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Abstract Objectives Women exposed to occupational noise experience adverse pregnancy outcomes. Therefore, we initiated a large, population-based, cross-sectional study to further investigate the effects of occupational noise on hearing and blood pressure among female workers of childbearing age. Study design and setting A total of 6981 childbearing-aged female workers were selected for this cross-sectional study. Basic characteristics of participants were analyzed by comparing the exposed and control groups. Logistic regression models were employed to calculate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidences intervals (CIs) for the associations of occupational noise with levels of hearing loss and blood pressure. The associations were further explored through stratification by age and duration of noise exposure. Results Compared with participants not exposed to occupational noise, increasing years of occupational noise exposure were independently associated with an elevated risk of hypertension after adjustment of age, industry classification, enterprise size and economic type. Compared to participants not exposed to occupational noise, only the prevalence of bilateral hearing loss was significantly higher after adjustments for age, industry classification, enterprise size and economic type. Compared with those with normal hearing, the ORs and 95% CIs were 1.97 (0.95–4.07), 2.22 (1.05–4.68) and 1.29 (1.06–1.57) for bilateral, unilateral and any ear hearing loss, respectively. Conclusions Occupational noise exposure is positively associated with both hypertension and bilateral hearing loss among female workers of childbearing age. Those exposed to occupational noise show an increased risk of hypertension after adjusting for potential confounders.

Abstract Background Drunkenness and alcoholic liver disease (ALD) are critical public health issues associated with significant morbidity and mortality due to chronic overconsumption of alcohol. Traditional remedies, such as bear bile powder, have been historically acclaimed for their hepatoprotective properties. This study assessed the efficacy of a biotransformed bear bile powder known as golden bile powder (GBP) in alleviating alcohol-induced drunkenness and ALD. Methods A murine model was engineered to simulate alcohol drunkenness and acute hepatic injury through the administration of a 50% ethanol solution. Intervention with GBP and its effects on alcohol-related symptoms were scrutinized, by employing an integrative approach that encompasses serum metabolomics, network medicine, and gut microbiota profiling to elucidate the protective mechanisms of GBP. Results GBP administration significantly delayed the onset of drunkenness and decreased the duration of ethanol-induced inebriation in mice. Enhanced liver cell recovery was indicated by increased hepatic aldehyde dehydrogenase levels and superoxide dismutase activity, along with significant decreases in the serum alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, triglyceride, and total cholesterol levels (P

Neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy has demonstrated significant benefit for resectable non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) excluding known EGFR/ALK genetic alterations. Recent evidence has shown that neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy could be clinically valuable in resectable localized driver gene-mutant NSCLC, though the data still lack robust support, especially for rare oncogenic mutations. Here, we report a patient with stage IIIA lung adenocarcinoma with a RET fusion gene and high expression of PD-L1 who underwent neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy and successfully attained a pathologic complete response. The patient has survived for 12 months with no recurrence or metastases after surgery. Our case suggests that this treatment strategy may be an alternative therapeutic option for resectable RET fusion-positive NSCLC patients.

The galloping of the catenary positive feeder and sand deposition along the railway are very serious of LanzhouUrumqi high-speed railway in the gale areas. In this paper, the second wind-break wall was set up at different positions of the windward side embankment, and the flow field model of the computational domain was established based on the theory of hydrodynamics. The aerodynamic characteristics of the positive feeder and the change of sand deposition along the railway under the condition of double wind-break walls were analyzed. The results show that the range of wind speed growth area at the positive feeder is significantly reduced after the second wind-break wall was set up under the embankment, and the change of the height and position of the wind-break wall has an important influence on the aerodynamic characteristics of the positive feeder. When the second wind-break wall was 0.5 m away from the embankment, the aerodynamic coefficient of the positive feeder is relatively low. At the same time, with the increase of the height of the wind-break wall, the lift and drag coefficient of the positive feeder does not show a continuous decreasing trend. Therefore, on the basis of considering the economic cost and through comparative analysis, the second wind-break wall was designed to be 0.5 m away from the embankment and 1 m height. It can not only restrain the galloping of the positive feeder to a certain extent, but also effectively alleviate the hazards of sand deposition on the railway, thus greatly improving the stability of train operation safety in gale areas.

