Search

To compare the efficacy between contact aspiration thrombectomy and stent retriever thrombectomy in the treatment of acute embolic stroke patients with large vessel occlusion.Between January 2019 and June 2020, data from consecutive acute ischaemic stroke patients who underwent either endovascular contact aspiration or stent retriever thrombectomy were analysed at one institution. The primary outcome was the full 90-day modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score. Ordinal logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association between thrombectomy approach and functional outcomes.A total of 156 patients were analysed. Among them, 57 (36.5%) patients underwent primary aspiration thrombectomy, while 99 (63.5%) patients underwent primary stent retriever thrombectomy. The median procedure time was significantly shorter in patients treated with aspiration (37 versus 56 minutes; p0.001). Compared with those of patients who underwent stent retriever thrombectomy, successful recanalisation rates and favourable functional outcome rates were higher in patients who underwent the aspiration approach (94.7% versus 77.8%, p=0.006; 49.1% versus 27.3%, p=0.006, respectively). Ordinal logistic regression analysis showed that aspiration thrombectomy was independently associated with a good functional outcome (adjusted common odds ratio, 0.30, 95% confidence interval: 0.16-0.60, p0.001).Among the specific patients with large vessel occlusion in acute embolic stroke, the use of aspiration thrombectomy compared with stent retriever thrombectomy resulted in a greater likelihood of favourable neurological outcomes; however, because of study limitations, these findings should be interpreted as preliminary and require further study to confirm these results.

Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Foundation. Main funding source(s): the National Key Research and Development Program of China Background Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is a life-threatening disease with a poor prognosis if left untreated. Pulmonary endarterectomy is the standard treatment for CTEPH, but around 40% of CTEPH patients are non-eligible for surgery. Purpose To investigate the efficacy and safety of refined balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) for inoperable CTEPH in a prospective multicenter registry from China. Methods We conducted a prospective multicenter cohort study using the data from National Rare Disease Registry System of China. Total 140 consecutive patients with inoperable CTEPH who completed BPA between Jan 2016 and Dec 2020 were enrolled. The key efficacy outcomes were changes from baseline to re-evaluation in mean pulmonary arterial pressure, pulmonary vascular resistance, and six-minute walking distance. The safety outcomes were procedure-related complications. The survival outcome was all-cause mortality. Results Among the 140 patients who completed BPA, the mean age at diagnosis was 58 ± 14 years and 60.0% were female. At re-evaluation, the least-squares mean change from baseline was -18.3 mm Hg (95% confidence interval [CI], -19.9 to -16.6, P < 0.001) in mean pulmonary arterial pressure, -5.3 Wood U (95% CI, -5.9 to -4.6, P < 0.001) in pulmonary vascular resistance, and 87 meters (95% CI, 74 to 101, P < 0.001) in six-minute walking distance. BPA procedure-related complications occurred in 109 of 650 BPA sessions (16.8%), but severe complications requiring noninvasive positive pressure ventilation only occurred in 4 (0.6%) BPA sessions. During a mean follow-up time of 32 ± 14 months, 4 patients died, including 2 peri-procedural deaths, contributing to the survival rates of 97.8% (95% CI, 93.4 to 99.3) at 1 year and 96.9% (95% CI, 91.9 to 98.8) at 3 and 5 years. Conclusion Refined BPA appears to be an effective therapeutic option for inoperable CTEPH patients with acceptable safety profiles. Abstract Figure. Images of BPA Efficacy in a Patient Abstract Figure. Efficacy outcomes of BPA

