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China has abundant straw resources; however, the utilization of straw waste resource remains challenging. In this work, corn straw fiber and corn straw ash were applied to concrete as raw material after pretreatment. Through mechanical and thermal conductivity tests, it was concluded that the tensile strength of the corn straw fiber was 160.5 MPa after alkali treatment. The corn straw fiber and corn straw powder did not enhance the compressive strength of concrete. Compared with original concrete, the thermal conductivity of concrete added with 1.5% corn straw powder decreased by 25.9%, and the thermal conductivity of concrete with 5% corn straw ash was reduced by only 5.2%. Through thermogravimetric analysis of the concrete, it was found that the internal weakly bound water and strongly bound water will be lost in the range 100 °C to 160 °C, Ca(OH)2 will decompose from 420 °C to 500 °C, and CaCO3 will decompose approximately at 800 °C. It is recommended that corn straw powder and corn straw ash can be added at 1.5% and 5% concentrations to ensure that the mechanical properties can meet the engineering requirements and achieve good insulation performance.

As a universal computational model in quantum computing, the quantum walk is employed in secure communication, quick query, similar calculation, graph mining, etc. At present, researchers have paid limited attention to the design, development, and relationship between models and algorithms of the quantum walk. Further, the theoreticals advantages of the quantum walk on graphs in graph computing are neglected. Aiming at the quantum walk model and algorithms for graph data, firstly, the core design strategy and theoretical advantages of quantum walks are analyzed, the construction form of significant operators and spatial dimension characteristics of relevant algorithms are summarized, and the logical relationship between model and algorithm is clarified. Secondly, according to the classification of discrete-time and continuous-time, the research advances and design difficulties of the quantum walk model are summarized, and the evolutionary trend of quantum walk extending from regular graphs to irregular graphs is concluded. Furthermore, around the similarity calculation of graphs, spatial search, and graph mining, the research progress of quantum walk algorithms is reviewed, and the technical characteristics, advantages and shortcomings of relevant algorithms are analyzed. Finally, from the perspectives of efficiency optimization, accuracy improvement, unitary constraints, and graph reconstruction, the future research directions of the quantum walk models and algorithms are prospected.

The disposal of agricultural waste ash is a great ecological challenge. This study analyzed the basic properties of corn straw ash and soybean straw ash, encompassing the identification of key oxides, the assessment of particle size distribution, and the performance of thermogravimetric analysis. This study also evaluated the potential of corn straw ash and soybean straw ash to replace cement in mortar and concrete through laboratory tests. The findings indicated that the strength activity index of corn straw ash was higher than soybean straw ash. Furthermore, when these ashes were used as cement replacements, the compressive strength of concrete decreased. Notably, concrete containing corn straw ash exhibited greater strength than concrete with the same substitution amount of soybean straw ash. Specifically, at a 5% substitution level, the compressive strengths of corn straw ash concrete and soybean straw ash concrete were 31.5 and 30.5 MPa, respectively. Additionally, soybean straw ash concrete demonstrated superior resistance to water penetration compared to corn straw ash concrete. Both corn straw ash and soybean straw ash exhibited the potential to enhance the early crack resistance of concrete.

The quality of fermented plant leaves is closely related to the interleaf microorganisms and their metabolic activities. In this experiment, a multi-omics analysis was applied to investigate the link between the structural composition of the phyllosphere microbial community and the main metabolites during the fermentation process. It was found that the whole fermentation process of cigar leaves could be divided into three stages, in which the Mid-Stage was the most active period of microbial metabolic activities and occupied an important position. Staphylococcus, Brevundimonas, Acinetobacter, Brevibacterium, Pantoea, Aspergillus, Wallemia, Meyerozyma, Sampaiozyma, Adosporium and Trichomonascus played important roles in this fermentation. Staphylococcus and Aspergillus are the microorganisms that play an important role in the fermentation process. Staphylococcus were strongly correlated with lipids and amino acids, despite its low abundance, Stenotrophomonas is importantly associated with terpene and plays a significant role throughout the process. It is worth noting that Wapper exists more characteristic fungal genera than Filler and is more rapid in fermentation progress, which implies that the details of the fermentation process should be adjusted appropriately to ensure stable quality when faced with plant leaves of different genotypes. This experiment explored the relationship between metabolites and microorganisms, and provided a theoretical basis for further optimizing the fermentation process of plant leaves and developing techniques to improve product quality. Biomarker is mostly present in the pre-fermentation phase, but the mid-fermentation phase is the most important part of the process.

Abstract Cardiac hypertrophy is an adaptive response to stressors such as high cardiac workload, which might lead to abnormal cardiac function and heart failure. Previous studies have indicated that macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) might play a protective role in cardiac hypertrophy. Here, we aimed to illustrate the mechanism of MIF in protecting against pressure overload‐induced cardiac hypertrophy. Transverse aortic constriction (TAC) mouse model was established and we found that overexpression of MIF protected against pressure overload‐induced cardiac hypotrophy in TAC treated mice, as evidenced by significantly decreased the heart weight. In addition, transthoracic echocardiography showed that overexpression of MIF restored ejection fraction in TAC‐treated mice. While TAC treatment resulted in a much larger cardiomyocyte size in mice, MIF overexpression notably decreased the cardiomyocyte size. Next, we demonstrated that MIF overexpression promoted the expression of miR‐29b‐3p which further downregulated the expression of its downstream target HMG box protein 1 (HBP1). Overexpression of HBP1 reversed the effect of MIF in alleviating Ang‐II induced oxidative stress in cardiomyocytes. In conclusion, our findings suggest that MIF could attenuate pressure overload‐induced cardiac hypertrophy through regulating the miR‐29b‐3p/HBP1 axis.

Real-time coal flow monitoring is crucial for efficient coal mine transportation. Traditional vision acquisition devices generate two-dimensional images that are not accurately identified in the complex underground coal mine environment, such as dust, water mist, and low light. In this paper, we propose a conveyor belt coal flow detection method that integrates laser scanning and binocular vision to address this problem. Our proposed method has several advantages over traditional approaches. Firstly, we calibrate the binocular camera using Zhang’s calibration method to enhance the accuracy of the system. Secondly, we extract the centerline of the laser stripe using the grayscale center of gravity method, which improves the system’s performance in complex environments. Thirdly, we calculate the cross-sectional area of the material accurately using the trapezoidal area accumulation method, and visualize it in two dimensions based on a single frame, while the point cloud data from multiple consecutive frames are visualized in a 3D model at a realistic scale. Finally, we use the continuous multi-frame cross-sectional area to calculate the current conveyor flow, and apply the BP neural network to establish an energy-saving optimization model for the belt conveyor. We also design a PLC fuzzy controller based on fuzzy control algorithms to adjust the belt’s operating speed intelligently according to the coal flow size, achieving energy-saving operation and intelligent control of the belt conveyor. Our experiments show that our method can accurately obtain coal volume and control the belt speed of the conveyor in real-time, making it an innovative and practical solution for coal flow detection and energy-saving operation in underground coal mines.

