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Abstract In the cooperative vehicle‐infrastructure system (CVIS), due to its computation limitation, vehicles are difficult to handle computing‐intensive delay‐sensitive tasks, so offload tasks to roadside unit (RSU) become popular. Due to the complexity of vehicles’ tasks and tasks generated by different vehicles have different delay constraints, minimize energy consumption of RSUs under task dependence and delay constraints is challenging. This paper defines the task priority queuing criterion for the task priority division problem, proposes a task scheduling strategy for energy‐packet queue length tradeoff (TSET) in CVIS under RSUs distributed task scheduling problem and establishes the vehicle speed state model, task model, data queue model, task computing model and energy consumption model. After Lyapunov optimization theory transformed the optimization model, a knapsack problem was described. The simulation results verify that TSET reduces the average energy consumption of roadside units and ensures the stability of the data queue under task dependence and deadline conditions.

Abstract Background Elevated interstitial fluid pressure within tumors, resulting from impaired lymphatic drainage, constitutes a critical barrier to effective drug penetration and therapeutic outcomes. Results In this study, based on the photosynthetic characteristics of algae, an active drug carrier (CP@ICG) derived from Chlorella pyrenoidosa (CP) was designed and constructed. Leveraging the hypoxia tropism and phototropism exhibited by CP, we achieved targeted transport of the carrier to tumor sites. Additionally, dual near-infrared (NIR) irradiation at the tumor site facilitated photosynthesis in CP, enabling the breakdown of excessive intratumoral interstitial fluid by generating oxygen from water decomposition. This process effectively reduced the interstitial pressure, thereby promoting enhanced perfusion of blood into the tumor, significantly improving deep-seated penetration of chemotherapeutic agents, and alleviating tumor hypoxia. Conclusions CP@ICG demonstrated a combined effect of photothermal/photodynamic/starvation therapy, exhibiting excellent in vitro/in vivo anti-tumor efficacy and favorable biocompatibility. This work provides a scientific foundation for the application of microbial-enhanced intratumoral drug delivery and tumor therapy. Graphical Abstract

IntroductionIn order to explore the correlation between discharge readiness and Harris score or self-care ability of patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA) based on the enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) concept. We carried out this single center retrospective study.MethodsWe enrolled 331 patients who underwent THA. These patients were divided into the higher score group and the lower score group according to median discharge readiness score. After the baseline data of these patients were compared, the effect factors of discharge readiness of these patients was analyzed through univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses and mixed effects models.ResultsThe results demonstrated that there was a correlation between discharge readiness and changes in Harris score 30 days after discharge (compared with that before surgery) in these patients. Besides, the Harris score and self-care ability 30 days after discharge were higher than those at the time of discharge. In addition, patients in the higher score group exhibited a higher Harris score compared with those in the lower score group. From the evaluation at different time points after discharge, there was a significant difference in the Harris score between both groups.DiscussionIt can be inferred that the discharge readiness of patients undergoing THA was correlated with the Harris score but not with the self-care ability. These results are expected to provide guidance for the physical and mental recovery of patients undergoing total hip replacement under the ERAS concept. Furthermore, these findings may contribute to higher diagnosis, treatment, and nursing levels of orthopedic medical staff.

Zebrafish is a highly advantageous model animal for drug screening and toxicity evaluation thanks to its amenability to optical imaging (i.e., transparency), possession of organ structures similar to humans, and the ease with which disease models can be established. However, current zebrafish drug screening technologies and devices suffer from limitations such as low level of automation and throughput, and low accuracy caused by the heterogeneity among individual zebrafish specimens. To address these issues, we herein develop a high-throughput zebrafish drug screening system. This system is capable of maintaining optimal culturing conditions and simultaneously monitoring and analyzing the movement of 288 zebrafish larvae under various external conditions, such as drug combinations. Moreover, to eliminate the effect of heterogeneity, locomotion of participating zebrafish is assessed and grouped before experiments. It is demonstrated that in contrast to the experimental results without pre-selection, which shows ∼20 % damaged motor function (i.e., degree of attenuation), the drug-induced variations among zebrafish with equivalent mobility reaches ∼80 %. Overall, our high-throughput zebrafish drug screening system overcomes current limitations by improving automation, throughput, and accuracy, resulting in enhanced detection of drug-induced variations in zebrafish motor function.

Abstract Background The poor targeting delivery efficiency and limited efficacy of single therapeutic approach have consistently posed significant challenges in tumor management. Results In this research, we have conceived and synthesized a dual-targeting nanodrug delivery system denoted as PDA-DEM-Fe3O4@M, which incorporates a polydopamine nanoparticle (PDA) with photothermal properties, diethyl maleate (DEM) as a chemotherapy agent accelerating tumor apoptosis, iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe3O4) eliciting magnetic targeting effects, and tumor cell membranes (M) contributing to homologous targeting capabilities. The synergistic effect of PDA-induced photothermal therapy and DEM-mediated chemotherapy has been demonstrated in this study to exert a robust inhibitory and cytotoxic influence on tumor cells. Additionally, the biocompatibility of this system has also been demonstrated. Conclusions Through the synergistic effects of PDA’s photothermal therapy and DEM’s chemotherapy, this system demonstrated excellent inhibition and killing effects on tumor cells. Furthermore, we established its excellent biological safety profile. This study demonstrated the potential of this nanomaterial for clinical application in tumor therapy.

Pressure pulsations are crucial data within the flow field of a pump, and the characteristics of these pulsations can reveal changes in the internal flow. Based on model experiments, this paper obtained pressure pulsation data under two blade conditions and compared direct time-domain observations, peak-to-peak value changes, and the VMD decomposition method. The results show that even when it is known that one blade condition has changed, it is not possible to determine this through direct observation of pressure pulsation changes. The peak-to-peak value changes indicate that under special flow conditions, they are easily affected by different operating conditions, which can interfere with the results. In contrast, the VMD method, which decomposes the signal into low-frequency components, can better display anomalies within the pressure pulsation cycle and is less susceptible to the interference of flow conditions, offering some reference significance for diagnosing the blade operating conditions of the main pump.

Abstract This year marks the 20th anniversary of the discovery of LaAlO3/SrTiO3 (LAO/STO) oxide heterointerfaces. Since their discovery, transition metal oxide (TMO) interfaces have emerged as a fascinating and fast‐growing area of research, offering a variety of unique and exotic physical properties which has provided a strong impetus for the rapid advances and actualization of oxide electronics. This review revisits the fundamental mechanisms accounting for the two‐dimensional (2D) conducting interfaces, and how new models proposed to better account for the unique interfacial effects. Recent breakthroughs in the theoretical and experimental domains of oxide interfaces are also discussed including the detection and investigation of 2D quasiparticle. Moving beyond the well‐known LAO/STO interface, this review delves into other systems where unconventional interfacial superconductivity, interfacial magnetism, and spin polarization are dealt with in greater detail. In terms of device applications, this review proceeds with a treatment on the recent developments in domains including field effect transistors and freestanding heterostructure membranes. By emphasizing the opportunities and challenges of integrating oxide interfaces with existing technologies, the review will end off with an outlook projecting the progress and the trajectory of this research domain in the years to come.

