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【Objective】 The Fuhe River Basin is an important food production region in Northwestern China. It is increasingly affected by droughts. This paper analyses the occurrence of droughts and their key determinants in this region. 【Method】 The analysis was based on modelling. We simulated the changes in monthly soil water content from 1962 to 2019 using the SWAT model. The resulting data were then used to calculate the standardized soil moisture index. The characteristics of agricultural droughts were analyzed using the theory of runs, and the key determinants of the droughts were analyzed using the geographical detector. 【Result】 ① The coefficient of determination (R2) and the Nash efficiency coefficient (ENS) between the modelled and measured results in the calibration are both higher than 0.80; the coefficient of determination between the predicted soil moisture content and the measured soil moisture content is 0.52. ② The duration of droughts in different regions in the basin varied from 3.60 to 4.31 months, and the drought intensity ranged from 4.91 to 5.61, both varying spatially, higher in the North and South and lower in the center. ③ The influence of temperature, solar radiation, and wind speed on spatial variation in the droughts, characterized by the q-value, exceeds 0.30. Other environmental factors are nonlinearly interacted in their influence on the droughts. 【Conclusion】 The standardized soil moisture index can quantitatively characterize droughts in the Fuhe River Basin. Droughts in the basin vary spatially, with temperature, solar radiation and wind speed being the main contributing factors.

Abstract Background Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with decreased heart rate variability (HRV) with an unclear intermediate mechanism. This study aimed to conduct mediation analysis to explore the impact of various adipose tissues on the relationship between T2DM and HRV. Methods A total of 380 participants were enrolled for analysis, including 249 patients with T2DM and 131 non-diabetic controls. The thicknesses of four adipose tissues (subcutaneous, extraperitoneal, intraperitoneal, and epicardial) were measured by abdominal ultrasound or echocardiography respectively. HRV was assessed by 24-hour Holter for monitoring both frequency domain indices (LF, HF, and LF/HF) and time domain indices (SDNN, SDANN, SDNN index, rMSSD and pNN50). Mediation analysis was used toexamine whether adipose tissues mediated the relationship between T2DM and each index of HRV. Then, a latent variable - HRV burden - was constructed by structural equation model with selected HRV indices to comprehensively assess the whole HRV. Results Compared to non-diabetic controls, patients with T2DM exhibited a significant reduction in indices of HRV, and a remarkable increase in the thicknesses of extraperitoneal, intraperitoneal, and epicardial adipose tissues. Mediation analysis found significant indirect effects of T2DM on six indices of HRV, including HF, SDNN, SDANN, SDNN index, rMSSD, and pNN50, which was mediated by epicardial adipose tissue rather than other adipose tissues, with the mediation proportions of 64.21%, 16.38%, 68.33%, 24.34%, 24.10% and 30.51%, respectively. Additionally, epicardial adipose tissue partially mediated the relationship between T2DM and reduced HRV burden (24.26%), which composed by SDNN, SDNN index, rMSSD, and pNN50. Conclusion Epicardial adipose tissue partially mediated the relationship between T2DM and reduced HRV, which reinforces the value of targeting heart-specific visceral fat to prevent cardiac autonomic neuropathy in diabetes.

Exploring the characteristics of hydrological drought in watersheds is greatly significant for scientific drought prevention. In this paper, taking the Fuhe River basin as the study area, the SWAT model is used to obtain runoff sequences for 31 sub-basins in the study area and compute the Standardized Runoff Index (SRI). The tour theory and the conditional probability methods of the Copula function are applied to compare and analyze the hydrological drought characteristics in the basin. The results show that 51 drought events occurred in the Fuhe River Basin during 1960—2019, with an average drought duration and intensity of 4.22 months and 4.70, respectively. Under univariate factors, the risk of drought is relatively high in the vicinity of the mainstream of the basin. The Frank Copula function effectively fits the joint distribution of drought variables in most sub-basins, with the co-recurrence return period for severe droughts and above being less than 8 years. In general, the risk of severe hydrological drought in the Fuhe River Basin is relatively high, and the basin's drought resistance capacity needs to be improved.

Objective During the train debugging process, significant vibrations may occur in the steel rail beams of high-speed maglev maintenance bases due to their unique structural characteristics, potentially leading to bolt loosening issues. This phenomenon could alter the vibration characteristics of the rail beams, and changes in the parameters of the vehicle-track coupling system might induce vehicle-track resonance, posing potential harm to rail structure. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the impact of bolt loosening on the vibration of rail structures. Method After expounding the experimental design scheme and principles, the impact of bolt loosening on the modal and dynamic response characteristics of the rail beam and structure are investigated. For structural modal analysis, pulse and ambient excitations are employed to test the track modal properties under both unloaded (the rail is unoccupied) and loaded (the rail is occupied by a train) conditions. Modal identification is carried out using the method of Stochastic Subspace Identification (SSI). Finally, the impact of loose bolt on rail modal properties under both conditions are analyzed through stability diagrams. In terms of dynamic response characteristics, levitation excitation is applied to the rail, and the bolt is gradually loosened during multiple times of static levitation process. Acceleration response signals of the steel beams are collected and a detailed analysis is conducted in both time and frequency domains. Result & Conclusion Bolt loosening, under both loaded and unloaded conditions, caused a decrease in modal frequencies and a change in mode shapes. But under the loaded condition, a considerable increase in the damping ratio is observed after bolt loosening. In the static levitation process, resonance occurred between the rail beam and the train, where bolt loosening not only affected the amplitude of the rail beam vibrations but also altered the symmetry of rail beam vibrations.