BOUT++ turbulence simulations are conducted to capture the underlying physics of small ELM characteristics achieved by increasing separatrix density via controlling strike points from vertical to horizontal divertor plates for three EAST discharges. BOUT++ linear simulations show that the most unstable modes change from high-n ideal ballooning modes to intermediate-n peeling–ballooning modes and eventually to peeling–ballooning stable plasmas in the pedestal. Nonlinear simulations show that the fluctuation is saturated at a high level for the lowest separatrix density. The ELM size decreases with increasing separatrix density, until the fraction of this energy lost during the ELM crash becomes less than 1% of the pedestal stored energy, leading to small ELMs. Simulations indicate that small ELMs can be triggered either by the marginally peeling–ballooning instability near the peak pressure gradient position inside the pedestal or by a local instability in the pedestal foot with a larger separatrix density gradient. The pedestal collisionality scan for type-I ELMs with steep pedestal density gradient shows that both linear growth rate and ELM size decrease with increasing collisionality. On the contrary, the pedestal collisionality and pedestal density width scan with a weak pedestal density gradient indicate small ELMs can either be triggered by a high-n ballooning mode or by a low-n peeling mode in a low collisionality region 0.04–0.1. The simulations indicate the weaker the linear unstable modes near marginal stability with small linear growth rate, the lower nonlinearly saturated fluctuation intensity and the smaller turbulence spreading from the linear unstable zone to stable zone in the nonlinear saturation phase, leading to small ELMs.

To evaluate the prognostic value of the hypoperfusion intensity ratio (HIR) on 90-day clinical outcome in acute ischaemic stroke (AIS) patients with late therapeutic window.One hundred and sixty-eight consecutive AIS patients with anterior-circulation large-vessel occlusion who underwent endovascular thrombectomy during the late window were enrolled retrospectively. Clinical data, Alberta Stroke Program Early Computed Tomography Score (ASPECTS) based on unenhanced computed tomography (CT), and perfusion parameters included ischaemic core, hypoperfusion volume, mismatch volume between core and penumbra, and the HIR were assessed and compared between patients with or without favourable outcomes (defined as modified Rankin Scale score of 0-2). Statistical analysis included binary logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses.A favourable outcome was achieved in 76 (45.2%) patients. In univariable analysis, age, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score at admission, ASPECTS score, HIR, ischaemic core, and hypoperfusion volume were significantly associated with functional outcome (p0.05). In multivariate analyses, age (OR 0.95; 95% CI 0.92-0.99), NIHSS score at admission (OR 0.89, 95% CI 0.84-0.96) and HIR (OR 0.018, 95% CI 0.003-0.113) remained as independent outcome predictors (p0.01). The optimal threshold of HIR was 0.36 (sensitivity 70.7%, specificity 61.8%). The combination of age, NIHSS score at admission, and HIR yield good performance for outcome prediction with an area under the ROC curve of 0.815 (sensitivity 88.2%, specificity 64.1%), significantly higher than individual variable (p0.05).Low HIR was a predictor for favourable outcome in AIS patients with late therapeutic window. Integrating HIR with clinical variables improved the ability for outcome classification.

Background Percutaneous transluminal pulmonary angioplasty (PTPA) is a treatment modality for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension, but whether it can be applied to patients with hypertensive pulmonary Takayasu's arteritis (PTA), another chronic obstructive pulmonary vascular disease, remains unclear. Purpose To investigate the potential efficacy and safety of PTPA for hypertensive PTA. Methods All consecutive patients with hypertensive PTA who completed PTPA in our center between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2019 were prospectively enrolled. Hemodynamics, exercise capacity and oxygen saturation were measured at baseline and at least 3 months after the last PTPA session. PTPA procedure related complications, restenosis and all-cause deaths during follow-up were recorded. Results A total of 50 patients were enrolled, with the median age of 41 (IQR, 30–49) years and female predominance (82.0%). After PTPA, significant improvements in hemodynamics including mean pulmonary artery pressure (from median 48 [39–60] to 37 [31–42] mm Hg, p Conclusion PTPA appears to be a promising therapeutic option for patients with hypertensive PTA. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: Public grant(s) – National budget only. Main funding source(s): the National Key Research and Development Program of China Efficacy of PTPA