Abstract Existing methods for generating synthetic aperture radar (SAR) deception jamming signals have slow speed, low imaging quality, and insufficient intelligence in complex electromagnetic environments. This paper proposes a deep learning‐based SAR deception jamming signal generation method based on deep echo inversion Unet (DEIUnet). This method has high speed and provides high‐image quality of the interference signal. A Swin Next (SN) block is proposed to combine local and non‐local information in the image and echo data. The Unet structure consists of SN blocks, and a residual connection is used as the jump connection to fuse the multi‐scale feature information from the echo and image data. PixelShuffle is utilised for up‐sampling to generate high‐quality echo data. The experimental results on MSTAR and Sentinel‐1 data sets verify the effectiveness and superiority of DEIUnet for echo inversion. The imaging results of the SAR deception jamming signal generated by DEIUnet on an MSTAR scene confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Background and aimsFew studies have examined the relationship between daytime napping and risk of kidney diseases. We aimed to investigate the association of daytime napping with the incidence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). We also examined whether sleep duration modified the association of nap with CKD or ESKD.MethodsWe recruited 460,571 European middle- to older-aged adults without prior CKD or ESKD between March 13, 2006, and October 1, 2010, in the UK Biobank. Sleep behavior data were obtained through questionnaires administered during recruitment. The analysis of the relationship between napping and the occurrence of CKD and ESKD utilized Cox proportional hazards regression models. The modification role of sleep duration on the effect of nap on CKD and ESKD was also examined.ResultsAfter a mean follow-up of 11.1 (standard deviation 2.2) years, we observed 28,330 incident CKD cases and 927 ESKD cases. The daytime napping was associated with incident CKD (P for trend = .004). After fully adjusted, when compared with participants who did not take nap, those in sometimes and usually nap groups had higher risk of CKD. Nevertheless, the available evidence did not support a link between daytime napping and ESKD (P for trend = .06). Simultaneously, there was insufficient evidence suggesting that sleeping duration modified the association of daytime napping with incident CKD or ESKD.ConclusionDaytime napping was associated with an increased risk of CKD. However, the absence of conclusive evidence did not indicate a connection between daytime napping and ESKD.

This meta-analysis examined the predictive value of admission serum and urine carboxypeptidase-B activation peptide (CAPAP) in patients with severe acute pancreatitis. PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were searched for relevant studies published up to February 21, 2022. Seven studies (439 acute pancreatitis patients) were included. The summary sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of admission serum CAPAP were 0.86 (95%CI: 0.76-0.93), 0.78 (95%CI: 0.68-0.85), 3.89 (95%CI: 2.56-5.91), 0.18 (95%CI: 0.09-0.33), 18.56 (95%CI: 6.99-49.30), and 0.90 (95%CI: 0.87-0.92), respectively; these values for admission urine CAPAP were 0.82 (95%CI: 0.50-0.95), 0.78 (95%CI: 0.68-0.86), 3.75 (95%CI: 2.40-5.85), 0.23 (95%CI: 0.07-0.79), 9.87 (95%CI: 3.71-26.22), and 0.84 (95%CI: 0.80-0.87), respectively. There were no significant differences between admission serum and urine CAPAP in sensitivity (1.05, 95%CI: 0.75-1.47; P = 0.781), specificity (1.00, 95%CI: 0.85-1.18; P = 1.000), PLR (1.04, 95%CI: 0.56-1.91; P = 0.906), NLR (0.78, 95%CI: 0.20-3.10; P = 0.727), and DOR (1.88, 95%CI: 0.47-7.49; P = 0.370). The AUC of serum CAPAP (1.07, 95%: 1.02-1.13; P = 0.007) was higher than that of urine CAPAP in predicting acute pancreatitis severity. Both admission serum and urine CAPAP had moderate predictive values for assessing the severity of acute pancreatitis. Key highlights Both admission serum and urine carboxypeptidase-B activation peptide (CAPAP) had moderate predictive values for assessing the severity of acute pancreatitis. The predictive value of admission serum CAPAP was higher than that of admission urine CAPAP in predicting acute pancreatitis severity. Including the measurement of serum CAPAP at admission in patients with suspected pancreatitis could help triage the patients and determine the course of management. Hospital policymakers could consider including it among the routine tests at admission for such patients.

Abstract Background Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the gold standard for evaluating body composition. However, the reference ranges have not been established. Methods Three lean tissue and seven adipose tissue parameters based on MRI data from the UK Biobank were used in this study. Participants with European ancestry and data on at least one parameter were screened. Age‐ and sex‐specific percentile curves were generated using the lambda–mu–sigma method. Three levels of reference ranges were provided, which were equivalent to the mean ± 1 standard deviation (SD), 2 SDs and 2.5 SDs. Results The final analysis set for each parameter ranged from 4842 to 14 148 participants (53.4%–56.6% women) with a median age of 61. For lean tissue parameters, compared with those at age 45, the median total lean tissue volume and total thigh fat‐free muscle volume at age 70 were 2.83 and 1.73 L, and 3.02 and 1.51 L lower in men and women, respectively. The median weight‐to‐muscle ratios at age 45 were 0.51 and 0.83 kg/L lower compared with those at age 70 in men and women, respectively. Adipose tissue parameters showed inconsistent differences. In men, the median muscle fat infiltration, visceral adipose tissue (VAT) volume, total abdominal adipose tissue index and abdominal fat ratio were 1.48%, 0.32 L, 0.08 L/m2 and 0.4 higher, and the median abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (ASAT) volume and total adipose tissue volume were 0.47 and 0.41 L lower, respectively, at age 70 than at age 45. The median total trunk fat volume was approximately 9.53 L at all ages. In women, the median muscle fat infiltration and VAT volume were 1.68% and 0.76 L higher, respectively, at age 70 than at age 45. The median ASAT volume, total adipose tissue volume, total trunk fat volume, total abdominal adipose tissue index and abdominal fat ratio were 0.35 L, 0.78 L, 1.12 L, 0.49 L/m2 and 0.06 higher, respectively, at age 60 than at age 45. The medians of the former three parameters were 0.33 L, 0.14 L and 0.20 L lower, at age 70 than at age 60. The medians of the latter two parameters were approximately 3.64 L/m2 and 0.55 at ages between 60 and 70. Conclusions We have established reference ranges for MRI‐measured body composition parameters in a large community‐dwelling population. These findings provide a more accurate assessment of abnormal adipose and muscle conditions.

The intricate geological conditions of reservoir banks render them highly susceptible to destabilization and damage from fluctuations in water levels. The study area, the Cheyipin section of the Huangdeng Hydroelectric Station, is characterized by numerous ancient landslides of varying scales and ages. In June 2019, during the reservoir filling process of the Huangdeng Hydroelectric Station, a large-scale reactivation of ancient landslides occurred in this area, posing severe threats to riverside infrastructure and human safety, including ground cracking, house cracking, foundation settlement, and road collapse. The reactivation mechanism of ancient landslides at reservoir banks is highly complex due to fluid dynamics. This study conducted field investigations in the Cheyipin landslide area, monitored surface and subsurface deformations using GNSS and inclinometers, and analyzed the distribution characteristics, destruction features, and reactivation mechanisms of the landslides through correlation analysis and numerical calculations. The results indicate that the instability pattern of the slopes manifests as traction-type sliding failure. The slopes do not slide along the ancient sliding surface but along a newly formed arcuate sliding surface, with the direct impact area mainly concentrated near the waterline. The stability of the slopes in this project is closely related to the reservoir water level. It can be assumed that the lowering of the reservoir water level triggered the reactivation of the ancient landslides in the Cheyipin section, while the influence of rainfall can be ignored. To prevent the reactivation of ancient landslides, attention should be focused on the changes in reservoir water level, avoiding rapid adjustments in water level during the initial lowering and final raising of the water level.

This study focuses on addressing the pollution caused by Ni in water. To enhance the removal efficiency of Ni2+, attapulgite (ATP) from Linze County, Gansu Province, China, was used as a carrier to prepare attapulgite loaded with nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI@ATP) via a liquid-phase reduction. This approach aims to mitigate the aggregation and oxidation tendencies of nZVI, thereby improving its performance in Ni2+ removal. The results revealed that nZVI@ATP exhibited a mesoporous structure with a specific surface area and an average pore size of 51.79 m2/g and 9.22 nm. Notably, nZVI@ATP showed a remarkably reduced agglomeration phenomenon. In addition, nZVI@ATP demonstrated a considerably more excellent adsorption performance for Ni2+ than raw ATP and pure nZVI, as its highest adsorption capacity was 143.20 mg/g when the iron–ATP ratio was 2:1 (initial concentration: 200 mg/L, initial pH: 5, temperature: 298 K, and dosing amount: 1 g/L). The adsorption of Ni2+ by nZVI@ATP followed the quasi-secondary kinetic model, and the removal rate of Ni2+ was inversely proportional to the initial concentration and directly proportional to the dosage. The adsorption capacity tended to increase and then decrease as the pH increased. The removal mechanism of Ni2+ by nZVI@ATP involved adsorption, reduction, and precipitation, with the significant mechanism being the induced Ni(OH)2 precipitation on the nZVI@ATP surface.