Purpose: We aimed to study the effects of aspirin intake for diabetic retinopathy (DR) and diabetic macular edema (DME) in a cohort from northeastern China. Methods: Participants in the Fushun Diabetic Retinopathy Cohort Study were enrolled between July 2012 and May 2013. Fundus photographs of six fields were graded according to the modified Airlie House Classification system. The prevalence, incidence, progression, and regression of DR, as well as the prevalence/incidence of DME, were evaluated at baseline and during follow-up examinations after at least 1 year. Results: In total, 1370 patients were enrolled in the study, and 270 (19.7%) were taking aspirin. The prevalence of any DR in participants with and without aspirin intake was 47.4% and 44.9%, respectively (P = 0.46). The incidence of any DR in patients with and without aspirin intake was 9.2% and 8.3%, respectively (P = 0.74). In univariate regression, there was no association between aspirin intake and the prevalence of any DR and DME (odds ratios (OR), 95% confidence intervals (CI): 0.93, 0.68–1.27 and 1.22, 0.79–1.88, respectively). Aspirin intake was not significantly associated with the prevalence and incidence of DME (OR, 95% CI: 1.22, 0.79–1.88 and 1.79, 0.62–5.17, respectively). Furthermore, aspirin intake was not significantly associated with DR progression or regression (OR, 95% CI: 1.04, 0.66–1.66 and 0.75, 0.52–1.09, respectively). Conclusion: Aspirin intake was not associated with the prevalence and incidence of any DR or DME in a northeastern Chinese population. Neither progression nor regression of DR revealed a significant association with aspirin intake.

Abstract Background Tumor budding (TB) is a negative prognostic factor in colorectal cancer; however, its prognostic impact following neoadjuvant therapy for patients with rectal cancer remains unclear. This study aims to assess the prognostic impact of TB and the correlation between TB and other pathological features in patients with rectal cancer after neoadjuvant therapy. Methods A comprehensive search of PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, Scopus, CNKI, Wanfang, and ClinicalKey databases was conducted for studies on the prognosis of TB in rectal cancer after neoadjuvant therapy from the inception of the databases to January 2023, and the final literature included was determined using predefined criteria. Quality assessment of the studies included, extraction of general and prognostic information from them, and meta-analyses were carried out progressively. Results A total of 11 studies were included, and the results of the meta-analysis showed that high-grade tumor budding (TB-1) increased the risk of poor 5-year disease-free survival (HR = 1.75, 95% CI 1.38–2.22, P

In this study, we optimized the traditional composition of AISI 8630 steel and evaluated its corrosion resistance through a series of tests. We conducted corrosion tests in a 3.5% NaCl solution and performed a 720 h fixed-load tensile test in accordance with the NACE TM-0177-2016 standard to assess sulfide stress corrosion cracking (SSCC). To analyze the corrosion products and the structure of the corrosion film, we employed X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The corrosion rate, characteristics of the corrosion products, structure of the corrosion film, and corrosion resistance mechanism of the material were investigated. The results indicate that the optimized AISI 8630 material demonstrates excellent corrosion resistance. After 720 h of exposure, the primary corrosion products were identified as chromium oxide, copper sulfide, iron oxide, and iron–nickel sulfide. The corrosion film exhibited a three-layer structure: the innermost layer with a thickness of 200–300 nm contained higher concentrations of alloying elements and formed a dense, cohesive rust layer that hindered the diffusion of oxygen and chloride ions, thus enhancing corrosion resistance. The middle layer was thicker and less rich in alloying elements, while the outer layer, approximately 300–400 nm thick, was relatively loose.

Background: Despite breakthroughs in treatment, ovarian cancer (OC) remains one of the most lethal gynecological malignancies, with an increasing age-standardized mortality rate. This underscores an urgent need for novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Although growth factor receptor-bound protein 7 (GRB7) is implicated in cell signaling and tumorigenesis, its expression pattern and clinical implications in OC remain poorly characterized. Methods: To systematically investigate GRB7’s expression in OC, our study utilized extensive datasets from TCGA, GTEx, CCLE, and GEO. The prognostic significance of GRB7 was evaluated by means of Kaplan–Meier and Cox regression analyses. Using a correlation analysis and gene set enrichment analysis, relationships between GRB7’s expression and gene networks, immune cell infiltration and immunotherapy response were investigated. In vitro experiments were conducted to confirm GRB7’s function in the biology of OC. Results: Compared to normal tissues, OC tissues exhibited a substantial upregulation of GRB7. Reduced overall survival, disease-specific survival, and disease-free interval were all connected with high GRB7 mRNA levels. The network study demonstrated that GRB7 is involved in pathways relevant to the course of OC and has a positive connection with several key driver genes. Notably, GRB7’s expression was linked to the infiltration of M2 macrophage and altered response to immunotherapy. Data from single-cell RNA sequencing data across multiple cancer types indicated GRB7’s predominant expression in malignant cells. Moreover, OC cells with GRB7 deletion showed decreased proliferation and migration, as well as increased susceptibility to T cell-mediated cytotoxicity. Conclusion: With respect to OC, our results validated GRB7 as a viable prognostic biomarker and a promising therapeutic target, providing information about its function in tumorigenesis and immune modulation. GRB7’s preferential expression in malignant cells highlights its significance in the biology of cancer and bolsters the possibility that it could be useful in enhancing the effectiveness of immunotherapy.

Spermatogenesis is critical for insect reproduction and is regulated by many different genes. In this study, we found that Forkhead transcription factor Fd59a functions as a key factor in the spermatogenesis of Drosophila melanogaster. Fd59a contains a conversed Forkhead domain, and it is clustered to the FoxD subfamily with other FoxD members from some insect and vertebrate species. Mutations in Fd59a caused swelling in the apical region of the testis. More importantly, fewer mature sperm were present in the seminal vesicle of Fd59a mutant flies compared to the control flies, and the fertility of Fd59a2/2 mutant males was significantly lower than that of the control flies. Immunofluorescence staining showed that the homeostasis of the testis stem cell niche in Fd59a2/2 mutant and Fd59a RNAi flies was disrupted and the apoptosis of sperm bundles was increased. Furthermore, results from RNA sequencing and qRT-PCR suggested that Fd59a can regulate the expression of genes related to reproductive process and cell death. Taken together, our results indicated that Fd59a plays a key role in the spermatogenesis of Drosophila.

Abstract Objective At present, pancreatic cancer (PC) has a high morbidity and mortality rate and a poor prognosis. The aim of this article was to study the efficacy and safety of apatinib combined with radiotherapy in the treatment of advanced PC. Methods The PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Wanfang, CNKI, VIP, and CBM databases were searched by computer to identify studies on the application of apatinib in patients with advanced PC. The patients in the included study were divided into an observation group (apatinib combined with radiotherapy) and a control group (radiotherapy only), and meta-analysis was performed for each outcome with Revman 5.4 software. This study was successfully registered on the PROSPERO website, and the registration number is CRD: 42,022,384,056 (available at https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?RecordID=384056 ). Results A total of 7 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with 428 patients were included, including 215 in the observation group and 213 in the control group. Compared with the control group, the observation group showed a greater objective response rate [OR = 3.26, 95% CI (2.18, 4.87), P

Summary: Macroautophagy/autophagy is a conserved process in eukaryotic cells to degrade and recycle damaged intracellular components. Higher level of autophagy in the brain has been observed, and autophagy dysfunction has an impact on neuronal health, but the molecular mechanism is unclear. In this study, we showed that overexpression of Toll-1 and Toll-7 receptors, as well as active Spätzle proteins in Drosophila S2 cells enhanced autophagy, and Toll-1/Toll-7 activated autophagy was dependent on Tube-Pelle-PP2A. Interestingly, Toll-1 but not Toll-7 mediated autophagy was dMyd88 dependent. Importantly, we observed that loss of functions in Toll-1 and Toll-7 receptors and PP2A activity in flies decreased autophagy level, resulting in the loss of dopamine (DA) neurons and reduced fly motion. Our results indicated that proper activation of Toll-1 and Toll-7 pathways and PP2A activity in the brain are necessary to sustain autophagy level for DA neuron survival.