Background The pathophysiological alterations in response to shunt correction in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with congenital heart disease (CHD-PAH) is still not clear. Purpose To explore the dynamic plasma metabolite profiling and its relationship with clinical characteristics in patients with CHD-PAH during the perioperative period of defect repair. Methods Plasma samples from 13 patients with CHD-PAH were harvested at four time points: before cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) after anesthesia (Pre), immediately after CPB (T0), 24 h (T24), and 48 h (T48) after defect repair. The untargeted metabolomics strategy based on UPLC Q-TOF MS was used to detect the metabolites. Clinical measures were recorded at indicated time points. Results The sample distribution at four time points was well separated (Figure 1A, B). 193 metabolites were distinguished at different time points according to Variable Important in Projection (VIP) score (Figure 1C), enriched in pathways such as carnitine synthesis, phospholipid biosynthesis and oxidation of branched chain fatty acids (Figure 2A). 17 metabolites alterations were significantly correlated with gradients in mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP) at T48 versus Pre, indicative of the response to defect correction (Figure 2B). Intriguingly, 4 out of the 17 (23.5%) metabolites including propionylcarnitine, butenylcarnitine, isobutyryl-L-carnitine and hexanoylcarnitine were enriched in oxidation of branched chain fatty acids. They were increased at both T24 and T48 (all P Conclusions This is the first study to show the altered metabolic profiles of CHD-PAH patients in perioperative period of defect repair. Metabolites that respond to shunt correction could be a suitable non-invasive marker and would be of great value in disease monitoring and evaluating future therapeutic interventions. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: Foundation. Main funding source(s): 13th Five-Year Plan–Precise Medicine–Key Research and Development Program–Clinical Cohort of Rare Disease; National Natural Science Foundation of China Figure 1. Overall analysis of metabolitesFigure 2. Shunt correction associated metabolites

The genetic resources of wild almond have not been paid enough attention for oil chemical components and uses. In the present study analyses concerning the composition of fatty acids, vitamin E, sterols, and oxidative stability of five wild almond species (Prunus tangutica, P. pedunculata, P. mongolica, P. tenella, and P. triloba) seed oils were performed. The oil content of seeds ranged from 43.6% to 50.4% and the content of polyunsaturated fatty acids was high (93.0%–97.9%). The predominant fatty acid was oleic acid and linolenic acid with contents from 17.0% for P. tangutica to 31.1% for P. mongolica. Four tocopherols, with predominance of homologs α and β, were detected in each tested sample. Total tocopherol contents ranged from 433.9 to 682.8 mg/kg of oil, and the ratio of the composition of different species was different. The total amount of oil sterols ranged from 303.5 to 378.5 mg/100 g, wherein β-Sitosterol,Δ5-avenasterol, and campesterol were the main constituents. While the stability of the oil measured by Rancimat test ranged from 7.17 to 23.45 h, and the highest was P. pedunculata. Its oxidation stability was apparently higher than that of peanut, olive oil, and other oils. After performing principal component analysis, a potential tool for species authenticity purposes, interspecies differences were found. The wild almond oil in this study can be considered as a potential edible vegetable oil in human food.

The kinetic peeling-ballooning mode (KPBM) plays a crucial role in the edge turbulence and transport in a tokamak plasma. However, the impact of the bootstrap current on KPBM is still unclear. Simulations of KPBM using the BOUT++ 3 + 1 gyro-Landau-fluid code are presented in this study. To investigate the KPBM in a real tokamak equilibrium, the global equilibrium solver CORSICA was employed to generate a set of realistic equilibria of shifted circular geometry, including the Shafranov shift, elongation effects and bootstrap current. The linear instability property of the KPBM is observed in a wide range of pressure gradient and parallel current density in the pedestal region. Our results indicate that the bootstrap current has a stabilizing effect on the high-n KPBM over the entire pedestal region. Here, n is the toroidal mode number. In comparison with the ideal magnetohydrodynamic peeling-ballooning mode stability diagram, the unstable KPBM region shrinks and shifts to low β P G ( β P G = ( 2 μ 0 p P G ) / ( B 0 2 ) where p P G denotes the pressure at the peak pressure gradient position) with the increase of the bootstrap current. Moreover, we find that the low-n kink modes are driven unstable by the bootstrap current in the second stable region. With an additional external current drive on top of the bootstrap current, the low-n KPBMs can be stabilized when the total edge current is sufficiently large, although the low-n kink mode is still unstable in the β P G region with β P G > 0.45 % .

