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Objective. To investigate the effects of nutritious meal combined with online publicity and education on postoperative nutrition and psychological state in patients with low rectal cancer after colostomy. Methods. The clinic data of 88 patients with low rectal cancer who received the colostomy in our hospital (August 2020-August 2021) were retrospectively reviewed. Among them, 44 patients received nutritious meal combined with online publicity and education and they made up the study group, and the others were given conventional care and they made up the reference group. The nutrition indicators, scores of the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL)-BREF, and other materials of the patients in the two groups were compared. Results. After intervention, the various nutrition indicators, immune indexes, and WHOQOL-BREF score of the study group were all prominently higher than those of the reference group ( P < 0.001 ). Compared with the reference group, the study group after intervention achieved markedly lower self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) score and self-rating depression scale (SDS) score ( P < 0.001 ) and obviously lower total incidence of complications ( P < 0.05 ). Conclusion. Combining nutritious meal with online publicity and education can effectively improve the postoperative nutrition and immune function of the patients with low rectal cancer after colostomy, and this intervention contributes to releasing the patients’ adverse emotions. Further study helps to provide these patients with favorable solutions.

The vascular dysfunction of ovarian cancer (OC) contributes to the chemotherapeutic resistance. In this study, we aimed to explore whether exosome-mediated angiogenesis blocking could improve the chemotherapy sensitivity via vascular normalization. Exosomes were armed with RGD on the surface by fusing Lamp2b. Candidate miRNAs related to tumor angiogenesis was detected by qRT-PCR. RGD-modified exosomes were loaded with miRNAs via electroporation. The therapeutic effects of the exosomes on angiogenesis, vascular normalization, and chemotherapy sensitivity were systemically analyzed in the xenograft model. RGD-modified exosomes were relatively enriched in the tumor mass, both the tumor cell and the endothelial cells. Among the miRNA candidates, miR-484 was found down-regulated in both the cancer cells and the angiogenic endothelial cells. In vivo xenograft model experiment revealed that injection of RGD-modified exosomes loaded with miR-484 induced vessel normalization and in turn sensitized the cancer cells to chemotherapy induced apoptosis. Mechanistically, miR-484 simultaneously inhibited the expression of VEGF-A from the cancer cells and the corresponding receptors in the endothelial cells. Targeted delivery of miR-484 via RGD-modified exosomes improves the vascular normalization, sensitizes the cancer to chemotherapy, and prolongs the survival time of tumor-bearing mice after chemotherapy, opening an avenue for the clinical management of chemotherapy resistance.

Background The study was performed to compare the efficacy and safety during radiofrequency ablation (RFA) using ThermoCool SmartTouch (ST) and ThermoCool SmartTouch-SF (STSF) catheters in the porcine heart. Methods and results RFA was performed on the porcine myocardium by using two irrigated ablation catheters. Three groups were divided based on the different contact forces (CFs): low contact force (LCF) (1-3 g), medium contact force (MCF) (5-10 g), and high contact force (HCF) (15-20 g). In each group, RFA was delivered at four power settings of 30, 40, 50, 60 W. At each power, RFA was applied to reach the target ablation index (AI) of 350, 450, and 500. Altogether, 360 RF lesions were created by using 72 ablation conditions. AI value was positively correlated with lesion size using ST and STSF catheters. At a fixed power, lesion dimensions significantly smaller in the LCF group, whereas did not differ between MCF and HCF groups. Furthermore, at a fixed CF, lesion dimensions increased with power set at 40 W compared with 30 W but decreased with high-power RF energy (50 and 60 W). Although the average lesion surface diameter and the maximum diameter was increased using the STSF catheter, there were no significant differences in LV between the two catheters. The steam pop provoked more frequently using ST catheter and showed a negative correlation with CF and positive correlation with high-power energy. Conclusion The STSF catheter is safer and equally effective in lesion formation compared with the ST catheter. LV was increased along with the early increase of CF and power, whereas a further increase of CF and power significantly reduces the lesion size.