The sulfidation of nanoscale zerovalent iron (nZVI) has received increasing attention for reducing the oxidizability of nZVI and improving its reactivity toward heavy metal ions. Here, a sulfide (S)-modified attapulgite (ATP)-supported nanoscale nZVI composite (S-nZVI@ATP) was rapidly synthesized under acidic conditions and used to alleviate Cd2+ toxicity from an aqueous solution. The degree of oxidation of S-nZVI@ATP was less than that of nZVI@ATP, indicating that the sulfide modification significantly reduced the oxidation of nZVI. The optimal loading ratio was at an S-to-Fe molar ratio of 0.75, and the adsorption performance of S-nZVI@ATP for Cd2+ was significantly improved compared with that of nZVI@ATP. The removal of Cd2+ by S-nZVI@ATP was 100% when the adsorbent addition was 1 g/L, the solution was 30 mL, and the adsorption was performed at 25 °C for 24 h with an initial Cd2+ concentration of 100 mg/L. Kinetics studies showed that the adsorption process of Cd followed the pseudo-second-order model, indicating that chemisorption was the dominant adsorption mechanism. The adsorption of Cd2+ by S-nZVI @ATP is dominated by the complexation between the iron oxide or iron hydroxide shell of S-nZVI and Cd2+ and the formation of Cd(OH)2 and CdS precipitates. HIGHLIGHTS S-nZVI was loaded on ATP, effectively preventing nZVI agglomeration, and the sulfide modification significantly reduced the oxidation of nZVI.; Cd2+ removal was mailly attributed to complex with the iron oxides or iron hydroxide shell of S-nZVI.; S-nZVI@ATP showed a stable adsorption effect on Cd2+ over a wide pH range.; The removal of Cd2+ by S-nZVI@ATP follows the quasi-second-order kinetic adsorption model.;

Highly magnified stars residing in caustic crossing lensed galaxies at z ≃ 0.7–1.5 in galaxy cluster lensing fields inevitably exhibit recurrent brightening events as they traverse a microcaustic network cast down by foreground intracluster stars. The detectable ones belong to nature’s most massive and luminous class of stars, with evolved blue supergiants being the brightest ones at optical wavelengths. Considering single stars in this work, we study to what extent intrinsic stellar parameters are measurable from multifilter light curves, which can be obtained with optical/near-IR space telescopes during one or multiple caustic crossing events. We adopt a realistic model for the axisymmetric surface brightness profiles of rotating O/B stars and develop a numerical lensing code that treats finite source size effects. With a single microcaustic crossing, the ratio of the surface rotation velocity to the breakup value is measurable to a precision of ∼0.1–0.2 for feasible observation parameters with current space telescopes, with all unknown intrinsic and extrinsic parameters marginalized over and without a degeneracy with inclination. Equatorial radius and bolometric luminosity can be measured to 1/3 and 2/3 of the fractional uncertainty in the microcaustic strength, for which the value is not known at each crossing but an informative prior can be obtained from theory. Parameter inference precision may be further improved if multiple caustic crossing events for the same lensed star are jointly analyzed. Our results imply new opportunities to survey individual massive stars in star formation sites at z ≃ 0.7–1.5 or beyond.

A Type Ia supernova (SN) at z = 1.78 was discovered in James Webb Space Telescope Near Infrared Camera imaging of the galaxy cluster PLCK G165.7+67.0 (G165; z = 0.35). The SN is situated 1.5–2 kpc from the host-galaxy nucleus and appears in three different locations as a result of gravitational lensing by G165. These data can yield a value for Hubble’s constant using time delays from this multiply imaged SN Ia that we call “SN H0pe.” Over the cluster, we identified 21 image multiplicities, confirmed five of them using the Near-Infrared Spectrograph, and constructed a new lens model that gives a total mass within 600 kpc of (2.6 ± 0.3) × 10 ^14 M _⊙ . The photometry uncovered a galaxy overdensity coincident with the SN host galaxy. NIRSpec confirmed six member galaxies, four of which surround the SN host galaxy with relative velocity ≲900 km s ^−1 and projected physical extent ≲33 kpc. This compact galaxy group is dominated by the SN host galaxy, which has a stellar mass of (5.0 ± 0.1) × 10 ^11 M _⊙ . The group members have specific star formation rates of 2–260 Gyr ^−1 derived from the H α -line fluxes corrected for stellar absorption, dust extinction, and slit losses. Another group centered on a strongly lensed dusty star-forming galaxy is at z = 2.24. The total (unobscured and obscured) SFR of this second galaxy group is estimated to be (≳ 100 M _⊙ yr ^−1 ), which translates to a supernova rate of ∼1 SNe yr ^−1 , suggesting that regular monitoring of this cluster may yield additional SNe.

Abstract Heterotopic pancreas is a rare congenital abnormality that occurs during the growth and development process. It can be found in any part of the digestive tract, but the most common sites are the stomach, duodenum, and jejunum. Malignant transformation especially in the esophagus is rare. Here, we aim to report an unusual case of mid‐esophageal adenocarcinoma that originated from a heterotopic pancreas.

Abstract Background Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is the third most common cancer and second most common cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Ribonucleic acid (RNA) N6-methyladnosine (m6A) and methyltransferase-like 3 (METTL3) play key roles in cancer progression. However, the roles of m6A and METTL3 in CRC progression require further clarification. Methods Adenoma and CRC samples were examined to detect m6A and METTL3 levels, and tissue microarrays were performed to evaluate the association of m6A and METTL3 levels with the survival of patients with CRC. The biological functions of METTL3 were investigated through cell counting kit-8, wound healing, and transwell assays. M6A epitranscriptomic microarray, methylated RNA immunoprecipitation-qPCR, RNA stability, luciferase reporter, and RNA immunoprecipitation assays were performed to explore the mechanism of METTL3 in CRC progression. Results M6A and METTL3 levels were substantially elevated in CRC tissues, and patients with CRC with a high m6A or METTL3 levels exhibited shorter overall survival. METTL3 knockdown substantially inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of CRC cells. An m6A epitranscriptomic microarray revealed that the cell polarity regulator Crumbs3 (CRB3) was the downstream target of METTL3. METTL3 knockdown substantially reduced the m6A level of CRB3, and inhibited the degradation of CRB3 mRNA to increase CRB3 expression. Luciferase reporter assays also showed that the transcriptional level of wild-type CRB3 significantly increased after METTL3 knockdown but not its level of variation. Knockdown of YT521-B homology domain–containing family protein 2 (YTHDF2) substantially increased CRB3 expression. RNA immunoprecipitation assays also verified the direct interaction between the YTHDF2 and CRB3 mRNA, and this direct interaction was impaired after METTL3 inhibition. In addition, CRB3 knockdown significantly promoted the proliferation, migration, and invasion of CRC cells. Mechanistically, METTL3 knockdown activated the Hippo pathway and reduced nuclear localization of Yes1-associated transcriptional regulator, and the effects were reversed by CRB3 knockdown. Conclusions M6A and METTL3 levels were substantially elevated in CRC tissues relative to normal tissues. Patients with CRC with high m6A or METTL3 levels exhibited shorter overall survival, and METTL3 promoted CRC progression. Mechanistically, METTL3 regulated the progression of CRC by regulating the m6A–CRB3–Hippo pathway.

