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Dy3+, Ce3+ co-doped KY(CO3)2 phosphors with a monoclinic structure were synthesized using the hydrothermal method to create a fixed yellow-to-blue ratio emission. The [YO8] polyhedron, consisting of a Y atom and eight oxygen atoms, forms a relatively independent microstructure within the KY(CO3)2 host. Y3+ ions are partially replaced by Ce3+ or Dy3+ ions to construct the [CeO8] or [DyO8] polyhedral fluorescence emission unit. The spectral measurements indicate that Ce3+ and Dy3+ can maintain relatively independent fluorescence emission characteristics in the KY(CO3)2 host. The yellow-to-blue intensity ratio of Dy3+ remains close to 1 and does not change with the variation in the doping concentration of KY(CO3)2:Dy3+ and KY(CO3)2:Dy3+,Ce3+ phosphors. When Ce3+ and Dy3+ are co-doped with KY(CO3)2, the emission intensities of Dy3+ under 339 nm and 365 nm excitation increase by 8.43 and 2.32 times, respectively, through resonance energy transfer and cross-relaxation. All Ce3+-doped KY(CO3)2:Dy3+ phosphors can emit white light. Among them, the emitted light of KY(CO3)2:3%Dy3+,5%Ce3+ is closest to standard daylight. Therefore, a stable [YO8] polyhedral structure can be used to achieve more color tuning of light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Despite the flourishing studies of droplet interfacial boiling, the boiling upon vibratory surfaces, which may cause vigorous liquid–vapor-solid interactions, has rarely been investigated. Enhanced boiling normally can be gained from rapid removal of vapor and disturbance of liquid–vapor interface. We hypothesize that the vibratory surfaces enhance both effects with new intriguing phenomena and thus, attain an enhanced boiling heat transfer. We experimentally investigated the impacting fluid dynamics and coupled heat transfer patterns of multiple droplets and a single droplet impinging on still and vibratory surfaces of various materials and different wettability. The boiling under vibratory surfaces with increased vibration velocity amplitude and enhanced wettability can be enhanced by 80% in heat transfer coefficient and Nusselt number, which is attributed to several reasons: shortened bubble lifespan, thinner and smaller bubbles, and enhanced disturbances in liquid–vapor interfaces. The vibration also delays the Leidenfrost point when the droplet impacts a descending surface, which shows that the droplet impact moment (vibration phase angle) is particularly crucial. The descending surface releases the generated vapor actively and facilitates liquid–solid contact, thereby delaying the Leidenfrost. From fundamentals to application, this article strengthens our understanding of vibrated interfacial boiling in scenarios closer to multiple natural processes and practical industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of registering point clouds in scenarios with low overlap is explored in this study. Previous methodologies depended on having a sufficient number of repeatable keypoints to extract correspondences, making them less effective in partially overlapping environments. In this paper, a novel learning network is proposed to optimize correspondences in sparse keypoints. Firstly, a multi-layer channel sampling mechanism is suggested to enhance the information in point clouds, and keypoints were filtered and fused at multi-layer resolutions to form patches through feature weight filtering. Moreover, a template matching module is devised, comprising a self-attention mapping convolutional neural network and a cross-attention network. This module aims to match contextual features and refine the correspondence in overlapping areas of patches, ultimately enhancing correspondence accuracy. Experimental results demonstrate the robustness of our model across various datasets, including ModelNet40, 3DMatch, 3DLoMatch, and KITTI. Notably, our method excels in low-overlap scenarios, showcasing superior performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we utilized a eutectic gallium-indium liquid metal (LM) with high thermal conductivity to immerse carbon-based phase change material (PCM) capsules to acquire a PCM-LM composite. This produced a scalable, thermally stable, mechanically reliable, high thermally conductive, and leakage-free material. This composite was then applied as a heat mitigator for CPU cooling. Results demonstrate that clear improvements could be made compared to traditional pin-fin heat-sink cooling. Here the continuous full-load operating time could be prolonged by 414.3%. Moreover, the temperature difference between the idle and full-load operating states could be significantly decreased, and prevent damage from thermal stress. Significantly, a 23% energy-saving performance was attained because of the thermal buffering effect and high responsive ability of the composite. Guidelines for an effective match between the heat absorption of the composite and the heat generation from the CPU could also be established. Here the proposed PCM-LM composite can be applied to other PCM-based energy storage industries and efficient temperature control applications, contributing to carbon neutralization and global warming mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The natural deposition of soils results in significant fabric anisotropy, and its influence on suffusion remains unclear. In this study, a series of gap‐graded soil samples with different particle shapes and bedding angles are generated and implemented into the coupled computational fluid dynamics‐discrete element method (CFD‐DEM) simulations to investigate the migration of fine particles within the coarse grain matrix. Macroscopic results, including mass loss, void ratio variation, and soil deformation, as well as microscopic particle trajectory, force chain network, and contact orientation are analyzed. In addition, drained triaxial tests on samples before and after erosion are carried out. All results turn out that the greater the bedding angle, the more severe the loss of fines and the more significant the soil deformation. Three different migration characteristics can be identified according to soil anisotropy degree, that is, when the bedding angle is 0°, the migration of fine particles remains relatively stable; when the bedding angle is 30° and 60°, the particle migration shows a gradual change throughout the erosion; when the bedding angle is 90°, the fine particles migrate significantly in the very early stages of suffusion. Besides, the aspect ratio (AR) of the particle is found to be beneficial for both erosion resistance and soil strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is a major public health concern in the Asia–Pacific region. Previous studies have implied that ambient air pollution may affect the incidence of HFMD, but the results among different regions are inconsistent. We aimed to deepen the understanding of the associations between air pollutants and HFMD by conducting a multicity study. Daily data on childhood HFMD counts and meteorological and ambient air pollution (PM2.5, PM10, NO2, CO, O3, and SO2) concentrations in 21 cities in Sichuan Province from 2015 to 2017 were collected. A spatiotemporal Bayesian hierarchical model framework was established, and then a distributed lag nonlinear models (DLNMs) was constructed to reveal exposure-lag-response relationships between air pollutants and HFMD while controlling for spatiotemporal effects. Furthermore, given the differences in the levels and seasonal trends of air pollutants between the basin region and plateau region, we explored whether these associations varied between different areas (basin and plateau). The associations between air pollutants and HFMD were nonlinear, with different lag responses. Low NO2 concentrations and both low and high PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations were associated with a decreased risk of HFMD. No significant associations between CO, O3, and SO2 and HFMD were found. The associations between air pollutant concentrations and HFMD were different between the basin and plateau regions. Our study revealed associations between PM2.5, PM10, and NO2 concentrations and HFMD, deepening the understanding of the relationships between air pollutants and HFMD. These findings provide evidence to support the formulation of relevant prevention measures and the establishment of an early warning system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphors with a longer excitation wavelength exhibit higher energy conversion efficiency. Herein, quantum cutting KGd(CO3)2:Tb3+ phosphors excited by middle-wave ultraviolet were synthesized via a hydrothermal method. All the KGd(CO3)2:xTb3+ phosphors remain in monoclinic structures in a large Tb3+ doping range. In the KGd(CO3)2 host, 6D3/2 and 6I17/2 of Gd3+ were employed for quantum cutting in sensitizing levels. The excited state electrons could easily transfer from Gd3+ to Tb3+ with high efficiency. There are three efficient excited bands for quantum cutting. The excited wavelengths of 244, 273, and 283 nm correspond to the transition processes of 8S7/2→6D3/2 (Gd3+), 8S7/2→6I17/2 (Gd3+), and 7F6→5F4 (Tb3+), and the maximum quantum yields of KGd(CO3)2:Tb3+ can reach 163.5, 119, and 143%, respectively. The continuous and efficient excitation band of 273–283 nm can well match the commercial 275 nm LED chip to expand the usage of solid-state light sources. Meanwhile, the phosphor also shows good excitation efficiency at 365 nm in a high Tb3+ doping