Cumulative evidence suggests that linked color imaging (LCI) can be used to identify gastric intestinal metaplasia (GIM). We aimed to develop endoscopic grading for GIM (EGGIM) with LCI.Two hundred and seventy-seven patients who underwent high-resolution white-light gastroscopy followed by LCI for EGGIM estimation were included. LCI was performed for the entire mucosa, and images of five areas each were recorded from the lesser and greater curvatures of the antrum and corpus, and for the incisura. For each area, scores of 0 (no GIM), 1 (focal GIM, ≤30% of the area), and 2 (extensive GIM,30% of the area) were attributed for 10 points. If GIM was suspected based on endoscopy findings, targeted biopsies were performed; if GIM was not evident, random biopsies were performed according to the Sydney system to estimate the operative link on GIM (OLGIM).GIM was staged as OLGIM 0, I, II, III, and IV in 136, 70, 37, 28, and 6 patients, respectively. For OLGIM III/IV diagnosis, the area under the receiver operating curve was 0.949 (95% CI 0.916-0.972). EGGIM of 4, with sensitivity and specificity of 94.12% (95% CI 80.3%-99.3%) and 86.42% (95% CI 81.5%-90.5%), respectively, was determined the best cut-off value for identifying OLGIM III/IV patients.Our findings demonstrated the ability of EGGIM for diagnosing the extent of intestinal metaplasia and showed that EGGIM is related to OLGIM staging. EGGIM of 4 was the best cut-off value for identifying OLGIM III/IV patients.

Background: Patients harboring co-mutations of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangements may have difficulty in choosing appropriate tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy. Herein, a real-word cohort with more than 20,000 NSCLC patients was retrospectively established. Characteristics of co-mutations were analyzed extensively. Method: Formalin fixation and paraffin embedded (FFPE) tumor samples of non-small lung cancer cases from 12 clinical centers were enrolled. A multi-gene PCR panel (Amoy multi-gene PCR kit v.1), which includes EGFR, ALK, ROS1, RET, KRAS, NRAS, BRAF, HER2, and PIK3CA was applied to analyze driver gene mutation status. The cycle threshold (CT) values of positive mutation were recorded. CT ranking score (CTS) of a specific mutation type in a certain sample is calculated as 1-Rx (Rx: The quantile of the CT value of sample x, taking the CT value of the unique mutation sample in this study as a reference). Results: Co-mutations of EGFR/ALK were observed in 41 patients,including EGFR 19del/EML4-ALK (n=19) and EGFR L858R/EML4-ALK (n=10). Median CT values (25.51, n=19) of EGFR 19del in EGFR/ALK co-mutation samples were significantly higher than EGFR 19del mono-mutation (23.01, n=3973, p < 0.01). Higher median CT values of ALK-fusion in EGFR/ALK co-mutated samples were also observed when compared with mono-ALK fusion (26.1 vs 18.5). Median CTS of EGFR 19del, L858R and ALK fusion were 15.5% (n=19), 30.5% (n=10), and 3.2% (n=29) respectively. When defined CTS > 33.3% as positive cut-off of value, 41% (n=12) of EGFR/ALK co-mutation samples were EGFR CTS positive, 17.2% (n=5) were ALK CTS positive. No EGFR/ALK CTS co-positive samples was observed. Compared with L858R, 19del has a higher CTS positive rate of ALK when co-mutated with ALK (26.3% vs 0%, p < 0.01). Conclusion: Compared with EGFR or ALK mono-mutation, abundance of dominant clone comprising either mutated EGFR or ALK-fusion in co-mutation samples is lower, which was proved by the reported poor TKI efficacy in co-mutated patients. CTS can evaluate dominant clone for NSCLC with co-mutated driver genes. Indicated by CTS, tumor with EGFR/ALK co-mutation tends to form a single dominant clone. L858R is more likely to be the dominant subclone than 19del. Therefore, CTS algorism is a promising tool providing clone estimation. And it should be further validated in future perspective clinical trials. Citation Format: Yang Liu, Xianghong Yang, Yu Li, Yongchun Zhou, Yihua Chen, Peng Cheng, Renya Zhang, Xiaowei Qi, Lihua Yang, Guanjun Zhang, Lijuan Qu, Yanfeng Xi, Guanshan Zhu, Yuchen Han. A novel algorism evaluating dominant clonality in Chinese NSCLC patients with concomitant EGFR and ALK variation [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2021; 2021 Apr 10-15 and May 17-21. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(13_Suppl):Abstract nr 3136.

