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Although in vivo studies have shown that low-magnitude, high-frequency (LMHF) vibration (LM: < 1 ×g; HF: 20-90 Hz) exhibits anabolic effects on skeletal homeostasis, the underlying cellular/molecular regulation involved in bone adaptation to LMHF vibration is little known. In this report, we tested the effects of microvibration (magnitude: 0.3 ×g, frequency: 40 Hz, amplitude: ± 50 μm, 30 min/12 h) on proliferation and osteodifferentiation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (BMSCs) seeded on human bone-derived scaffolds. The scaffolds were prepared by partial demineralisation and deproteinisation. BMSCs were allowed to attach to the scaffolds for 3 days. Morphological study showed that spindle-shaped BMSCs almost completely covered the surface of bone-derived scaffold and these cells expressed higher ALP activity than those cultured on plates. After microvibration treatment, BMSC proliferation was decreased on day 7 and 10; however, numbers of genes and proteins expressed during osteogenesis, including Cbfa1, ALP, collagen I and osteocalcin were greatly increased. ERK1/2 activation was involved in microvibration-induced BMSC osteogenesis. Taken together, this study suggests that bone-derived scaffolds have good biocompatibility and show osteoinductive properties. By increasing the osteogenic lineage commitment of BMSCs and enhancing osteogenic gene expressions, microvibration promotes BMSC differentiation and increase bone formation of BMSCs seeded on bone-derived scaffolds. Moreover, ERK1/2 pathway plays an important role in microvibration-induced osteogenesis in BMSC cellular scaffolds.

Abstract INTRODUCTION Changes to the brain due to Alzheimer's disease and other age‐related neuropathologies may present with cognitive and behavioral symptoms, even during preclinical and prodromal stages. While cognitive reserve is known to mitigate cognitive decline in the preclinical stages of Alzheimer's disease, links between cognitive reserve and behavioral symptoms remain unclear. This study investigates the relationship between cognitive reserve and mild behavioral impairment (MBI), a neurodegenerative behavioral prodrome. METHODS We analyzed cross‐sectional data from 1204 participants in the Canadian Platform for Research Online to Investigate Health, Quality of Life, Cognition, Behavior, Function, and Caregiving in Aging (CAN‐PROTECT) study. A cognitive reserve score (CRS) was generated based on education, occupation, and personal cognitive reserve proxies. MBI presence (MBI+) and MBI global and domain symptom severity were evaluated using the self‐reported MBI Checklist. Initial analyses examined the convergent validity of the CRS through associations with objective neuropsychological test performance and self‐reported cognitive symptoms (Everyday Cognition [ECog‐II] scale). Models were also fitted to assess MBI status and severity as functions of the CRS. RESULTS Higher CRS was associated with better neuropsychological test scores, lower odds of subjective cognitive decline (OR = 0.86, 95% CI: [0.76, 0.98], p = .03), and lower ECog‐II total score. Likewise, higher CRS was associated with lower odds of MBI+ (OR = 0.81, 95% CI: [0.71, 0.93], p = .003), and lower MBI symptom severity globally, and in impulse dyscontrol and social inappropriateness domains. DISCUSSION We provide preliminary evidence that engagement in activities known to preserve cognitive function in aging and disease may also preserve behavioral function. Future research should disentangle possible pathways through which cognitive reserve may preserve both cognition and behavior, explore common etiologies for these symptoms, and observe outcomes longitudinally to better understand these relationships. Highlights Education, occupation, and personal activities are cognitive reserve proxies. Cognitive reserve is linked to lower subjective cognitive decline in older persons. Cognitive reserve is linked to lower mild behavioral impairment odds and severity.

In this work, a 1550-nm full-fiber Doppler lidar via software-defined platform is built to realize flexible and low-cost contactless vibration measurement of high-voltage power equipment. A 1550-nm fiber layout is designed to generate optical interference between vibration signal and carrier wave. The reflected vibration signal is collected by an optical transceiver and the carrier wave is generated by an acousto-optic modulator (AOM). The optical beat signal is collected by a balanced detector (BD) then sent into a general software defined radio (SDR) receiver. By GNU developing platform, the target mechanical vibration signal is demodulated and several flexible functions such as speed-acceleration trans, harmonic component analysis and fault diagnosis is realized. Performance of Doppler lidar is first verified on mechanical vibration source by PZT vibration actuator, results show that the designed lidar could retrieve 50 Hz–20 kHz mechanical vibration signals within the working distance is up to 20 m. Further case application scenarios on the power transformer and gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) are also conducted to verify the feasibility of proposed lidar.