ObjectivesEven underwent radical resection, some patients of thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) are still exposed to local recurrence in a short time. To this end, the present study sought to differentiate patient subgroups by assessing risk factors for postoperative early (within one year) local lymph node recurrence (PELLNR).MethodsESCC patients were selected from a prospective database, and divided into high- and low-risk groups according to the time of their local lymphatic recurrence (within one year or later). Survival analysis was conducted by the Cox regression model to evaluate the overall survival (OS) between the two groups. The hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of different variables were also calculated. Logistic regression analysis was used to explore the high-risk factors for PELLNR with the odds ratio (OR) and 95% CI calculated.ResultsA total of 432 cases were included. The survival of patients in the high-risk group (n = 47) was significantly inferior to the low-risk group (n = 385) (HR = 11.331, 95% CI: 6.870–16.688, P

Abstract Background Surgery is an important component in the treatment of esophageal cancer. For patients not eligible for R0 resection, defined as locally advanced unresectable esophageal cancer, a new approach is to transform the cancer into a resectable state by preoperative treatment. However, preoperative chemo/radiation is unsatisfactory. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of chemo/radiotherapy combined with a programmed cell death protein 1 (PD‐1) inhibitor in the preoperative transformation of unresectable esophageal cancer. Methods Patients were evaluated as having unresectable, locally advanced esophageal cancer at baseline and were re‐evaluated as possible R0 resection candidates after PD‐1 inhibitor treatment. Patient data were derived from the prospective database of Peking University Cancer Hospital Thoracic Surgery I. Preoperative chemotherapy plus PD‐1 inhibitor treatment was defined as “transformation treatment.” The objective response rate, operation rate (proportion of patients who underwent surgery), R0 rate, and treatment safety were analyzed retrospectively. Results A total of 36 patients were enrolled into the study, and 94.4% (34/36) completed the planned transformation treatment. The objective response rate was 71.4% (25/35), and 75% (27/36) of the patients who completed transformation treatment underwent surgery. For these surgical patients, 81.5% (22/27) obtained R0 resection, and 22.2% (6/22) had pathological complete response (pCR). During transformation treatment, 22.2% (8/36) patients had ≥ grade 3 complications. There were no reoperations or perioperative deaths. After surgery, 29.6% (8/27) had ≥ grade 3 complications. Conclusions Esophagectomy after immunotherapy is safe with acceptable complications. Compared with chemotherapy alone, chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy had a more favorable transformation effect for patients with unresectable esophageal cancer.

Abstract Background Mediastinal lymph node metastases (MLNM) are not rare in thyroid cancer, but their treatment has not been extensively studied. This study aimed to explore the preliminary application of video mediastinoscopy-assisted superior mediastinal dissection in the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid carcinoma with mediastinal lymphadenopathy. Materials and methods We retrospectively reviewed the clinical pathologic data and short-term outcomes of thyroid cancer patients with suspicious MLNM treated with video mediastinoscopy-assisted mediastinal dissection at our institution from 2017 to 2020. Results Nineteen patients were included: 14 with medullary thyroid carcinoma and five with papillary thyroid carcinoma. Superior mediastinal nodes were positive in nine (64.3%) patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma and in four (80.0%) patients with papillary carcinoma. No fatal bleeding occurred. There were three cases of temporary recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) palsy postoperatively, one of which was bilateral. Four patients had temporary hypocalcemia requiring supplementation, one had a chyle fistula, and one developed wound infection after the procedure. Postoperative serum molecular markers decreased in all patients. One patient died of cancer while the other 18 patients remained disease-free, with a median follow-up of 33 months. Conclusion Video mediastinoscopy-assisted superior mediastinal dissection can be performed relatively safely in patients with suspicious MLNM. This diagnostic and therapeutic approach may help control locoregional recurrences.

ObjectiveLong-term acupoint stimulation (LAS), also called embedding acupuncture, is a modified acupuncture technique. The preliminary results have demonstrated its efficacy in body-weight control. However, the low quality of available trials limited its application. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of LAS in body-weight control by using a randomized, parallel, sham-controlled clinical trial design.MethodsThis was a randomized, single-blind, sham-controlled clinical trial including 84 adult participants (18–60 years) with a body mass index (BMI) of ≥ 24 kg/m2 conducted in three general hospitals in Shanghai, China. Participants were equally assigned to receive LAS or sham LAS (SLAS) once per 10 days, eight times in total. After completion, an additional intervention with a 3-month follow-up period was set to examine the continued effect of LAS. The primary outcome was the change in body weight from baseline to treatment endpoint within the intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis. Secondary outcomes contained changes in waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), lipid metabolism, and visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissues.ResultsFrom 14 May 2018 to 03 November 2019, 84 participants out of 201 screened individuals met the eligibility criteria, were randomized, and were analyzed (42 participants in each group). From baseline to treatment endpoint, the body-weight reduction in the LAS group was significantly larger than in the sham control (net difference: 1.57 kg, 95% CI: 0.29–2.86, p = 0.012). The superior weight reduction effect persisted in the follow-up period (net difference: 3.20 kg, 95% CI: 1.17–5.21, p = 0.001). LAS therapy also showed improvement in triglyceride and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) compared with sham control. One participant in the LAS group reported a slightly uncomfortable and tingling sensation after the additional intervention. No other adverse events (AEs) were documented.ConclusionLAS, a modified acupuncture technique, is safe and effective in body-weight control. It could be used as an alternative choice to classical acupuncture for obesity management.Clinical Trial Registration[www.chictr.org.cn], identifier [ChiCTR1800015498].

ObjectiveTo explore the differences in the clinical efficacy, complications, and safety of transurethral plasmakinetic resection of the prostate (PKRP) by the conventional approach versus the approach preserving the urethral mucosa at the prostatic apex in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).MethodsA total of 90 patients with PKRP admitted to the First Hospital of Qinhuangdao from December 2018 to March 2021 were selected and divided into a control group (conventional PKRP, n = 45) and an observation group (PKRP with preserved urethral mucosa at the prostatic apex, n = 45). The clinical efficacy, safety, and sexual function of the groups were evaluated using the patients’ International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), quality of life (QoL), prostate volume, maximum flow rate (Qmax), post-void residual (PVR), blood loss, surgical resection efficiency, and surgical complication data.ResultsThe differences in the preoperative indicators, glandectomy quality, and glandectomy rate between the groups were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). However, in the observation group, the surgery time and blood loss were significantly lower compared with the control group, and the resection efficiency was significantly higher, with statistical significance (P 0.05). In terms of surgical complications, the incidences of urinary incontinence and other complications after catheter extraction were significantly lower in the observation group than in the control group, and the differences between the groups were statistically significant (P

Abstract Phenology is an important indicator of global climate change. Revealing the spatiotemporal characteristics of crop phenology is vital for ameliorating the adverse effects of climate change and guiding regional agricultural production. This study evaluated the spatiotemporal variability of soybean’s phenological stages and key growth periods, and assessed their sensitivity to key climatic factors, utilizing a long-term dataset (1992–2018) of soybean phenology and associated meteorological data collected at 51 stations across China. The results showed that (1) during the soybean growing seasons from 1992 to 2018, the average temperature (0.34 ± 0.09 ℃ decade−1) and cumulative precipitation (6.66 ± 0.93 mm decade−1) increased, but cumulative sunshine hours (− 33.98 ± 1.05 h decade−1) decreased. (2) On a national scale, dates of sowing, emergence, trifoliate, anthesis, and podding of soybean were delayed, while the maturity date showed an advancing trend. The vegetative growth period (− 0.52 ± 0.24 days decade−1) and whole growth period (− 1.32 ± 0.30 days decade−1) of soybean were shortened, but the reproductive growth period (0.05 ± 0.26 days decade−1) was slightly extended. Trends in soybean phenological stages and key growth periods diverged in regions. Soybean phenological stages were delayed in Huang-Huai-Hai soybean zone, whereas advanced in southern soybean zone. Moreover, the key growth periods were greatly shortened in northern soybean zone. (3) In general, the sensitivity of soybean key growth periods to temperature was negative, whereas those to precipitation and sunshine hours differed among regions. In particular, most phenological stages were negatively sensitive to sunshine hours. Our results will provide scientific support for decision-making in agricultural production practices.

