality and elucidating key influencing factors is significant. The study quantified the ecological quality of Central Yunnan Urban Agglomeration (CYUA) from 2002 to 2021 using Google Earth Engine (GEE) and the Modified Remote Sensing Ecological Index (MRSEI) with soil erosion indicators. Additionally, the study analyzed MRSEI's spatial distribution, spatial–temporal transfer, and driving factors by integrating the Sen + Mann-Kendall trend test and the grey correlation degree. The grey prediction model GM (1,1) and CA-Markov model were employed to predict CYUA's future ecological condition in terms of MRSEI's mean value and spatial distribution of MRSEI rank. Results indicate that: (1) Greenness and humidity significantly enhanced the ecological environment, while dryness, heat, and soil erosion indicators had the opposite effect. The first principal component, with a mean contribution of 70.20 % across 2002, 2007, 2012, 2017, and 2021, indicated that MRSEI based on PC1 was suitable for evaluating CYUA's ecological quality. (2) Spatially, the western CYUA generally outperformed the eastern part in terms of ecological quality, with the moderate class dominating the ecological quantity. Temporally, CYUA's holistic ecological condition consistently improved between 2002 and 2021. (3) Regional height, climatic conditions, and human construction projects were key factors altering ecological quality, as evidenced by the top five MRSEI influencing factors: greenness, humidity, normalized difference impervious surface index, elevation, and average annual rainfall. (4) Forecast results suggest that areas classified as good or excellent are expected to exceed 30 % by 2029, indicating ongoing and future improvements in CYUA's ecological quality. This study serves as a reference for ecological protection and regional sustainability in karst region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cement emulsified asphalt composite material (CA composite cement) has the excellent properties of cement and emulsified asphalt cement. As a composite cementing material, cement emulsified asphalt concrete can be one of the choices of road paving materials. However, under the effect of temperature and wheel load, the performance of it may get worse; especially, the creep behavior of CA composite cement has an important influence on the stability of pavement structure. This paper mainly focuses on the research on the creep and creep recovery performance of CA composite cement, determines the raw materials and proportions of CA composite cement, and formulates experimental research programs such as creep and creep recovery tests and stress scanning tests. The creep and creep recovery test research of CA composite cement was carried out, and the influence of creep and creep recovery characteristics, temperature, and A/C on the creep mechanical properties of CA composite cement was analyzed. The results show that the creep compliance of CA composite cement decreases with the increase of aging degree, the static mechanical properties tend to be elastic as a whole, and different factors such as temperature and A/C have different effects on the viscoelastic-plastic mechanical properties of the material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Antimelanoma differentiation-associated protein 5 (anti-MDA5) autoantibody has been reported in dermatomyositis (DM) to be associated with rapidly progressive interstitial lung disease (RP-ILD). Our study is aimed at determining the clinical characteristics and prognostic factors underpinning anti-MDA5-associated RP-ILD.Methods: Patients with anti-MDA5-associated DM (aMDA5-DM) were identified at the Peking University People's Hospital. The presence of anti-MDA5 antibody was determined by immunoblotting. Kaplan-Meier, chi-square test, univariate, and multivariate data analyses were used.Results: Out of 213 patients with DM and clinically amyopathic dermatomyositis (CADM), 20.7% (44/213) of patients were identified as aMDA5-DM. Amongst the aMDA5-DM patients, 63.6% (28/44) were identified as having anti-MDA5-associated RP-ILD. During the follow-up, 32.1% (9/28) of patients with anti-MDA5-associated RP-ILD died of respiratory failure. We identified older age and periungual erythema as two independent risk factors for RP-ILD mortality. Age ≥ 57 years at disease onset was significantly associated with poor survival (P = 0.02) in patients with anti-MDA5-associated RP-ILD, while patients with periungual erythema had a better survival rate than those without periungual erythema (P < 0.05).Conclusions: Anti-MDA5-associated RP-ILD is significantly associated with poor survival rates in DM/CADM patients. More effective intervention should be administered to anti-MDA5-associated RP-ILD patients, especially to senior patients and those without periungual erythema. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objection: To explore the effects of combinations of antiangiogenic agents and chemotherapy agents on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients and indirectly compare the therapeutic effect of Endostar combined with chemotherapy and bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy on NSCLC. Methods: We searched 3 electronic databases: PubMed, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library. The ORRs, HRs and 95% confidence intervals of OS and PFS were used to compare the efficacy of Endostar combined with chemotherapy and bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy. We use the Bayesian network meta-analysis method to make indirect comparisons and obtain rank probabilities; in addition, we used single-arm meta-analysis to synthesize the existing data. Results: A total of 29 studies were included in the analysis. Among them, we included a total of 14 interventions. A total of 12,862 patients participated in this analysis. The single-arm meta-analysis showed that the pooled ORR and 95% CI were 0.35 (0.31, 0.39), the pooled HR of OS and 95% CI were 0.89 (0.81, 0.98), and the pooled HR of PFS and 95% CI were 0.67 (0.56, 0.81). According to the results of network meta-analysis, there were no significant differences between the 5 kinds of bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy regimens and the 4 kinds of Endostar combined with chemotherapy regimens for improving ORR and prolonging OS and PFS. The rank probabilities suggested that in terms of ORR, Pla + Pem + Bev was the first-ranked intervention (0.288). Pla + Pem + Endo was the first-ranked intervention for prolonging OS (0.423) and Pla + Gem + Endo was the first-ranked intervention for prolonging PFS (0.302). Conclusion: Antiangiogenic agents combined with platinum-containing dual drugs can provide benefits to NSCLC patients. In addition, bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy regimens has better theraputic effect on ORR while Endostar combined with chemotherapy may have better effects on OS and PFS for the treatment of NSCLC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 (HNF4) plays essential roles in regulating lipid metabolism and glucose homeostasis in female insects. However, little is known about the role of HNF4 in insect fecundity. Here we demonstrate that HNF4 regulates female fecundity by affecting egg hatching in the brown planthopper (BPH) Nilaparvata lugens. HNF4 was highly expressed in the ovary and fat body of female adult. RNA interference-mediated HNF4 knockdown resulted in a dramatic reduction in egg hatchability and caused a severe block in embryonic development, while showed no significant effects on ovary development and egg laying. Transcriptome sequencing analysis showed that 72 genes encoding ribosome proteins were significantly down-regulated in the HNF4 -silenced BPH and "ribosome" was the most-enriched pathway for the down-regulated genes. These results suggest that HNF4 controls the dynamics of egg structure, likely through its regulation of ribosome protein genes, which in turn affects the embryonic development and egg hatching. • HNF4 was highly expressed in the fat body and ovary of adult BPH female. • HNF4 knockdown resulted in a dramatic reduction in egg hatching rate. • Transcriptome sequencing analysis identified 3544 DEGs (1797 up-regulated and 1747 down-regulated) in the ovary of HNF4 -silenced BPH. • 72 ribosome genes were significantly down-regulated after HNF4 knockdown. • KEGG analysis showed that "ribosome" was the most-enriched pathway for the down-regulated genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detection of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) who do not benefit from standard chemoradiation (CRT) is an important medical need. Radiomics using 18-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) is a promising approach. In this retrospective study of 184 patients with locally advanced ESCC. 152 patients from one center were grouped into a training cohort (n = 100) and an internal validation cohort (n = 52). External validation was performed with 32 patients treated at a second center. Primary endpoint was disease-free survival (DFS), secondary endpoints were overall survival (OS) and local control (LC). FDG-PET radiomics features were selected by Lasso-Cox regression analyses and a separate radiomics signature was calculated for each endpoint. In the training cohort radiomics signatures containing up to four PET derived features were able to identify non-responders in regard of all endpoints (DFS p < 0.001, LC p = 0.003, OS p = 0.001). After successful internal validation of the cutoff values generated by the training cohort for DFS (p = 0.025) and OS (p = 0.002), external validation using these cutoffs was successful for DFS (p = 0.002) but not for the other investigated endpoints. These results suggest that pre-treatment FDG-PET features may be useful to detect patients who do not respond to CRT and could benefit from alternative treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Production of Ala-Gln by the E. coli expressing α-amino acid ester acyltransferase was a promising technical route due to its high enzyme activity, but the continuous production ability still needs to improve. Therefore, the immobilized E. coli expressing α-amino acid ester acyltransferase was applied for the continuous production of Ala-Gln. Four materials were selected as embedding medium for the whole cell entrapment of recombinant bacteria. Calcium alginate beads were found to be the most proper entrapment carrier for production of Ala-Gln. The temperature, pH, and repeatability of the immobilized cell were compared with free cells. Results showed that immobilization cell could maintain a