concentration. Therefore, KGd(CO3)2:Tb3+ is an efficient green-emitting phosphor for ultraviolet-excited solid-state light sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internal erosion involves the loss of fine particles within the matrix of coarse particles under seepage flow, posing a severe threat to hydraulic structures. This paper focuses on internal erosion considering anisotropic stress conditions. The influence of the anisotropic stress state, represented by vertical stress equal to, bigger than, or smaller than horizontal stress, was investigated using coupled computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and the discrete element method (DEM). Results show that the loss of fine particle specimens under anisotropic stress conditions is greater than that for samples under isotropic stress states, as the loss of fine particles leads to an evolution of anisotropy into isotropy, with local contact force chains gradually forming spatially isotropic structures. The strong force chains of specimens under triaxial compression were also found to develop a dominant orientation in the vertical direction, leading to clogging in the upward migration of fine particles and increasing the critical hydraulic gradient. In addition, the evolution of void ratio, hydraulic drag force, connectivity, and coordination number has also been analyzed to exhibit the influence of stress anisotropy on internal erosion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Epidemiological studies have investigated the short-term effects of meteorological factors and air pollution on the incidence of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD). Several meteorological indicators, such as relative humidity and the diurnal temperature range (DTR), significantly modify the relationship between short-term exposure to temperature and HFMD incidence. However, it remains unclear whether (and how) long-term air pollution levels modify the short-term relationships of HFMD incidence with meteorological factors and air pollution.Methods: We obtained daily data on meteorological factors, air pollutants, and HFMD counts in children from 21 prefecture-level cities in Sichuan Province in Southwest China from 2015 to 2017. First, we constructed a distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) at each prefecture-level site to evaluate the short-term impacts of meteorological variables and air pollutants on HFMD incidence. Then, we assessed the pooled effects of the exposures and incorporated long-term city-specific air pollutant indicators as meta-predictors to examine their potential modification effects by performing multivariate meta-regression models.Results: We found that long-term SO2 and CO concentrations significantly modified the short-term relationships between climatic variables and HFMD incidence. Specifically, high concentrations of CO (P = 0.027) and SO2 (P = 0.039) reduced the risk of HFMD at low temperatures. The relationship between relative humidity and HFMD incidence was weakened at high SO2 concentrations (P = 0.024), especially when the relative humidity was below the median level. When the minimum relative humidity (32%) was compared to the median relative humidity (77%), the risk ratio (RR) was 0.77 (95% CI: 0.51-1.17) in the 90th percentile of SO2 (19.6 μg/m3) and 0.41 (95% CI: 0.27-0.64) in the 10th percentile of SO2 (10.6 μg/m3).Conclusion: Our results indicated that long-term SO2 and CO levels modified the short-term associations between HFMD incidence in children and meteorological variables. These findings may inform health authorities to optimize targeted public health policies including reducing ambient air pollution and reinforcing self-protective actions to weaken the adverse health impacts of environmental factors on HFMD incidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ENSO impact on winter precipitation in the Southeast United States was analyzed from the perspective of daily weather types (WTs). We calculated the dynamic contribution associated with the change in frequency of the WTs and the thermodynamic contribution due to changes in the spatial patterns of the environmental fields of the WTs. Six WTs were obtained using a k-means clustering analysis of 850 hPa winds in reanalysis data from November to February of 1948–2022. All the WTs can only persist for a few days. The most frequent winter weather type is WT1 (shallow trough in Eastern U.S.), which can persist or likely transfer to WT4 (Mississippi River Valley ridge). WT1 becomes less frequent in El Niño years, while the frequency of WT4 does not change much. WTs 2–6 correspond to a loop of eastward propagating waves with troughs and ridges in the mid-latitude westerlies. Three WTs with a deep trough in the Southeast U.S., which are WT2 (east coast trough), WT3 (off east coast trough) and WT6 (plains trough), become more frequent in El Niño years. The more frequent deep troughs (WTs 2, 3 and 6) and less frequent shallow trough (WT1) result in above-normal precipitation in the coastal Southeast U.S. in the winter of El Niño years. WT5 (off coast Carolina High), with maximum precipitation extending from Mississippi Valley to the Great Lakes, becomes less frequent in El Niño years, which corresponds to the below-normal precipitation from the Great Lakes to Upper Mississippi and Ohio River Valley in El Niño years, and vice versa in La Niña years. The relative contribution of the thermodynamic and dynamic contribution is location dependent. On the east coast, the two contributions are similar in magnitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The monsoon development in the early rainy season in East Asia is analysed by the evolution of daily weather types (WTs). The WTs are classified by a k‐means clustering analysis based on 850 hPa winds from April 1 to July 31 in the 40‐year period of 1979–2018. Five WTs are identified, typifying the progression of weather regimes in the monsoonal evolution. WTs 1 and 2, with easterly winds in the South China Sea (SCS), occurs mostly in April and early May, corresponding to typical WTs before the SCS monsoon onset. In WT3, winds in the SCS turns westerly, and a rain band emerges in South China, extending east‐northeastward to the Pacific Ocean south of Japan, which signifies the May–June Mei‐yu in South China. Then, with the rain band moved to Yangtze River Valley (YRV) in WT4, this WT corresponds to the June–July Mei‐Yu in central and eastern China along the YRV. Finally, WT5 occurs more frequently towards the end of July, and corresponds to the post‐Mei‐Yu WT, indicating the ending of the early summer rainfall season in East Asia. The evolution of the WTs is gradual but intermittent, representing the weather‐within‐climate information. Each WT likely persists to itself. But WT1 and WT2 also progress to each other. The long persistence of WT3 and WT4 up to several weeks indicates the quasi‐stationary Mei‐Yu in South China and the YRV, respectively. The year‐to‐year variability of the WTs is also evident in the WTs. The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) impact on the precipitation in the East Asian region is analysed for three types of ENSO: Eastern Pacific, Central Pacific, and mixed El Niño and La Niña. The seasonal mean precipitation anomalies can be interpreted by the frequencies of the daily WTs under different ENSO conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic increasingly threatens the public health security worldwide. We aimed to identify high-risk areas of COVID-19 and understand how socioeconomic factors are associated with the spatial distribution of COVID-19 in China, which may help other countries control the epidemic. Methods: We analyzed the data of COVID-19 cases from 30 provinces in mainland China (outside of Hubei) from 16 January 2020 to 31 March 2020, considering the data of demographic, economic, health, and transportation factors. Global autocorrelation analysis and Bayesian spatial models were used to present the spatial pattern of COVID-19 and explore the relationship between COVID-19 risk and various factors. Results: Global Moran's I statistics of COVID-19 incidences was 0.31 (P<0.05). The areas with a high risk of COVID-19 were mainly located in the provinces around Hubei and the provinces with a high level of economic development. The relative risk of two socioeconomic factors, the per capita consumption expenditure of households and the proportion of the migrating population from Hubei, were 1.887 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.469~2.399] and 1.099 (95% CI: 1.053~1.148), respectively. The two factors explained up to 78.2% out of 99.7% of structured spatial variations. Conclusion: Our results suggested that COVID-19 risk was positively associated with the level of economic development and population movements. Blocking population movement and reducing local exposures are effective in preventing the local transmission of COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A visual machine learning was applied to collect microfluidic droplet data. • A dual-directional deep learning model was established to obtain the user-desired droplets. • An active learning algorithm was adopted for the small sampling modelling. • The proposed dual-directional modelling demonstrates a high accuracy of only 9.90% relative error. User-specified droplets generated by microfluidics are critical but requires intensive expertise and much time. Stimulated by data boosts from microfluidic experiments, deep learning has proven