In Cooperative Vehicle Infrastructure System (CVIS), the roadside unit (RSU) obtains many kinds of monitoring data through observation equipment carried by the RSU. The monitoring data from RSUs are transmitted to an RSU that is connected to the backbone network using the “store–carry–forward” scheme through the mobile vehicle. The monitoring data obtained by RSUs are timely, and different types of monitoring data have corresponding timelines. Reducing end-to-end delays to ensure more packets can be transmitted before deadlines is challenging. In this paper, we propose a Distributed Packet Scheduling Scheme for Delay-Packets Queue Length Tradeoff System (DDPS) in CVIS to solve the multi-RSU-distributed packet transmission problem. We also establish the vehicle speed state, vehicle communication quantity prediction, data arrival, and end-to-end delay minimization models. After Lyapunov’s optimization theory transformed the optimization model, a knapsack problem was described. The simulation results verified that DDPS reduced the end-to-end average delay and ensured the data queue’s stability under packet deadline conditions.

Background DNA damage repair is an important mechanism of platinum resistance. HOXB7 is one member of HOX family genes, which are essential developmental regulators and frequently dysregulated in cancer. Recently, its relevance in chemotherapy resistance and DNA damage repair has also been addressed. However, little is known regarding the association between HOXB7 and chemotherapy resistance in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Methods The association between HOXB7 expression detected by immunohistochemisty and tumor regression grade (TRG) and long‐term survival was analyzed in 143 ESCC patients who underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy. CCK8 assay was used to examine the effect of cisplatin in a panel of four ESCC cell lines. A stable cell strain with HOXB7 knockdown of KYSE150 and KYSE450 was established to explore the effect on cisplatin sensitivity. The interaction of HOXB7 with Ku70, Ku80 and DNA‐PKcs was determined by GST‐pull down, coimmunoprecipitation and immunofluorescent colocalization. Finally, we investigated whether disrupting HOXB7 function by a synthetic peptide HXR9 blocking the formation of HOXB7/PBX could enhance cisplatin sensitivity in vitro and in vivo. Results High expression of HOXB7 was associated with cisplatin resistance and worse chemotherapy efficacy. HOXB7 knockdown reinforced cisplatin sensitivity. It was identified that HOXB7 interacts with Ku70, Ku80 and DNA‐PKcs. HOXB7 knockdown was related to the downregulation of Ku70, Ku80 and DNA‐PKcs as well as arrested cell cycle in S phase. HOXB7 inhibition by HXR9 had a synergistic effect to improve cisplatin sensitivity. Conclusion HOXB7 may be a biomarker for the prediction of chemoresistance of ESCC and serves as a promising therapeutic target.

Strong lensing offers a precious opportunity for studying the formation and early evolution of super star clusters that are rare in our cosmic backyard. The Sunburst Arc, a lensed Cosmic Noon galaxy, hosts a young super star cluster with escaping Lyman continuum radiation. Analyzing archival Hubble Space Telescope images and emission line data from Very Large Telescope/MUSE and X-shooter, we construct a physical model for the cluster and its surrounding photoionized nebula. We confirm that the cluster is ≲4 Myr old, is extremely massive M _⋆ ∼ 10 ^7 M _⊙ , and yet has a central component as compact as several parsecs, and we find a gas-phase metallicity Z = (0.22 ± 0.03) Z _⊙ . The cluster is surrounded by ≳10 ^5 M _⊙ of dense clouds that have been pressurized to P ∼ 10 ^9 K cm ^−3 by perhaps stellar radiation at within 10 pc. These should have large neutral columns N _HI > 10 ^22.8 cm ^−2 to survive rapid ejection by radiation pressure. The clouds are likely dusty as they show gas-phase depletion of silicon, and may be conducive to secondary star formation if N _HI > 10 ^24 cm ^−2 or if they sink farther toward the cluster center. Detecting strong [N iii ] λ λ 1750,1752, we infer heavy nitrogen enrichment $\mathrm{log}({\rm{N}}/{\rm{O}})=-{0.21}_{-0.11}^{+0.10}$ . This requires efficiently retaining ≳500 M _⊙ of nitrogen in the high-pressure clouds from massive stars heavier than 60 M _⊙ up to 4 Myr. We suggest a physical origin of the high-pressure clouds from partial or complete condensation of slow massive star ejecta, which may have an important implication for the puzzle of multiple stellar populations in globular clusters.

To inhibit the oxidation, passivation, and agglomeration of nano-zero-valent iron (nZVI), a liquid phase reduction method was used to load sulfurized nZVI onto acid-modified ATP with attapulgite (ATP) as the carrier (S-nZVI@ATP). The performance and mechanism of this material were studied for Pb ^2+ removal in water. The S-nZVI@ATP preparation prevents the agglomeration of nZVI particles and reduces nZVI oxidation. Pb ^2+ removal proceeds efficiently and stably when using S-nZVI@ATP at pH values ranging from 2.5–5.5. According to the electron sharing and transfer-based pseudo-second-order kinetic model, the Pb ^2+ is adsorbed onto S-nZVI@ATP, and the speed control step is completed by liquid film diffusion and intraparticle diffusion. The S-nZVI@ATP mediated Pb ^2+ adsorption is well-described by Freundlich’s isothermal adsorption model, which is a multilayer chemical adsorption process. The temperature and initial Pb ^2+ concentration were varied, and it was determined that Pb ^2+ adsorbs on S-nZVI@ATP in an endothermic reaction. This S-nZVI@ATP composite material has high reducibility, high surface activity, and good adsorption properties for Pb ^2+ . Tests were performed for 24 h using adsorbent (1 g l ^−1 ) in Pb ^2+ solution (30 ml). For an initial Pb ^2+ concentration of 700 mg l ^−1 , S ^−1 -nZVI@ATP removes 57.37% of the Pb ^2+ and has an adsorption capacity of 401.60 mg g ^−1 . In addition to forming PbS and Pb(OH) _2 precipitates, Pb ^2+ also complexes with the Fe/H oxide shell of S-nZVI@ATP, and Fe ^0 reduces some Pb ^2+ on the nZVI to Pb ^0 . The results exhibited that S-nZVI@ATP has excellent potential as an adsorbent for the removal of Pb ^2+ from the industrial wastewater.

The massive galaxy cluster El Gordo ( z = 0.87) imprints multitudes of gravitationally lensed arcs onto James Webb Space Telescope Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) images. Eight bands of NIRCam imaging were obtained in the “Prime Extragalactic Areas for Reionization and Lensing Science” (“PEARLS”) program. Point-spread function–matched photometry across Hubble Space Telescope and NIRCam filters supplies new photometric redshifts. A new light-traces-mass lens model based on 56 image multiplicities identifies the two mass peaks and yields a mass estimate within 500 kpc of (7.0 ± 0.30) × 10 ^14 M _⊙ . A search for substructure in the 140 cluster members with spectroscopic redshifts confirms the two main mass components. The southeastern mass peak that contains the brightest cluster galaxy is more tightly bound than the northwestern one. The virial mass within 1.7 Mpc is (5.1 ± 0.60)×10 ^14 M _⊙ , lower than the lensing mass. A significant transverse velocity component could mean the virial mass is underestimated. We contribute one new member to the previously known z = 4.32 galaxy group. Intrinsic (delensed) positions of the five secure group members span a physical extent of ∼60 kpc. 13 additional candidates selected by spectroscopic/photometric constraints are small and faint, with a mean intrinsic luminosity ∼2.2 mag fainter than L ^* . NIRCam imaging admits a fairly wide range of brightnesses and morphologies for the group members, suggesting a more diverse galaxy population in this galaxy overdensity.