Lung cancer has been notorious for its lack of advance in clinical therapy, urging for effective therapeutic targets. WD repeat-containing protein 74 (WDR74) has previously been implicated in tumorigenesis, but its mechanistic functions remain not well understood. Herein, WDR74 expression was observed to be increased upon lung cancer progression from healthy normal tissues to the primary cancer and further to the metastatic cancer. Through gain- and loss-of-function approaches, we found that WDR74 regulated lung cancer cell proliferation, cell cycle progression, chemoresistance and cell aggressiveness in vitro. Moreover, a xenograft mouse model disclosed that WDR74 knockout inhibited lung cancer growth and metastasis, whereas WDR74 overexpression reciprocally enhanced these characteristics. Mechanistically, WDR74 promoted nuclear β-catenin accumulation and drove downstream Wnt-responsive genes, thus revealing that WDR74 activated the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Collectively, WDR74 inducing nuclear β-catenin accumulation and driving the downstream Wnt-responsive genes expression facilitates lung cancer growth and metastasis. WDR74 can serve as a candidate target for the prevention and treatment of lung cancer in clinic.

Background ΦC31 integrase, a site-specific recombinase, can efficiently target attB-bearing transgenes to endogenous pseudo attP sites within mammalian genomes. The sequence features of endogenous binding sites will help us to fully understand the site-specific recognition function by ΦC31 integrase. The present study was aimed to uncover the global map of ΦC31 integrase binding sites in bovine cells and analysis the features of these binding sites by comprehensive bioinformatics methods. Results In this study, we constructed a ChIP-seq method that can be used to uncover the global binding sites by phiC31 integrase. 6740 potential ΦC31 integrase binding sites were identified. A sequence motif was found that contains inverted repeats and has similarities to wild-type attP site. Using REPEATMASKER, we identified a total of 20,183 repeat-regions distributed in 50 repeat types for the 6740 binding sites. These sites enriched in “regulation of GTPase activity” of in the GO category of biological process and KEGG pathway of signal transmembrane transporter activity. Conclusion This study is the first time to uncover the global map of binding sites for ΦC31 integrase using ChIP-sequencing method and analysis the features of these binding sites. This method will help us to fully understand the mechanism of the site-specific integration function by phiC31 integrase and will potentially boost its genetic manipulations in both gene therapy and generation of transgenic animals. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s41065-018-0079-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Exosomes are emerging as a promising drug delivery vehicle, while the low yield from the cell culture medium restricts their potential application. Exploring strategies boosting the yields would be of significant importance. In this study, we aimed to explore whether low intensity ultrasound (LIUS) irradiation could booster the exosome yield, while having no significant effects on the characteristics. Treatment of LIUS at 0.5 w/cm2 60 min significantly promotes exosomes secretion in A2780 cells, an ovary cancer cell model used to produce exosomes. Moreover, the resultant exosomes had no significant change in morphology, size, and in vivo distribution. Mechanistical study further suggest that LIUS boosts exosome secretion possibly via promoting the expression of exosome biosynthesis/secretion-related genes. Taken together, our data indicate that LIUS could promote exosome biosynthesis, which could be an effective method to increase exosome yield for drug delivery.