To study the electrical characteristics of ice-covered insulators, this paper uses the finite element method to simulate the BXN-25 type insulator of the positive feeder of the catenary under three icing conditions of different icing thickness, icicle length, air gap position, and compares it with the clean insulator. The research shows that icing on the surface of the insulator shed will reduce the insulation distance, thus affecting the insulation performance of the insulator. The electric field distributions are also different with the different number of icicle bridge insulator sheds. When the icicle bridge is connected to different positions of the insulator shed, the air gaps at different positions will be generated. The amplitude of the air gap will increase sharply when it is located at the low-voltage end, making the insulator more prone to flashover.

Accurate identification and location of faults on the DC side are technical difficulties to be solved urgently for the multi-terminal VSC-HVDC grids. Firstly, the characteristics of line boundary are analyzed, using the obvious difference of the current high-frequency transient energy during the internal and external faults to locate the fault. Secondly, the polarity difference of the transient voltage of the current-limiting reactor is used as the direction identification criterion for line protection. Considering the effect of different transition resistance and circuit breaker breaking process. The line protection is realized by single-terminal quantity, and the fault isolation is realized by coordination among circuit breakers. The simulation verifies that the proposed protection scheme can quickly and reliably identify different distances and different types of faults, meet the protection speed and reliability requirements, and have strong transition resistance and anti-interference capabilities.

Pea protein was used as raw material, the synthetic scoring method based on factor analysis and Box-Behnken response surface method were used to explore the formula optimization of sodium alginate, L-cysteine, and compound phosphate added on the process of textured pea protein. The results of factor analysis showed that the 15 evaluation indexes of textured pea protein products could be divided into five independent common factors, that were texture factor, color factor, adsorption factor, solubility factor and sensory factor, then the comprehensive scores were calculated according to the score of each sample factor multiplied the factor weight. The cumulative contribution rate of the first five eigenvalues was 78.588%. Therefore, factor analysis could be used as an evaluation method of textured protein quality. The response surface method was applied to analyze the added amount of the three additives with the comprehensive score as the target parameter. The optimal formula conditions were as follows: 0.32% sodium alginate, 0.08% L-cysteine and 0.31% compound phosphate. There was an improvement intexturization degree and texture characteristics of the product and the comprehensive scores of the standardized product was 0.92 under these conditions.

The aging of composite insulators in outdoor operation for a long time has a direct impact on the safe and stable operation of the power grid. To solve this problem, fuzzy comprehensive evaluation of composite insulators based on level difference maximum is proposed. To verify the feasibility of this method, insulators in Xinjiang are sampled and the index evaluation system for composite insulators is established based on electrical, mechanical, hydrophobic and other properties, combined with operational years, geographical environment and other factors; Firstly, different membership functions are established according to index types. It is more likely to determine the grade of insulator by comparing measured data with the boundary value. Then, to solve the problem that weights cannot be effectively integrated in the combination weighting, level difference maximization is proposed (during the operation of insulators, the index which has a greater influence on the performance of insulators takes a higher proportion of the weight). Finally, on the basis of fully considering the clarity and ambiguity of grade division, the grade state of insulators is obtained by using the linear weighting method. The results show that compared with the traditional method, the improved method of the membership function and level difference maximum can realize the dynamic adjustment of the index based on the degree of information change. The method can better evaluate the insulator grade. The case study shows that the model can accurately and quickly judge the state of composite insulators, which can be used as a reference for manufacturing and maintenance departments.