to be a powerful modeling approach in microfluidics with high accuracy. However, current deep learning approaches on microfluidics, emphasize droplet size prediction rather than actually obtaining droplets of the user-desired size. Such droplet size predictions invariably overlook the effect of the flow regime, a critical factor when determining the availability of the generated droplets because the flow regime influences the droplets' dispersity. In addition, the big data prerequisite in deep learning models prohibits its extensive application in microfluidics. In order to solve these problems, this paper combines our current extensive experimental data (extracted by the Hough transformer) and the experimental data from previous literature as a co-flowing microfluidics-based droplet database. Based on this database, we established a dual-directional deep learning model where the droplet size variable resides not only in the output (for prediction), but also in the input (for acquisition) when considering the effect of flow regime. The new integrated active learning model fundamentally reduces the training dataset without sacrificing accuracy, thus pioneering small-sampling deep learning modelling in microfluidics. Compared to the single-directional modelling approach, the proposed dual-directional modelling demonstrates obvious improvements where the average relative error is only 9.90 % (obtained droplet size compared to the desired size), an increase of 45.6% compared with that of the single-directional model. The improved deep learning methodology here offers a universally accurate model for co-flowing microfluidic-based droplet acquisitions. It also has great prospects of becoming a prominent data processing structure that boosts, and possibly transforms existing microfluidic research and related fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of the El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on seasonal rainfall variability over Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula (SMP) has been investigated from the perspective of multi‐scale physical processes, especially the diurnal cycle and daily weather types (WTs). Observations indicate that the rainfall variability associated with ENSO is not spatially coherent in the SMP in both September–November (SON) and December–February (DJF). Among the five WTs, there are more WT2 and fewer WT3 in the SON period of El Niño years, thus the seasonal rainfall anomaly pattern is similar to that of WT2, with wet anomalies in the western Malay Peninsula and northern Sumatra, and dry anomalies in southern Sumatra. In DJF of El Niño years, there is an area of wet anomalies in the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula and in central Sumatra, and slightly dry anomalies in the central Malay Peninsula and in northern Sumatra due to more days of WT4 and fewer days of WT3 and WT5. In the early northeast monsoon season (December–January) when the Inter‐Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) is still north of or nearby the equator, the El Niño‐enhanced easterly wind anomaly at 850 hPa favours more frequent WT4 with more zonally oriented east‐northeasterly winds. This facilitates the propagation of rainfall from the area of above‐normal SSTs in the southern South China Sea towards Singapore and the adjacent seas, thus producing above‐normal rainfall. In February, however, more frequent WT4 will not enhance rainfall in the vicinity of Singapore because the ITCZ has already moved to the Southern Hemisphere, and the upstream area in the South China Sea is quite dry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: A few small retrospective studies recently found that endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in asymptomatic compared with symptomatic common bile duct stones (CBDSs) patients appeared to increase the risk of post‐ERCP pancreatitis (PEP). This study aimed to determine the risk of ERCP in asymptomatic CBDS patients. Methods: A total of 327 consecutive patients with native papilla were invited to participate into the study and divided into two groups: 53 in the asymptomatic group and 274 in the symptomatic group, who underwent CBDS removal by ERCP. Patient's characteristics and outcomes were analyzed. Results: A total of 46 (14.1%) patients had ERCP‐related complications, including PEP, cholangitis, perforation, and bleeding. The overall complication rate in the asymptomatic group was higher than in the control group (26.4% vs 11.7%, P < 0.01). PEP was the most common complication (30/327, 9.2%). Of the 30 cases of PEP, 25 (83.3%) were mild, and the severity in both groups was similar (9/1/1 vs 16/2/1, P > 0.05). The incidence rate of PEP in the asymptomatic group was higher than in the symptomatic group (20.8% vs 6.9%, P < 0.01). Multivariate regression analysis identified asymptomatic CBDSs (odds ratio = 0.241, 95% confidence interval: 0.092–0.628) as being independently associated with PEP occurrence. Conclusion: Asymptomatic CBDSs were associated with increased incidence of PEP compared with symptomatic CBDSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this communication, an approach for designing multi-band microstrip slot antennas is proposed. Multiple resonators are loaded on a conventional microstrip slot antenna to introduce multiple resonances. The number of the operational bands of the antenna can be easily controlled by varying the number of the loading resonators. The locations of each resonance can be adjusted by varying the positions and lengths of the loading resonators together with the geometry of the slot if necessary. For validation, prototypes with dual-, tri-, and quad-band operations are designed, fabricated, and measured. Since no modified slot is used in this design method, all the operating bands show good bidirectional radiation patterns. The measured and simulated results agree well. The proposed antenna features low profile, small radiating slot, and easy fabrication, showing promising application prospect for modern communication system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate factors that may predict successful precise segmental artery clamping during retroperitoneal laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) for treatment of T1 kidney tumor.Patients and Methods: Patients with clinical T1 tumors (n = 248) who received retroperitoneal LPN from June 2012 through February 2018 were reviewed, including demographics and clinical features. However, only 225 cases (90.7%) were available to analyze. Precise segmental artery clamping was the first clamping method selected during the LPN. If unsuccessful, conversion to main renal artery clamping was conducted. The perioperative features and functional outcomes of the 2 clamping types were compared.Results: Of the 225 patients, 190 procedures were effectively performed using segmental artery clamping, while 35 (15.6%) were converted to main renal artery clamping. None were converted to open surgery. Clamping the main renal artery was associated with longer operative time, less estimated blood loss, and higher glomerular filtration rate reduction, compared with successful segmental artery clamping. Univariable analyses determined that the following features affected the feasibility of segmental artery clamping: gender; hypertension; tumor location, growth pattern, and targeted artery number; R.E.N.A.L. nephrometry score (RNS); and Mayo adhesive probability (MAP) score. The multivariable analyses indicated that male gender, high RNS, and elevated MAP score were independent factors lowering the viability of segmental artery clamping.Conclusion: LPN with segmental artery clamping is generally safe for removing T1 kidney tumors. Extra cognizance may be required in men and cases with high RNS or MAP score. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cycle reversal had been shown as a powerful method to deal with the relation among orientations of a graph since it preserves the out-degree of each vertex and the connectivity of the orientations. A facial cycle reversal on an orientation of a plane graph is an operation that reverses all the directions of the edges of a directed facial cycle. An orientation of a graph is called an α-orientation if each vertex admits a prescribed out-degree. In this paper, we give an explicit formula for the minimum number of the facial cycle reversals needed to transform one α-orientation into another for plane graphs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This communication presents a wide stopband filtering antenna element and its application in multi-input multi-output (MIMO) system. Microstrip terminated coupled lines and a rectangle patch are utilized to generate the filtering function. By varying the length of the parallel coupled lines and open-circuited stubs, multiple transmission zeros can be introduced in the spurious band. Appropriate positioning the location of these transmission zeros enables a wide harmonic suppression. To demonstrate the proposed method, a wide stopband filtering antenna is designed and further applied in a four-element MIMO array. The measured and simulated results agree well. The proposed MIMO antenna obtains an attenuation of 12.6 dB up to $6.6\times $ the center frequency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel broadband patch antenna with electric- and magnetic-coupled elements and its application in multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) system is proposed in this communication. Unlike