Background Immunoscore, as a prognostic tool defined to quantify in situ immune cell infiltrates, appears to be superior to the TNM staging system. In esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), no immunoscore has been established; however, in situ tumor immunology is recognized as highly important. Our study aimed to construct a comprehensive immunoprofile for ESCC. Methods The infiltration of four immune cell types (CD8+/CD4+/Foxp3+/CD33+ cells), the expression of both inhibitory (PD-1/PD-L1/Tim-3/LAG-3) and stimulatory checkpoints (OX-40/ICOS), and IDO1 were evaluated by IHC staining and multi-color immunofluorescence in two independent cohorts (95 patients in the primary cohort and 55 patients in the validation cohort). The association with patients’ overall survival was analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier method and the Cox model. Nomogram-based immunoprofile was established using the independent prognostic variables. To determine its predictive accuracy and discriminatory capacity, the C-index and calibration curve were calculated. Results Significant correlation of PD-L1 expression in tumor cells with PD-1+ T cell infiltration was found (P = 0.035), indicating the activation of the inhibitory PD-1/PD-L1 pathway in ESCC cases. More PD-L1+ ICs, Tim-3+ ICs and LAG-3+ ICs were found in the CD8-rich tumor microenvironment, which is in accordance with the feedback nature of immune system. After adjustment by TNM stage, four immune variables including the infiltration of CD8+/Foxp3+/CD33+ cells and the PD-L1 expression by tumor cells were selected to construct a prognostic nomogram. The calibration curves showed good accuracy of the nomogram for survival prediction. To overcome the complexity of applying a nomogram in a clinical setting, a simple immunoprofile was then established according to the points of each factor from the nomogram. Our immunoprofile model could separate same-stage patients into different risk subgroups, and showed superior accuracy for survival prediction than the TNM staging system based on the C-index calculation and ROC analysis. Conclusions Our nomogram-based immunoprofile can provide more accurate prognosis prediction and is an important complement to the TNM staging system for operable ESCC patients. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s40425-018-0418-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a devastating disease with increasing incidence worldwide. Accumulating evidence indicated that circular RNAs (circRNAs) behave as a novel class of transcription products during multiple cancer processes. Specifically, hsa_circ_0001649 has been reported to be down-regulated in several cancers. However, its clinical significance and functional roles in PDAC is still unknown. RT-qPCR was carried out to measure the expression of hsa_circ_0001649 in PDAC tissue samples and cell lines. Additionally, the correlation between hsa_circ_0001649 expression and clinicopathological features was analyzed. The prognostic role of hsa_circ_0001649 was explored by Cox regression analysis. The potential effects of hsa_circ_0001649 in PDAC cells were evaluated in vitro including cell proliferation, colony-forming ability and apoptosis. As a result, hsa_circ_0001649 was abnormally decreased in PDAC tissues and cells, and this down-regulation was correlated with tumor stage and differentiation grade in PDAC patients. Hsa_circ_0001649 could serve as an independent prognostic factor for PDAC patients after surgery. What's more, increased hsa_circ_0001649 caused tumor suppressive effects via reducing cell proliferation, colony-forming ability and promoting cell apoptosis in PANC1 and BxPC3 cells. Collectively, the results illustrated that hsa_circ_0001649 may play a tumor suppressor role in PDAC and offer a potential therapeutic target for treating this fatal disease.

Table S1. Primary antibodies used in IHC/IF. (PDF 81 kb)

Figure S1. Representative IHC images of CD8, CD4, Foxp3, CD33, PD-1, PD-L1, TIM3, LAG3, OX-40, ICOS and IDO1 staining in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma samples (Ă 200). TC, tumor cell; IC, immune cell. (PDF 416 kb)

Figure S5. Survival curves grouped by immunoprofile in all patients with ESCC (n=150). (PDF 124 kb)

Figure S4. Survival curves grouped by different T stages (A), N stages (B) and TNM stages (C) in all patients with ESCC (n=150). (PDF 162 kb)

Figure S2. Survival curves of patients grouped by different CD8+ T cells infiltrating status (A) and different CD4+ T cells infiltrating status (B-E) in the primary cohort. TIL, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. (PDF 180 kb)