Abstract Background Discrepancies in bone resection between the medial and lateral compartments are very common in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) when mechanical alignment (MA) is used. The purpose of this study was to explore whether and how joint line orientation affects the initial bone resection in mechanically aligned TKA. Methods A total of 194 patients (225 knees) diagnosed with osteoarthritis (OA) were included. Virtual bone resection was conducted in the coronal view using full-length weight-bearing radiographs according to the technical requirements of MA, and the reliability of the virtual resection was verified via intraoperative caliper measurements. Correlation and regression analyses were conducted between the initial bone resection within the extension gap (EG) and various parameters, including the hip-knee-ankle (HKA) angle, mechanical lateral distal femoral angle (mLDFA), joint line congruence angle (JLCA), and medial proximal tibial angle (MPTA). Moreover, the correlation between intraoperative bone resection adjustments and joint line orientation parameters was also investigated. Results All knees in the current case series were artificially divided into 4 subgroups: subgroup 1, containing 148 varus knees (65.8%) with valgus femurs; subgroup 2, containing 48 varus knees (21.3%) with varus femurs; subgroup 3, containing 17 valgus knees (7.6%) with varus tibias; and subgroup 4, containing 12 valgus knees (5.3%) with valgus tibias. In subgroup 1, the mLDFA and MPTA were positively correlated with the initial bone resection with regression coefficients of 0.670 and 0.089, respectively. Moreover, in all varus knees, intraoperative bone resection adjustments were negatively correlated with mLDFA and MPTA, with categorical regression coefficients of -0.426 and − 0.230, respectively. Conclusion When MA-TKAs are performed in varus knees with valgus femurs, the initial bone resection within the EG is mainly positively correlated with mLDFA, while the intraoperative bone resection adjustment is significantly correlated with mLDFA and MPTA in all varus knees.

Abstract With the further development of service-oriented, performance-based contracting (PBC) has been widely adopted in industry and manufacturing. However, maintenance optimization problems under PBC have not received enough attention. To further extend the scope of PBC’s application in the field of maintenance optimization, we investigate the condition-based maintenance (CBM) optimization for gamma deteriorating systems under PBC. Considering the repairable single-component system subject to the gamma degradation process, this paper proposes a CBM optimization model to maximize the profit and improve system performance at a relatively low cost under PBC. In the proposed CBM model, the first inspection interval has been considered in order to reduce the inspection frequency and the cost rate. Then, a particle swarm algorithm (PSO) and related solution procedure are presented to solve the multiple decision variables in our proposed model. In the end, a numerical example is provided so as to demonstrate the superiority of the presented model. By comparing the proposed policy with the conventional ones, the superiority of our proposed policy is proved, which can bring more profits to providers and improve performance. Sensitivity analysis is conducted in order to research the effect of corrective maintenance cost and time required for corrective maintenance on optimization policy. A comparative study is given to illustrate the necessity of distinguishing the first inspection interval or not.

Abstract In order to improve the functionality and additional value of agricultural products, this study developing nano-selenium fermentation broth and established a new application strategy of bio-nano-selenium by screening and identifying selenium-rich microorganisms. We isolated a new strain from tobacco waste and named it Bacillus subtilis SE201412 (GenBank accession no. OP854680), which could aerobically grow under the condition of 66,000 mg L−1 selenite concentration, and could convert 99.19% of selenite into biological nano-selenium (BioSeNPs) within 18 h. Using strain SE201412, we industrially produced the different concentrations of fermentation broth containing 5000–3000 mg L−1 pure selenium for commercial use. The synthesized selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA). TEM and SEM results showed that SeNPs were distributed outside cells. NTA assay of fermentation broth indicated that the nanoparticles were spherical with an average particle size of 126 ± 0.5 nm. Toxicity test revealed that the median lethal dose (LD50) of the fermentation broth to mice was 2710 mg kg−1, indicating its low toxicity and high safety. In addition, we applied BioSeNP fermentation broth to rice and wheat through field experiments. The results showed that the application of fermentation broth significantly increased the total selenium content and organic selenium percentage in rice and wheat grains. Our findings provide valuable reference for the development of BioSeNPs with extensive application prospects.

Abstract This study aims to describe the epidemiological characteristics of scrub typhus, detect the spatio-temporal patterns of scrub typhus at county level, and explore the associations between the environmental variables and scrub typhus cases in Anhui Province. Time-series analysis, spatial autocorrelation analysis, and space–time scan statistics were used to explore the characteristics and spatiotemporal patterns of the scrub typhus in Anhui Province. Negative binomial regression analysis was used to explore the association between scrub typhus and environmental variables. A total of 16,568 clinically diagnosed and laboratory-confirmed cases were reported from 104 counties of 16 prefecture-level cities. The number of female cases was higher than male cases, with a proportion of 1.32:1. And the proportion of cases over 65 years old was the highest, accounting for 33.8% of the total cases. Two primary and five secondary high-risk clusters were detected in the northwestern, northeastern, and central-eastern parts of Anhui Province. The number of cases in primary and secondary high-risk clusters accounted for 60.27% and 3.00%, respectively. Scrub typhus incidence in Anhui Province was positively correlated with the population density, normalized difference vegetation index, and several meteorological variables. The mean monthly sunshine duration with 3 lags (SSD_lag3), mean monthly ground surface temperature with 1 lag (GST_lag1), and mean monthly relative humidity with 3 lags (RHU_lag3) had the most significant association with increased cases of scrub typhus. Our findings indicate that public health interventions need to be focused on the elderly farmers in north of the Huai River in Anhui Province.

Abstract Background Despite the increasing number of cases of scrub typhus and its expanding geographical distribution in China, its potential distribution in Fujian Province, which is endemic for the disease, has yet to be investigated. Methods A negative binomial regression model for panel data mainly comprising meteorological, socioeconomic and land cover variables was used to determine the risk factors for the occurrence of scrub typhus. Maximum entropy modeling was used to identify the key predictive variables of scrub typhus and their ranges, map the suitability of different environments for the disease, and estimate the proportion of the population at different levels of infection risk. Results The final multivariate negative binomial regression model for panel data showed that the annual mean normalized difference vegetation index had the strongest correlation with the number of scrub typhus cases. With each 0.1% rise in shrubland and 1% rise in barren land there was a 75.0% and 37.0% increase in monthly scrub typhus cases, respectively. In contrast, each unit rise in mean wind speed in the previous 2 months and each 1% increase in water bodies corresponded to a decrease of 40.0% and 4.0% in monthly scrub typhus cases, respectively. The predictions of the maximum entropy model were robust, and the average area under the curve value was as high as 0.864. The best predictive variables for scrub typhus occurrence were population density, annual mean normalized difference vegetation index, and land cover types. The projected potentially most suitable areas for scrub typhus were widely distributed across the eastern coastal area of Fujian Province, with highly suitable and moderately suitable areas accounting for 16.14% and 9.42%, respectively. Of the total human population of the province, 81.63% reside in highly suitable areas for scrub typhus. Conclusions These findings could help deepen our understanding of the risk factors of scrub typhus, and provide information for public health authorities in Fujian Province to develop more effective surveillance and control strategies in identified high risk areas in Fujian Province.