the conventional gap-coupled patch antennas, the electric and magnetic coupling between adjacent patches is considered and studied. Also, for improved understanding of the broadband nature of the proposed configuration, the phase relationships between patch elements are studied. Two- and three-patch prototypes are designed for validation of the concept, and the three-patch antenna is fabricated and measured showing a good agreement between the measured and simulated results. Considerable selectivity is observed in the results of the three-patch antenna because of the radiation nulls introduced by the electric and magnetic coupling. Apart from the broadband operation, the proposed antenna elements show promise for application in high-isolation MIMO systems due to their inherent band-reject characteristic when they are closely placed. For validation in this application, a four-element MIMO antenna is designed, fabricated, and measured. The measured results agree well with the simulated ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A tri-band patch antenna utilizing the TM10 mode together with modified TM20 and TM30 modes of a single patch is proposed in this communication. Through asymmetrically loading a stub on one radiating edge of the patch and cutting a rectangular slot offset from the other one, the current distributions of the TM20 and TM30 modes are perturbed, resulting in broadside radiation for all the first three modes of a single patch. Each operational frequency can be effectively controlled through varying the dimensions of the patch, slot, and loading stub. Good impedance matching is achieved simultaneously in three operational bands through aperture coupling. A prototype is designed, fabricated, and measured for validation. Based on this tri-band antenna, a new tri-band filtering antenna is further developed, showing good selectivity and broadside radiation characteristic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foundation soils are often under non-proportional cyclic loadings. The deformation behaviour and the mechanism of non-coaxiality under continuous pure principal stress rotation for clays are not clearly investigated up to now. In order to study the effect of pure principal stress rotation, a series of cyclic undrained tests on Shanghai soft clay subjected to cyclic rotation of principal stress directions keeping the deviatoric stress constant under the pure rotation condition were conducted using hollow cylinder apparatus. Based on this, the evolutions of excess pore pressure and strains during cyclic loading were investigated, together with the effects of the intermediate principal stress parameter and the deviatoric stress level on stress-strain stiffness and non-coaxiality. The result can provide an experimental basis for constitutive modelling of clays describing the behaviour under non-proportional loadings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A non-absorbable therapeutic candidate for the treatment of hyperammonemia has been identified and characterized. Conventional approaches to reducing ammonia concentration in the blood and colon include acidifying the colon, inhibiting the bacterial production of ammonia, and activation of the urea cycle. Addressing gaps in the literature around therapeutic ammonia adsorption, this study established assays for ammonia uptake from both NH4OH and NH4Cl solutions as well as interference and selectivity for potassium absorption. Performance was characterized for a large number and variety of materials, spanning zeolites, ion-exchange resins, metallopolymers, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), and polymeric carboxylic acids. The latter class showed low potassium capacity (poly(acrylic acid): 10 mg/g, poly(maleic-co-acrylic acid): 4 mg/g) and a therapeutically relevant depression of pH in buffered simulated intestinal fluid (SIF) (poly(acrylic acid): −2.01 and poly(maleic-co-acrylic acid): −3.23) compared to lactulose (−3.46), an approved therapeutic for hyperammonemia that works by acidifying the colon. In the polymeric organic acids evaluated, pH depression correlated well with pKa and acid site density. Additionally, this class of candidates should avoid the undesirable side effects of lactulose, such as the potential for hyperglycemia in diabetic patients and incompatible use with galactosemic patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current packaging designs and the efficiency of forced-air cooling (FAC) of fresh produce can be considerably improved by comprehensively comparing and evaluating the existing packaging designs. This study presents a market survey that studies samples of typical apple cartons used in China. Furthermore, by combining experiment and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling, a novel integral approach is proposed to evaluate cooling rate and uniformity, energy efficiency, and fruit quality (including safety) as a result of FAC for different ventilated-packaging designs. The process uses CFD to simulate the three-dimensional spatio-temporal distributions of airflow and product temperatures during precooling. In addition, experiments on chilling injury and mass loss are also reported. The results show that the optimum fresh-fruit packaging design depends on the product size and the location of the product and tray inside the packaging. For all existing package designs, the optimal air-inflow velocity is found to lie in the range 0.4–1 m/s (or 3–5 L s −1 kg −1 ), any further increase in airflow rate simply wastes energy because it leads to a relatively low increase in cooling rate and uniformity. The level of chilling injury and mass loss per box show a different trend with increasing air-inflow velocity. The accuracy of the CFD simulations was confirmed by a good agreement with experiments. The maximum root-mean-square error and mean absolute percentage error for produce temperature are 0.727 °C and 18.69%, respectively. This research unveils the advantages and disadvantages of the various existing packaging designs and provides a reliable theoretical and experimental basis for achieving an integral evaluation of the performance of FAC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In situ cast concrete piles with helical ribs have been used in Shanghai, China for uplift piles. The piles are about 600 mm in diameter with half-cylindrical ribs of 75 to 100 mm in radius. Pull-out tests on model helical ribbed nylon piles of different rib spacing have been carried out in a large pull-out box under different confining pressures. Pull-out resistance and displacement of the piles revealed that the resistance varies with rib spacing and is at a maximum when the ratio of rib spacing to pile diameter is 1, and the resistance is twice that of a smooth pile with the same outer diameter. Three-dimensional finite-element analysis of the model piles revealed that the inclusion of ribs changed the soil and pile interaction mechanism. Shear wedges may form ahead of the ribs. The size of the wedges varies with rib spacing, and is the largest when the ratio of rib spacing to pile diameter is about 1. The wedges may connect to each other to form larger shear zones around the piles to increase the pile resistance. It is suggested that rib spacing is one of the most important factors that affect the pull-out resistance of the piles with the designed geometry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We reported that mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) enhance neurological recovery from experimental stroke and increase tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) expression in astrocytes. Here, we investigate mechanisms by which tPA mediates MSC enhanced axonal outgrowth. Primary murine neurons and astrocytes were isolated from wild-type (WT) and tPA-knockout (KO) cortices of embryos. Mouse MSCs (WT) were purchased from Cognate Inc. Neurons (WT or KO) were seeded in soma side of Xona microfluidic chambers, and astrocytes (WT or KO) and/or MSCs in axon side. The chambers were cultured as usual (normoxia) or subjected to oxygen deprivation. Primary neurons (seeded in plates) were co-cultured with astrocytes and/or MSCs (in inserts) for Western blot. In chambers, WT axons grew significantly longer than KO axons and exogenous tPA enhanced axonal outgrowth. MSCs increased WT axonal outgrowth alone and synergistically with WT astrocytes at both normoxia and oxygen deprivation conditions. The synergistic effect was inhibited by U0126, an ERK inhibitor, and receptor associated protein (RAP), a low density lipoprotein receptor related protein 1 (LRP1) ligand antagonist. However, MSCs exerted neither individual nor synergistic effects on KO axonal outgrowth. Western blot showed that MSCs promoted astrocytic tPA expression and increased neuronal tPA alone and synergistically with astrocytes. Also, MSCs activated neuronal ERK alone and synergistically with astrocytes, which was inhibited by RAP. We conclude: (1) MSCs promote axonal outgrowth via neuronal tPA and synergistically with astrocytic tPA; (2) neuronal tPA is critical to observe the synergistic effect of MSC and astrocytes on axonal outgrowth; and (3) tPA mediates MSC treatment-induced axonal outgrowth through the LRP1 receptor and ERK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are few studies applying pulsed electric field (PEF) on solid foods in databases. Egg white protein (EWP) was subjected to PEF for elucidating mechanism of changes in molecular structure of