wider range of temperature/pH and better stability than free cell (20–35 °C/pH 8.0–9.0, and 25 °C/pH 8.5, respectively). On this basis, continuous production strategy was put forward by filling the immobilized cell in the tubular reactor with multiple control conditions. The Ala-Gln by immobilization cell achieved the productivity of 2.79 mg/(min*mL-CV) without intermittent time. Consequently, these findings suggest that the immobilization technique has potential applications in the production of Ala-Gln by biotechnological method. Key points: • Immobilization helps to achieve high efficiency production of Ala-Gln. • Immobilized cells have better stability than free cells. • Sodium alginate is the most suitable immobilized material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) parameters have shown prognostic value in nasopharyngeal carcinomas (NPC), mostly in monocenter studies. The aim of this study was to assess the prognostic impact of standard and novel PET parameters in a multicenter cohort of patients. Methods: The established PET parameters metabolic tumor volume (MTV), total lesion glycolysis (TLG) and maximal standardized uptake value (SUVmax) as well as the novel parameter tumor asphericity (ASP) were evaluated in a retrospective multicenter cohort of 114 NPC patients with FDG-PET staging, treated with (chemo)radiation at 8 international institutions. Uni- and multivariable Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier analysis with respect to overall survival (OS), event-free survival (EFS), distant metastases-free survival (FFDM), and locoregional control (LRC) was performed for clinical and PET parameters. Results: When analyzing metric PET parameters, ASP showed a significant association with EFS (p = 0.035) and a trend for OS (p = 0.058). MTV was significantly associated with EFS (p = 0.026), OS (p = 0.008) and LRC (p = 0.012) and TLG with LRC (p = 0.019). TLG and MTV showed a very high correlation (Spearman's rho = 0.95), therefore TLG was subesequently not further analysed. Optimal cutoff values for defining high and low risk groups were determined by maximization of the p-value in univariate Cox regression considering all possible cutoff values. Generation of stable cutoff values was feasible for MTV (p<0.001), ASP (p = 0.023) and combination of both (MTV+ASP = occurrence of one or both risk factors, p<0.001) for OS and for MTV regarding the endpoints OS (p<0.001) and LRC (p<0.001). In multivariable Cox (age >55 years + one binarized PET parameter), MTV >11.1ml (hazard ratio (HR): 3.57, p<0.001) and ASP > 14.4% (HR: 3.2, p = 0.031) remained prognostic for OS. MTV additionally remained prognostic for LRC (HR: 4.86 p<0.001) and EFS (HR: 2.51 p = 0.004). Bootstrapping analyses showed that a combination of high MTV and ASP improved prognostic value for OS compared to each single variable significantly (p = 0.005 and p = 0.04, respectively). When using the cohort from China (n = 57 patients) for establishment of prognostic parameters and all other patients for validation (n = 57 patients), MTV could be successfully validated as prognostic parameter regarding OS, EFS and LRC (all p-values <0.05 for both cohorts). Conclusions: In this analysis, PET parameters were associated with outcome of NPC patients. MTV showed a robust association with OS, EFS and LRC. Our data suggest that combination of MTV and ASP may potentially further improve the risk stratification of NPC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Impaired function of masticatory muscles will lead to trismus. Routine delineation of these muscles during planning may improve dose tracking and facilitate dose reduction resulting in decreased radiation-related trismus. This study aimed to compare a deep learning model with a commercial atlas-based model for fast auto-segmentation of the masticatory muscles on head and neck computed tomography (CT) images.Material and Methods: Paired masseter (M), temporalis (T), medial and lateral pterygoid (MP, LP) muscles were manually segmented on 56 CT images. CT images were randomly divided into training (n = 27) and validation (n = 29) cohorts. Two methods were used for automatic delineation of masticatory muscles (MMs): Deep learning auto-segmentation (DLAS) and atlas-based auto-segmentation (ABAS). The automatic algorithms were evaluated using Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), recall, precision, Hausdorff distance (HD), HD95, and mean surface distance (MSD). A consolidated score was calculated by normalizing the metrics against interobserver variability and averaging over all patients. Differences in dose (∆Dose) to MMs for DLAS and ABAS segmentations were assessed. A paired t-test was used to compare the geometric and dosimetric difference between DLAS and ABAS methods.Results: DLAS outperformed ABAS in delineating all MMs (p < 0.05). The DLAS mean DSC for M, T, MP, and LP ranged from 0.83 ± 0.03 to 0.89 ± 0.02, the ABAS mean DSC ranged from 0.79 ± 0.05 to 0.85 ± 0.04. The mean value for recall, HD, HD95, MSD also improved with DLAS for auto-segmentation. Interobserver variation revealed the highest variability in DSC and MSD for both T and MP, and the highest scores were achieved for T by both automatic algorithms. With few exceptions, the mean ∆D98%, ∆D95%, ∆D50%, and ∆D2% for all structures were