Abstract Indole-3-carbinol(I3C) is a tumor chemopreventive substance that can be extracted from cruciferous vegetables. Indole-3-carbinol (I3C) has been shown to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. In this study, we investigated the cerebral protective effects of I3C in an in vivo rats model of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). 8–10 Week-Old male SD rat received I3C (150 mg/kg, once daily) for 3 days and underwent 3 h of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) followed by reperfusion. The results showed that I3C pretreatment (150 mg/kg, once daily) prevented CIRI-induced cerebral infarction in rats. I3C pretreatment also decreased the mRNA expression levels of several apoptotic proteins, including Bax, caspase-3 and caspase-9, by increasing the mRNA expression levels of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2. Inhibited apoptosis in the brain cells of MCAO rats. In addition, we found that I3C pretreatment reduced neuronal loss, promoted neurological recovery after ischemia–reperfusion injury and increased seven-day survival in MCAO rats. I3C pretreatment also significantly reduced the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (INOS), interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) mRNA in ischemic brain tissue; Increased expression of interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) mRNA. At the same time, I3C pretreatment significantly decreased the expression of the M1 microglial marker IBA1 after cerebral ischemia–reperfusion injury and increased the expression of these results in the M2 microglial marker CD206. I3C pretreatment also significantly decreased apoptosis and death of HAPI microglial cells after hypoxia induction, decreased interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) mRNA The expression of interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) mRNAs was increased. These results suggest that I3C protects the brain from CIRI by regulating the anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects of microglia.

Abstract Background Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a significant risk factor for a range of cardiovascular diseases. Nonetheless, the causal relationship between T1D and non-ischemic cardiomyopathy (NICM) remains to be elucidated. Furthermore, the mechanisms responsible for the progression from T1D to NICM have not been definitively characterized. Objective The aim of this study was to conduct a Mendelian randomization (MR) study to investigate the causal effects of T1D and its complications on the development of NICM. Additionally, this study aimed to conduct a mediation analysis to identify potential mediators within this correlation. Methods Genetic variants were used as instrumental variables for T1D. The summary data for T1D were obtained from two genome-wide association study datasets. The summary data for T1D with complications and NICM were obtained from the Finnish database. Two-sample MR, multivariable MR and mediation MR were conducted in this study. Results The study revealed a causal association between T1D, T1D with complications, and NICM (with odds ratios of 1.02, 95% CI 1.01–1.04, p = 1.17e-04 and 1.03, 95% CI 1.01–1.05, p = 3.15e-3). Even after adjusting for confounding factors such as body mass index and hypertension, T1D remained statistically significant (with odds ratio of 1.02, 95% CI 1.01–1.04, p = 1.35e-4). Mediation analysis indicated that monokine induced by gamma interferon may play a mediating role in the pathogenesis of T1D-NICM (mediation effect indicated by odds ratio of 1.005, 95% CI 1.001–1.01, p = 4.9e-2). Conclusion The study demonstrates a causal relationship between T1D, its complications, and NICM. Additionally, monokine induced by gamma interferon may act as a potential mediator in the pathogenesis of T1D-NICM.

Abstract The transcription factor BarH-like homeobox 2 (BARX2), a member of the Bar-like homeobox gene family, is involved in cell proliferation, differentiation, immune responses and tumorigenesis. However, the potential role of BARX2 in the development of liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) remains unclear. Therefore, we aimed to study the biological role of BARX2 in hepatocellular carcinoma. Through the UALCAN, GTEx PORTAL, TIMER 2.0, LinkedOmics, SMART, MethSurv, Metascape, GSEA and STRING public databases, the BARX2 mRNA level, prognostic value, coexpressed genes, associated differentially expressed genes, DNA methylation and functional enrichment of LIHC patients were studied. The relationships between BARX2 expression and various clinical or genetic parameters of LIHC patients were determined using data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), and BEAT LIHC databases. In addition, the biological function of BARX2 in LIHC was studied in vitro. Through large-scale data mining, our study showed that BARX2 was differentially expressed between different normal and tumour tissues.BARX2 expression in LIHC tissues was significantly lower than that in corresponding controls, especially in patients with T2-4 stage disease. In patients with LIHC, overexpression of BARX2 was an independent poor prognostic factor associated with poor cytogenetic risk and gene mutations. Genomic hypermethylation of the BARX2 gene was associated with upregulated BARX2 expression and poor overall survival (OS) in LIHC. Functional enrichment analysis showed that BARX2 had an immunomodulatory role and was involved in the inflammatory response in LIHC occurrence. In conclusion, the oncogene BARX2 may serve as a new biomarker and prognostic factor for patients with LIHC. The immunomodulatory function of BARX2 deserves further validation in LIHC.

Abstract Background Atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure (HF) frequently coexist because of their similar pathological basis. However, whether sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor (SGLT2i), a novel class of anti-HF medication, decreases the risk of AF in HF patients remains unclear. Objectives The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between SGLT2i and AF in HF patients. Methods A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trails evaluating the effects of SGLT2i on AF in HF patients was performed. PubMed and ClinicalTrails.gov were searched for eligible studies until 27 November 2022. The risk of bias and quality of evidence were assessed through the Cochrane tool. Pooled risk ratio of AF for SGLT2i versus placebo in eligible studies was calculated. Results A total of 10 eligible RCTs examining 16,579 patients were included in the analysis. AF events occurred in 4.20% (348/8292) patients treated with SGLT2i, and in 4.57% (379/8287) patients treated with placebo. Meta-analysis showed that SGLT2i did not significantly reduce the risk of AF (RR 0.92; 95% CI 0.80–1.06; p = 0.23) in HF patients when compared to placebo. Similar results remained in the subgroup analyses, regardless of the type of SGLT2i, the type of HF, and the duration of follow-up. Conclusions Current evidences showed that SGLT2i may have no preventive effects on the risk of AF in patients with HF. Translational perspective Despite HF being one of the most common heart diseases and conferring increased risk for AF, affective prevention of AF in HF patients is still unresolved. The present meta-analysis demonstrated that SGLT2i may have no preventive effects on reducing AF in patients with HF. How to effectively prevent and early detect the occurrence of AF is worth discussing.

Conclusions: PRF is independently associated with the development of CIN in T2DM patients undergoing coronary catheterization.

Several cases of the hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN) caused by immunoglobulin G (IgG) anti-M antibodies have been reported, in which almost all the HDFN-associated anti-M were warmly reacting. Here we report two cases of severe HDFN associated with cold-reacting IgG anti-M. In both cases, pregnancy was terminated, in weeks 33 and 23 respectively, due to a diagnosis of fetal growth retardation (FGR). To our knowledge, these are the most severe HDFN cases caused by cold-reacting IgG anti-M.