Federated Learning(FL) is driven by multi-party data participation,where participants and central servers continuously exchange model parameters rather than directly upload raw data to achieve data sharing and privacy protection.In practical applications,the accuracy of the FL global model relies on multiple stable and high-quality clients participating,but there is an imba-lance in the data quality of participating clients,which can lead to the client being in an unfair position in the training process or not participating in training.Therefore,how to motivate clients to participate in federated learning actively and reliably is the key,which ensuring that FL is widely promoted and applied.This paper mainly introduces the necessity of incentive mechanisms in FL and divides the existing research into incentive mechanisms based on contribution measurement,client selection,payment allocation and multiple sub-problems optimization according to the sub-problems of incentive mechanisms in the FL training process,analyzes and compares existing incentive schemes,and summarizes the challenges in the development of incentive mechanisms on this basis,and explores the future research direction of FL incentive mechanisms.

In order to study the change rules of mineral composition, micro-structure evolution characteristics and their relationship with dynamic properties of granite after high temperature treatment, the high temperature tests on Beishan granite in Gansu Province, China, were carried out at 20−1 000 ℃. Microscopic images of granite after high temperature treatment were obtained by slicing technique and polarizing microscope. The evolution of mineral composition, mineral content and micro-structure characteristic parameters of granite with temperature were studied through mineral composition analysis, micro-cracks characteristic identification and parameters calculation. Subsequently, dynamic impact compression tests of high temperature treated granite were carried out by split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) system, to analyze the effects of temperature, impact rate and micro-structure characteristics on dynamic peak stress. On this basis, the quantitative relationship between micro-structure characteristics and macroscopic dynamic properties was established. The results show that high temperature has a significant effect on the mineral composition, micro-structure and impact compressive strength of granite, and 600 ℃ is taken as the threshold temperature. The loading rate also significantly affects the impact compressive strength, and the larger the loading rate is, the less the influence of temperature on the macroscopic dynamic properties is. The evolution process of the micro-structure of granite after high temperature treatment is the internal mechanism for the change of its macroscopic dynamic properties with temperature. The microcrack characteristics have a significant correlation with the dynamic peak stress, and the average crack width is the main factor affecting the dynamic peak stress of granite.

Summary: While a few works have shown that Mettl3 plays oncogenic roles in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), its function in early HCC tumorigenesis remains unclear. In Mettl3flox/flox; Alb-Cre knockout mice, Mettl3 loss leads to aberrant hepatocyte homeostasis and liver damage. Importantly, Mettl3 deletion dramatically accelerates liver tumorigenesis in various HCC mouse models. Depletion of Mettl3 in adult Mettl3flox/flox mice through TBG-Cre administration also enhances liver tumor development, while overexpression of Mettl3 inhibits hepatocarcinogenesis. Mechanistically, aggravated tumorigenesis upon Mettl3 deletion is a consequence of hepatocyte dedifferentiation and hyperproliferation via m6A-mediated modulation on Hnf4α and cell cycle genes. In contrast, by using Mettl3flox/flox; Ubc-Cre mice, depletion of Mettl3 in established HCC ameliorates tumor progression. Additionally, Mettl3 is overexpressed in HCC tumors compared with adjacent non-tumor tissues. The present findings define a tumor-suppressive role of Mettl3 in liver tumorigenesis, indicating its potentially opposite stage-dependent functions in HCC initiation versus progression.

Polyglycolic acid (PGA) is an emerging biodegradable plastic material. Together with polylactic acid (PLA), PGA is considered a suitable alternative to conventional plastics and has been widely used in biomedical and food packaging industries. However, degradable plastics continue to face the drawbacks of harsh degradation environment and long degradation time, and may harm the environment and the human body. Therefore, our study focused on assessing the effects of degradable microplastics PGA and PLA on the development and neurobehavior of zebrafish. The results showed that PGA and PLA had little effect on 3–10 hpf embryos. However, developmental stunting was observed in a100 mg/L PGA and PLA-exposed group at 24 hpf. In addition, PGA and PLA exposure decreased the survival and hatching rates, increased wakefulness, and reduced sleep in zebrafish. This indicates that PGA and PLA may affect the circadian behavior of zebrafish by affecting the brain–derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Therefore, our results suggest that PGA and PLA exposure induces developmental toxicity, reduces voluntary locomotion, induces of anxiety–like behaviors, and impairs sleep/wake behaviors in zebrafish larvae. This also suggests that the potentially toxic effects of degradable plastics cannot be ignored and that the biological effects of PGA require further research.

Residual stresses are the stresses that retain inside the part after removal of loads. These stresses are known to substantially affect performance of a part in terms of service life and response to various kinds of loads. Determination of these stresses has been a challenging issue. Especially in novel Incremental Sheet Forming (ISF) process, no analytical approach has been applied to evaluate these stresses. This study presents an approach to evaluate residual stresses in the ISF parts. The distribution of residual stresses was determined and verified for rotational parts. It was found that the magnitude of stresses reduces as the radius and height of part increases. Further, this happens in a non-linear fashion. Also, the stresses are compressive in nature on the inner surface of part that will derive the improvement of fatigue life of the deformed parts.

AIM: To estimate the prevalence of diabetic macular edema (DME) and clinically significant macular edema (CSME), and to assess their risk factors in a population with type 2 diabetic mellitus (T2DM) located in northeast China. METHODS: Patients were included from the Fushun Diabetic Retinopathy Cohort Study (FS-DIRECT), a community-based study conducted in northeast China. The presence of DME and CSME was determined by the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) retinopathy scale of fundus photographs. The age-standardized prevalence of DME and CSME was estimated. The association between DME/CSME and risk factors was analyzed in a multivariate Logistical analysis. RESULTS: A total of 292 (15.4%) and 166 (8.8%) patients were diagnosed as DME and CSME, yielding the age and sex standardized prevalence of 13.5% (95%CI: 11.9%-15.0%), and 7.1% (95%CI: 5.9%-8.3%), respectively. Female patients had a higher prevalence of DME compared to their male counterparts (15.7% vs 10.4%, P=0.03). Multivariable Logistic regression analysis showed that younger age, insulin use, proteinuria, longer duration of diabetes, and higher glycosylated hemoglobin A1c, were associated with the prevalence of DME and CSME. Patients with higher fasting plasma glucose, systolic blood pressure, and blood urea nitrogen were also found to be associated with DME. CONCLUSION: Early fundus screening in diabetic patients is invaluable and given the relatively high prevalence of DME and CSME in this study cohort, those with a high risk of sight threatening maculopathy would invariably benefit from earlier detection.