Table S2. Association between TILs and clinicopathological parameters in the primary cohort. (PDF 173 kb)

This study aimed to investigate the antifertility effect of Juniperus sabina fruit on male rats and its possible mechanism, and hence it might be developed as a potential nonhormonal male contraceptive. Male rats were intragastrically fed for consecutive 8-week and 4-week recovery with the fruit of J. Sabina, and sperm maturation, serum testosterone level, and histopathology were analyzed. Epididymal epithelial cell culture was prepared for detection of podophyllotoxin activities. Furthermore, cell proliferation, transmission electron microscopy, Annexin V/Propidium iodide, TUNEL, RT-PCR, ELISA, and western blotting were examined. The results showed that rat sperm motility and fertility were remarkably declined after feeding the fruit. Moreover, the fruit targeted the epididymis rather than the testis. After 4-week recovery, more than half of the male rats resumed normal fertility. It was found that podophyllotoxin significantly inhibited epididymal epithelial cell proliferation, promoted cell apoptosis, and increased the mRNA and protein levels of TNF-α and the expression levels of cytochrome c, caspase-8, caspase-9, and caspase-3. Our findings suggest that the fruit of J. sabina could inhibit male rat sperm maturation and fertility. The potential mechanism might be related to podophyllotoxin, inducing epididymal epithelial cell apoptosis through TNF-α and caspase signaling pathway.

This study aimed to investigate the antifertility effect of Juniperus sabina fruit on male rats and its possible mechanism, and hence it might be developed as a potential nonhormonal male contraceptive. Male rats were intragastrically fed for consecutive 8-week and 4-week recovery with the fruit of J. Sabina, and sperm maturation, serum testosterone level, and histopathology were analyzed. Epididymal epithelial cell culture was prepared for detection of podophyllotoxin activities. Furthermore, cell proliferation, transmission electron microscopy, Annexin V/Propidium iodide, TUNEL, RT-PCR, ELISA, and western blotting were examined. The results showed that rat sperm motility and fertility were remarkably declined after feeding the fruit. Moreover, the fruit targeted the epididymis rather than the testis. After 4-week recovery, more than half of the male rats resumed normal fertility. It was found that podophyllotoxin significantly inhibited epididymal epithelial cell proliferation, promoted cell apoptosis, and increased the mRNA and protein levels of TNF-α and the expression levels of cytochrome c, caspase-8, caspase-9, and caspase-3. Our findings suggest that the fruit of J. sabina could inhibit male rat sperm maturation and fertility. The potential mechanism might be related to podophyllotoxin, inducing epididymal epithelial cell apoptosis through TNF-α and caspase signaling pathway.

Carbon foam was prepared by direct pyrolysis of ally novolak (AN)-modified bismaleimide (BMI) resin at ambient pressure. Pyrolysis behavior of the AN-modified BMI (AMB) resins was characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). In addition, influences of AN/BMI mass ratio on the structures and properties of the resulting carbon foams were studied. Results show that the AMB resin possesses self-foaming characteristics at high temperatures. The carbon foams have well-developed pore structures with relatively uniform pore sizes; their bulk density, thermal conductivity and compressive strength increase with a decrease in AN/BMI mass ratio. When the AN/BMI mass ratio is 1:1.1, the bulk density, thermal conductivity and compressive strength of the carbon foam arrive at 0.43 g/cm 3 , 1.02 W/mK and 6.4 MPa, respectively.

Multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)/carbon foam composites were prepared by direct pyrolysis of MWCNTs/cyanate ester (CE) resin mixtures. Pyrolysis behavior of the MWCNTs/CE resin mixtures was characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). In addition, physical and mechanical properties of the resultant pyrolysis products were studied. Results show that the pyrolysis products are the MWCNTs/carbon foam composites with an amorphous structure. The addition of WMCNTs results in an increase in the density of the composites and a decrease in their porosity. Moreover, the compressive strength of the composites as well as their thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity increase with an increase in the additive amount of WMCNTs from 0 to 1.0 wt.%.