A bi-directional pump is designed by using S-shaped hydrofoil, is the most convenient way to achieve bi-directional operation. In this paper, high-speed photography is used to visualize the flow field characteristics of the bidirectional pump under different cavitation numbers, and the flow field changes caused by cavitation are quantitatively analyzed in combination with the pressure pulsation sensor. The results show that the operation efficiency of the bidirectional pump in reverse operation is lower than that in forward operation. Tip clearance cavitation occurs on both suction and pressure surfaces of the impeller under reverse operation and large flow. In reverse operation, the influence of guide vane on the main frequency of pressure pulsation in the impeller is obvious. The quasi-periodic vertical cavitation flow phenomenon increases the amplitude of pressure pulsation in the impeller and becomes the main component of the internal flow in the bidirectional axial flow pump.

PD-(L)1 inhibitor could improve the survival of locally advanced esophageal cancer (ESCA) patients, but we cannot tailor the treatment to common biomarkers. WNT signaling activation was associated with primary resistance to immunotherapy. In this study, we used our two clinical cohorts (BJCH n = 95, BJIM n = 21) and three public cohorts to evaluate and verify a new immunotherapeutic biomarker based on WNT signaling in ESCA patients. Our findings showed that WNT signaling-related genes stratified TCGA patients into Cluster 1, 2, and 3, among which, Cluster 3 had the worst prognosis. The most up- and down-regulated genes in Cluster 3 were IGFBP1 and WNT3A. Further analysis validated that IGFBP1hiWNT3Alo ESCA patients had significantly poor RFS and OS in the TCGA and BJCH cohorts. Interestingly, IGFBP1hiWNT3Alo patients had a good response and prognosis with immunotherapy in three independent cohorts, exhibiting better predictive value than PD-L1 expression (signature AUC = 0.750; PD-L1 AUC = 0.571). Moreover, IGFBP1hiWNT3Alo patients may benefit more from immunotherapy than standard treatment (p = 0.026). Immune cell infiltration analysis revealed a significant increase in DC infiltration in IGFBP1hiWNT3Alo patients post-immunotherapy (p = 0.022), which may enhance immune response. The IGFBP1hiWNT3Alo signature could predict patients who benefited from PD-(L)1 inhibitor treatment and may serve as a biomarker in ESCA.

The thermodynamic phase behavior of charged polymers is a crucial property underlying their role in biology and various industrial applications. A complete understanding of the phase behaviors of such polymer solutions remains challenging due to the multi-component nature of the system and the delicate interplay among various factors, including the translational entropy of each component, excluded volume interactions, chain connectivity, electrostatic interactions, and other specific interactions. In this work, the phase behavior of partially charged ion-containing polymers in polar solvents is studied by further developing a liquid-state (LS) theory with local shortrange interactions. This work is based on the LS theory developed for fully-charged polyelectrolyte solutions. Specific interactions between charged groups of the polymer and counterions, between neutral segments of the polymer, and between charged segments of the polymer are incorporated into the LS theory by an extra Helmholtz free energy from the perturbed-chain statistical associating fluid theory (PC-SAFT). The influence of the sequence structure of the partially charged polymer is modeled by the number of connections between bonded segments. The effects of chain length, charge fraction, counterion valency, and specific short-range interactions are explored. A computational App for salt-free polymer solutions is developed and presented, which allows easy computation of the binodal curve and critical point by specifying values for the relevant model parameters.

Nanopore microscopy is capable of detecting knots in DNA polymers, a common structural feature. Here the authors show nanopore sensors can map the equilibrium structure of these knots between tight and loose states.

The mobility and phytotoxicity of heavy metals in the sludge produced by municipal wastewater treatment plants are key environmental factors limiting the agricultural application of sludge. To reduce the mobility and phytoavailability of Cr, Ni, Zn and Cu, the effect of attapulgite as a stabilizer on metal stabilization in sludge was investigated. Loess soil amended with attapulgite-stabilized sludge was used to grow corn under greenhouse conditions. Attapulgite was most suitable for the stabilization of these metals because it reduced the mobile fraction while increasing the contents of the residual fractions. Meanwhile, attapulgite amendment significantly reduced the DTPA-extractable Cr, Ni and Zn concentrations in the sludge and the accumulation of heavy metals in corn, which increased the dry biomass of corn. The amounts of acid-soluble, reducible and oxidizable fractions in rhizosphere soils were significantly positively correlated with the heavy metal contents in corn, in contrast to the residual metals.

Video application is a research hotspot in cooperative vehicle-infrastructure systems (CVIS) which is greatly related to traffic safety and the quality of user experience. Dealing with large datasets of feedback from complex environments is a challenge when using traditional video application approaches. However, the in-depth structure of deep learning has the ability to deal with high-dimensional data sets, which shows better performance in video application problems. Therefore, the research value and significance of video applications over CVIS can be better reflected through deep learning. Firstly, the research status of traditional video application methods and deep learning methods over CVIS were introduced; the existing video application methods based on deep learning were classified according to generative and discriminative deep architecture. Then, we summarized the main methods of deep learning and deep reinforcement learning algorithms for video applications over CVIS, and made a comparative study of their performances. Finally, the challenges and development trends of deep learning in the field were explored and discussed.

In this study, attapulgite-supported nano zero-valent iron (nZVI@ATP) was synthesized by a liquid-phase reduction method using active attapulgite (ATP) as raw material, and used for Pb2+ remediation in aqueous solution. To understand the mechanism of Pb2+ removal, various techniques were used to characterize nZVI@ATP. The results showed that spherical nZVI particles were uniformly dispersed on the surface of ATP, and the agglomeration of nZVI particles was significantly weakened. The adsorption performance of nZVI@ATP for Pb2+ was greatly improved compared with that of ATP ore, in which the Fe/ATP mass ratio of 1:2 was the best loading ratio. Under the conditions of a temperature of 25 °C and a pH of 5.00, the initial concentration of Pb2+ was 700 mg/L, and the Pb2+ removal rate of nZVI@ATP was 84.47%. The adsorption of nZVI@ATP to Pb2+ was mainly a spontaneous endothermic reaction of heterogeneous surfaces, and the adsorption rate of nZVI@ATP to Pb2+ was proportional to pH in the range of 2–5.5. The presence of Na+, Mg2+, and Ca2+ can inhibit the removal of Pb2+, and Ca2+ has the strongest inhibition effect on the removal of Pb2+. The removal mechanism of Pb2+ by nZVI@ATP obtained from SEM-EDS, BET, XRD, FTIR and XPS included reduction, precipitation, and the formation of complexes.

Mesalamine has been well used in the improvement of ulcerative colitis (UC) in clinics, however, the underlying mechanisms were not well illustrated. To explore its efficacy from the perspective of gut microbiota and related metabolites, we employed 16S rRNA sequencing and metabolomics approaches in stool samples across 14 normal healthy controls (NC group), 10 treatment-naïve UC patients (UC group) and 14 UC patients responded to mesalamine treatment (mesalamine group). We noted that the gut microbiota diversity and community composition were remarkably perturbed in UC group and partially restored by mesalamine treatment. The relative abundance of 192 taxa in genus level were significantly changed in UC group, and 168 genera were significantly altered after mesalamine intervention. Meanwhile, a total of 127 metabolites were significantly changed in UC group and 129 metabolites were significantly altered after mesalamine treatment. Importantly, we observed that many candidates including 49 genera (such as Escherichia-shigella, Enterococcus and Butyricicoccus) and 102 metatoblites (such as isoleucine, cholic acid and deoxycholic acid) were reversed by mesalamine. Spearman correlation analysis revealed that most of the candidates were significantly correlated with Mayo score of UC, and the relative abundance of specific genera were significant correlated with the perturbation of metabolites. Pathway analysis demonstrated that genera and metabolites candidates were enriched in many similar molecular pathways such as amino acid metabolism and secondary metabolites biosynthesis. Importantly, ROC curve analysis identified a gut microbiota signature composed of five genera including Escherichia-Shigella, Streptococcus, Megamonas, Prevotella_9 and [Eubacterium] _coprostanoligenes _group which might be used to distinguish UC group from both NC and mesalamine group. In all, our results suggested that mesalamine might exert a beneficial role in UC by modulating gut microbiota signature with correlated metabolites in different pathways, which may provide a basis for developing novel candidate biomarkers and therapeutic targets of UC.