Aiming to solve the problem of multi-machine power balance control of long distance belt conveyor with double drum and three permanent magnet synchronous motor, the control method of speed and torque of master and slave motors of belt conveyor driven by multiple motors are analyzed. And according to the characteristics of coaxial rigid connection and flexible connection of three motors of double roller, a fuzzy control unit including fuzzification, fuzzy reasoning and clarity is added on the basis of active disturbance rejection control(ADRC). a power balance strategy of fuzzy ADRC is proposed to suppress the interference and improve the stability of the system. The simulation results show that the proposed method can solve the power imbalance problem of the system motor. Meanwhile compared with the traditional PID control method, the corresponding speed of fuzzy ADRC control method is less than 300ms, the power deviation of rigid connected motor is less than 0.1kW, and the power deviation of flexible connected motor is less than 0.3kW. Thus this method can effectively reduce the synchronization error of each motor, and has good robustness, and realize the power balance distribution among multiple motors.

Abstract Internet of Things (IoT) devices are vulnerable to many physical attacks, including reverse engineering and side‐channel analysis because the sensitive information of circuits may be leaked through the physical characteristics of the device. A logic camouflaging circuit is proposed that uses a balanced power consumption and threshold voltage‐defined technique to provide an antiphysical attack scheme to protect the hardware security for IoT devices. The proposed circuit uses a symmetric differential pull‐down network in implementing the different logic functions through the threshold voltage reconfiguration circuit. As a result, the power consumption of the circuit attains balance and stability between two different logical operations. The proposed threshold voltage‐defined power‐balance (TVD‐PB) design is fabricated using a 65‐nm CMOS technology, and the core area occupies approximately 0.0044 mm2, composed of NAND, NOR, XOR, and INV components and multiplier gates of the proposed TVD‐PB circuit. The entire chip passed the logic function tests. The measured results show that the average similarity of the TVD‐PB universal gate is 99.68%. In addition, the current margin is higher than 55 μA and power consumption of 0.455 mW during each clock cycle at 1.2 V derives 0.1072% of the normalized energy deviation and 0.0453% of the normalized standard deviation. Compared with other state‐of‐the‐art techniques, the power dependency against power attacks is improved effectively.

Exosomes derived from bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells can inhibit neuroinflammation through regulating microglial phenotypes and promoting nerve injury repair. However, the underlying molecular mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the mechanism by which exosomes derived from bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells inhibit neuroinflammation. Our in vitro co-culture experiments showed that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and their exosomes promoted the polarization of activated BV2 microglia to their anti-inflammatory phenotype, inhibited the expression of proinflammatory cytokines, and increased the expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines. Our in vivo experiments showed that tail vein injection of exosomes reduced cell apoptosis in cortical tissue of mouse models of traumatic brain injury, inhibited neuroinflammation, and promoted the transformation of microglia to the anti-inflammatory phenotype. We screened some microRNAs related to neuroinflammation using microRNA sequencing and found that microRNA-181b seemed to be actively involved in the process. Finally, we regulated the expression of miR181b in the brain tissue of mouse models of traumatic brain injury using lentiviral transfection. We found that miR181b overexpression effectively reduced apoptosis and neuroinflamatory response after traumatic brain injury and promoted the transformation of microglia to the anti-inflammatory phenotype. The interleukin 10/STAT3 pathway was activated during this process. These findings suggest that the inhibitory effects of exosomes derived from bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells on neuroinflamation after traumatic brain injury may be realized by the action of miR181b on the interleukin 10/STAT3 pathway.

Register file (Regfile), as the bottleneck circuit for processor data interaction, directly determines the computing performance of the system. To address the read/write conflict and timing error problems of register heap, this paper proposes a 5R4W high-timing reliability Regfile circuit design scheme. First, the scheme analyzed the principles of timing errors such as read/write conflicts, write errors, and read errors in the Regfile circuit; then adopted the timing separation method of independent control of the read/write process by clock double edges to solve multiport read/write conflicts, designed a mirror memory check circuit to avoid write errors caused by the word line delays, and used a phase-locked clock feedback structure to eliminate read errors caused by the data timing fluctuations; in the TSMC 7 nm FinFET process, a 64 × 74-bit 5R4W Regfile circuit was implemented using a fully customized layout. Experimental results show that the Regfile circuit has an area of 0.13 mm2 and consumes 5.541 mW. The circuit operates at a maximum frequency of 3.8 GHz at −40 to −125°C and 0.75 V, and is capable of detecting write errors caused by a clock jitter exceeding 30 ps or a frequency above 5 GHz.

BackgroundThe kinematic alignment technique, as one of the alignment options for total knee arthroplasty, has attracted increasing attention from orthopedic surgeons and has been increasingly performed in the most populous countries in the world. The purpose of this study is to explore and compare the early clinical outcomes of total knee arthroplasty with KA using specific instruments vs. mechanical alignment in our nation.MethodsA retrospective analysis was performed on patients who underwent unilateral total knee arthroplasty for knee osteoarthritis with varus deformity. Depending on the alignment method, patients were divided into a kinematically aligned total knee arthroplasty (KA-TKA) group and a mechanically aligned total knee arthroplasty (MA-TKA) group. The hip-knee-ankle (HKA) angle before and after surgery, the knee joint clinical score (KS-C), the knee joint functional score (KS-F) and the forgotten joint score (FJS) at 3 months and 2 years after surgery were recorded and statistically analyzed.ResultsA total of 126 patients were enrolled, including 65 in the KA-TKA group and 61 in the MA-TKA group. The mean follow-up period was 30.8 months. The postoperative HKA angle was not significantly different at the 2-year follow-up between the two groups (P > 0.05). The KS-C, KS-F and FJS scores in the KA-TKA group were higher than those in the MA-TKA group at 3 months after surgery, and the difference was statistically significant (P

BackgroundIrreparable rotator cuff tears (IRCT) are defined as defects that cannot be repaired due to tendon retraction, fat infiltration, or muscle atrophy. One surgical remedy for IRCT is superior capsular reconstruction (SCR), which fixes graft materials between the larger tuberosity and the superior glenoid.Patients and methodsThe Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) criteria were followed for conducting the systematic review and meta-analysis. From their inception until February 25, 2022, Pubmed, Embase, and Cochrane Library's electronic databases were searched. Studies using cadavers on SCR for IRCT were also included. The humeral head's superior translation and subacromial peak contact pressure were the primary outcomes. The humeral head's anteroposterior translation, the kind of graft material used, its size, and the deltoid load were the secondary outcomes.ResultsAfter eliminating duplicates from the search results, 1,443 unique articles remained, and 20 papers were finally included in the quantitative research. In 14 investigations, the enhanced superior translation of the humeral head was documented in IRCTs. In 13 studies, a considerable improvement following SCR was found, especially when using fascia lata (FL), which could achieve more translation restraints than human dermal allograft (HDA) and long head of bicep tendon (LHBT). Six investigations reported a subacromial peak contact pressure increase in IRCTs, which could be rectified by SCR, and these studies found a substantial increase in this pressure. The results of the reduction in subacromial peak contact pressure remained consistent regardless of the graft material utilized for SCR. While there was a statistically significant difference in the change of graft material length between FL and HDA, the change in graft material thickness between FL and HDA was not significant. The humeral head's anterior-posterior translation was rising in IRCTs and could be returned to its original state with SCR. In five investigations, IRCTs caused a significant increase in deltoid force. Furthermore, only one study showed that SCR significantly decreased deltoid force.ConclusionWith IRCT, SCR might significantly decrease the glenohumeral joint's superior and anterior-posterior stability. Despite the risks for donor-site morbidity and the longer recovery time, FL is still the best current option for SCR.