Highlights\ud A method to analyze spatial-temporal characteristics of district loads was developed. PCA was used to identify the buildings greatly affecting district load management. The features of electric loads of heating on a university campus were analyzed. Building type and operation mode greatly affect the load level and volatility.\ud \ud Abstract\ud Accurate grasp of district power demand is of great significance to both sizing of district power supply and its operation optimization. In this study, an index system has been established and visualized through a Geographic Information System, for revealing both temporal and spatial characteristics of district power loads caused by heating/cooling systems, including load level and fluctuation characteristics, spatial distribution of electric loads, and load coupling relationships between individual buildings and the district. Principal component analysis was applied to identify the buildings with significant impact on district load management. Using this method, the spatial-temporal characteristics of electric loads caused by heating in one university campus in China were analyzed. The results showed that building type and the operation modes had great effects on the level and volatility of the district electric load caused by heating. Buildings with high load levels and strong coupling with the peak district electric load, such as academic buildings, often had a major impact on the power demand of the district. Therefore, they were considered as key targets for energy-saving renovation and operation optimization. Buildings with large load fluctuation, such as teaching buildings, could contribute to the peak load shaving by adjusting the heating systems’ operation.

In this work, a simple and efficient method to fabricate carbon foams from bisphenol A cyanate ester (CE) was developed. Pyrolysis behavior of the CE resin was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results show that the carbon foam with an average pore size of 200 μm can be directly prepared by pyrolysis of the resin at ambient pressure. The resin has self-foaming characteristics at high temperatures, and its development of pore structures is mainly in the temperature range of 400–600 C. The resultant carbon foam possesses a compressive strength of 3.15 MPa at a bulk density of 0.26 g/cm3, which is due to its well-developed pore structures without obvious cracks or voids.

Graphene oxide nanosheets (GONSs)/cyanate ester (CE) resin composites were prepared via a solution intercalation method. The structures of the GONSs and the composites were studied using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The mechanical and tribological properties of the composites were investigated. In addition, the thermal behavior of the composites was characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Results show that the GONSs/CE resin composites were successfully prepared. The addition of GONSs is beneficial to improve the mechanical and tribological properties of the composites. Moreover, the composites exhibit better thermal stability in comparison with the CE resin matrix.

In this paper, the near field coupling from SMPS circuits to a nearby antenna is studied using dipole moments [1]. The dipole moments are extracted from scanned H fields on a plane above SMPS circuits, and then imported into an HFSS model to do full wave simulation. The simulated coupling matches well with direct measurement. Methods to resolve magnitude and phase of near fields of SMPS noise source are introduced. Error analysis is included in the end as well.

Streptomyces phage phiC31 integrase is widely used to mediate the integration of exogenous genes into host genomes for gene therapy and genomic modification, as it autonomously performs efficient, unidirectional, site-specific integration into pseudo attP sites of the host genome. Although pseudo attP sites are rarely found within exons, it is necessary to map their precise locations to avoid the risk of insertion mutagenesis. High-efficiency thermal asymmetric interlaced PCR (hiTAIL-PCR) is a technique that has been developed to recover genomic sequences that flank insertion tags. We have found, however, that this technique is poorly efficient, as it amplifies many non-specific targets and frequently does not generate sufficient product for downstream analysis. Therefore, we have modified the hiTAIL-PCR procedure and re-designed the random primers. As a result, both the amount and specificity of the reaction product were enhanced for each integration site. Restriction analysis of known sequences within the integrated vector, which co-amplified with the flanking genomic sequences, validated 90% of these bands for sequencing. In contrast, only 30% of the bands produced by previous hiTAIL-PCR could be validated. Compared with the original hiTAIL-PCR, our improved hiTAIL-PCR procedure identified phiC31 integration sites more accurately and efficiently.