The load capacity and static stiffness of the existing air hydrostatic guideways are relatively low, and the static performance of the air film is degraded when external forces are increased during the process. Therefore, this study considered an aerostatic guideway of an ultra-precision micromachine tool as the research object. Single- and double-row orifice structures were designed on the guideway, and linear, extended, and X-shaped pressure-equalizing groove (PEG) structures with rectangular cross-sections were designed on the working surface of the guideway. By establishing a computational fluid dynamics model of the guideway air film, the pressure contour was obtained through simulation, and finally, the advantages of the double-row orifice structure were determined. Then, the influences of the structure, width, and depth of PEG and the diameter and number of orifices on the load capacity, stiffness, and air consumption were studied, which provided a theoretical basis for improving the load performance of the aerostatic guideway. The results showed that the design of the PEG effectively improved the load performance but increased the air consumption. The extended PEG exhibited the best load performance. When the eccentricity was large, the width of the PEG moderately increased, improving the load capacity and stiffness. While increasing the depth only improved the stiffness, it had little effect on the load capacity and air consumption. When the eccentricity was small, the diameter and number of orifices moderately increased. The experimental data were consistent with the simulation results, demonstrating the accuracy of the simulation method.

Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounts for 90% of primary liver cancer, the third leading cause of cancer-associated death worldwide. With the increasing prevalence of metabolic conditions, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is emerging as the fastest-growing HCC risk factor, and it imposes an additional layer of difficulty in HCC management. Dysregulated hepatic lipids are generally believed to constitute a deleterious environment cultivating the development of NAFLD-associated HCC. However, exactly which lipids or lipid regulators drive this process remains elusive. We report herein that sphingosine kinase 2 (SphK2), a key sphingolipid metabolic enzyme, plays a critical role in NAFLD-associated HCC. Ablation of Sphk2 suppressed HCC development in NAFLD livers via inhibition of hepatocyte proliferation both in vivo and in vitro. Mechanistically, SphK2 deficiency led to downregulation of ceramide transfer protein (CERT) that, in turn, decreased the ratio of pro-cancer sphingomyelin (SM) to anti-cancer ceramide. Overexpression of CERT restored hepatocyte proliferation, colony growth and cell cycle progression. In conclusion, the current study demonstrates that SphK2 is an essential lipid regulator in NAFLD-associated HCC, providing experimental evidence to support clinical trials of SphK2 inhibitors as systemic therapies against HCC.

Background Consumption of avocados has been suggested to be beneficial for weight control, however, limited research is available about the related food choices. Understanding the food choices associated with avocados at meal occasions may further aid behavioural strategies to lose weight. The present study used a systematic approach to develop an avocado-specific food database, with the aim to explore food choices related to avocados at meal occasions as reported by overweight and obese volunteers in weight loss clinical trials. Methods The avocado-specific database was based on AUSNUT 2011–13 food composition database structure and was developed via a systematic approach, which determined the avocado content of Australian foods and beverages. Baseline usual food intake data was retrospectively pooled from four food-based clinical trials (n = 758). The Apriori algorithm of association rules, a two-step descriptive method was used to identify food choices associated with avocados at different meal occasions using a nested hierarchical food group classification system. Results The avocado database identified 34 avocados and avocado-containing foods and beverages. The proportion of avocado consumers in the pooled cohort was 51.3% (n = 389), with an average avocado intake of 21.57 ± 36.75 grams per day. Avocados were found to be closely related to other food groups at all of the food group levels at main meal occasions. A total of 68 food items containing avocados were identified for avocado consumers at the breakfast, lunch and dinner meals. Conclusion The avocado specific database provides a snapshot of the foods and beverages which contain avocados. Enumerating the full range of food choices in relation to avocado consumption should provide examples of food choices that people might consider in their efforts to increase their avocado consumption.