In order to realize selective isolation of fault lines in multi-terminal high voltage DC (MT-HVDC) grids, it is necessary to ensure that the sound lines can still transmit power normally after the grounding fault occurs in a DC power network. If the fault line needs to be cut before the converter is blocked, a DC circuit breaker (DCCB) with large switching capacity is often required. At present, the extreme fault over-current and the high cost of DCCBs have become the prominent contradiction in MT-HVDC projects. Reducing the breaking stress of power electronic devices of the circuit breaker and controlling its cutting-off time are the major difficulties in this research field. In this paper, a topology of a hybrid DCCB with an inductive current limiting device is proposed. By analyzing its working principle, the calculation method of key parameters is given, and a four-terminal HVDC grid is built in a PSCAD/EMTDC platform for fault simulation. The results show that compared with the traditional circuit breaker, this topology can effectively limit the rising speed and maximum current of fault current when the system fails, and quickly remove the fault line, so as to meet the suppression requirement of the HVDC system for fault current.

The collaborative innovation plan for colleges and universities is one of the important plans for the construction of high-level universities in Jiangsu Province. A key aspect of this plan is the development of collaborative innovation centers in colleges and universities. Based on the second-phase construction of collaborative innovation centers in 76 colleges and universities in Jiangsu Province, this paper constructs performance evaluation indicators and proposes an unsupervised factor importance analysis model based on Back Propagation Neural Network (BPNN)-dominated K-means and random forests. According to the analysis results, suggestions for further promoting the development of high-quality collaborative innovation centers in colleges and universities are provided.

It is not easy to make the insulators of the railway catenary for the dry and cold environment of the icy Qinghai-Tibet plateau, without causing serious ice-related flashover accidents. To study the operating status of catenary icing insulators, a two-dimensional icing model of catenary cantilever insulators was established based on the winter environmental characteristics of the Golmud station on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. Compared different directions of ice growth, the spatial electric field distribution, and surface temperature distribution characteristics of icing insulatorswere analyzed by multi-physical field coupling simulation. The results show that as the thickness of the ice layer increases and the length of the icicle increases, the field intensity of the insulator gradually increases, and the surface temperature continues to rise. When the ice edge grows vertically downward, the electric field intensity of the insulator is the smallest, and the electric field intensity is the largest when the ice edge grows horizontally. Although the surface temperature of the insulator will rise with the increase of icing degree, it is lower than the freezing point and will not have a great impact on insulation performance. Secondly, when the cantilever insulator is arranged obliquely, the increase in the inclination angle will cause the electric field to increase and the temperature to rise slightly, so the inclination angle of the oblique cantilever should be reduced as much as possible during installation. Finally, the insulator with better insulation performance is obtained by optimizing the structure of the flat cantilever insulator.

Abstract Network function virtualisation (NFV), software defined networks (SDNs), and mobile edge computing (MEC) are emerging as core technologies to satisfy increasing number of users' demands in 5G and beyond wireless networks. SDN provides clean separation of the control plane from the data plane while NFV enables the flexible and on‐the‐fly creation and placement of virtual network functions (VNFs) and are able to be executed within the various locations of a distributed system. In this paper, VNF placement and resource allocation (VNFPRA) problem is considered which involves placing VNFs optimally in distributed NFV‐enabled MEC nodes and assigning MEC resources efficiently to these VNFs to satisfy users' requests in the network. Current solutions to this problem are slow and cannot handle real‐time requests. To this end, an SDN‐NFV infrastructure is proposed to tackle the VNFPRA problem in wireless MEC networks. Our aim is to minimise the overall placement and resource cost and also to minimise the total number of VNF migrations. A genetic based heuristic algorithm is proposed. The superior performance of the proposed solution is confirmed in comparison with four existing algorithms, i.e. resource utilisation‐single objective evolutionary algorithm (RU‐SOEA), genetic non‐bandwidth link allocation algorithm (GA‐NBA), random‐fit placement algorithm (RFPA), and first‐fit placement algorithm (FFPA). The results demonstrate that a coordinated placement of VNFs in SDN/NFV enabled MEC networks can satisfy the objective of overall reduced cost. Simulation results also reveal that the proposed scheme approximates well with the optimal solution returned by Gurobi and also achieves reduction on overall cost compared to other methods.