Abstract Progressive peritoneal fibrosis and the loss of peritoneal function often emerged in patients undergoing long‐term peritoneal dialysis (PD), resulting in PD therapy failure. Varieties of cell‐cell communications among peritoneal cells play a significant role in peritoneal fibrogenesis. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been confirmed to involve in intercellular communication by transmitting proteins, nucleic acids or lipids. However, their roles and functional mechanisms in peritoneal fibrosis remain to be determined. Using integrative analysis of EV proteomics and single‐cell RNA sequencing, we characterized the EVs isolated from PD patient's effluent and revealed that mesothelial cells are the main source of EVs in PD effluent. We demonstrated that transforming growth factor‐β1 (TGF‐β1) can substitute for PD fluid to stimulate mesothelial cells releasing EVs, which in turn promoted fibroblast activation and peritoneal fibrogenesis. Blockade of EVs secretion by GW4869 or Rab27a knockdown markedly suppressed PD‐induced fibroblast activation and peritoneal fibrosis. Mechanistically, injured mesothelial cells produced EVs containing high level of integrin‐linked kinase (ILK), which was delivered to fibroblast and activated them via p38 MAPK signalling pathway. Clinically, the expression of ILK was up‐regulated in fibrotic peritoneum of patients undergoing long‐term PD. The percentage of ILK positive EVs in PD effluent correlated with peritoneal dysfunction and the degree of peritoneal damage. Our study highlights that peritoneal EVs mediate communications between mesothelial cells and fibroblasts to initiate peritoneal fibrogenesis. Targeting EVs or ILK could provide a novel therapeutic strategy to combat peritoneal fibrosis.

BACKGROUND OMS-2 has shown great significance in ion exchange, catalyst, energy and environment, but the research of natural OMS-2 mineral material cryptomelane is still lacking in the detailed characterization of the composition, structure and genetic research. Annulus and core-rim structures are representative in the structure of manganese oxide minerals. It is of great significance to clarify the mineral species and explore its composition characteristics, its origin and develop the application of manganese oxides. The Mn ore resource of Guangxi account for 23% of the manganese ore resource reserves in China. The Xialei Mn deposit located in Southwest Guangxi is the earliest super-large Mn deposit discovered in China, with an average grade of about 30% for the manganese oxide ore. OBJECTIVES To explore the annulus and core-rim texture and its composition of cryptomelane in the Xialei Mn deposit. METHODS Quantitative analysis and element mapping of EPMA and microscopy were carried out. RESULTS The element intensity of the cryptomelane with annulus texture was Mn, K, Mg, Al, Zn, Ba, P, Fe in order of average from strong to weak. The average element intensity of the cryptomelane with core-rim texture was Mn, K, Ca, Mg, Zn, Ba, P, Fe from strong to weak. The K content gradually increased (2.31%-4.17%, 0.38-0.62 atoms per formula unit) from the middle to the rim of the cryptomelane, indicating K enrichment during oxidization and the stable status of Mn oxides. CONCLUSIONS The change in the trend of K and Mn ions is the direct cause of the formation of the annulus and core-rim texture, reflecting the changes of oxidation environment. Potassium content gradually increases from the inner to outer zone, which may indicate the enrichment of potassium during the oxidation process, and also reflects manganese oxide gradually tending to the most stable state.

Germplasm conservation strongly depends on the desiccation tolerance (DT) of seeds. Xerophytic seeds have strong desiccation resistance, which makes them excellent models to study DT. Although some experimental strategies have been applied previously, most methods are difficult to apply to xerophytic seeds. In this review, we attempted to synthesize current strategies for the study of seed DT and provide an in-depth look at Caragana korshinskii as an example. First, we analyze congenital advantages of xerophytes in the study of seed DT. Second, we summarize several strategies used to study DT and illustrate a suitable strategy for xerophytic species. Then, based on our previous studies work with C. korshinskii, a feasible technical strategy for DT re-establishment is provided and we provide illustrate some special molecular mechanisms seen in xerophytic seeds. Finally, several steps to unveil the DT mechanism of xerophytic seeds are suggested, and three scientific questions that the field should consider are listed. We hope to optimize and utilize this strategy for more xerophytic species to more systematically decipher the physiological and molecular processes of seed DT and provide more candidate genes for molecular breeding.

BackgroundThyroid cancer (THCA) is the most prevalent malignant disease of the endocrine system, in which 5-year survival can attain about 95%, but patients with metastasis have a poor prognosis. Very little is known about the role of CAPN8 in the metastasis of THCA. In particular, the effect of CAPN8 on the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) and immunotherapy response is unclear.Material and methodsMultiome datasets and multiple cohorts were acquired for analysis. Firstly, the expression and the prognostic value of CAPN8 were explored in public datasets and in vitro tumor tissues. Then, hierarchical clustering analysis was performed to identify the immune subtypes of THCA according to the expression of CAPN8 and the activities of related pathways. Subsequent analyses explored the different patterns of TIME, genetic alteration, DNA replication stress, drug sensitivity, and immunotherapy response among the three immune phenotypes. Finally, five individual cohorts of thyroid cancer were utilized to test the robustness and extrapolation of the three immune clusters.ResultsCAPN8 was found to be a significant risk factor for THCA with a markedly elevated level of mRNA and protein in tumor tissues. This potential oncogene could induce the activation of epithelial–mesenchymal transition and E2F-targeted pathways. Three subtypes were identified for THCA, including immune exhausted, inflamed, and immune desert phenotypes. The exhausted type was characterized by a markedly increased expression of inhibitory receptors and infiltration of immune cells but was much more likely to respond to immunotherapy. The immune desert type was resistant to common chemotherapeutics with extensive genomic mutation and copy number variance.ConclusionThe present study firstly explored the role of CAPN8 in the metastasis of THCA from the aspects of TIME. Three immune subtypes were identified with quite different patterns of prognosis, immunotherapy response, and drug sensitivity, providing novel insights for the treatment of THCA and helping understand the cross-talk between CAPN8 and tumor immune microenvironment.