below 10% for DLAS and ABAS and had no detectable statistical difference (P > 0.05). DLAS based contours had dose endpoints more closely matched with that of the manually segmented when compared with ABAS.Conclusions: DLAS auto-segmentation of masticatory muscles for the head and neck radiotherapy had improved segmentation accuracy compared with ABAS with no qualitative difference in dosimetric endpoints compared to manually segmented contours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cervical cancer (CC) represents the fourth most frequently diagnosed malignancy affecting women all over the world. However, effective prognostic biomarkers are still limited for accurately identifying high-risk patients. Here, we provided a combination machine learning algorithm-based signature to predict the prognosis of cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC).Methods and Materials: After utilizing RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data from 36 formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples, the most significant modules were highlighted by the weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). A candidate genes-based prognostic classifier was constructed by the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and then validated in an independent validation set. Finally, based on the multivariate analysis, a nomogram including the FIGO stage, therapy outcome, and risk score level was built to predict progression-free survival (PFS) probability.Results: A mRNA-based signature was developed to classify patients into high- and low-risk groups with significantly different PFS and overall survival (OS) rate (training set: p < 0.001 for PFS, p = 0.016 for OS; validation set: p = 0.002 for PFS, p = 0.028 for OS). The prognostic classifier was an independent and powerful prognostic biomarker for PFS in both cohorts (training set: hazard ratio [HR] = 0.13, 95% CI 0.05-0.33, p < 0.001; validation set: HR = 0.02, 95% CI 0.01-0.04, p < 0.001). A nomogram that integrated the independent prognostic factors was constructed for clinical application. The calibration curve showed that the nomogram was able to predict 1-, 3-, and 5-year PFS accurately, and it performed well in the external validation cohorts (concordance index: 0.828 and 0.864, respectively).Conclusion: The mRNA-based biomarker is a powerful and independent prognostic factor. Furthermore, the nomogram comprising our prognostic classifier is a promising predictor in identifying the progression risk of CSCC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A radiomics signature was developed and validated to predict the treatment response of concurrent chemoradiotherapy on PET images. • The limma package was been used to select the differentially expressed features. • The predicted AUC of the radiomics signature achieved 0.844 and 0.835 in the training and validation set. • The cutoff value of the radiomics signature could divide the patients into low-risk and high-risk groups. To investigate potential image markers for early prediction of treatment response on thoracic esophagus squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT). 159 thoracic ESCC patients enrolled from two institutions were divided into training and validation sets. A total of 944 radiomics features were extracted from pretreatment 18F-FDG PET images. We first performed the inter-observer reproducibility test in 10 pairs of patients (responders vs. nonresponders), and the limma package was used to identify differentially expressed features (DEFs). Then the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) logistic regression model with 10-fold cross-validation was used to construct a treatment response related radiomics signature. Finally, the performance was assessed in both sets with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and Kaplan-Meier analysis. After the inter-observer test, 691 features were considered reproducible and been retained (ICC > 0.9). 61 DEFs were selected from limma and entered into the LASSO logistic regression model. The radiomics signature was significantly associated with treatment response in the training (p < 0.001) and validation set (p = 0.026), which achieved area under curve (AUC) values of 0.844 and 0.835, respectively. Delong test results of two ROCs showed no significant difference (p = 0.918). The cut-off value of the radiomics signature could successfully divide patients into high-risk and low-risk groups in both sets. This study indicated that the proposed radiomics signature could be a useful image marker to predict the therapeutic response of thoracic ESCC patients treated with CCRT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Perturbation of the cellular redox state by stress conditions is sensed by redox‐sensitive proteins so that the cell can physiologically respond to stressors. However, the mechanisms linking sensing to response remain poorly understood in plants. Here we report that the transcription factor bZIP68 underwent in vivo oxidation in Arabidopsis cells under oxidative stress which is dependent on its redox‐sensitive Cys320 residue. bZIP68 is primarily localized to the nucleus under normal growth conditions in Arabidopsis seedlings. Oxidative stress reduces its accumulation in the nucleus and increases its cytosolic localization. Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing (ChIP‐seq) revealed that bZIP68 primarily binds to promoter regions containing the core G‐box (CACGTG) or G‐box‐like motif of the genes involved in abiotic and biotic stress responses, photosynthesis, biosynthetic processes, and transcriptional regulation. The bzip68 mutant displayed slower growth under normal conditions but enhanced tolerance to oxidative stress. The results from the ChIP‐seq and phenotypic and transcriptome comparison between the bzip68 mutant and wildtype indicate that bZIP68 normally suppresses expression of stress tolerance genes and promotes expression of growth‐related genes, whereas its inactivation enhances stress tolerance but suppresses growth. bZIP68 might balance stress tolerance with growth through the extent of its oxidative inactivation according to the environment. Significance Statement: In response to oxidative stress, the Arabidopsis bZIP68 transcription factor undergoes reversible oxidation and its inactivation enhances expression of stress response genes. bZIP68 might play a role in sensing oxidative stress to balance stress tolerance with growth through its redox switch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an epidemic model with no full immunity is analyzed on semidirected networks. Directed networks led into previous scale-free networks, and we consider that some infectious diseases do not have full immunity. So we use strong self-protection instead of immunity and establish a semidirected network infectious disease model without full immunity. The basic reproduction number R0 is calculated. If R0<1, the disease-free equilibrium E0 is locally and globally asymptotically stable. And the endemic equilibrium E∗ is globally asymptotically stable in some condition. A large number of simulation results in this paper verify the correctness of the above conclusions and provide a solution for controlling disease transmission in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the high steam velocity and low thermal parameters at the turbine's final stage, steam generates non-equilibrium condensation and forms a large number of small droplets during the process of pressure expansion. The wet steam mixed with droplets impinges on the turbine blades, endangering turbine operation safety and reducing turbine work efficiency. This article modifies the non-equilibrium condensation control equation and embeds it into the numerical simulation software to make the numerical calculation results more accurate. By modifying the inlet steam superheat in the classical experiments, the condensation characteristics of wet steam in Moses–Stein nozzles and Dykas cascades are studied. The results show that increasing inlet superheat can effectively suppress the generation of non-equilibrium condensation and reduce outlet liquid mass fraction. The minimum supercooling temperature of non-equilibrium condensation is only related to the working fluid characteristics (the steam model used in this article is around 20 K). When the inlet superheat of the cascade is large, the rapid condensation region is mainly near the suction surface. In contrast, when the superheat is low, the rapid condensation zone is mainly near the pressure surface. The condensation location is mainly affected by the intensity of internal condensation shock waves in the cascade. Increasing inlet superheat not only increases the shock wave intensity but also decreases the shock wave angle in the passage. When the inlet temperature increases by 20 K, the heat efficiency of the cascade increases by about 1%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the outstanding issues in the quantum instanton (QI) theory (or any transition-state-type theory) for thermal rate constants of chemical reactions is the choice of an appropriate “dividing surface” (DS) that separates reactants and products. (In the general version of the QI theory, there are actually two dividing surfaces involved.) This paper shows one simple and general way for choosing DSs for use in QI theory, namely, using the family of (hyper) planes normal to the minimum energy path on the potential energy surface at various distances s along it. Here the reaction coordinate is not one of the dynamical coordinates of the system (which will in general be the Cartesian coordinates of the atoms), but rather simply a parameter which specifies the DS. It is also shown how this idea can be implemented for an N atom system in three-dimensional space in a way that preserves overall translational and rotational invariance. Numerical application to a simple system (the collinear H+H2 reaction) is presented to illustrate the procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The clinical relevance and pathogenic role of gut microbiome in both myositis and its associated interstitial lung disease (ILD) are still unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of gut microbiome in myositis through comprehensive metagenomic-wide association studies (MWAS). We conducted MWAS of the myositis gut microbiome in a Chinese cohort by using whole-genome shotgun sequencing of high depth, including 30 myositis patients and 31 healthy controls (HC). Among the myositis patients, 11 developed rapidly progressive interstitial lung disease (RP-ILD) and 10 had chronic ILD (C-ILD). Analysis for overall distribution level of the bacteria showed Alistipes onderdonkii, Parabacteroides distasonis and Escherichia coli were upregulated, Lachnospiraceae bacterium GAM79, Roseburia intestinalis, and Akkermansia muciniphila were downregulated in patients with myositis compared to HC. Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, Parabacteroides distasonis and Escherichia coli were upregulated, Bacteroides A1C1 and Bacteroides xylanisolvens were downregulated in RP-ILD cases compared with C-ILD cases. A variety of biological pathways related to metabolism were enriched in the myositis and HC, RP-ILD and C-ILD comparison. And in the analyses for microbial contribution in metagenomic biological pathways, we have found that E. coli played an important role in the pathway expression in both myositis group and myositis-associated RP-ILD group. Anti-PL-12 antibody, anti-Ro-52 antibody, and anti-EJ antibody were found to have positive correlation with bacterial diversity (Shannon-wiener diversity index and Chao1, richness estimator) between myositis group and control groups. The combination of E. coli and R. intestinalis could distinguish myositis group from HC effectively. R. intestinalis can also be applied in the distinguishment of RP-ILD group vs. C-ILD group in myositis patients. Our MWAS study first revealed the link between gut microbiome and pathgenesis of myositis, which may help us understand the role of gut microbiome in the etiology of myositis and myositis-associated RP-ILD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The prognosis for patients with inoperable esophageal carcinoma is still poor and the reliability of individual therapy outcome prediction based on clinical parameters is not convincing. In a recent publication, we were able to show that PET can provide independent prognostic information in such a patient group and that the tumor-to-blood standard uptake ratio (SUR) can improve the prognostic value of tracer uptake values. The present investigation addresses the question of whether the distinctly improved prognostic value of SUR can be confirmed in a similar patient group that was examined and treated at a different site. Methods: 18F-FDG PET/CT was performed in 147 consecutive patients (115 male, 32 female, mean age: 62 years) with newly diagnosed esophageal squamous cell carcinoma prior to definitive radiochemotherapy. In the PET images, the metabolic active volume (MTV) of the primary tumor was delineated with an adaptive threshold method. For the resulting ROIs, SUVmax and total lesion glycolysis (TLG = MTV × SUVmean) were computed. The blood SUV was determined by manually delineating the aorta in the low-dose CT. SUR values were computed as ratio of tumor SUV and blood SUV. Univariate Cox regression and Kaplan–Meier analysis with respect to overall survival (OS), distant-metastases-free survival (DM), and locoregional control (LRC) was performed. Additionally, a multivariate Cox regression including clinically relevant parameters was performed. Results: Univariate Cox regression revealed MTV, TLG, and SURmax as significant prognostic factors for OS. MTV as well as TLG were significant prognostic factors for LRC while SURmax showed only a trend for significance. None of the PET parameters was prognostic for DM. In univariate analysis, SUVmax was not prognostic for any of the investigated clinical endpoints. In multivariate analysis (T-stage, N-stage, MTV, and SURmax), MTV was an independent prognostic factor for OS and showed a trend for significance for LRC. SURmax was not an independent predictor for OS or LRC. When including the PET parameters separately in multivariate analysis, MTV as well as SURmax were prognostic factors for OS indicating that SURmax is independent from the clinical parameters but not from MTV. In addition, MTV was an independent prognostic factor for LRC in this separate analysis. Conclusions: Our study revealed a clearly improved prognostic value of tumor SUR compared to tumor SUV and confirms our previously published findings regarding OS. Furthermore, SUR delivers prognostic information beyond that provided by the clinical parameters alone, but does not add prognostic information beyond that provided by MTV in this patient group. Therefore, our results suggest that pretherapeutic MTV is the parameter of choice for PET-based risk stratification in the considered setting but further investigations are necessary to demonstrate that this suggestion is correct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The delayed self-heterodyne interferometer (DSHI) is a simple and effective method of measuring the laser linewidth. However, conventional DSHIs generally cannot measure a full laser frequency noise power spectral density (PSD). In this article, we theoretically analyzed the PSD of the DSHI beat signal, and propose a new method to extract the PSD of the laser frequency noise directly from the PSD of the DSHI beat signal. Compared with the methods already established, our method does not need an additional frequency demodulation technique, and a full laser frequency noise PSD can be measured by using a short delay fiber. The experimental scheme is simple and can reach a high spectral resolution. The applicable conditions, resolution and