Objectives: To investigate the association of risk of venous thromboembolism with 30-day mortality in COVID-19 patients. Methods: A total of 1030 COVID-19 patients were retrospectively collected, with baseline data on demographics, sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score, and VTE risk assessment models (RAMs), including Padua prediction score (PPS), International Medical Prevention Registry (IMPROVE), and Caprini. Results: Thirty-day mortality increased progressively from 2% in patients at low VTE risk to 63% in those at high risk defined by PPS. Similar findings were observed in IMPROVE and Caprini scores. Progressive increases in VTE risk were also associated with higher SOFA score. High risk of VTE was independently associated with mortality regardless of adjusted gender, smoking status and some comorbidities, with hazard ratios of 29.19, 37.37 and 20.60 for PPS, IMPROVE and Caprini RAM, respectively (P < 0.001 for all comparisons). The predictive accuracy of PPS (area under curve (AUC) 0.900), IMPROVE (AUC 0.917), or Caprini (AUC 0.861) RAM for risk of hospitalized mortality was unexpectedly strong. Conclusions: We established that the presence of a high risk of VTE identifies a group of COVID-19 patients at higher risk for mortality. Furthermore, there is a high accuracy of VTE RAMs to predict mortality in these patients.

Abstract Background Previous published prognostic models for COVID-19 patients have been suggested to be prone to bias due to unrepresentativeness of patient population, lack of external validation, inappropriate statistical analyses, or poor reporting. A high-quality and easy-to-use prognostic model to predict in-hospital mortality for COVID-19 patients could support physicians to make better clinical decisions. Methods Fine-Gray models were used to derive a prognostic model to predict in-hospital mortality (treating discharged alive from hospital as the competing event) in COVID-19 patients using two retrospective cohorts (n = 1008) in Wuhan, China from January 1 to February 10, 2020. The proposed model was internally evaluated by bootstrap approach and externally evaluated in an external cohort (n = 1031). Results The derivation cohort was a case-mix of mild-to-severe hospitalized COVID-19 patients (43.6% females, median age 55). The final model (PLANS), including five predictor variables of platelet count, lymphocyte count, age, neutrophil count, and sex, had an excellent predictive performance (optimism-adjusted C-index: 0.85, 95% CI: 0.83 to 0.87; averaged calibration slope: 0.95, 95% CI: 0.82 to 1.08). Internal validation showed little overfitting. External validation using an independent cohort (47.8% female, median age 63) demonstrated excellent predictive performance (C-index: 0.87, 95% CI: 0.85 to 0.89; calibration slope: 1.02, 95% CI: 0.92 to 1.12). The averaged predicted cumulative incidence curves were close to the observed cumulative incidence curves in patients with different risk profiles. Conclusions The PLANS model based on five routinely collected predictors would assist clinicians in better triaging patients and allocating healthcare resources to reduce COVID-19 fatality.

In this paper, the problem of trajectory design for energy harvesting unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is studied. In the considered model, the UAV acts as a moving base station to serve the ground users, while collecting energy from the charging stations located at the center of a user group. For this purpose, the UAV must be examined and repaired regularly. In consequence, it is necessary to optimize the trajectory design of the UAV while jointly considering the maintenance costs, the reward of serving users, the energy management, and the user service time. To capture the relationship among these factors, we first model the completion of service and the harvested energy as the reward, and the energy consumption during the deployment as the cost. Then, the deployment profitability is defined as the ratio of the reward to the cost of the UAV trajectory. Based on this definition, the trajectory design problem is formulated as an optimization problem whose goal is to maximize the deployment profitability of the UAV. To solve this problem, a foraging-based algorithm is proposed to find the optimal trajectory so as to maximize the deployment profitability and minimize the average user service time. The proposed algorithm can find the optimal trajectory for the UAV with low time complexity at the level of polynomial. Fundamental analysis shows that the proposed algorithm achieves the maximal deployment profitability. Simulation results show that, compared to Q-learning algorithm, the proposed algorithm effectively reduces the operation time and the average user service time while achieving the maximal deployment profitability.