BackgroundLumboperitoneal shunt (LPS) is an effective procedure for managing communicating hydrocephalus. LPS is performed as a one-stage procedure with the patient placed in the lateral position or as a two-stage procedure in which the patient's position is changed. Both methods can be bothersome to neurosurgeons. We designed a continuous two-stage LPS procedure in which the operative sites did not need to be sterilized again, and the surgical drapes did not have to be changed after changing the patient's position. In this study, we analyzed this procedure in terms of the technical features and outcomes.MethodsAll patients from our institute who underwent LPS using the continuous two-stage procedure from October 2019 to August 2021 were reviewed retrospectively. The patient's demographic information, clinical features, operative data, and outcomes were analyzed.ResultsA total of 46 consecutive patients who underwent LPS using the continuous two-stage procedure were enrolled. The mean operative duration was 70.6 ± 12.7 min. The 180-day revision rate for these patients was 2.2% (1/46). Moreover, 76.1% of the patients (35/46) experienced clinical improvement after LPS during the 180-day follow-up, and 70.0% of the patients (32/46) experienced an improvement in neuroimaging.ConclusionWe described a continuous two-stage LPS procedure. This method simplified the two-stage LPS procedure and maintained a low malfunction rate and shunt infection rate in our series.

Abstract Background Chikungunya fever, caused by the Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), has become a major global health concern, causing unexpected large outbreaks in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. CHIKV is not indigenous to China, and its origin in the country is poorly understood. In particular, there is limited understanding of the recent global spread of CHIKV in the context of the CHIKV epidemic. Methods Here we investigated a novel Chikungunya patient who came from Myanmar to China in August, 2019. Direct genome sequencing was performed via combined MinION sequencing and BGISEQ-500 sequencing. A complete CHIKV genome dataset, including 727 CHIKV genomes retrieved from GenBank and the genome sequenced in this study, was constructed. An updated and comprehensive phylogenetic analysis was conducted to understand the virus’s origin, evolution, transmission routes and genetic adaptation. Results All globally distributed CHIKV genomes were divided into West Africa, East/Central/South African and Asian genotypes. The genome sequenced in this study was located in the Indian Ocean lineage, and was closely related to a strain isolated from an Australian patient who returned from Bangladesh in 2017. A comprehensive phylogenetic analysis showed that the Chinese strains mainly originated from the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Further analyses indicated that the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia may act as major hubs for the recent global spread of CHIKV, leading to multiple outbreaks and epidemics. Moreover, we identified 179 distinct sites, including some undescribed sites in the structural and non-structural proteins, which exhibited apparent genetic variations associated with different CHIKV lineages. Conclusions Here we report a novel CHIKV isolate from a chikungunya patient who came from Myanmar to China in 2019, and summarize the source and evolution of Chinese CHIKV strains. Our present findings provide a better understanding of the recent global evolution of CHIKV, highlighting the urgent need for strengthened surveillance against viral diversity.

Abstract Yolk sac tumor (YST), also known as endodermal sinus tumor, is a malignant germ cell tumor that usually affects children aged >3 years. It is commonly observed in the gonadal sites (testis or ovary) but is extremely rare in the mandibular regions. This study describes the anesthesia process for spontaneous ventilation bronchoscope intubation in the rare case of a 7‐year‐old child with extragonadal primary YST of the face, refractory to radiotherapy, and chemotherapy.

ObjectiveThe combination of cranioplasty and ventriculoperitoneal shunt is a therapeutic strategy for patients with hydrocephalus after decompressive craniectomy (DC). However, the efficacies of simultaneous vs. staged surgery in reducing postoperative complications have not been conclusively determined. This was a meta-analysis of relevant studies to assess whether simultaneous surgery significantly reduces postoperative complication risks, compared to staged surgery.MethodsWe systematically searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, Web of science databases for studies (published by 11 May 2022) comparing patients undergoing concurrent and staged cranioplasty and ventriculoperitoneal shunt. Our main endpoints were; overall postoperative complications, postoperative bleeding, postoperative infection and reoperation. We assessed the pooled data using a random effects model to compare complication rates using odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).ResultsOf the 494 identified studies, 12 were included in our analysis (N = 651 participants). Compared to staged surgery, concurrent surgery increased the relative risk for overall complications (pooled OR: 2.00; 95% CI: 1.10–3.67), however, it did not increase the relative risks for postoperative bleeding, postoperative infection or reoperation. Subgroup analysis revealed that in the Asian population, concurrent surgery increased the relative risks for overall complications (staged vs. concurrent group: OR: 2.41, 95% CI: 1.51–3.83, I2 = 0.0%) and postoperative infections (staged vs. concurrent group: OR: 2.35, 95% CI: 1.06–5.21, I2 = 31.8%).ConclusionCompared to staged surgery, concurrent surgery increases the overall complication rates. However, differences between the two therapeutic approaches in terms of postoperative bleeding, postoperative infection, or reoperation are insignificant. Simultaneous surgery was associated with increased overall post-operative complications and post-operative infection rates in the Asian population.

BackgroundScrub typhus has become a serious public health concern in the Asia-Pacific region including China. There were new natural foci continuously recognized and dramatically increased reported cases in mainland China. However, the epidemiological characteristics and spatiotemporal patterns of scrub typhus in Fujian province have yet to be investigated.ObjectiveThis study proposes to explore demographic characteristics and spatiotemporal dynamics of scrub typhus cases in Fujian province, and to detect high-risk regions between January 2012 and December 2020 at county/district scale and thereby help in devising public health strategies to improve scrub typhus prevention and control measures.MethodMonthly cases of scrub typhus reported at the county level in Fujian province during 2012-2020 were collected from the National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System. Time-series analyses, spatial autocorrelation analyses and space-time scan statistics were applied to identify and visualize the spatiotemporal patterns of scrub typhus cases in Fujian province. The demographic differences of scrub typhus cases from high-risk and low-risk counties in Fujian province were also compared.ResultsA total of 11,859 scrub typhus cases reported in 87 counties from Fujian province were analyzed and the incidence showed an increasing trend from 2012 (2.31 per 100,000) to 2020 (3.20 per 100,000) with a peak in 2018 (4.59 per 100,000). There existed two seasonal peaks in June-July and September-October every year in Fujian province. A significant positive spatial autocorrelation of scrub typhus incidence in Fujian province was observed with Moran's I values ranging from 0.258 to 0.471 (PConclusionsThese results demonstrate a clear spatiotemporal heterogeneity of scrub typhus cases in Fujian province, and provide the evidence in directing future researches on risk factors and effectively assist local health authorities in the refinement of public health interventions against scrub typhus transmission in the high risk regions.