enzymes and protein components for solid foods. Determination of free and total sulfhydryl groups, ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy, infrared (IR) spectroscopy, and sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) were used to compare EWP before and after PEF treatment. The results showed that the amount of free sulfhydryl increased while that of total sulfhydryl decreased after PEF exertion. PEF did not change the SDS-PAGE patterns visibly and no shift in maximum absorption wavelength but intensity could be observed in UV spectra of EWP. IR spectra of EWP were subjected to Gaussian multi-component peak modeling for molecular secondary structure analyses. Either the voltage of the PEF ( P < 0.01) or the residence time of the sample ( P < 0.05) significantly decreased the relative portion of α-helices while increased that of β-sheets in EWP, and impact could also be seen in respect of contents of β-turns and random coils in amide I region of EWP and its fractions. The results are of reference values to potential applications of PEF on solid foods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traffic loading causes the rotation of principal stress axis and generates a heart-shaped stress path in the deviatoric stress space. Using dynamic hollow cylinder apparatus (DHCA), a series of cyclic heart-shaped and cyclic triaxial undrained tests were performed on Shanghai clay through simultaneously varying the torsional shear stress and the normal stresses. Experimental results show that the accumulated undrained responses of clay at different stress levels can be described by the shakedown approach. The permanent strain and energy dissipation were used to classify the accumulated deformation patterns, including plastic shakedown, cyclic plastic creep and ratcheting (incremental instability). For the plastic shakedown, the IPC (increment per cycle) of permanent axial strain becomes negligible and the IPC (area of hysteretic loop per cycle) of energy dissipation tends to reach a low constant level after cycling. For the cyclic plastic creep, the IPC of permanent axial strain (plastic strain increment per cycle) and the IPC of energy dissipation become nearly constant after a large number of cycles. For the ratcheting, the IPCs of strain and energy dissipation increase after a limited number of cycles. Based on these results, a new method is proposed to define the boundaries of shakedown behaviors using the effective cyclic stress ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Counterfeiting products and abusing labels lead to less credibility for traceability system in China recently. Authentication and supervision agencies driven by government departments play an important role for ensuring the quality safety in the case of lacking the willingness and credit of enterprises. A complete authentication and supervision flow framework was constructed based on an identification code (IdC) for authenticated origin base, which linked two actors of the agencies and the enterprises, and three subsystems of On-line Authentication Subsystem (OAS), Safety Production Management Client (SMC) and Mobile Supervision Application (MSA). IdC consisted of longitude and latitude of origin base as position code, production code and authentication type code. With a relative position partition method on 6 zones every 27° for China map and a coordination transformation algorithm, an absolute longitude and latitude value was converted into a relative position value and a zone mark value. IdC and packaging date code formed initial traceability code (TC). 8 digits packaging date code was reconstructed into 3 digits relative time value and 1 digit period mark according to a relative time period partition method with a period of 999d as time intervals and four periods form a cycle. Validation code was generated integrating the zone mark value, period mark value and authentication type code. Therefore, transformed 20 digits TC with the characters of shorter code length and stronger encryption was formed with IdC, relative time value and validation code. Three subsystems for different actors which provide the main function such as origin base registration, agency authentication, QR code generation, data uploading and product verification, were developed. The system has been used in Tianjin city from 2012. 213 enterprises were audited through OAS and used SMC. Through investigating 8 supervision agency staffs, 30 origin base owners, and 50 customers, it is shown that the positive effects are approved by most of the investigators and two negative effects for enhancing the costs and doubting the authentication reliability are laid by 17 enterprises and 12 customers. Furthermore, 4 typical cases for counterfeiting and abusing the labels were exampled and can be solved to a certain extent with the system. However, except for the technology itself, a management measures fitting the supervision flow and system need to draft in order to improve the system application well in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Gastrointestinal dysfunction seriously affects the prognosis and quality of life of patients with multiple fractures. However, experimental evidence of this relationship is lacking. Here we describe a newly developed mouse model of postoperative gastrointestinal dysfunction after multiple fractures. Methods: Trauma severity was assessed using the injury severity score (ISS). Based on the ISS, a multiple fracture model was established in mice as follows: limb fractures with pelvic fractures and multiple rib fractures; limb fractures with multiple rib fractures; closed fracture of both forelegs with pelvic fracture and rib fractures; closed limb fractures; limb fracture with pelvic fracture; spinal fractures; hind leg fractures with pelvic fractures; pelvic fracture with multiple rib fractures; closed fracture of both fore legs with pelvic fracture; and closed fracture of both fore legs with multiple rib fractures. In each model group, gastrointestinal motility was assayed and the histopathology of the small intestine was examined. Western blot and immunohistochemical analyses of jejunal tissue were performed to detect c‐kit protein expression, the level of which was compared with that of a control group. The results of ANOVA are expressed as mean ± standard deviation. Results: In mice with multiple fractures, food intake was greatly reduced, consistent with histopathological evidence of an injured intestinal epithelium. The jejunal tissue of mice in groups a, c, f, and h was characterized by extensively necrotic and exfoliated intestinal mucosal epithelium and inflammatory cell infiltration in the lamina propria. In the gastrointestinal function assay, gastrointestinal motility was significantly reduced in groups a, b, c, f, and g; these group also had a higher ISS (p < 0.01). The expression of c‐kit protein in groups with gastrointestinal dysfunction was significantly up‐regulated (p < 0.001) compared with the control group. The close correlation between c‐kit expression and the ISS indicated an influence of trauma severity on gastrointestinal motility. Conclusion: Gastrointestinal dysfunction after multiple fractures was successfully reproduced in a mouse model. In these mice, c‐kit expression correlated with gastrointestinal tissue dysfunction and might serve as a therapeutic target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The method of k-means cluster analysis is applied to U.S. wintertime daily 850-hPa winds across the Northeast. The resulting weather patterns are analyzed in terms of duration, station, gridded precipitation, storm tracks, and climate teleconnections. Five distinct weather patterns are identified. Weather type (WT) 1 is characterized by a ridge over the western Atlantic and positive precipitation anomalies as far north as the Great Lakes; WT2, by a trough along the eastern United States and positive precipitation anomalies into southern New England; WT3, by a trough over the western Atlantic and negative precipitation anomalies along much of the U.S. East Coast; WT4, by a trough east of Newfoundland and negative precipitation anomalies along parts of the U.S. East Coast; and WT5, by a broad, shallow trough over southeastern Canada and negative precipitation anomalies over the entire U.S. East Coast. WT5 and WT1 are the most persistent, while WT2 typically progresses quickly to WT3 and then to WT4. Based on mean station precipitation in the northeastern United States, most precipitation occurs in WT2 and WT3, with the least in WT1 and WT4. Extreme precipitation occurs most frequently in WT2. Storm tracks show that WT2 and WT3 are associated with coastal storms, while WT2 is also associated with Great Lakes storms. Teleconnections are linked with a change in WT frequency by more than a factor of 2 in several cases: for the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) in WT1 and WT4 and for the Pacific-North American (PNA) pattern in WT1 and WT3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the technique and short-term outcomes of laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) with precise segmental renal artery clamping for clinical T1b (cT1b) tumors and to analyze the possible factors affecting the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) reduction. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study investigated the outcomes of 72 patients with cT1b tumors who received LPN from June 2008 to May 2014. Based on three-dimensional dynamic renal vascular models built before surgery, target arteries were precisely clamped and tumors were removed under regional parenchymal ischemia. Perioperative and follow-up outcomes were analyzed. Results: All the LPN procedures were effectively performed using the novel technique, without converting to main renal artery clamping or open surgery. The mean operative time was 86 min, with a mean warm ischemic time of 25 min. The median estimated blood loss was 200 mL (range: 80-800). The postoperative mean GFR was 64% of the preoperative baseline, and the total complication rate was 19.4%. In multivariable analyses, the two independent factors affecting postoperative GFR were the RENAL nephrometry score (RNS) and number of intraoperative clamped segmental arteries. The median follow-up was 24 months (range: 6-72). The overall, recurrence-free, and cancer-specific survival rates were 100%, 95.8%, and 100%, respectively. Conclusions: For patients with cT1b tumor, LPN with precise segmental renal artery clamping is safe and feasible for removing tumors and preserving the blood supply and normal renal parenchyma. Short-term oncologic and functional outcomes were satisfactory. Postoperative GFR was related to the preoperative RNS and number of intraoperative clamped segmental arteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Barley is a cereal to seek for higher value added. Its β-glucan has been paid much attention as a soluble dietary fiber. Barley polysaccharide (BP) of a cultivar for brewing was extracted by ultrasonic assistance and derived by using a relatively lower toxic esterifying agent-sulfamic acid to obtain sulfated barley polysaccharides (SBPs) with various degrees of substitution (DS). Comparisons were made amongst SBPs and BP in antioxidant abilities in vitro with total reducing power, scavenging effect on DPPH , hydroxyl radicals, superoxide anion radicals and lipid antioxidation and inhibition against α-glucosidase. The results showed that antioxidant activity of BP was significantly enhanced by sulfation modification. The activities increased with the concentration and DS. Kinetic analyses revealed that the inhibitory effects of SBPs and BP on α-glucosidase were reversible and SBPs exhibited a mixed type of inhibition while BP was a noncompetitively inhibitory process. The present work reflected that BP could be a potential raw material for the development of antiglycemic pharmaceuticals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An orchard precision management system plays an important role in improvement at the management level and the enhancement of decision abilities. A single orchard tree or an orchard tree microcommunity is the basic management unit, and bidirectional information on the environment and plants is the important content for precision management. A type of RFID label was applied with a UHF chip in the core and a QR code in the surface for single tree identification. A bidirectional acquisition system for orchard production, which included farming information collection for the forward direction and environmental information acquisition for the backward direction, was designed with smart phones. In the farming information collection part, information collection flow that included QR code image acquisition, image preprocessing, barcode decoding and farming information collection was established. An improved local threshold method was adopted to improve the QR code identification rate in the smart phone platform. In the environment information acquisition part, a sensor search rule on the single tree position and a multi-point environment value model were designed. The orchard information bidirectional acquisition system was developed on an Android platform with the Java language, which has the function of QR decoding, farm record information collection, environment information acquisition, data uploading and statistical analysis. The system was tested in an apple orchard. A total of 144 trees were chosen to decode the QR codes in the tree label. The success rate was approximately 96.52%. The identification time of 85% of the trees was less than 4 s for the 20 chosen trees. In taking the temperature, for example, the difference between the computed temperature value and the measured temperature value around each tree was small. The system could decrease the cost of the professional equipment, such as portable RFID readers and writers, which was a low-cost and high-efficiency solution for orchard production information collection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents case study of a 31-year-old man, with no significant past medical history, who ate cooked crayfish from a local restaurant and developed chest, back, and shoulder pain, along with nausea and vomiting. The patient was treated with intravenous fluid hydration and bicarbonate infusion, and was diagnosed with Haff disease complicated by acute lung injury. The patient developed no recurrence of symptoms during the 21-day follow-up.

To solve the problems of that composite base bleed propellant grain (CBBPG) is crushed and unstably combusts during launching, a protection strategy is proposed by directly installing a magnesium combustible liner ( MCL) with temporary strength protection and auxiliary combustion in the inner hole of CBBPG. The FEM analysis model of CBBPG' s launching process in extreme working conditions is established by using ABAQUS, and the dynamic shooting contrast verification test is done. The simulation results show that MCL can effectively prevent CBBPG from excessively deforming during launching. At the same time, the test results show that the average velocity of the projectiles with MCL is increased by 4. 97 m/s, and the combustion consistency and combustion stability of CBBPG are both improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses Cephalosporins, electrospray mass spectrometry and Infrared multiphoton dissociation. Topics include multi-drug resistance, carbon bonds and chemical isomers. Other topics such as active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), collision-activated dissociation (CAD) and quantum chemical calculations.

Valsartan is widely used for the treatment of moderate hypertension. However, previous studies have found that efficacy of the valsartan depends on the dose and intake. Cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2C9 metabolizes ∼15% of the clinical drugs. Genetic polymorphisms of CYP2C9 markedly affect the safety and effectiveness of many drugs, which might lead to adverse reactions and therapeutic failure. Twenty-four novel CYP2C9 variants (*36–*60) had been previously discovered via gene sequencing in the Han population. Our study aims to evaluate the impact of 38 CYP2C9 variants from the Chinese population on valsartan metabolism compared with CYP2C9 *1 in vitro. Wild-type CYP2C9 *1 and other CYP2C9 variants were expressed in Spodoptera frugiperda 21 insect cells. Incubations were performed at 37 °C with 20–2000 μM substrate for 30 min. The metabolite 4-OH valsartan was determined via UPLC-MS/MS. Among the 38 CYP2C9 variants, the enzymatic activities of most variants were significantly altered compared with the wild-type. Three variants (CYP2C9 *27, *40 and *49) exhibited increased intrinsic clearance values (134–153% relative clearance). However, 12 variants (CYP *8, *13, *16, *19, *33, *36, *42, *43, *45, *52, *54, *58) caused >90% decreases in the relative clearance of valsartan compared to CYP2C9 *1. Our research provides systematic data for evaluating the effects of CYP2C9 variants on valsartan metabolism in the Chinese population. These results will expand our understanding of the impact of CYP2C9 genetic polymorphisms on valsartan metabolism and will contribute to precision medicine. • We identified 24 novel CYP2C9 alleles in the Han Chinese population in the previous study. • We evaluate the catalytic activities of 38 CYP2C9 alleles variants toward valsartan in vitro. • There are 35 variants showed decreased catalytic activity toward valsartan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: The inflammatory response after hepatic ischemia reperfusion (I/R) contributes to liver dysfunction and failure after transplantation. Butyrate is a four-carbon fatty acid, normally produced by bacterial fermentation of fiber in mammalian intestines, with anti-inflammatory activities. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the protective effect of butyrate preconditioning, if any, against hepatic I/R injury in rats and the underlying mechanisms involved. Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to a partial (70%) hepatic ischemia for 60 min after pretreatment with either vehicle or butyrate, followed by 3, 6, and 24 h of reperfusion. Hepatic injury was evaluated by biochemical and histopathologic examinations. Neutrophil infiltration was measured by myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity. The expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (Elisa) and Real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The expression of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) p65 was determined by immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis. Results: Butyrate treatment markedly improved hepatic function and histology, as indicated by reduced transaminase levels and ameliorated tissue pathologic changes. The expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-6, and myeloperoxidase activity was attenuated by butyrate. Butyrate also reduced I/R-induced nuclear translocation of NF-κB p65 in Kupffer cells. Conclusion: Our results suggest that butyrate alleviates I/R-induced liver injury, possibly by suppressing inflammatory factors production and preventing NF-κB activation in Kupffer cells. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Pulsed electric field (PEF) treatment was applied to brown rice grains in a treatment chamber which was surrounded by organic glass as walls around a pair of horizontally paralleled plate electrodes to investigate the feasibility of PEF on low moisture food materials. Based on a monolayer of brown rice grains the results showed that the lipase activity could be significantly inactivated by PEF. Among the PEF parameters, the voltage was the most important to the inactivating efficiency, followed by frequency and pulse width; while the time was less dominant. The interactions between voltage and pulse width and between frequency and pulse width also contributed to the lipase inactivation significantly. By using Box–Behnken design, response surface methodology was applied to optimize the process and a well fitting model was obtained with PEF parameters, voltage, frequency, pulse width, and residence time. Industrial relevance: Pulsed electric field (PEF) is a low temperature and environment friendly technology in food processing. It is promising and has received considerable attention over the years in the past. PEF has been applied to inactivate microorganisms or enzymes. However, research work regarding PEF focused almost only on liquid food processing so far. There has been no report of PEF on solid food materials. Rice bran is abundant and nutritious, but it could not be stored for a long time because enzymolysis takes place soon after it is scraped off from rice grains. If the PEF could be used for lipase inactivation in brown rice grains, the stabilized rice bran should be obtained after milling during the material convey. It would be another effective and in-line rice bran stabilization technique potential in the rice industry. Furthermore, the application scope of PEF in food industry could be widened. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Members of the miR-34 family have been shown to be transcriptional targets of the tumour suppressor gene P53. Aberration expression of miR-34 impairs p53-mediated cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. A single nucleotide polymorphism T > C (rs4938723) located within the CpG island in the promoter region of pri-miR-34b/c may affect its expression and has been suggested to influence cancer risk. In this study, we genotyped rs4938723 using the TaqMan method to explore the relationship between this polymorphism and the risk of renal cell cancer (RCC) in a case-control study of 710 RCC patients and 760 control subjects. We found that individuals carrying the CC genotype had a significantly increased RCC risk compared with those with TT or TT/TC genotypes [odds ratio (OR) = 1.53, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.06–2.21 for CC vs. TT and OR = 1.48, 95% CI = 1.05–2.10 for CC vs. TT/TC). Furthermore, the increased risk was more evident in the subgroups of older subjects (OR = 1.80, 95% CI = 1.08–3.01), males (OR = 1.64, 95% CI = 1.08–2.51), smokers (OR = 2.07, 95% CI = 1.16–3.69) and drinkers (OR = 1.94, 95% CI = 1.01–3.73), although no interaction between rs4938723 and these characteristics was observed. Twenty-seven normal tissues adjacent to tumour were used to evaluate the association between the expression level of miR-34b/c and the polymorphism, which revealed higher expression levels of miR-34b/c in normal renal tissues with TT+TC genotypes than in those with CC genotypes (P < 0.01). Furthermore, a luciferase gene assay in 293-T cells showed that the luciferase activities with rs4938723 T allele are higher than that with C allele (P < 0.05). These results suggest that the miR-34b/c rs4938723 C allele may increase susceptibility to RCC by decreasing the activity of pri-miR-34b/c promoter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A novel approach for the synthesis of Crizotinib (1) is described. In addition, new efficient procedures have been developed for the preparation of (S)-1-(2,6-dichloro-3-fluorophenyl)ethanol (2) and tert-butyl 4-(4-(4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-1,3,2-dioxaborolan-2-yl)-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)piperidine-1-carboxylate (4), the key intermediates required for the synthesis of Crizotinib. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and IGF binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) are members of the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) family that play important roles in carcinogenesis. We hypothesized that the functional polymorphisms in IGF-I and IGFBP-3 may be associated with the risk of prostate cancer (PCa) in the Chinese population. This hospital-based case-control study included 664 PCa patients and 702 cancer-free controls. Nine SNPs in IGF-I and IGFBP-3 were genotyped using the TaqMan assay. The genetic associations between the pathogenesis and progression of PCa were assessed by logistic regression. We found that the genotype and allele frequency distribution of rs6218, rs35767 and rs5742612 were significantly different when comparing PCa cases to controls (P  = 0.005, 0.005 and 0.020, respectively). In the combined analysis, individuals with 2–6 risk alleles had an elevated risk of PCa compared to those with 0–1 risk alleles. We also found that the association between the combined risk alleles and the risk of PCa appeared stronger in the following subgroups: individuals older than 71 years of age (OR  = 1.41, 95%CI  = 1.05–1.91, P  = 0.020), nonsmokers (OR  = 1.68, 95%CI  = 1.21–2.32, P  = 0.002), nondrinkers (OR  = 1.32, 95%CI  = 1.02–1.61, P  = 0.002), and those with a negative family history of PCa (OR  = 1.28, 95%CI  = 1.02–1.71, P  = 0.022). Our results indicate that the three SNPs (rs6218, rs35767 and rs5742612) and the joint genotypes with 2–6 risk alleles, may contribute to the susceptibility to PCa, but not the progression, in the Chinese population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Laparoscopic splenectomy and azygoportal disconnection has been reported safe, feasible and minimally invasive for patients with portal hypertension. We have developed an even less invasive technique, modified laparoscopic splenectomy and azygoportal disconnection, and compared outcomes of modified laparoscopic splenectomy and azygoportal disconnection and open splenectomy and azygoportal disconnection in patients with portal hypertension. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated outcomes in 107 cirrhotic patients with portal hypertensive bleeding and secondary hypersplenism who underwent modified laparoscopic splenectomy and azygoportal disconnection ( n = 37) or open splenectomy and azygoportal disconnection ( n = 70) between January 2010 and February 2013. Their demographic, intraoperative, and postoperative variables were compared. Results: Modified laparoscopic splenectomy and azygoportal disconnection was successful in all patients, with none requiring conversion to open surgery or having significant perioperative complications. Operation time was significantly longer for modified laparoscopic splenectomy and azygoportal disconnection than open splenectomy and azygoportal disconnection ( P < 0.0001), but estimated intraoperative blood loss ( P = 0.0004); volume of intraoperative blood transfusion ( P < 0.05); visual analog scale pain score on the first postoperative day ( P < 0.0001); times to first oral intake ( P < 0.0001), passage of flatus ( P = 0.0004), and off-bed activity ( P < 0.0001); postoperative hospital stay ( P < 0.0001); postoperative days of temperature >38.0 °C ( P = 0.002); white blood cell counts on postoperative days 1 ( P < 0.0001) and 7 ( P < 0.05) were significantly reduced in the modified laparoscopic splenectomy and azygoportal disconnection group. The percentage of patients experiencing postoperative complications was significantly lower in the modified laparoscopic splenectomy and azygoportal disconnection group than in the open splenectomy and azygoportal disconnection group (13.5 % [5/37] vs. 35.7 % [25/70], P < 0.05). Conclusions: The less invasive modified laparoscopic splenectomy and azygoportal disconnection group is a feasible, effective, and safe surgical procedure for liver cirrhosis patients with portal hypertensive bleeding and hypersplenism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Influence of particle angularity on the suffusion in gap-graded granular soils remains unclear up to now. In this study, systematical numerical simulations that consider the particle shape as quasi-spherical polyhedra in different angularity are performed with the coupled discrete element method (DEM) and the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach. The suffusion of six gap-graded soil samples with 25% fines content is examined by imposing an upward seepage flow. Conventional triaxial tests are also conducted on the pre-eroded and post-eroded specimens to study the coupling influence of angularity and suffusion on the mechanical characteristics of granular soils. Fines loss, vertical displacement, soil strength, volume flow rate, microstructural analyses of force networks, the cumulative percentage of contact force, and the anisotropy of contact are investigated. Results turn out that the angularity intensifies the internal erosion