The essential medicine--insulin cannot be easily accessed and afforded in many countries. To help address this issue, we evaluated the availability, affordability and price of insulin products in Nanjing, eastern China. Two cross-sectional studies were conducted in 2016 and 2018. A total of 56 hospital pharmacies were sampled, using a simplified and adapted World Health Organization/Health Action International (WHO/HAI) methodology. Prices were expressed as Median Price Ratios (MPRs) to Australian Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme (PBS) prices. In addition, we investigated the price components of seven selected insulin products as a case study before and after the Online Centralized Procurement Policy for Hospital Drugs in May, 2018. Affordability was presented as the number of daily wages of the lowest paid unskilled government worker (LPGW) required to purchase 1000IU of insulin based on the average courses of treatment, approximately 30 days' treatment. The availability of insulin products was very high in secondary hospitals and tertiary hospitals both in 2016 and 2018, but in community hospitals was very low. In 2018, the availability of prandial insulin products showed fluctuation compared to 2016. The availability of pre-mixed human insulin products was over 95% overall, and also very high (80%) in community hospitals in 2018. The prices of insulin products were much lower than PBS prices of Australian in this study, with the MPRs less than 1 (0.32 to 0.71 in 2016 vs. 0.30 to 0.68 in 2018) for all insulin types. But insulin products in Nanjing in 2016 and 2018 were considered unaffordable, because the number of daily wages of the LPGW needed to purchase for the 30 days treatment of insulin products ranged from 2.26 to 8.49 in 2016 and 1.88 to 7.09 in 2018. The manufacturers' selling price contributed the main part (74.15% to 77.70% before and 74.86% to 91.51% after the implementation of the bidding policy) of the price components of target insulin brands. The availability of insulin products was high in secondary hospitals and tertiary hospitals, but lower in community hospitals. However, the affordability in community hospitals was better than other hospitals, but the insulin products were still unaffordable for patients on low incomes. Further improvements of the availability accessibility and affordability of medicines in advancing health insurance policies and lowering drug prices should be put forward.

In deriving that the space-time transformation between two inertial frames is linear, one commonly relies on the premises that any inertial frame has physical properties invariant under space-time translations. We present a different derivation of linearity which is based on the principle of relativity. In fact, we show that it is possible to circumvent the discussion of linearity in deriving the space-time transformation between inertial frames. Following the principle of relativity, it is inevitable that the only transformation compatible with the principle of relativity is the Generalized Lorentz Transformation (GLT which is linear). Distinct from other derivations, we prove the existence of a universal speed limit by examining the continuity and monotonicity of the velocity transformation function. In our derivation, we do not explicitly employ the translational invariance of inertial frames as the logical starting point. Neither do we invoke the constant speed of light as a fundamental postulate. The new derivation highlights the pivotal role of the principle of relativity in logically establishing the theory of special relativity.

We give an overview and describe the rationale, methods, and first results from NIRCam images of the JWST “Prime Extragalactic Areas for Reionization and Lensing Science” (PEARLS) project. PEARLS uses up to eight NIRCam filters to survey several prime extragalactic survey areas: two fields at the North Ecliptic Pole (NEP); seven gravitationally lensing clusters; two high redshift protoclusters; and the iconic backlit VV 191 galaxy system to map its dust attenuation. PEARLS also includes NIRISS spectra for one of the NEP fields and NIRSpec spectra of two high-redshift quasars. The main goal of PEARLS is to study the epoch of galaxy assembly, active galactic nucleus (AGN) growth, and First Light. Five fields—the JWST NEP Time-Domain Field (TDF), IRAC Dark Field, and three lensing clusters—will be observed in up to four epochs over a year. The cadence and sensitivity of the imaging data are ideally suited to find faint variable objects such as weak AGN, high-redshift supernovae, and cluster caustic transits. Both NEP fields have sightlines through our Galaxy, providing significant numbers of very faint brown dwarfs whose proper motions can be studied. Observations from the first spoke in the NEP TDF are public. This paper presents our first PEARLS observations, their NIRCam data reduction and analysis, our first object catalogs, the 0.9–4.5 μ m galaxy counts and Integrated Galaxy Light. We assess the JWST sky brightness in 13 NIRCam filters, yielding our first constraints to diffuse light at 0.9–4.5 μ m. PEARLS is designed to be of lasting benefit to the community.

Background and objective Thoracoscopic surgery has gradually become the major procedure for lung cancer surgery in our department. Its characteristics are minimal trauma and quick recovery, which make approximately 90% of patients discharge from the hospital after surgery. However, the postoperative complications still happen now and then. We analyzed the patients who had been hospitalized for longer than 7 days after thoracoscopic lung cancer surgery, aiming to summarize the types and risk factors of complications, and improve postoperative safety of patients. Methods The data were come from the prospective database of Thoracic Surgery Unit One in Peking Cancer Hospital, and patients that underwent thoracoscopic pulmonary surgery between Jan. 2010 and Dec. 2014 with length of stay more than 7 days were included in the study. The classifications of the complications were investigated and graded as mild or severe complications according to modified Claviengrading, the relationship between clinical factors and degrees of complications was also analyzed. Results The hospitalization of 115 cases were longer than 7 days after surgery, accounting for 10.3% (115/1,112) of the whole patients that underwent surgery during the same period. Eighty-one cases had mild complications, accounting for 7.3% (81/1,112) of the whole cases that underwent surgery during the same period and 70.4% (81/115) of the cases with prolonged length of stay; the proportions of severe complications in both groups were 3.1% (34/1,112) and 29.6% (34/115), respectively; and the proportions of complications that caused perioperative deaths were 0.18% (2/1112) and 1.7% (2/115), respectively. Among all the postoperative complications, the most common was air leakage for more than 5 days after surgery, with a total of 20 cases (1.8% and 17.4%). The other common complications were: atelectasis (19 cases, 1.7% and 16.5%), pulmonary infection (18 cases, 1.6% and 15.7%), etc. The less common complications was bronchopleural fistula (4 cases, 0.36% and 3.5%) with very high risk, and 2 cases died perioperatively due to the combination of acute respiratory distresssyndrome (ARDS). In the clinical factors, only preoperative low pulmonary function (FEV1%

Background and objective Currently, there is no consensus on the follow-up strategy (follow-up time interval and content) of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the world, and the relevant clinical evidence is also very limited. In this study, we aimed to summarize the recurrence/metastasis sites and timings of stage I NSCLC patients based on their follow-up data, aiming to provide a basis of follow-up time interval and content for this group of patients. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the 416 stage I NSCLC patients that underwent continuous anatomic lobectomy between Jan. 2000 to Oct. 2013 in our prospective lung cancer database. According to the recurrence/metastasis sites and timings, the long term follow-up time interval and content were explored. Results The 5-yr disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in the whole group were 82.4% and 85.4%, respectively. There were 76 cases (18.3%) had recurrence/metastasis during follow-up, among which the most frequent site was pulmonary metastasis (21 cases, 5.0%), followed by brain metastasis (20 cases, 4.8%), bone metastasis (12 cases, 2.9%), and mediastinal lymph node metastasis (12 cases, 2.9%). Among the factors that could influence recurrence/metastasis, patients with pT2a suffered from a higher recurrence/metastasis rate compared to patients with pT1 (P=0.006), with 5-yr DFS being 73.8% and 87.3%, respectively (P=0.002), and the 5-yr OS being 77.7% and 90.3%, respectively (P=0.011). Conclusion The commonest recurrence/metastasis sites of stage I NSCLC after anatomic lobectomy are lung, brain and mediastinal lymph nodes, the risk of recurrence/metastasis within 2 years were equal to that between 3 years and 5 years. The follow-up frequencies and content within 2 years could be adjusted according to T stages.