Consumption of nuts has been associated with a range of favorable health outcomes. Evidence is now emerging to suggest that walnuts may also play an important role in supporting the consumption of a healthy dietary pattern. However, limited studies have explored how walnuts are eaten at different meal occasions. The aim of this study was to explore the food choices in relation to walnuts at meal occasions as reported by a sample of overweight and obese adult participants of weight loss clinical trials. Baseline usual food intake data were retrospectively pooled from four food-based clinical trials (n = 758). A nut-specific food composition database was applied to determine walnut consumption within the food intake data. The a priori algorithm of association rules was used to identify food choices associated with walnuts at different meal occasions using a nested hierarchical food group classification system. The proportion of participants who were consuming walnuts was 14.5% (n = 110). The median walnut intake was 5.14 (interquartile range, 1.10–11.45) g/d. A total of 128 food items containing walnuts were identified for walnut consumers. The proportion of participants who reported consuming unsalted raw walnut was 80.5% (n = 103). There were no identified patterns to food choices in relation to walnut at the breakfast, lunch, or dinner meal occasions. A total of 24 clusters of food choices related to walnuts were identified at others (meals). By applying a novel food composition database, the present study was able to map the precise combinations of foods associated with walnuts intakes at mealtimes using data mining. This study offers insights into the role of walnuts for the food choices of overweight adults and may support guidance and dietary behavior change strategies.

The sepsis represents life-endangering disturbances of functions of the internals caused by a dizregulyation of a macroorganism to the infectious agent and is difficult interaction of pro-inflammatory and antiinflammatory processes that not seldom defines the fate of patients. The predetermining factor of a sepsis is the originator. The immunosupression caused by the originator promotes generalization of an infection, and the intensive bacteriemia caused by generalization leads to the accruing endotoxinemia that aggravates immunosupression even more and leads finally to systemic inflammatory reaction — the main and most dangerous implication of a sepsis. The syndrome of systemic inflammation with uncontrollable emission of cytokines is the cornerstone of a sepsis. The pathophysiology of a sepsis begins with impassioned inflammatory reaction which can last several days, and then passes into more lingering immunosupressivny period where the outcome depends on the immune system of the patient. Cellular apoptosis is one of leaders in sepsis immunosupression development. In article mechanisms of disturbance of an apoptosis of neutrophils are described that, undoubtedly, affects weighting of a current of a sepsis and as a result, a failure. Migration of neutrophils under natural conditions includes four various phases which during a sepsis are broken. The mechanisms worsening migration of neutrophils, contributing to the development of a sepsis were investigated in numerous scientific works. Authors of Peking University offered schemes of a way of disturbance of an apoptosis of neutrophils and migration of neutrophils at a sepsis. Despite the extensive accumulated experience on studying of a pathogenesis of septic states, there are no effective and specific remedies of fight from a sepsis now. Perhaps, by prevention of disturbance of the programmed death of a cell the cytokines developed anti-apoptotic, caspase inhibitors will be.

Remote sensing image classification is an effective way to extract information from large volumes of high-spatial resolution remote sensing images. Generally, supervised image classification relies on abundant and high-precision training data, which is often manually interpreted by human experts to provide ground truth for training and evaluating the performance of the classifier. Remote sensing enterprises accumulated lots of manually interpreted products from early lower-spatial resolution remote sensing images by executing their routine research and business programs. However, these manually interpreted products may not match the very high resolution (VHR) image properly because of different dates or spatial resolution of both data, thus, hindering suitability of manually interpreted products in training classification models, or small coverage area of these manually interpreted products. We also face similar problems in our laboratory in 21st Century Aerospace Technology Co. Ltd (short for 21AT). In this work, we propose a method to purify the interpreted product to match newly available VHRI data and provide the best training data for supervised image classifiers in VHR image classification. And results indicate that our proposed method can efficiently purify the input data for future machine learning use.

The Tiangong-II space lab was launched at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center of China on September 15, 2016. The Wide Band Spectral Imager (WBSI) onboard the Tiangong-II has 14 visible and near-infrared (VNIR) spectral bands covering the range from 403–990 nm and two shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands covering the range from 1230–1250 nm and 1628–1652 nm respectively. In this paper the selected bands are proposed which aims at considering the closest spectral similarities between the VNIR with 100 m spatial resolution and SWIR bands with 200 m spatial resolution. The evaluation of Gram-Schmidt transform (GS) sharpening techniques embedded in ENVI software is presented based on four types of the different low resolution pan band. The experimental results indicated that the VNIR band with higher CC value with the raw SWIR Band was selected, more texture information was injected the corresponding sharpened SWIR band image, and at that time another sharpened SWIR band image preserve the similar spectral and texture characteristics to the raw SWIR band image.