Background: Glioma as the most frequently discovered tumor affecting the brain shows significant morbidity and fatality rates with unfavorable prognosis. There is an urgent need to find novel therapeutic targets to overcome the low chemotherapeutic efficacy of glioma. This research examined whether the copper-metabolism-domain protein, COMMD4, had predictive and therapeutic significance in glioma.Methods: Using the freely accessible CGGA (The Chinese Glioma Atlas) and TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) databases, we examined the function of COMMD4 in GBM and LGG. CIBERSORT and TIMER were utilized to assess the associations between COMMD4 and immune cells. The Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) was employed to examine the functional data. Furthermore, the link between COMMD4 expression and predicted treatment response was evaluated via CellMiner Cross-Database. Meanwhile, qRT-PCR was conducted to examine COMMD4 expression in human glioma. Finally, Migration and invasion of glioma cells (U-87, U-251) were assessed using transwell assays. R was used to analyze the statistical data.Results: According to our findings, COMMD4 expression level was higher in patients having grade-dependent glioma who also showed an unfavorable prognosis. Furthermore, qRT-PCR confirmed the high expression of COMMD4 in glioma tissues and cells. Additionally, using integrated correlation analysis, we acquired significant prognostic findings between isocitrate dehydrogenase 1(IDH1) and COMMD4. Meanwhile, a link between COMMD4 and many tumor-infiltrating immune cells was observed. GSEA and drug response analysis revealed the potential mechanism of COMMD4 in drug resistance of glioma.Conclusion: The current findings validated COMMD4 as a novel biological marker, which might offer insights into the possible drug resistance mechanisms and the impact of the immune microenvironment on glioma. COMMD4 might be used to predict glioma prognosis.

Clitopilus hobsonii (Entolomataceae, Agaricales, Basidiomycetes) is a common soil saprotroph. There is also evidence that C. hobsonii can act as a root endophyte benefitting tree growth. Here, we report the genome assembly of C. hobsonii QYL-10, isolated from ectomycorrhizal root tips of Quercus lyrata. The genome size is 36.93 Mb, consisting of 13 contigs (N50 = 3.3 Mb) with 49.2% GC content. Of them, 10 contigs approached the length of intact chromosomes, and three had telomeres at one end only. BUSCO analysis reported a completeness score of 98.4%, using Basidiomycota_odb10 lineage data. Combining ab-initio, RNA-seq data, and homology-based predictions, we identified 12,710 protein-coding genes. Approximately, 1.43 Mb of transposable elements (3.88% of the assembly), 36 secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters, and 361 genes encoding putative carbohydrate-active enzymes were identified. This genomic resource will allow functional studies aimed to characterize the symbiotic interactions between C. hobsonii and its host trees and will also provide a valuable foundation for further research on comparative genomics of the Entolomataceae.

AbstractThe key point in coalbed methane (CBM) wells is to pump out the confined water to produce gas. Traditional drainage coalbed methane recovery methods have different limitations and characteristics. A new drainage gas recovery method called double-tube gas lift is applied in the Hancheng block for CBM production. The working mechanism of double-tube gas lift technology is to insert a hollow sucker rod into the original production pipe string to assist CBM production. What is more, the gas production channel and the drainage channel can be distinguished by this method. An improved measure is designed to overcome the double-tube gas lift’s shortcomings by adjusting the entry depth of the smaller tubing to expose the coal seam. In this way, the two-phase liquid of injected gas and produced liquid can be discharged from the annulus between the tubing and the smaller tubing. The produced gas is directly discharged from the annulus between the external tubing and the casing. The analysis of influence factors shows that the gas injection volume, water production, smaller-diameter tubing size, and the well entry depth have a significant influence on the production of the double-tube gas lift technology. The improved double-tube gas lift method has been applied in the Hancheng CBM wells to prove that this method has great production results and has the potential to get more applications in other CBM fields.

A closed loop two-phase thermosiphon is supposed as an effective heat transfer unit for improving the heat transfer in the latent heat storage devices, which has a simple structure and natural circulation. An experimental study and theoretical analysis were conducted to evaluate the heat transfer performance. The effects of height difference, filling ratio, and condenser temperature were investigated relative to changes in pressure and evaporator temperature. The results indicate that heat transfer performance is improved with an increase in height difference and a decrease in condenser temperature. Meanwhile, a closed loop thermosiphon with medium filling ratios of 44.5% and 49.9% shows the best heat transfer performance. Furthermore, the subcooling phenomenon occurs at large filling ratios of 68.1% and 67.1% and the superheating phenomenon occurs at small filling ratios of 27.3% and 31.1%.

Abstract Background Glycemic variability (GV) confers a risk of cardiovascular events. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether long-term GV has an impact on coronary atherosclerosis progression in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods A total of 396 patients with T2DM who had coronary computed tomography angiography and laboratory data available at baseline and for follow-up evaluations [median 2.3 (1.8–3.1) years] were included. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) was measured every 1–3 months, and HbA1c was measured quarterly. The coefficient of variation (CV) of HbA1c and FPG were calculated as measures of GV. Quantitative assessment of coronary plaques was performed by measuring the annual change and progression rate of total plaque volume (TPV). Significant progression was defined as annual TPV progression ≥ 15%. Multivariable regression analyses were used to assess the effects of GV on atherosclerosis progression. Results In the 396 patients, the annual change in TPV was 12.35 ± 14.23 mm3, and annual progression rate was 13.36 ± 12.69%. There were 143 (36.11%) patients with significant progression, and they had a significantly higher CV-HbA1c (P

The blind and random use of the combined construction method may have a great impact on tunnel stability. To determine the influence of construction method conversion on tunnel deformation and the reasonable conversion condition, a numerical model is established to simulate the construction method transforms from central diaphragm method to the benching tunneling method based on Jiaoweiqin Tunnel. The conversion condition is determined based on the results of tunnel geological prediction and in-site monitoring, and the temporary two-bench tunneling method is adopted to ensure the success of construction method conversion. Besides, the parameter analysis is done to analyze the influence of mechanical properties of surrounding rock mass and bench length on tunnel stability. Research results indicate that the construction safety should be evaluated before construction method conversion is carried out by analyzing the design blueprint, tunnel geological prediction results, geological survey reports, rock mass conditions in front of tunnel face, in-site monitoring data, and numerical simulation results. Meanwhile, the construction method conversion can be carried out in the order of central diaphragm method, two-bench tunneling method, and bench tunneling method. Parameter analysis results reveal that the deformation of primary support decreases in a negative exponential form with the increase in elasticity modulus and increases approximately linearly with the increase in bench length. For shallow buried and large cross-section tunnels, the tunnel deformation is in a small state when the elastic modulus of rock mass reaches a certain value. The construction method conversion can be carried out when the rock mass has a certain stability, and the length of construction method conversion should be small to ensure construction safety.

Organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) size-segregated characteristics were analyzed at the junction of sea and land (JSL) and the marine aerosol during the navigation along the northeastern South China Sea (NSCS), including the shallow ocean (NSCS-SO) and the remote ocean (NSCS-RO), from 3 to 20 March 2016. More than 90% of the OC and EC were concentrated in fine particles, and the OC and EC mean concentrations were 10.1 ± 0.63 and 3.44 ± 0.82, 2.67 ± 1.27 and 0.72 ± 0.36, and 1.41 ± 0.50 and 0.40 ± 0.28 μg m−3 in PM3.0 at the JSL, NSCS-SO, and NSCS-RO, respectively. Approximately 75–83% of OC and 84–98% of EC were found in PM1.5. Three sampling sites showed similar OC mass size distributions that had a dominant peak in the 0.49–0.95 μm size range. The mass mean diameters (MMDs) of OC were 0.65 ± 0.15 and 0.59 ± 0.16 μm at the NSCS-SO and NSCS-RO, respectively, followed by 0.53 ± 0.25 μm in fine particles at the JSL. Similar characteristics were found for EC MMDs. Each particle-size bin had OC concentrations that were higher than the EC values of all three sites, and the OC/EC mass ratios were generally more than 2.0. The mean secondary organic carbon (SOC) concentrations in PM1.5 were as follows: JSL (5.42 ± 1.35 μg m−3) > NSCS-SO (1.08 ± 1.02 μg m−3) > NSCS-RO (0.38 ± 0.25 μg m−3), indicating that the contribution of secondary carbonaceous aerosols to organic carbon is relatively low in the remote ocean region.

Background: Inflammatory activation and immune infiltration play important roles in the pathologic process of heart failure (HF). The current study is designed to investigate the immune infiltration and identify related biomarkers in heart failure patients due to ischemic cardiomyopathy.Methods: Expression data of HF due to ischemic cardiomyopathy (CM) samples and non-heart failure (NF) samples were downloaded from gene expression omnibus (GEO) database. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between CM and NF samples were identified. Single sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) was performed to explore the landscape of immune infiltration. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was applied to screen the most relevant module associated with immune infiltration. The diagnostic values of candidate genes were evaluated by receiver operating curves (ROC) curves. The mRNA levels of potential biomarkers in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolated from 10 CM patients and 10 NF patients were analyzed to further assess their diagnostic values.Results: A total of 224 DEGs were identified between CM and NF samples in GSE5406, which are mainly enriched in the protein processing and extracellular matrix related biological processes and pathways. The result of ssGSEA showed that the abundance of dendritic cells (DC), mast cells, natural killer (NK) CD56dim cells, T cells, T follicular helper cells (Tfh), gammadelta T cells (Tgd) and T helper 2 (Th2) cells were significantly higher, while the infiltration of eosinophils and central memory T cells (Tcm) were lower in CM samples compared to NF ones. Correlation analysis revealed that Calumenin (CALU) and palladin (PALLD) were negatively correlated with the abundance of DC, NK CD56dim cells, T cells, Tfh, Tgd and Th2 cells, but positively correlated with the level of Tcm. More importantly, CALU and PALLD were significantly lower in PBMCs from CM patients compared to NF ones.Conclusion: Our study revealed that CALU and PALLD are potential biomarkers associated with immune infiltration in heart failure due to ischemic cardiomyopathy.

Recent studies have shown that PPP1R14B was highly expressed in tumor tissues and patients with high expression of PPP1R14B had poor survival rates. However, the function and mechanisms of PPP1R14B in tumor progression remain ill defined. There was also lack of pan-cancer evidence for the relationship between PPP1R14B and various tumor types based on abundant clinical data. We used the TCGA project and GEO databases to perform pan-cancer analysis of PPP1R14B, including expression differences, correlations between expression levels and survival, genetic alteration, immune infiltration, and relevant cellular pathways, to investigate the functions and potential mechanisms of PPP1R14B in the pathogenesis or clinical prognosis of different cancers. Herein, we found that PPP1R14B was involved in the prognosis of pan-cancer and closely related to immune infiltration. Increased PPP1R14B expression correlated with poor prognosis and increased immune infiltration levels in myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). Our studies suggest that PPP1R14B can be used as a prognostic biomarker for pan-cancer. Our findings may provide an antitumor strategy targeting PPP1R14B, including manipulation of tumor cell growth or the tumor microenvironment, especially myeloid-derived suppressor cell infiltration.

MYB is an important type of transcription factor in eukaryotes. It is widely involved in a variety of biological processes and plays a role in plant morphogenesis, growth and development, primary and secondary metabolite synthesis, and other life processes. In this study, bioinformatics methods were used to identify the R2R3-MYB transcription factor family members in the whole Musa acuminata (DH-Pahang) genome, one of the wild ancestors of banana. A total of 280 MaMYBs were obtained, and phylogenetic analysis indicated that these MaMYBs could be classified into 33 clades with MYBs from Arabidopsis thaliana. The amino acid sequences of the R2 and R3 Myb-DNA binding in all MaMYB protein sequences were quite conserved, especially Arg-12, Arg-13, Leu-23, and Leu-79. Distribution mapping results showed that 277 MaMYBs were localized on the 11 chromosomes in the Musa acuminata genome. The MaMYBs were distributed unevenly across the 11 chromosomes. More than 40.0% of the MaMYBs were located in collinear fragments, and segmental duplications likely played a key role in the expansion of the MaMYBs. Moreover, the expression profiles of MaMYBs in different fruit development and ripening stages and under various abiotic and biotic stresses were investigated using available RNA-sequencing data to obtain fruit development, ripening-specific, and stress-responsive candidate genes. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was used to analyze transcriptome data of banana from the above 11 samples. We found MaMYBs participating in important metabolic biosynthesis pathways in banana. Collectively, our results represent a comprehensive genome-wide study of the MaMYB gene family, which should be helpful in further detailed studies on MaMYBs functions related to fruit development, postharvest ripening, and the seedling response to stress in an important banana cultivar.