In this study, the molecular mechanism underlying ethephon-induced shortened internodes in maize was investigated using Zhengdan958 maize variety. The ethephon treatment was performed by spraying 225 mL/ha Ethephon 40% SL onto the foliage at the eight-expanded-leaves stage. The differentially expressed genes in the young internodes under ethephon treatment were identified through methylation-sensitive amplified fragment length polymorphism (MSAP), start codon targeted polymorphism (SCoT) and cDNA-amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analyses. MSAP results showed the methylation sites were widely distributed in both the ethephon-treated (at 27.8%) and control plants (30.1%). This suggested that ethephon treatment modified the methylation patterns; with 3.0% of the sites being hyper-methylated and 7.3% demethylated compared with the control. Based on SCoT analysis, 148 transcript derived fragments (TDFs) were obtained in the ethephon-treated plants. Among them, 38 were up-regulated (25.7%) and 47 down-regulated (31.8%). cDNA-AFLP analysis using 70 primer pairs identified 1635 TDFs in the ethephon-treated and the control plants. Of these, 600 and 564 TDFs were up- and down-regulated by the ethephon treatment, respectively. BLASTX analysis on 50 (randomly selected) differentially expressed TDFs divided them into several categories based on their putative biological functions: signal transduction (6%), resistance-related (14%), energy and metabolism (22%), transcription (4%), cell apoptosis (2%), unknown functional proteins (42%) and unknown genes (10%). Our results revealed that ethephon treatment could induce DNA methylation variation principally by increasing the demethylation tendency. This is suggested to play roles in stress-defence genes expression regulation and the differentially expressed genes could be associated with shortened internodes in maize.

Satellite-tagging is increasingly becoming a powerful biotelemetry approach to obtain remote measurement through tracking free-living cetaceans, which can fill knowledge gaps on cetaceans and facilitate conservation management. Here, we made a first biologging attempt on baleen whales in Chinese waters. An adult Bryde’s whale in the Beibu Gulf was tagged to investigate potential occurrence areas and migration routes of this poorly studied species. The whale was satellite-tracked for ~6 days with 71 filtered Argos satellite locations, resulting in a linear movement distance of 464 km. At each satellite-tracking location, the water depth was measured as 42.1 ± 24.8 m on average. During the satellite-tracking period, the whale’s moving speed was estimated at 5.33 ± 4.01 km/h. These findings expanded the known distribution areas of Bryde’s whales in the Beibu Gulf and provided an important scientific basis for the regional protection of this species. We suggest that fine-scale movements, habitat use, and migratory behavior of Bryde’s whales in the Beibu Gulf need more biotelemetry research, using long-term satellite-tracking tags and involving enough individuals. Furthermore, the genetic relationship and possible connectivity of Bryde’s whales in the Beibu Gulf and adjacent waters should be examined.

Background and objective The bone and soft tissue sarcoma can metastasize to distant sites, most commonly the lungs. Some cases can be cured by radical metastasectomy, but its role, indication and prognostic factors remains controversial. The rarity of the disease combined with the diverse number of subtypes can make bone and soft tissue sarcomas very difficult to study. There are few randomized control studies or international high volume results, and such reports in China are seldom seen. The aim of this study is to investigate surgical treatment outcomes and prognostic factors of pulmonary metastatic bone and soft tissue sarcoma patients. Methods From January 2007 to December 2015, patients with bone and soft tissue sarcoma who underwent multimodality therapy including definitive surgery for the primary lesion and at least one pulmonary metastasectomy were enrolled in the retrospective study. All the relevant clinical variables were collected, and then statistically analyzed and interpreted with the aid of univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression method. Results Totally 155 pulmonary metastasectomies in 144 patients were analyzed. Incomplete R0 resection, a less than 1-year interval from a previous surgery, more than three detected nodules; and the summed maximum diameter of more than 45 mm for pulmonary metastases were independent prognostic indicators by multivariate analysis. Conclusion We suggest that metastatic bone and soft tissue sarcoma patients can benefit most from aggressive surgical intervention of pulmonary metastasectomy. Its prognostic factors include R0 resection, a longer interval from a previous surgery, smaller total number and total size of pulmonary metastases.

Background and objective It has been drawn much attention to identify the molecular markers by immunohistochemistry (IHC) for evaluating the prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) following resection. The aim of this study is to retrospectively associate ever tested IHC markers and prognosis of NSCLC after resection. Methods A total of 722 NSCLC patients underwent surgery by single surgeon team from 2008 to 2013. Twelve molecular markers had been examined by IHC and the staining signals was re-scored with unified standard. Survival analysis by univariate and multivariate was carried out to assess the significance of these markers in prognosis of NSCLC in our prospective database with strict follow-up. Results The following twelve IHC markers had been tested between 2008 and 2013, including platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR)(n=124), excision repair cross complementing 1 (ERCC1)(n=124), epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR)(n=131), vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 3 (VEGFR3)(n=142), NM23 (n=129), MRP (n=109), P170 (n=104), TS (n=143), Tubulin (n=133), ribonucleotide reductase M1 (RRM1)(n=131), ribonucleotide reductase M1 (COX2)(n=138), and TOPII (n=127). Only VEGFR3 expression was correlated with prognosis of the patients by univariate analysis, with 5-yrs survival rate being 77.6% and 65.0% (positive vs. negative) respectively (P=0.042). However, VEGFR3 was not an independent prognostic factor for this series of NSCLC patients in multivariate analysis. Conclusion These twelve IHC markers could not predict prognosis of NSCLC patients after surgery in our series.

Entanglements make polymers fundamentally different from other molecules and thus are a major theme in polymer physics research. Interchain entanglements have been extensively investigated in past decades, while intrachain entanglements, often appearing as polymer knots, are much less understood. In this work, we apply the tube theory for polymer knots based on the tube model: the polymer segments in a knot core are confined within a tube due to topological entanglements. We use an approach of visualizing and quantifying the “tubes.” First, we perform Monte Carlo simulations to generate a large number of polymer knots. Then, we superimpose knot cores to obtain average knot conformations. The fluctuations of individual knot conformations around average knot conformations produce tubes, which materialize the conceptual tubes. Analyzing the tubes validates many scaling relationships and determines the relevant parameters. Furthermore, we reveal a heart shape for polymer trefoil knots, which results from the competition of entropy and bending energy. Overall, this work builds the foundation of the tube theory for polymer knots.

Generally, increasing the hydrophobicity of filter media leads to enhanced oil removal by filtration. In this study, the hydrophobicity of quartz sand filter media was increased by modifying the particles with titanate and silane coupling agents (DN101 and KH550) by dry processing. The results show that the quartz sand particle surfaces were uniformly covered with the coupling agents after surface modification, and many fine particles were observed. The optimised parameters for the surface modification procedure were a DN101:KH550 ratio of 1:2, total coupling agent amount of 1.0 wt%, reaction temperature of 60 °C and reaction time of 50 min. Under these conditions, the water contact angle on the filter media surface increased from 40.1° to 82.9°, and the effluent oil concentration decreased from 4.74 mg/L for the unmodified filter media to 2.99 mg/L for the modified filter media when the influent oil concentration was 17.3 mg/L. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy results show that DN101 and KH550 formed chemical bonds with the quartz sand surface groups, resulting in the formation of a uniform, stable coating on the surface.