phiC31 integrase, a site-specific recombinase, can effectively mediate foreign genes bearing an attB sequence integrated into pseudo attP sites. We have previously identified two pseudo attP sites, BpsF1 and BpsM1 from the bovine genome. In this study, two new pseudo attP sites, BF4 and BF10, were discovered using half-nested inverse PCR from cow fibroblasts. The genomic locations of these two pseudo attP sites were identified by direct sequencing and a BLAST search, and it was confirmed that they reside at positions 4q31 and 10q35 by fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis. Subsequently, the distinct integration frequencies of the four pseudo attP sites were examined. The BF4 site was identified as a hotspot where site-specific integration occurred in most of the cell clones examined, accounting for 74% (42/57) of the integration; much more than the integration frequency for BF10 (7%; 4/57), BpsF1 (7%; 4/57) and BpsM1 (0/57). Interestingly, similar to other hotspots identified in the human and mouse genomes, in which transgenes integrated at hotspots result in high expression, the GFP gene integrated at hotspot BF4 was expressed at high levels in cow fibroblasts, as confirmed by fluorescence microscopy and FACS analysis. Furthermore, ELISA showed that the expression level of the GFP gene integrated at the BF4 site averaged approximately 328 microg x mg(-1), which is more than twofold higher than that integrated at the BF10 site. This study suggests that somatic cells carrying a desired gene integrated at the BF4 site can be used as nuclear donors to generate valuable transgenic animals by nuclear transfer.

This paper is focused on the construction of a conducted-emission model for a switched-mode power supply (SMPS). First, the total voltage source is extracted by measurement. Second, the coupling path between the aggressor and the victim is characterized by both simulation and measurement. Finally, the coupled noise to the victim with respect to the extracted total voltage source can be obtained by both simulation and calculation. Both results match well with the measurement result, which validates the robustness of the constructed model.

Background Although the prevalence of aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD) in western populations is high, AERD is rather rare in China, and few related studies have been published to date. Methods We performed a prospective cohort investigation on the incidence of AERD in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) in southern China. A literature search of the China Academic Journal Network Publishing Database was conducted to obtain an overview of the incidence of AERD in the Chinese population, and previous studies on the incidence of AERD were reviewed. Results We found 2 patients with aspirin hypersensitivity among 351 consecutive CRS (309 with nasal polyps [NPs]) patients, suggesting a rate of 0.57% in the CRS population. Forty-five articles about AERD were obtained by Chinese-language literature searches. In total, 346 cases of AERD were reported during the past 30 years. Conclusion Given the large population of NPs in China, the prevalence of AERD is very low, and this may be related to the reduced levels of nasal tissue eosinophilia and subsequent low asthma comorbidity.

Background: Spermatozoa become mature and acquire fertilizing capacity during their passage through the epididymal lumen. In this study, we identified new epididymal luminal fluid proteins involved in sperm maturation in infertile rats by dutasteride, a dual 5α-reductase inhibitor, in order to provide potential epididymal targets for new contraceptives and infertility treatment. Methods: Male rats were treated with dutasteride for 28 consecutive days. We observed the protein expression profiles in the epididymal luminal fluids in infertile and normal rats using isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) technique. The confidence of proteome data was validated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Results: 1045 proteins were tested, and 23 of them presented different expression profiling in the infertile and normal rats. The seven proteins were down-regulated, and 16 proteins were up-regulated. Among the seven proteins which were significantly down-regulated by dutasteride in the epididymal luminal fluids, there were three β-defensins (Defb2, Defb18 and Defb39), which maybe the key proteins involved in epididymal sperm maturation and male fertility. Conclusions: We report for the first time that dutasteride influences the protein expression profiling in the epididymal luminal fluids of rats, and this result provides some new epididymal targets for male contraception and infertility therapy.