In this paper, the problem of audio semantic communication over wireless networks is investigated. In the considered model, wireless edge devices transmit large-sized audio data to a server using semantic communication techniques. The techniques allow devices to only transmit audio semantic information that captures the contextual features of audio signals. To extract the semantic information from audio signals, a wave to vector (wav2vec) architecture based autoencoder is proposed, which consists of convolutional neural networks (CNNs). The proposed autoencoder enables high-accuracy audio transmission with small amounts of data. To further improve the accuracy of semantic information extraction, federated learning (FL) is implemented over multiple devices and a server. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can converge effectively and can reduce the mean squared error (MSE) of audio transmission by nearly 100 times, compared to a traditional coding scheme.

Abstract Mining‐induced voids are the main circulation pathways for underground fluids such as water and coalbed methane. The collapse of these voids transmits to the ground surface, resulting in subsidence and building collapse. Accordingly, effective and feasible solutions are needed to control surface subsidence. In this study, a novel technique of void filling in the short‐wall caving zone was proposed to better control surface subsidence in thin coal seam mining. The width of the working face plays a key role in the proposed technique. A maximum surface subsidence value was predicted using numerical simulation and physical simulation experiments with different working face widths. The results indicate that the appropriate working face width should be less than 50 m for the studied coal mine. In this example, the surface subsidence coefficient was less than the standard value for initial damage to rural structures. Both advancing speed and productivity of the working face were achieved using the proposed technique because the filling and mining processes were conducted simultaneously on different faces. The results suggest that surface subsidence during thin coal seam mining could be controlled using the proposed technique. This technique can also help mitigate mining‐induced water inrush and gas leakage disasters by filling voids.

Abstract 14‐3‐3ζ has been reported to function as critical regulators of diverse cellular responses. However, the role of 14‐3‐3ζ in gliomas progression remains largely unknown. The expression level of 14‐3‐3ζ and Snail was detected by Western blot analysis and quantitative polymerase chain reaction in different grades of human gliomas. The effect of 14‐3‐3ζ on gliomas progression was measured using cell migration and invasion assay, the colony formation experiment, and CCK‐8 assay. The effect of 14‐3‐3ζ on PI3K/AKT/Snail signaling protein expression levels was tested by Western blotting. Firstly, 14‐3‐3ζ was often up‐regulated in high‐grade gliomas relative to low‐grade gliomas, and this overexpression was significantly related to tumor size, Karnofsky Performance Scale score and weaker disease‐free survival. Secondly, the overexpression of 14‐3‐3ζ promoted gliomas cells proliferation, migration, and invasion. Conversely, the knockdown of 14‐3‐3ζ suppressed gliomas cells proliferation, migration, and invasion. Furthermore, subsequent mechanistic studies showed that 14‐3‐3ζ could activate PI3K/AKT/Snail signaling pathway to facilitate gliomas cells proliferation, migration, and invasion. This study shows that the overexpression of 14‐3‐3ζ can promote remarkably gliomas cells proliferation, migration, and invasion by regulating the Snail protein expression through activating PI3K/AKT signaling, and it may serve as a potential prognostic marker and therapeutic target for gliomas.

Abstract Background Programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) functions as an immune checkpoint in the process of anti-tumor immune response. The PD-1 blockade is now becoming a fundamental part in cancer immunotherapy. So it’s essential to elicit the PD-1 related immune process in different types of cancer. Methods The Cancer Genome Atlas was used to collect the RNA-seq data of 33 cancer types. The microenvironment cell populations-counter was used to analyze the immune cell infiltrates. KEGG and GO analysis were performed to investigate PD-1 associated biological process. Kaplan–Meier survival curves and Cox’s proportional hazards model were performed for prognostic value analysis. Results We demonstrated that PD-1 expression varied in different cancer types. The uveal melanoma had a low PD-1 expression and poor infiltrated with immune cells. But it showed the strong correlation of PD-1 with the most types of immune cells. The PD-1 demonstrated a robust relationship with other immunomodulators and showed its involvement in critical functions correlated with anti-tumor immune pathways. Survival analysis indicated the PD-1 expression suggested different prognosis in different cancer types. Conclusions Our investigations promote a better understanding of the PD-1 blockade and provide PD-1 related personized combined immunotherapy for different types of cancer patients.

Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) is a crucial target for lung cancer immunotherapy. In lung cancer patients with high PD-L1 expression, blocking or reducing its expression can inhibit tumor growth. PD-L1 is regulated by signaling pathways, transcription factors and epigenetic factors, such as the GSK3β/β-catenin pathway, P53 protein and EMT. In our previous study, succinate dehydrogenase 5 (SDH5) was reported to regulate ZEB1 expression, induce EMT and lead to lung cancer metastasis via the GSK3β/β-catenin pathway. It is possible that SDH5 is involved in the mechanisms of PD-L1 regulation.In the present study, we observed a negative correlation between the expression of PD-L1 and SDH5 in vivo and in vitro. The examination of patient tissues also confirmed our results. Furthermore, we also found that SDH5 could reverse PD-L1 expression by the GSK3β/β-catenin/ZEB1 pathways. All these results reveal that SDH5 regulates PD-L1 expression and suggest that SDH5 can be used as a marker to predict tumor immune micro-states and provide guidance for clinical immunotherapy.

Background The arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is the preferred hemodialysis access for patients with chronic kidney disease. Chronic kidney disease can increase neointima formation, which greatly contributes to AVF failure by an unknown mechanism. Our study aimed to determine the role of nucleotide‐binding oligomerization domain‐like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) in neointima formation induced by experimental AVFs in the presence of chronic kidney disease. Methods and Results From our findings, NLRP3 was upregulated in the intimal lesions of AVFs in both uremic mice and patients. Smooth muscle–specific knockout NLRP3 mice exhibited markedly decreased neointima formation in the outflow vein of AVFs. Compared with primary vascular smooth muscle cells isolated from control mice, those isolated from smooth muscle–specific knockout NLRP3 mice showed compromised proliferation, migration, phenotypic switching, and a weakened ability to activate mononuclear macrophages. To identify how NLRP3 functions, several small‐molecule inhibitors were used. The results showed that NLRP3 regulates smooth muscle cell proliferation and migration through Smad2/3 phosphorylation rather than through caspase‐1/interleukin‐1 signaling. Unexpectedly, the selective NLRP3‐inflammasome inhibitor MCC950 also repressed Smad2/3 phosphorylation and relieved chronic kidney disease–promoted AVF failure independent of macrophages. Conclusions Our findings suggest that NLRP3 in vascular smooth muscle cells may play a crucial role in uremia‐associated AVF failure and may be a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of AVF failure.

Background/Aims: Cardiac fibrosis is the primary cause of deteriorated cardiac function in various cardiovascular diseases. Numerous studies have demonstrated that microRNAs (miRNAs) are critical regulators of myocardial fibrosis. Specifically, many studies have reported that miR-150 is downregulated in cardiovascular diseases, such as acute myocardial infarction (AMI), myocardial hypertrophy and myocardial fibrosis. However, the exact role of miR-150 in these pathological processes remains unknown. Methods: We used the transverse aortic constriction (TAC) mouse model to study the role of miR-150 in cardiac fibrosis induced by pressure overload. After the TAC operation, qRT-PCR was used to measure the expression profiles of miR-150 in left ventricle tissues and populations of primary heart cell types. Then, we used both miR-150 knockout mice and wild type (WT) mice in the TAC model. Changes in cardiac function and pathology were measured using transthoracic echocardiography and pathological analysis, respectively. Furthermore, we predicted the target of miR-150 in cardiac fibroblasts (CFs) and completed in vitro CF transfection experiments using miR-150 analogs and siRNA corresponding to the predicted target. Results: We observed decreased expression levels of miR-150 in hearts suffering pressure overload, and these levels decreased more sharply in CFs than in cardiomyocytes. In addition, the degrees of cardiac function deterioration and cardiac fibrosis in miR-150-/- mice were more severe than were those in WT mice. By transfecting CFs with an miR-150 analog in vitro, we observed that miR-150 inhibited cardiac fibroblast activation. We predicted that the transcription factor c-Myb was the target of miR-150 in CFs. Transfecting CFs with c-Myb siRNA eliminated the effects of an miR-150 inhibitor, which promoted CF activation. Conclusion: These findings reveal that miR-150 acts as a pivotal regulator of pressure overload-induced cardiac fibrosis by regulating c-Myb.