influences of the experimental parameters of the method are also analyzed. An experiment is conducted to verify the proposed method. By using a 1.1 km delay fiber, the frequency noise PSD of an optical cavity-locked diode laser is evaluated for frequency range between 100 Hz and 1 MHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Riparian sediment is an important active interface zone for nitrogen-biogeochemical cycles. However, the distribution characteristics of anammox bacteria are not adequately described in the riparian sediment of urban rivers. Therefore, the distribution characteristics of anammox bacteria of Guyun river riparian sediment, which is the representative urban river, were investigated in this study. Research results showed that anammox bacterial abundance showed a significant spatial variation at the study area. Abundance values ranged from 2.00 × 105 to 1.92 × 107 copies·g−1 dry sediment. And the average value was 6.64×106 copies·g−1 dry sediment in six collected samples. Abundance of anammox bacteria was significantly related to TN, NH4+-N, and pH. Slight spatial variations of richness and diversity in Guyun river riparian sediment were obtained and physicochemical parameters of sediment samples did not significantly influence the biodiversity index of anammox bacteria. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that all amplified sequences fell within the known anammox bacterial group, i.e., Brocadia, Anammoxoglobus/Jettenia, and Kuenenia, with proportions of 33.91%, 24.35%, and 41.74%, respectively. The relative abundance of anammox bacteria showed distinctive spatial heterogeneity in six different sample sites. This finding indicated a distinct spatial variation of anammox bacterial in Guyun river riparian sediment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: 18F-FDG uptake in irradiated non-tumour-affected oesophagus (NTO) on restaging PET is a potential surrogate for the measurement of radiation-induced inflammation. Radiation-induced inflammation itself has been shown to be of high prognostic relevance in patients undergoing preoperative radiochemotherapy (RCT) for locally advanced oesophageal cancer. We assessed the prognostic relevance of FDG uptake in the NTO in an independent cohort of patients treated with definitive RCT.Methods: This retrospective evaluation included 72 patients with oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma treated with definitive RCT with curative intent. All patients underwent pretreatment and restaging FDG PET after receiving a radiation dose of 40-50 Gy. Standardized uptake values (SUVmax/SUVmean), metabolic tumour volume (MTV) and relative changes from pretreatment to restaging PET (∆SUVmax/∆SUVmean) were determined within the tumour and NTO. Univariate Cox regression with respect to overall survival (OS), local control (LC), distant metastases (DM) and treatment failure (TF) was performed. Independence of parameters was tested by multivariate Cox regression.Results: ∆SUVmax NTO and MTV were prognostic factors for all investigated clinical endpoints (OS, LC, DM, TF). Inclusion of clinical and PET tumour parameters in multivariate analysis showed that ∆SUVmax NTO was an independent prognostic factor. Furthermore, multivariate analysis of ∆SUVmax NTO using previously published cut-off values from preoperatively treated patients revealed that ∆SUVmax NTO was independent prognostic factor for OS (HR = 1.88, p = 0.038), TF (HR = 2.11, p = 0.048) and DM (HR = 3.02, p = 0.047).Conclusion: NTO-related tracer uptake during the course of treatment in patients with oesophageal carcinoma was shown to be of high prognostic relevance. Thus, metabolically activity of NTO measured in terms of ∆SUVmax NTO is a potential candidate for future treatment individualization (i.e. organ preservation). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An area‐ and energy‐efficient encoding method and encoder architecture are proposed for the quasi‐cyclic low‐density parity check (LDPC) in near‐earth applications recommended by the Consultant Committee for Space Data Systems. The proposed encoding method reduces the computational complexity using a switch network before bit XOR operations in vector–matrix multiplication. A fully parallel LDPC encoder is implemented on the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company 90 nm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology, achieving a throughput of 10.06 Tbps with the lower area and energy utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forming solid solutions is one of the most effective strategies to suppress the thermal conductivity of thermoelectric materials. However, the accompanying increase in impurity ion scattering usually results in an undesirable loss in hall mobility, negatively impacting the electrical transport properties. In this work, a tellurium–selenium (Te-Se) solid solution with trace antimony (Sb) doping was synthesized via the high pressure and high temperature method. It was found that slight Se doping into the Te sites not only had no impact on the hall mobility and carrier concentration, but also enhanced the density-of-state effective mass of Sb0.003Te0.997, leading to an enhanced power factor near room temperature. Additionally, the presence of Se doping caused a significant reduction