Background: Hyperhomocysteinemia is a risk factor for contrast-induced nephropathy. Folic acid can attenuate such nephropathies in rats. The protective effect of folic acid against contrast-induced nephropathy has not been studied in humans. We aimed to investigate the effect of folic acid on the incidence of contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) after coronary catheterization in patients with hyperhomocysteinemia.Methods: This was a single-center, prospective, double-blind, randomized controlled trial (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02444013). In total, 412 patients (mean age: 65 ± 12 years, 268 male) with plasma homocysteine ≥15 μM, who underwent coronary arteriography (CAG) or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) from May 2015 to August 2018, were enrolled. Patients were randomly assigned to two groups: a treatment group (n = 203), taking 5 mg of folic acid (orally, three times/day) immediately after enrollment and for 72 h after operation, and a control group (n = 209), taking placebo. Contrast-induced nephropathy was defined as an increase in serum creatinine of >25% or 44 μM within 48 or 72 h after contrast medium administration.Results: In total, 50 (12%) patients developed CIN after 48 h after catheterization, including 16 (8%) in the treatment group and 34 (16%) in the control group (P = 0.009). Meanwhile, 53 (13%) patients developed CIN after 72 h of CAG/PCI, including 18 (9%) in the treatment group and 35 (17%) in the control group (P = 0.017). The incidence of contrast-induced nephropathy in the treatment group was lower than that in the control group (P = 0.017). Logistic regression analysis confirmed that administration of folic acid was a protective factor against contrast-induced nephropathy (RD = 0.0788, 95%CI: 0.0105–0.1469, P = 0.019). We found no serious adverse events associated with folic acid. No death or hemodialysis occurred in either group.Conclusions: Perioperative administration of folic acid attenuates the incidence of contrast-induced nephropathy after coronary catheterization in patients with hyperhomocysteinemia.Clinical Trial Registration:ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier [NCT02444013].

Migratory cross-coupling reactions are powerful tools to form bonds at predictable positions. Here the authors report a nickel-catalyzed migratory Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling of unactivated alkyl electrophiles with aryl and vinyl boron reagents and provide experimental and computational mechanistic evidence.

Abstract Background To investigate the effect of visit-to-visit fasting plasma glucose (FPG) variability on the left cardiac structure and function in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods In this prospective cohort study, 455 T2DM patients were included and follow-up for a median of 4.7 years. FPG measured on every hospital visit was collected. FPG variability was calculated by its coefficient of variation (CV-FPG). Left cardiac structure and function were assessed using echocardiography at baseline and after follow-up. Multivariable linear regression analyses were used to estimate the effect of FPG variability on the annualized changes in left cardiac structure and function. Subgroup analysis stratified by mean HbA1c levels (

Semiconducting polymers have been widely used for phototheranostics due to their strong absorbance in near infrared region, high photostability, excellent photothermal conversion ability. In this paper, a heavy atom free tri-component semiconducting polymer PTVT has been designed and synthesized by a Stille coupling reaction. PTVT has a high singlet oxygen quantum yield (1O2 QY) of 42.2% in DCM remains high 1O2 generation ability for the DSPE-PEG coated PTVT nanoparticles (NPs) obtained by a nanoprecipitation approach. Owing to the PDT and PTT synergistic therapy (photothermal conversion efficiency ~52.6%), PTVT NPs show a low half maximum inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 5.9 μg/mL towards human lung cancer cells (A549) with laser irradiation. And simultaneously the dark toxicity of such NPs is almost negligible even at high concentrations. Furthermore, in vivo study demonstrates that the NPs are able to inhibit tumor proliferation with laser irradiation, compared with the control and dark group, suggesting the low dark toxicity and high phototoxicity of such NPs. The H&E stained pictures of the normal tissues indicate the biosafety of PTVT NPs in that no obvious damage of heart, liver, lung, kidney and spleen was observed. The results provide an approach to designing heavy atom free semiconducting polymers for phototheranostics.

Effective density (ρe) is universally used in atmospheric science as an alternative measure of the density (ρ) of aerosol particles, and its definitions can be expressed in terms of the particle mass (mp), ρ, mobility diameter (Dm), vacuum aerodynamic diameter (Dva), and dynamic shape factor (χ), as ρeI = 6mp/(π∙Dm3), ρeII = ρ/χ, and ρeIII = Dva/Dm. However, the theoretical foundation of these three definitions of ρe is still poorly understood before their application. Here, we explore the relationship between ρe and aerosol size through theoretical calculation. This study finds, for the first time, that ρeI and ρeIII inherently decrease with increasing size for aspherical particles with a fixed ρ and χ. We further elucidate that these inherent decreasing tendencies are governed by χ, and the ratio of the Cunningham Slip Correction Factor of the volume-equivalent diameter to that of the mobility diameter (Cc(Dve)/Cc(Dm)), but not by ρ. Taking the variable χ into consideration, the relationships of ρeI and ρeIII to particle size become more complicated, which suggests that the values of ρeI and ρeIII have little indication of the size-resolved physicochemical properties of particles. On the contrary, ρeII is independent on size for fixed χ and ρ, which indicates that the change in ρeII with size can better indicate the change in morphology and the transformation of the chemical compositions of particles. Our new insights into the essence of three ρes provide an accurate and crucial theoretical foundation for their application.