Cholinesterase activity (ChA), the effective biomarker for organophosphate pesticide exposure, is possibly affected by single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in cell-cycle-related genes. One hundred and eighty workers with long-term exposure to omethoate and 115 healthy controls were recruited to explore the gene–gene and gene–environment interactions. The acetylthiocholine and dithio-bis-(nitrobenzoic acid) method was used to detect the cholinesterase activities in whole blood, erythrocytes and plasma. Genetic polymorphisms were determined by the PCR-RFLP and direct PCR electrophoresis methods. Statistical results showed that the cholinesterase activities of whole blood, erythrocytes and plasma in the exposure group were significantly lower than those in the control group (p

Organophosphorous pesticides (OPs), with high efficiency, broad-spectrum and low residue, are widely used in China. Omethoate is a broad category of organophosphorous pesticides and is more domestically utilized which has chronic toxic effect on human health caused by long-term, low-dose exposure to Ops, recently its potential genotoxicity has attracted wide attention which can cause chromosomal DNA damage. Thus, the aim of this study is screen susceptible biomarkers and explore the mechanism of canceration induced by omethoate. 180 long-term organophosphorus pesticide–exposed workers and 115 healthy controls were recruited. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction method was applied to determine the relative telomere length in peripheral lymphocyte DNA as well as p53 and p21 gene expression levels. Genetic polymorphisms were determined by the polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism method. Multiple linear regression was conducted to explore the effects of exposure, expression levels, and polymorphisms in genes on the telomere length. The results showed the relative telomere lengths in the exposure group were significantly longer than that in the control group. The messenger RNA expression levels of p53 and p21 in exposure group were significantly lower than that in the control group; telomere lengths of the CA genotype individuals of p21 rs1801270 polymorphism locus were significantly longer than that of the CC genotype in the control group that were estimated using the Bonferroni method; and bivariate correlation analysis showed that the messenger RNA expression level of gene p53 was negatively correlated with telomere length, and the messenger RNA expression level of gene p21 was positively correlated with telomere length. Multivariate analysis found that p53 messenger RNA and p21 messenger RNA had an impact on telomere length. These results demonstrated that the messenger RNA expression levels of p53 and p21 may have a relationship with the changes in telomere length induced by omethoate and provided strong evidence for the mechanism of canceration induced by poison.

The occurrence of a partial arc can affect insulation properties of the insulator by different types of flashover. In order to investigate the influence of a partial arc on electric field distribution along the catenary insulator string, a three-dimensional model of the cap-pin insulator string with partial arc was established in this paper. The electric field distribution along the insulator string when the arc extended on the insulator surface and bridged sheds was investigated based on the electric field analysis using the finite element method. The results showed that the occurrence of a partial arc caused obvious distortion of the electric field, which was a two-dimensional axis symmetrical field before arcing to a three-dimensional field. In the case of arc extension, the sudden rise of field intensity was mostly at the rib and the shed edge, which had the local maximum field intensity. The rib and the shed edge played a certain hindrance role in the extension of the arc. The main reason for promoting the development of the arc can be attributed to thermal ionization. In the case of arc bridge sheds, the highest field intensity appeared at the edge of the last bridged shed. As the number of sheds arc-bridged increased, the maximum field intensity also increased. As the arc length increased, the electric field intensity of the arc head also increased, which resulted in an accelerated arc development. The main factor to promote the development of the arc can be attributed to electrical breakdown. The measures to hinder the rapid development of partial arcs were proposed.