in the phonon thermal conductivity of Te due to fluctuations in the mass and strain field. The lowest phonon thermal conductivity was as low as ~0.42 Wm−1K−1 at 600 K for Sb0.003Se0.025Te0.972, which approached the theoretical minimum value of Te (~0.28 Wm−1K−1). The effects of Se doping suppressed thermal conductivity, while Sb doping enhanced the power factor, resulting in a larger ZT of ~0.94 at 600 K. Moreover, these findings demonstrate that Sb and Se doping can effectively modulate the electrical and thermal transport properties of Te in a synergistic manner, leading to a significant increase in the average ZT across a wide temperature range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the optimum induction and reaction conditions, and fermentation process of producing Ala-Gln by E. coli Origami 2 overexpressing α-amino acid ester acyltransferase (OPA) were investigated. Besides, the Ala-Gln synthesis by OPA achieved the maximum molar yield of 94.7% and productivity of 1.89 g/L/min due to the extremely high enzyme activity. On this basis, repeated-cycle batch fermentation to produce Ala-Gln indicated that OPA could maintain high Ala-Gln yields and enzyme stabilities after several cell recycling. Consequently, the cost-efficient and environmentally friendly approach for Ala-Gln production by recycling OPA makes a great contribution to further industrial-scale applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bionic fuzzy system embeds the biologically active adaptive strategy into the traditional T-S fuzzy system, which increases the active adaptability. On the basis of the researches, an identification model is added to the system, and a hybrid bionic adaptive fuzzy control method is proposed in this paper, which makes the system have biological adaptability and strong anti-interference ability. The adaptive law contains two items: the first one is the general term for adjusting system parameters by using the current state and the second one is a compensation item for the adjustment of system parameters based on the development trend. Lyapunov synthesis method is used to analyze the stability and convergence of system. The design method of fuzzy controller, adaptive laws, and parameter constraints are given. Finally, the effectiveness of the method is verified by simulation of inverted pendulum model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Powder co-injection moulding (PCM) was carried out by using two feedstocks, 316L(60%) and 316L(40%), as core and skin feedstocks, respectively. The effects of processing parameters such as the pre-filling volume of skin feedstock, the injection temperature of core feedstock and the injection rate of skin feedstock on the profiles of the two feedstock layers were studied. It was found that the interface between core and skin feedstocks exhibited an arched shape in the transverse plane and a V shape in the longitudinal plane. There is a “maximum thickness” of core feedstock in the longitudinal direction. The penetration length and maximum thickness depended on the injection parameters. The formation mechanism of the interface was studied on the basis of rheological theory. This research provided an experimental base for the simulation work of PCM processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A numerical model was proposed to predict the co-injection step of the powder co-injection moulding (PCM) process. Several assumptions were established for the purpose of simplifying the physical models. The melt front was traced by a modified control volume method, in which the maximum thickness of core feedstock was taken into consideration. Such modification can overcome the shortage of Hele-Shaw equitation in predicting 3D flow behaviour. By using this model, the movement of the skin melt front and core/skin interface, and the profile of temperature and pressure fields were obtained. The simulations were in good accordance with the experimental results. The thickness and the penetration distance of the core feedstock were accurately predicted. The deviation between the simulated and experimental results was due to the uneven shrinkage of the green part during cooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal management is indispensable to lithium-ion battery pack especially within high power energy storage device and system. To investigate the thermal performance of lithium-ion battery pack, a type of liquid cooling method based on mini-channel cold-plate is used and the three-dimensional numerical model was established in this paper. The effects of number of channels, inlet mass flow rate, flow direction and width of channels on the thermal behaviors of the battery pack were analyzed. The results showed that the mini-channel cold-plate thermal management system provided good cooling efficiency in controlling the battery temperature at 5C discharge. A 5-channel cold-plate was enough and the temperature could be evidently reduced by increasing the inlet mass flow rate. Additionally, for the bad temperature uniformity in the design 1, design 2 was proposed and compared with the design 1. The maximum temperature and temperature difference decreased 13.3% and 43.3%, respectively. Temperature uniformity was significantly improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]