Considering the engineering problem of electric energy meter automatic verification and scheduling, this paper proposes a novel scheduling scheme based on an improved Q-learning algorithm. First, by introducing the state variables and behavior variables, the ranking problem of combinatorial optimization is transformed into a sequential decision problem. Then, a novel reward function is proposed to evaluate the pros and cons of the different strategies. In particular, this paper considers adopting the reinforcement learning algorithm to efficiently solve the problem. In addition, this paper also considers the ratio of exploration and utilization in the reinforcement learning process, and then provides reasonable exploration and utilization through an iterative updating scheme. Meanwhile, a decoupling strategy is introduced to address the restriction of over estimation. Finally, real time data from a provincial electric energy meter automatic verification center are used to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

In this paper, a novel short-term load forecasting method amalgamated with quantile regression random forest is proposed. Comprised with point forecasting, it is capable of quantifying the uncertainty of power load. Firstly, a bespoke 2D data preprocessing taking advantage of empirical mode decomposition (EMD) is presented. It can effectively assist subsequent point forecasting models to extract spatial features hidden in the 2D load matrix. Secondly, by exploiting multimodal deep neural networks (DNN), three short-term load point forecasting models are conceived. Furthermore, a tailor-made multimodal spatial–temporal feature extraction is proposed, which integrates spatial features, time information, load, and electricity price to obtain more covert features. Thirdly, relying on quantile regression random forest, the probabilistic forecasting method is proposed, which exploits the results from the above three short-term load point forecasting models. Lastly, the experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms its conventional counterparts.

As a promising radar imaging technique, terahertz coded-aperture imaging (TCAI) can achieve high-resolution, forward-looking, and staring imaging by producing spatiotemporal independent signals with coded apertures. However, traditional 3-DTCAI working in time domain, has two problems, that is, heavy computational burden caused by large-scale reference-signal matrix, and poor resolving ability under low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Frequency-domain (FD)-TCAI (FD-TCAI) is able to reduce the two problems only in a limited degree. Therefore, this paper first proposes a space-domain (SD)-TCAI (SD-TCAI) method, which achieves more effective and efficient 3-D imaging than FD-TCAI under low SNR. With correlation operation, SD-TCAI transforms the echo signals from frequency domain to space domain, where spike pulses appear in the target positions. According to different spike pulses, the 3-D imaging areas can be divided and reconstructed in parallel, and finally synthesized together to obtain the whole 3-D target. In this way, the computational burden is further reduced, leading to an improved SNR. In this paper, we build and present the imaging models and procedures of TD-TCAI, FD-TCAI, and SD-TCAI, respectively. The experimental results demonstrate that SD-TCAI has overwhelming superiority over TD-TCAI and FD-TCAI. Therefore, SD-TCAI has great potential in applications, such as security screening, nondestructive detection, and medical diagnosis.

Hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) induced endothelial dysfunction is associated with disturbance in circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs). Nevertheless, whether this unfavorable effect of HHcy on circulating EPCs also exists in premenopausal women is still unknown. Therefore, this leaves an area for the investigation of the difference on the number and activity of circulating EPCs in premenopausal women with hyperhomocysteinemia and its underlying mechanism. The number of circulating EPCs was measured by fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis, as well as DiI-acLDL and lectin fluorescent staining. The migration and proliferation of circulating were evaluated by the Transwell chamber assay and MTT. Additionally, the endothelial function and levels of nitric oxide (NO), VEGF, and GM-CSF in plasma and culture medium were determined. The number or activity of circulating EPCs and flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) in premenopausal women with or without HHcy were higher than those in postmenopausal women. However, no significant effect of HHcy on the number or activity of circulating EPCs in premenopausal women was observed. A similar alteration in NO level between the four groups was observed. There was a correlation between FMD and the number or activity of EPCs, as well as NO level in plasma or secretion by EPCs. For the first time, our findings illuminated the quantitive or qualitative alterations of circulating EPCs and endothelial function in premenopausal patients with HHcy are preserved, which was associated with retained NO production. The recuperated endothelial repair capacity is possibly the potential mechanism interpreting cardiovascular protection in premenopausal women with HHcy.

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is the most devastating for patients’ quality of life and survival. In this study, biochemical indicators and differences in protein expression by proteomics analysis and post-translational modifications (PTMs) of kidney of db/db mice were determined at low (LBHF, 10 mg/kg), middle (MBHF, 30 mg/kg) and high (HBHF, 60 mg/kg) Buckwheat hull flavonoids (BHF) doses intervention for 9 weeks. The results showed that BHF can significantly reduce SCr, SUA, IL-6 and IL-1β levels. Proteomics analysis revealed that the down-regulated differentially expressed proteins (DE protein) in the MBHF group were moreover 2 times than that in LBHF and HBHF group. BHF significantly down-regulated the pathway associated with the Immune system, Transport and catabolism, Environmental information processing. Decreasing lysine succinylation, acetylation and crotonylation of kidney protein were detected significantly in the MBHF group. In conclusion, BHF may be a potential natural product candidate for the effective treatment of DN.

In recent years, large-capacity high-voltage direct currents (HVDCs) have been employed to transfer electricity from the west to the east of China. However, the frequent frequency drops due to HVDC blockings seriously threaten the short-term frequency stability of receiving-end power systems. The existing emergency frequency control strategy is not adaptive to the varying operation conditions and may cause excessive or deficient actions, which could result in inefficient control or high risk of frequency instability. Therefore, a real-time coordinated control strategy is proposed in this study based on the online-updated frequency response model. The model is designed to incorporate multiple types of generators and to reflect the dynamic frequency response of loads. The new control strategy combines multiple control resources, including the emergency demand response and HVDC power modulation, to improve the short-term frequency stability after HVDC failures. By online data preparation and cubic fitting, the nadir of the frequency is expressed as an analytic function of the control variables. A real-time optimisation of emergency controls is achieved to improve the short-term frequency dynamics. Case studies show that the proposed scheme is robust to the varying operation conditions and has lower control cost than the existing control strategy.