In this study, a multi-path Vis/NIR spectroscopy system was developed to detect the presence of Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) infestations of citrus fruit. Spectra were acquired for 252 citrus fruit, 126 of which were infested. Two hundred and fifty-two spectra were acquired for modeling in their un-infested stage, slightly infested stage, and seriously infested stage. The location of the infestation is unclear, and considering the impact of the light path on the location of the infestation, each citrus fruit was tested in three orientations (i.e., fruit stalks facing upward (A), fruit stalks facing horizontally (B), and fruit stalks facing downward (C)). Classification models based on joint X-Y distance, multiple transmittance calibration, competitive adaptive reweighted sampling, and partial least squares discriminant analysis (SPXY-MSC-CARS-PLS-DA) were developed on the spectra of each light path, and the average spectra of the four light paths was calculated, to compare their performance in infestation classification. The results show the classification result changed with the light path and fruit orientation. The average spectra for each fruit orientation consistently gave better classification results, with overall accuracies of 92.9%, 89.3%, and 90.5% for orientations A, B, and C, respectively. Moreover, the best model had a Kappa value of 0.89, and gave 95.2%, 80.1%, and 100.0% accuracy for un-infested, slightly infested, and seriously infested citrus fruit. Furthermore, the classification results for infested citrus fruits were better when using the average spectra than using the spectrum of each single light path. Therefore, the multi-path Vis/NIR spectroscopy system is conducive to the detection of B. dorsalis infestation in citrus fruits.

Dredged sediment has high water content, and its engineering characteristics are poor; therefore, the treatment and disposal of dredged sediment is difficult, and the utilization efficiency of these resources is low. Various methods can be used to dehydrate dredged sediment, among which flocculation dewatering is the most widely used. In this study, the basic properties of dredged sediment were examined, and the flocculation dehydration effect of dredged sediment was analyzed in relation to the polyaluminum ferric chloride (PAFC) dosage, water content, and time. There is an optimal flocculant dosage added during dredged sediment processing. Dredged sediment with high water content has obvious flocculation effect. Flocculant can speed up the flocculation dehydration of dredged sediment in a short time, but long-term dehydration has no advantages compared with natural dredged sediment; the dehydration effect was even weaker than that of natural dredged sediment dehydration in the later stages of sedimentation. Meanwhile, this paper divided the settling process into different stages; the settlement coefficients and compaction settlement indexes in different settling stages can well reflect the flocculating performance of flocculants at each settling stage.

The growth of trees is inseparable from the water transpiration in the xylem. To explore the mechanism of sap rising in the xylem, the monthly variation of the dynamic viscosity and interfacial tension of the xylem sap of different tree species and their impacting factors were analyzed. In this experiment, the dynamic viscosity and interfacial tension of the xylem sap of poplar and metasequoia were measured within one year, as well as the sap velocity of poplar. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and atomic absorption spectroscopy were used to detect the organic components and inorganic cations of the xylem sap of poplar and metasequoia. By analyzing the influence of organic components and the inorganic cation concentration of xylem sap on the dynamic viscosity and interfacial tension of xylem sap, this study revealed that the dynamic viscosity and the interfacial tension of poplar and metasequoia samples in different months changed in basically the same manner. However, the dynamic viscosity and the interfacial tension of the metasequoia samples were generally higher than those of the poplar samples. The dynamic viscosity of the xylem sap had an obvious exponential relationship with temperature, while the interfacial tension of the xylem sap had an inconspicuous linear relationship with temperature. In addition, disparate xylem structures of the broad-leaved tree poplar and the coniferous tree metasequoia led to different concentrations of organic components and inorganic cations in their xylem sap, which made a difference in the dynamic viscosity and interfacial tension between poplar and metasequoia samples.

The existence of tumor heterogeneity is widely recognized; however, heterogeneity of the antitumor response in multiple tumor nodules in the same patient has not been reported. Sintilimab, a monoclonal antiprogrammed cell death receptor-1 (PD-1) antibody, was used to treat patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In the present study, we report a case of therapeutic heterogeneity in relapsed HCC with lung metastases. A 57-year-old female patient was diagnosed with HCC and underwent radical hepatectomy. One and a half years later, imaging scans found multiple metastatic tumors in the lung, which were accompanied by an increased α-fetoprotein (AFP) level. The patient then started to receive sintilimab. In the first 6 months after sintilimab treatment, all the metastatic nodules regressed gradually and ultimately disappeared, except for one nodule, which remained stable in the following 3 months. Finally, the patient underwent pulmonary lobectomy to remove the remaining nodule. Thereafter, follow-up visits showed the AFP level decreased to normal and imaging scans showed no signs of recurrence, confirming that the patient exhibited a clinically complete response. Pathological assessments showed that in the primary tumor site, the tumor comprised moderately differentiated HCC with a few infiltrated cytotoxic T cells and negative PD-L1 expression. While in the metastatic site, the nodule was composed of poorly differentiated HCC with cytotoxic T-cell infiltration with few cells inside the tumor and expressed PD-L1 in some areas of the tumor. There were dynamic alterations of PD-L1 expression and cytotoxic T-cell infiltration in the primary and relapsed HCC lesions after anti-PD-1 treatment. This case presented the heterogeneities of both the tumor microenvironment and the following antitumor response among the metastatic nodules in the same patient and revealed the importance of comprehensive therapy in cancer treatment.

Abstract Background A mismatch between the femoral component and trochlear resection surface is observed in kinematically aligned total knee arthroplasty (KA-TKA) when conventional prostheses are employed. This mismatch is mainly manifested in the undercoverage of the lateral trochlear resection surface. The aim of the present study was to assess the relationship between the mismatch and the alignment parameters of the tibiofemoral joint. Methods Forty-five patients (52 knees) who underwent KA-TKA in our hospital were included. Patient-specific instrumentation was used in 16 patients (16 knees), and conventional instruments with calipers and other special tools were employed in the other 29 patients (36 knees). The widths of the exposed resection bone surface at the middle (MIDexposure) and distal (DISexposure) levels on the lateral trochlea were measured as dependent variables, whereas the hip-knee-ankle angle (HKAA), mechanical lateral distal femoral angle (mLDFA), joint line convergence angle (JLCA), medial proximal tibial angle (MPTA) and transepicondylar axis angle (TEAA) were measured as independent variables. Correlation analysis and subsequent linear regression were conducted among the dependent variables and various alignment parameters of the tibiofemoral joint. Results The incidence of undercoverage of the lateral trochlear resection surface was 86.5 % with MIDexposure and DISexposure values of 2.3 (0–6 mm) and 2.0 (0–5 mm), respectively. The widths of the two levels of exposed bone resection were significantly correlated with mLDFA and HKAA but were not related to TEAA. Conclusions The undercoverage of the trochlear resection surface in KA-TKA is mainly correlated with the degree of valgus of the distal femoral joint line. The current study suggests that this correlation should be considered in the development of KA-specific prostheses.

Objective To investigate the effects of astragaloside IV(ASIV) on renal function of mice with mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis (MsPGN) and the regulation of serum IL-1β and IL-17. Methods Thirty-two ICR clean male mice were randomly divided into crotrol group, model group, Tripterygium wilfordii polyglycoside tablet group (positive drug group) and astragaloside IV (ASIV intervention) group with 8 mice in each group. MsPGN model was established by routine method. After 12 weeks of treatment, the pathological changes of kidney tissue were microscopied. Routine biochemical method was used to detect 24 h urinary protein (24 hUP) in mice 1 day before treatment, 4, 8 and 12 weeks after treatment. Detection of serum cystatin C(Cys C) expression, renal tissue homogenate and serum IL-1 β and IL-17 by ELISA. The beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAG) was measured by colorimetry. Results Compared with the control group, mesangial cells and mesangial matrix proliferated in model group mice. After treatment with ASIV and Tripterygium wilfordii polyglycoside tablets, the kidney lesions and mesangial cell and mesangial matrix proliferation in mice were alleviated. Compared with the control group, the expression levels of 24 hUP, NAG, Cys C, IL-1β and IL-17 in kidney tissue and serum of the model group were significantly increased (P＜0.05). After treatment, the expression levels of 24 hUP, NAG, Cys C, IL-1β and IL-17 in ASIV group and Tripterygium wilfordii polyglycoside tablet group were dose-dependent, and significantly lower than those in model group (P＜0.05). Conclusions Astragaloside Ⅳ regulates renal function, inhibits proliferation of mesangial cells and the increase of extracellular matrix, and alleviates renal injury, which is potentially related to the inhibition of inflammatory reaction of renal tissue by ASIV.