Recently, there are few studies reporting on depressive status and obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in China. A large-sample survey was to be performed to explore the prevalence of depressive status and related factors in Chinese patients with OSA.From among a randomly-selected group of OSA patients, 1,327 met inclusion criteria. After screening with the Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90) and Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), patients were assigned to OSA without depressive status (control group, n = 698) and OSA with depressive status (n = 629) groups. Using chi-squared testing, the correlation analyses between the depressive status and OSA patient demographic and clinical variables were tested. Then depression-related risk factors in OSA patients were analysed using stepwise linear regression analysis. The effects of family and social factors on depressive status in OSA patients were investigated using Mann-Whitney U (one of nonparametric test).The prevalence of depressive status was 47.4% in OSA patients. Depressive status was significantly associated with female gender, single status, Family Burden Scale of Disease (FBS), Family APGAR Index (APGAR), apnoea-hypopnea index (AHI), and Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS). Stepwise linear regression analysis further indicated that single status, hypoxemia, APGAR, AHI, PSSS, AHI, and FBS were all risk factors for depressive status in OSA patients. The total of the FBS score and three of its sub-factors scores (family daily activities, family relationships and mental health of family members) were higher, and the total of the APGAR score and two of its sub-factors scores (adaptability and affection) were lower in OSA with depressive status compared with the control group. Besides, the total score for the PSSS and scores for its two sub-factors (family support and social support) were all lower in OSA patients with depressive status than those of the control group.Depressive status has high comorbid rate in Chinese OSA patients and is significantly associated with single status, apnoea-hypopnea index, hypoxemia, family and social supports.

In a previous study, activation of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) inhibited chronic cardiac rejection. However, because of the complexity of chronic rejection and the fact that PPARγ is widely expressed in immune cells, the mechanism of the PPARγ-induced protective effect was unclear.A chronic rejection model was established using B6.C-H-2bm12KhEg (H-2bm12) mice as donors, and MHC II-mismatched T-cell-specific PPARγ knockout mice or wild type (WT) littermates as recipients. The allograft lesion was assessed by histology and immunohistochemistry. T cells infiltrates in the allograft were isolated, and cytokines and subpopulations were detected using cytokine arrays and flow cytometry. Transcription levels in the allograft were measured by RT-PCR. In vitro, the T cell subset differentiation was investigated after culture in various polarizing conditions. PPARγ-deficient regulatory T cells (Treg) were cocultured with monocytes to test their ability to induce alternatively activated macrophages (AAM).T cell-specific PPARγ knockout recipients displayed reduced cardiac allograft survival and an increased degree of pathology compared with WT littermates. T cell-specific PPARγ knockout resulted in more CD4+ T cells infiltrating into the allograft and altered the Th1/Th2 and Th17/Treg ratios. The polarization of AAM was also reduced by PPARγ deficiency in T cells through the action of Th2 and Treg. PPARγ-deficient T cells eliminated the pioglitazone-induced polarization of AAM and reduced allograft survival.PPARγ-deficient T cells influenced the T cell subset and AAM polarization in chronic allograft rejection. The mechanism of PPARγ activation in transplantation tolerance could yield a novel treatment without side effects.

BackgroundMicroRNA (miRNA) has been found in human blood. It has been increasingly suggested that miRNAs may serve as biomarkers for diseases. We examined the potential of circulating miRNA to serve as predictors of atrial fibrillation (AF).Methodology/principal findingsDuring the discovery stage of this project, we used massively parallel signature sequencing (MPSS) to carry out an in-depth analysis of the miRNA expression profile (miRNome) in 5 healthy controls, 5 patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) alone, and 5 patients with persistent atrial fibrillation (PersAF) alone. Twenty-two specific miRNAs were found to be dysregulated in each PAF group, PersAF group, or control group. Four candidate microRNAs (miRNA-146a, miRNA-150, miRNA-19a, and miRNA-375) met our selection criteria and were evaluated in an independent cohort of 90 plasma samples using TaqMan miRNA quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). We found miRNA-150 levels to be reduced by a factor of approximately 17 in PAF relative to controls and a factor of approximately 20 in PersAF relative to controls (PConclusions/significanceIn summary, we firstly found that plasma miRNA-150 levels in from AF patients were substantially lower than that from healthy people. Circulating reduced miRNA-150 was significantly associated with AF.