Abstract Background ELF2 (E74-like factor 2) also known as NERF (new Ets-related factor), a member of the Ets family of transcription factors, regulates genes important in B and T cell development, cell cycle progression, and angiogenesis. Conserved ELF2 isoforms, ELF2A, and ELF2B, arising from alternative promoter usage can exert opposing effects on target gene expression. ELF2A activates, whilst ELF2B represses, gene expression, and the balance of expression between these isoforms may be important in maintaining normal cellular function. Methods We compared the function of ELF2 isoforms ELF2A and ELF2B with other ELF subfamily proteins ELF1 and ELF4 in primary and cancer cell lines using proliferation, colony-forming, cell cycle, and apoptosis assays. We further examined the role of ELF2 isoforms in haemopoietic development using a Rag1 -/-murine bone marrow reconstitution model. Results ELF2B overexpression significantly reduced cell proliferation and clonogenic capacity, minimally disrupted cell cycle kinetics, and induced apoptosis. In contrast, ELF2A overexpression only marginally reduced clonogenic capacity with little effect on proliferation, cell cycle progression, or apoptosis. Deletion of the N-terminal 19 amino acids unique to ELF2B abrogated the antiproliferative and proapoptotic functions of ELF2B thereby confirming its crucial role. Mice expressing Elf2a or Elf2b in haemopoietic cells variously displayed perturbations in the pre-B cell stage and multiple stages of T cell development. Mature B cells, T cells, and myeloid cells in steady state were unaffected, suggesting that the main role of ELF2 is restricted to the early development of B and T cells and that compensatory mechanisms exist. No differences in B and T cell development were observed between ELF2 isoforms. Conclusions We conclude that ELF2 isoforms are important regulators of cellular proliferation, cell cycle progression, and apoptosis. In respect to this, ELF2B acts in a dominant negative fashion compared to ELF2A and as a putative tumour suppressor gene. Given that these cellular processes are critical during haemopoiesis, we propose that the regulatory interplay between ELF2 isoforms contributes substantially to early B and T cell development.

Although anthropogenic dust has received more attention from the climate research community, its dominant role in the production process is still not identified. In this study, we analysed the relationship between anthropogenic dust and population density/change over global semi-arid regions and found that semi-arid regions are major source regions in producing anthropogenic dust. The results showed that the relationship between anthropogenic dust and population is more obvious in cropland than in other land cover types (crop mosaics, grassland, and urbanized regions) and that the production of anthropogenic dust increases as the population density grows to more than 90 persons km−2. Four selected semi-arid regions, namely East China, India, North America, and North Africa, were used to explore the relationship between anthropogenic dust production and regional population. The most significant relationship between anthropogenic dust and population occurred in an Indian semi-arid region that had a greater portion of cropland, and the high peak of anthropogenic dust probability appeared with 220 persons km−2 of population density and 60 persons km−2 of population change. These results suggest that the influence of population on production of anthropogenic dust in semi-arid regions is obvious in cropland regions. However, the impact does not always have a positive contribution to the production of anthropogenic dust, and overly excessive population will suppress the increase of anthropogenic dust. Moreover, radiative and climate effects of increasing anthropogenic dust need more investigation.