The Streptomyces phage φC31 integrase can efficiently target attB-bearing transgenes to endogenous pseudo attP sites within mammalian genomes. To better understand the activity of φC31 integrase in the bovine genome, DNA sequences of 44 integration events were analyzed, and 32 pseudo attP sites were identified. The majority of these sites share a sequence motif that contains inverted repeats and has similarities to wild-type attP site. Genomic DNA flanking these sites typically contained repetitive sequence elements, such as short and long interspersed repetitive elements. These sequence features indicate that DNA sequence recognition plays an important role in guiding φC31-mediated site-specific integration. In addition, BF27 integration hotspot sites were identified in the bovine genome, which accounted for 13.6% of all isolated integration events and mapped to an intron of the deleted in liver cancer 1 (DLC1) gene. Also we found that the pseudo attP sites in the bovine genome had other features in common with those in the human genome. This study represents the first time that the sequence features of pseudo attP sites in the bovine genome were analyzed. We conclude that this site-specific integrase system has great potential for applied modifications of the bovine genome.

The noise tests of the actual sound barrier and the scale model sound barrier are completed using the HEAD acoustics multi-channel noise test and analysis system based on similarity theory and model test knowledge. Comparison and analysis of the test results show that the scale model sound barrier has good consistency with the actual sound barrier in the frequency band from 125 to 5000Hz; the sound barriers have excellent noise reduction behavior for middle and high frequency noise, but the effect for low frequency is not good. The experiment results provide a high application value and practical significance for the future design of the sound barriers. PRESENTATION OF QUESTION The experiences and lessons of urbanization process in developed countries tell us that housing, environment and traffic are the three elements that impact the urban development and the most important element is the traffic. With the dramatic increase of urban population and the rapid development of automobile industry in China, urban road traffic is overcrowded. In particular, the transportation problems have become increasingly sharp in the city with a population of more than one million. In the case of heavy traffic on the ground, building overpasses and viaducts can effectively evacuate passenger flow. But the vehicles running on the overpasses and viaducts make noise pollution more serious due to the radiated noise from viaducts. At present, traffic noise has become an important factor that restricts the improvement of the quality of urban living environment. With the development of environmental treatment technologies and the continuous improvement of people's awareness of environmental protection, some studies and explorations of sound barriers have been carried out in our country. The installation of sound barriers has

With the development of the national economy and the automotive industry, urban road traffic has been developing rapidly. At the same time, traffic noise is more serious and has become one of the major noise sources in urban area. Areas along the roads are affected seriously by noise, for example: residential area, schools, hospitals etc.. So the measures should be taken to control urban road traffic noise imminently and quiet environment should be created by raising consciousness about environmental protection of the whole nation gradually. At present one of the main measures is construction of sound barriers. In the paper the inverted L sound barrier model was tested in the hemi-anechoic chamber using the noise and vibration analysis system. Noise reduction effects become gradually less by the less distance between the barrier and the measurement point or by the more height of the measurement point to the ground surface. Noise reduction effect is more in inclination 30°, and noise reduction effect is less in inclination 90°. The conclusions are really worthwhile in sound barrier design.

STUDY ON THE NOISE DISTRIBUTION IN HIGH-SPEED RAILWAY COACHES AND THE CHARACTERISTICS OF NOISE REDUCTION MATERIAL LIU Yan1, ZHANG Xiaopai1, GUO Jitan1, HUANG Bin1, QU Lijuan1, ZENG Jing2, ZHANG Xiaojuan1 and ZHONG Zhifang1 1School of Traffic and Transportation Engineering, Dalian Jiaotong University, Dalian China, ST116028; PH(086)411-84106905; e-mail: ly@djtu.edu.cn. 2Traction Power State Key Laboratory, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu China, ST610031. Abstract: This paper analyzes distribution of noise measured in high-speed railway coaches. The figures of frequency spectrum show that: the sound intensity level above the bogie is about 5 dB (A) higher than the centre of the car body in average. It is mainly due to wheel-rail noise. The main frequency band is 160Hz~1000Hz belonging to low and middle frequencies. According to the sound absorption performance test, the material made up of the plant cellulose and the open foaming material can be applied to the coaches. It is with the wider sound absorption frequency band and the better sound absorption performance, and can decrease noise and protect environment.