Brainstem hemorrhage (mainly pontine hemorrhage caused by hypertension) has the clinical characteristics of acute onset, rapid progress, high mortality, and high disability rate. Due to the complexity of the brainstem’s anatomical structure and functional importance, it is generally recognized that brainstem treatment is difficult and risky, so it has been regarded as a restricted area of surgery. However, in recent years, continuous progress is being made in many areas, including microsurgical technology, stereotactic technology, robot-assisted surgery, neuroendoscopy, and theoretical and clinical practice of neurorestoration, aiding in the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of brainstem hemorrhage injuries. The Chinese Association of Neurorestoratology (CANR; Preparatory) and the China Committee of International Association of Neurorestoratology (IANR-China Committee) organized relevant experts to formulate this clinical guideline to diagnose and restore damaged nerves after brainstem hemorrhages, promote a standardized diagnosis, and to neurorestoratologically treat this disease.

Abstract. Information about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients with pre-existing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is still lacking. The aim of this study is to describe the clinical course and the outcome of COVID-19 patients with comorbid COPD. This retrospective study was performed at Wuhan Huoshenshan Hospital in China. Patients with a clear diagnosis of COVID-19 who had comorbid COPD (N = 78) were identified. COVID-19 patients without COPD were randomly selected and matched by age and sex to those with COPD. Clinical data were analyzed and compared between the two groups. The composite outcome was the onset of intensive care unit admission, use of mechanical ventilation, or death during hospitalization. Multivariable Cox regression analyses controlling for comorbidities were performed to explore the relationship between comorbid COPD and clinical outcome of COVID-19. Compared to age- and sex-matched COVID-19 patients without pre-existing COPD, patients with pre-existing COPD were more likely to present with dyspnea, necessitate expectorants, sedatives, and mechanical ventilation, suggesting the existence of acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD). Greater proportions of patients with COPD developed respiratory failure and yielded poor clinical outcomes. However, laboratory tests did not show severer infection, over-activated inflammatory responses, and multi-organ injury in patients with COPD. Kaplan–Meier analyses showed patients with COPD exhibited longer viral clearance time in the respiratory tract. Multifactor regression analysis showed COPD was independently correlated with poor clinical outcomes. COVID-19 patients with pre-existing COPD are more vulnerable to AECOPD and subsequent respiratory failure, which is the main culprit for unfavorable clinical outcomes. However, COPD pathophysiology itself is not associated with over-activated inflammation status seen in severe COVID-19.

ObjectiveThis study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of diabetic subjects with diabetic retinopathy (DR) and those without DR (NDR) in an urban community in Northeast China, as well as their risk factors in subjects with DR and NDR.MethodsA community-based survey involving 1,662 subjects was conducted in Fushun, China, between July 2012 and May 2013. The subjects included diabetics with DR (n = 783) and those NDR (n = 879), and questionnaires were completed to collect information about their sociodemographic and healthcare characteristics. A Chi-square test and multiple logistic analyses were performed to analyze the data.ResultsAmong the DR group, 21.88% had a good knowledge of DR, 94.15% had a positive attitude, and 68.07% followed good practice, whereas 20.98% of the NDR group had a good knowledge of DR, 94.18% had a positive attitude, and 66.92% followed good practice. There was no significant difference in the KAP of the two groups of subjects. In the NDR group, a good level of knowledge was associated with a high-level of education (OR = 0.1, 0.2; p < 0.05), a good attitude was associated with retirement (OR = 0.2; p < 0.05), and good practice was associated with being female, having a high-level of education, and the type of treatment (OR = 0.5, 0.4, 2.3, 3.1; p < 0.05). In the DR group, good practice was associated with older age and retirement (OR = 0.6, 0.4; p < 0.05).ConclusionsThere was no significant difference between the DR and NDR subjects in the overall levels of KAP, but both groups showed a poor level of knowledge. Age, gender, education, occupation, and type of treatment were the main factors associated with the KAP scores, more risk factors in the NDR group than in the DR group. There is an urgent need for coordinated educational campaigns with a prioritized focus on the northeast region of China, especially NDR group.

The adder circuit is the core component of the high-performance system-on-chip (SoC). It is also important in image and voice encryption. The full adder circuit is a basic unit with a very high reuse rate among all the units. Therefore, the design of an adder with high energy efficiency is of great significance for the optimization of digital circuit systems. In recent years, numerous researchers have studied the design of advanced adder circuits, which are characterized by high speed and low power consumption. To reduce the hardware overhead, an increasing number of adder circuits utilize the transmission tube logic to reduce the number of transistors. However, this method also brings about several negative effects, such as threshold loss and performance degradation. In this paper, by studying the swing recovery logic and full adder circuit, we proposed a full adder design scheme based on swing restored pass-transistor logic (SRPL). First, the threshold loss mechanism of the circuit was analyzed, and the characteristics of the high-efficiency transmission of high-level and low-level transistors were considered; then the design method of the swing recovery transmission tube logic was developed. We used a symmetric structure to design an XOR/XNOR circuit without delay deviation output. The two-shot MOS tube was used to compensate the threshold loss to realize the full swing output of the XOR/XNOR circuit. Finally, we fused the designed XOR/XNOR circuit to the full adder structure and used the 4T XOR sum circuit and the improved transmission gate carry circuit to implement the high-performance full adder for swing recovery. In the TSMC 65 nm process, the logic function of our method was verified by HSPICE simulation. Compared with the conventional approach, the delay is reduced by 10.8%, and the power-delay product (PDP) is reduced by more than 13.5%. The design method of low delay and full swing output of the SRPL circuit can be further applied to the design of other logic circuits, further promoting the practical process of the SRPL circuit.

Fatty acid-binding proteins (FABPs) are a family of lipid chaperones, which contribute to systemic metabolic regulation through diverse lipid signalings. In this study, a midgut-specific FABP gene (Slfabp2) was cloned from Spodoptera litura. RT-PCR and Western blot analysis indicated that RNA and protein levels of SlFABP2 gradually increased and reached a peak at the prepupal stage and maintained a high level during the pupal stage. The expression of SlFABP2 protein was induced by starvation treatment. In vitro binding assay revealed that the recombinant SlFABP2 had high affinities of binding long-chain fatty acids, such as palmitic acid, arachidonate and oleic acid. The results suggest that SlFABP2 may have a unique function that transports intracellular fatty acids and can regulate the metabolism of lipids in metamorphosis. This work provides experimental clues for understanding the potential function of SlFABP2 in fatty acid metabolism in S. litura.