resistance as the fines loss decreases significantly with the increasing angularity. The soil peak strength and friction angle are approximately linearly correlated with angularity. Erosion-induced particle redistribution reduces the degree of anisotropy of contact normal and contact normal force. This study may improve our understanding of the effect of particle angularity on suffusion with both microscopic and macroscopic evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interannual variability of precipitation over the island of Borneo in association with El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) has been studied by using the Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC) gridded rain gauge precipitation, the NOAA Climate Prediction Center (CPC) Morphing Technique (CMORPH) satellite estimated precipitation, the Quick Scatterometer (QuikSCAT) satellite estimated sea winds, and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)-National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) reanalysis data. Analysis of the GPCC precipitation shows a dipolar structure of wet southwest versus dry central and northeast in precipitation anomalies associated with El Niño over Borneo Island during the austral summer [December-February (DJF)]. By using the 0.25° and 3-hourly CMORPH precipitation, it is found that rainfall over Borneo is strongly affected by the diurnal cycle of land-sea breezes. The spatial distribution of rainfall over Borneo depends on the direction of monsoonal winds. Weather typing analysis indicates that the dipolar structure of rainfall anomalies associated with ENSO is caused by the variability in the frequency of occurrence of different weather types. Rainfall is enhanced in the coastal region where sea breezes head against off-shore synoptic-scale low-level winds (i.e., in the lee side or wake area of the island), which is referred to here as the 'wake effect.' In DJF of El Niño years, the northwesterly austral summer monsoon in southern Borneo is weaker than normal over the Maritime Continent and easterly winds are more frequent than normal over Borneo, acting to enhance rainfall over the southwest coast of the island. This coastal rainfall generation mechanism in different weather types explains the dipole pattern of a wet southwest versus dry northeast in the rainfall anomalies over Borneo Island in the El Niño years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Wheat flour undergoes several processing steps in its transformation from raw wheat in the mill, which differentiates wheat flour from other farm products. At each step, various wheat sources are combined into one batch of wheat flour. This study primarily aimed to develop a Wheat Flour Milling Traceability System (WFMTS), incorporating 2D barcode and radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, and to validate the system in a wheat flour mill in China. We designed the encoding rules for the raw material, processing and traceability batches. Labels with a Quick Response Code (QR Code) were attached to small packages of wheat flour to link them to their processing information, and RFID tags were affixed to the storage bins to record logistics information. A traceability system was developed based on batch identification and record keeping. The system was applied and supported in a wheat flour mill for one year. The WFMTS management and traceability capacity was evaluated using a contrast experiment. The experiment was divided into five parts, including raw material data recording, processing data recording, package data recording, logistics data recording and traceability query. The results show that although time consumption using WFMTS in package data recording was more than that with paper recording, WFMTS was dominant in its total time consumption: five parts were reduced by 113%, and the mean accuracy of the five parts increased by 8%. The QR Code and RFID recognition accuracy was evaluated using experiments with different reading distances. The cost and income variations in application WFMTS were analyzed based on the survey. The results show that the total cost increased by 17.2% to apply the system. Compared to the cost, the sales income increase was obvious, and it reached 32.5%. Considering the good evaluation results, the system has good application potential in medium or large wheat mill enterprises. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Eur J Clin Invest 2012; 42 (7): 751-759 Abstract Background Colorectal cancer is one of the most rapidly increasing cancers in the world, and accumulation of alterations in oncogenes, tumour suppressor genes and mismatch repair (MMR) genes contributes to colorectal tumorigenesis. Thus, we investigated the alterations of 14 microsatellite loci adjacent to MMR genes, p53, adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) and K-ras in 52 Chinese patients with colorectal cancer. Materials and Methods We performed fluorescent polymerase chain reaction and capillary electrophoresis to analyse microsatellite instability (MSI) and loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in microsatellite loci, which included a panel of nine dinucleotide repeats and the Bethesda consensus panel. Additionally, we screened for mutations in exons 4-9 of p53 and the mutation cluster region (MCR) in APC by DHPLC. Codons 12, 13 and 61 in K-ras were analysed using direct sequencing. All variations were confirmed using clone sequencing. Results The alteration frequency of microsatellite DNA was 55·8% (29/52). Among the microsatellites, five loci exhibited MSI and another nine loci exhibited LOH. The mutation rates of p53, APC and K-ras were 42·3%, 38·5% and 36·5%, respectively. All patients ( n = 7) with liver metastasis had a mutation in p53, APC or K-ras. APC mutation was correlated with clinical stage and the presence of lymph node metastasis ( P = 0·001 and P = 0·006, respectively). Conclusions A total of 80·8% of Chinese patients with colorectal cancer show variations in microsatellite DNA, p53, APC or K-ras. It appears that these microsatellite DNA alterations could be a new biomarker for colorectal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The additional value derived from a regional climate model (RCM) nested within general circulation model (GCM) seasonal simulations, over and above statistical methods of downscaling, is compared over the Philippines for the April-June monsoon transition season. Spatial interpolation of RCM and GCM gridbox values to station locations is compared with model output statistics (MOS) correction. The anomaly correlation coefficient (ACC) skill at the station scale of seasonal total rainfall is somewhat higher in the RCM compared to the GCM when using spatial interpolation. However, the ACC skills obtained using MOS of the GCM or RCM wind fields are shown to be generally-and rather equally-superior. The ranked probability skill scores (RPSS) are also generally much higher when using MOS, with slightly higher scores in the GCM case. Very high skills were found for MOS correction of daily rainfall frequency as a function of GCM and RCM seasonal-average low-level wind fields, but with no apparent advantage from the RCM. MOS-corrected monsoon onset dates often showed skill values similar to those of seasonal rainfall total, with good skill over the central Philippines. Finally, it is shown that the MOS skills decrease markedly and become inferior to those of spatial interpolation when the length of the 28-yr training set is halved. The results may be region dependent, and the excellent station data coverage and strong impact of ENSO on the Philippines may be factors contributing to the good MOS performance when using the full-length dataset over the Philippines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/aims: Monitoring changes in the field potential (FP) of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) following compound administration has been proposed as a novel screening tool to evaluate cardiac ion channel interactions and QT liability. Here we extended the use of FP to evaluate the pharmacological and toxicological properties of cardiac glycosides. Methods: FPs were recorded using microelectrode arrays (MEAs) in spontaneously beating hiPSC-CMs. The in vitro effects of ouabain and digoxin on FPs were compared with data generated on hemodynamic and ECG parameters in guinea pig Langendorff hearts. Results: In hiPSC-CMs, ouabain and digoxin reduced Na+-spike amplitude, shortened FP duration (FPD), increased Ca2+-wave amplitude, and dose-dependently induced arrhythmic beats. The ouabain-induced changes observed in hiPSC-CMs correlated well with the effects seen in isolated hearts which revealed QT shortening, enhancement of contractility, and arrhythmogenesis. Nifedipine, an L-type Ca2+ channel blocker, reduced Ca2+-wave amplitude and FPD in hiPSC-CMs, and led to parallel effects of decreased ventricular contractility and shortened QT interval in isolated hearts. Further, nifedipine attenuated the Ca2+-peak amplitude and proarrhythmic effect of both glycosides. These results suggested that FPD and Ca2+-wave amplitude are comparable surrogates of QT interval and contractility of intact hearts, respectively. Conclusion: hiPSC-CMs reflect similar cardiac pharmacology as seen in isolated cardiac preparations and thus are a suitable model in study of the pharmacology and toxicology of cardioactive ion channel and transporter modulators. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]