Terahertz coded-aperture imaging (TCAI) has many advantages such as forward-looking imaging, staring imaging and low cost and so forth. However, it is difficult to resolve the target under low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the imaging process is time-consuming. Here, we provide an efficient solution to tackle this problem. A convolution neural network (CNN) is leveraged to develop an off-line end to end imaging network whose structure is highly parallel and free of iterations. And it can just act as a general and powerful mapping function. Once the network is well trained and adopted for TCAI signal processing, the target of interest can be recovered immediately from echo signal. Also, the method to generate training data is shown, and we find that the imaging network trained with simulation data is of good robustness against noise and model errors. The feasibility of the proposed approach is verified by simulation experiments and the results show that it has a competitive performance with the state-of-the-art algorithms.

In this paper, a wide-area DC damping controller design method is proposed to damp the weak interarea oscillation modes. First, the low-order power system control model identification method is proposed based on the frequency domain self-excitation method to obtain the dominant modes and other related information. In what follows, the identified model is transformed into a low-order state space equation. By comparing the geometric metrics of different schemes, the various input signals and installation locations of the controller are selected. Furthermore, the damping controller parameter calculation is realized based on the self-excitation frequency domain identification method, which does not depend on the detailed model of the system. The design process is simple and it is easy to apply in the practical engineering of large-scale complex power grids. The applicability and effectiveness of the proposed controller design method are demonstrated through simulations of a two-area four-generator power system.

To avoid serious damages caused by the dynamic environment, fault detection and health assessment are essential for an integrated robotic system. In this paper, we propose a fault detection algorithm and a health degree assessment approach for a robot manipulator system. Both the internal disturbance and the output measurement disturbance are considered in the proposed method. In addition, an adaptive observer is utilized to reconstruct the real system of robot manipulators. Under the proposed observer, the real system is estimated to detect the fault and obtain the health degree of the robot manipulator. The feasibility and reliability of the proposed fault detection algorithm and health degree assessment index for robot manipulator systems are proved by simulation experiments.

Phaseless terahertz coded-aperture imaging (PL-TCAI) is a novel radar computational imaging method that utilizes the coded aperture and the incoherent detector array to achieve forward-looking and high-resolution imaging without relying on relative motion. In this paper, we propose a more reasonable and compact architecture for the PL-TCAI system and derive the imaging model of PL-TCAI based on the random frequency-hopping signal. Since most phase retrieval algorithms for PL-TCAI utilize only the intensity of echo signals to accurately reconstruct the target, excessive measurement samples are usually required. In order to reduce the number of measurement samples required for imaging, this paper proposes a sparse Wirtinger flow algorithm with optimal stepsize (SWFOS) by using the sparse prior of the target. The specific procedures of the SWFOS algorithm include the support recovery, initialization by truncated spectral method, iteration via gradient descent scheme, hard threshold operation, and stepsize optimization of iteration. Numerical simulations are performed, and the results show that the SWFOS algorithm not only has good performance for the PR problem, but can also sharply reduce the number of measurement samples required for imaging in the PL-TCAI system.

Component-based approaches are prevalent in software development for robotic applications due to their reusability and productivity. In this article, we present an E mbedded m odular S oftware framework for a networked ro BoT ic system (EmSBoT) targeting resource-constrained devices such as microcontroller-based robots. EmSBoT is primarily built upon μ COS-III with real-time support. However, its operating system abstraction layer makes it available for various operating systems. It employs a unified port-based communication mechanism to achieve message passing while hiding the heterogeneous distributed environment from applications, which also endows the framework with fault-tolerant capabilities. We describe the design and core features of the EmSBoT framework in this article. The implementation and experimental evaluation show its availability with small footprint size, effectiveness, and OS independence.

Terahertz coded-aperture imaging (TCAI) can overcome the difficulties of traditional radar in forward-looking and high-resolution imaging. Three-dimensional (3D) TCAI relies mainly on the reference-signal matrix (RSM), the large size and poor accuracy of which reduce the computational efficiency and imaging ability, respectively. According to the previous research on TCAI, traditional TCAI cannot reduce the heavy computational burden while the improved TCAI achieve reconstructing the target parts of different ranges in parallel. However, large-sized RSM still accounts for the computational complexity of traditional TCAI and the improved TCAI. Therefore, this paper proposes a more efficient imaging method named back projection (BP)-TCAI (BP-TCAI). Referring to the basic principle of BP, BP-TCAI can not only divide the scattering information in different ranges but also project the range profiles into different imaging subareas. In this way, the target parts in different subareas can be reconstructed simultaneously to synthesize the whole 3D target and thus decomposes the computational complexity thoroughly. During the pulse compression and projection processes, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of BP-TCAI is also improved. This present the imaging method, model and procedures of traditional TCAI, the improved TCAI and the proposed BP-TCAI. Numerical experimental results prove BP-TCAI to be more effective and efficient than previous imaging methods of TCAI. Besides, BP-TCAI can also be seen as synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging with coding technology. Therefore, BP-TCAI opens a future gate combining traditional SAR and coded-aperture imaging.

Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive disease with dismal prognosis. It is of paramount importance to understand the underlying etiological mechanisms and identify novel, consistent, and easy-to-apply prognostic factors for precision therapy. TUSC3 (tumor suppressor candidate 3) was identified as a potential tumor suppressor gene and previous study showed TUSC3 is decreased in pancreatic cancer at mRNA level, but its putative tumor suppressor function remains to be verified. In this study, TUSC3 expression was found to be suppressed both at mRNA and protein levels in cell line models as well as in clinical samples; decreased TUSC3 expression was associated with higher pathological TNM staging and poorer outcome. In three pairs of cell lines with different NF-κB activity, TUSC3 expression was found to be reversely correlated with NF-κB activity. TUSC3-silenced pancreatic cancer cell line exhibited enhanced potential of proliferation, migration and invasion. In an orthotopic implanted mice model, TUSC3 silenced cells exhibited more aggressive phenotype with more liver metastasis. In conclusion, the current study shows that decreased immunological TUSC3 staining is a factor prognostic of poor survival in pancreatic cancer patients and decreased TUSC3 promotes pancreatic cancer cell proliferation, invasion and metastasis. The reverse correlation between NF-κB activity and TUSC3 expression may suggest a novel regulation pattern for this molecule.