BackgroundHigh quality dietary intake data is required to support evidence of diet-disease relationships exposed in clinical research. Source data verification may be a useful quality assurance method in this setting. The present pilot study aimed to apply source data verification to evaluate the quality of the data coding process for dietary intake in a clinical trial and to explore potential barriers to data quality in this setting.MethodsUsing a sample of 20 cases from a clinical trial, source data verification was conducted between three sets of data derived documents: transcripts of audio-recorded diet history interviews, matched paper-based diet history forms and outputs from nutrition analysis software. The number of cases and rates of discrepancies between documents were calculated. A total of five in-depth interviews with dietitians collecting and coding dietary data were thematically analysed.ResultsSome 2024 discrepancies were identified. The highest discrepancy rate was 57.49%, and occurred between diet history interviews and nutrition analysis software outputs. Sources of the discrepancies included both quantities and frequencies of food intake. The highest discrepancy rate was for the food group "vegetable products and dishes". In-depth interviews implicated recall bias of trial participants as a cause of discrepancies, but dietitians also acknowledged a possible subconscious influence of having to code reported foods into nutrition analysis software programs.ConclusionThe accuracy of dietary intake data appeared to depend on the level of detailed food data required. More support for participants on reporting consumption, and incorporating supportive tools to guide estimates of food quantities may facilitate a more consistent coding process and improve data quality. This pilot study offers a novel method and an overview of dietary intake data coding measurement errors. These findings may warrant further investigation in a larger sample.

As climate change has occurred over east Asia since the 1950s, intense interest and debate have arisen concerning the contribution of human activities to the observed warming in past decades. In this study, we investigate regional surface temperature change during the boreal cold season using a recently developed methodology that can successfully identify and separate the dynamically induced temperature (DIT) and radiatively forced temperature (RFT) changes in raw surface air temperature (SAT) data. For regional averages, DIT and RFT contribute 44 and 56 % to the SAT over east Asia, respectively. The DIT changes dominate the SAT decadal variability and are mainly determined by internal climate variability, represented by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), and Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO). Radiatively forced SAT changes have made a major contribution to the global-scale warming trend and the regional-scale enhanced semi-arid warming (ESAW). Such enhanced warming is also found in radiatively forced daily maximum and minimum SAT. The long-term global-mean SAT warming trend is mainly related to radiative forcing produced by global well-mixed greenhouse gases. The regional anthropogenic radiative forcing, however, caused the enhanced warming in the semi-arid region, which may be closely associated with local human activities. Finally, the relationship between the so-called "global warming hiatus" and regional enhanced warming is discussed.

A novel three-pole substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) bandpass filter (BPF) using new coupling scheme is proposed in this paper. Two high order degenerate modes (TE102 and TE201) of a square SIW cavity and a dominant mode (TE101) of a rectangular SIW cavity are coupled to form a three-pole SIW BPF. The coupling scheme of the structure is given and analyzed. Due to the coupling between two cavities, as well as the coupling between source and load, three transmission zeros are created in the stopband of the filter. The proposed three-pole SIW BPF is designed and fabricated. Good agreement between simulated and measured results verifies the validity of the design methodology well.

Massive spatial data requires considerable computing power for real-time processing. With the help of the development of multicore technology and computer component cost reduction in recent years, high performance clusters become the only economically viable solution for this requirement. Massive spatial data processing demands heavy I/O operations however, and should be characterized as a data-intensive application. Data-intensive application parallelization strategies are imcompatible with currently available procssing frameworks, which are basically designed for traditional compute-intensive applications. In this paper we introduce a Split-and-Merge paradigm for spatial data processing and also propose a robust parallel framework in a cluster environment to support this paradigm. The Split-and-Merge paradigm efficiently exploits data parallelism for massive data processing. The proposed framework is based on the open-source TORQUE project and hosted on a multicore-enabled Linux cluster. One common LiDAR point cloud algorithm, Delaunay triangulation, was implemented on the proposed framework to evaluate its efficiency and scalability. Experimental results demonstrate that the system provides efficient performance speedup.

This study examined surface air temperature trends over global land from 1901–2009. It is found that the warming trend was particularly enhanced, in the boreal cold season (November to March) over semi-arid regions (with precipitation of 200–600 mm yr−1) showing a temperature increase of 1.53 °C as compared to the global annual mean temperature increase of 1.13 °C over land. In mid-latitude semi-arid areas of Europe, Asia, and North America, temperatures in the cold season increased by 1.41, 2.42, and 1.5 °C, respectively. The semi-arid regions contribute 44.46% to global annual-mean land-surface temperature trend. The mid-latitude semi-arid regions in the Northern Hemisphere contribute by 27.0% of the total, with the mid-latitude semi-arid areas in Europe, Asia, and North America accounting for 6.29%, 13.81%, and 6.85%, respectively. Such enhanced semi-arid warming (ESAW) imply drier and warmer trend of these regions.