We carry out several numerical simulations to illustrate how the radial electric field ( Er) impacts the edge magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities. The analyses reveal that Er-shear ([Formula: see text], here the prime denotes the derivative with respect to the radial direction) tends to stabilize the kink[Formula: see text]Peeling–Ballooning modes by dephasing the perturbed radial velocity ([Formula: see text]) and displacement ([Formula: see text]). However, Er-curvature ([Formula: see text]) tends to destabilize the kink/peeling modes by inducing a phase lock between [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. More specifically, the ratio between them could be measured to quantify their relative competition strength. Consequently, the shape of Er is crucial to the shape of linear growth rate spectrum [Formula: see text] (here n is the toroidal mode number), which further determines the nonlinear dynamics. On the one hand, relatively larger Er-curvature causes narrower [Formula: see text], leading to larger nonlinear energy loss fraction. On the other hand, relatively larger Er-shear has the opposite effect.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Accurate prediction of extrathyroidal extension and subsequent recurrence is crucial in papillary thyroid cancer clinical management. Our aim was to conduct iodine map–based radiomics to predict extrathyroidal extension and to explore its prognostic value for recurrence-free survival in papillary thyroid cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 452 patients with papillary thyroid cancer were retrospectively recruited between June 2017 and June 2020. Radiomics features were extracted from noncontrast images, dual-phase mixed images, and iodine maps, respectively. Random forest and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) were applied to build 6 radiomics scores (noncontrast radiomics score_random forest; noncontrast rad-score_LASSO; mixed rad-score_random forest; mixed rad-score_LASSO; iodine radiomics score_random forest; iodine radiomics score_LASSO) respectively. Logistic regression was used to construct 6 radiomics models incorporating 6 radiomics scores with clinical risk factors and to compare them with the clinical model. A radiomics model that achieved the highest performance was presented as a nomogram and assessed by discrimination, calibration, clinical usefulness, and prognosis evaluation. RESULTS: Iodine radiomics scores performed significantly better than mixed radiomics scores. Both of them outperformed noncontrast radiomics scores. Iodine map–based radiomics models significantly surpassed the clinical model. A radiomics nomogram incorporating size, capsule contact, and iodine radiomics score_random forest was built with the highest performance (training set, area under the curve = 0.78; validation set, area under the curve = 0.84). Stratified analysis confirmed the nomogram stability, especially in group negative for CT-reported extrathyroidal extension (area under the curve = 0.69). Nomogram-predicted extrathyroidal extension risk was an independent predictor of recurrence-free survival. A high risk for extrathyroidal extension portended significantly lower recurrence-free survival than low risk (P

甲状腺乳头状癌（papillary thyroid carcinoma，PTC）发病率逐年攀升，严重影响公众健康，尚缺乏一种理想的生物标志物指导临床。随着长链非编码RNA（long non-coding RNA，lncRNA）在人类肿瘤中的作用逐渐被认识，其有望成为一种新型标志物，实现肿瘤的精准治疗。目前研究显示lncRNA可能参与PTC的发生和发展过程。本综述主要阐述PTC相关lncRNA的表达谱变化、作用机制及其在临床诊断、预后评估中的意义，有助于发现新的标志物。.

心肌炎和炎症性心肌病是导致心力衰竭的常见疾病，也是心血管系统疾病中的难点。多种炎症细胞在心肌损伤、修复和重塑过程中发挥着重要作用，影响到炎症性心肌病的预后。但目前对于该类疾病的认识，特别是早期诊断、精准评估以及治疗管理尚不到位，尤其在心肌病理层面仍有不少尚未解决的问题。认识炎症性心肌病心肌组织损伤/修复机制，形成包括临床医师以及心肌病理学、心脏影像学和免疫学专家的心肌炎诊疗研究团队，建立诊断、治疗和随诊的完整系统，不断探索新的治疗方法，对提升心肌炎和炎症性心肌病早期诊断水平，改善患者预后意义重大。该文重点阐述了心肌炎和炎症性心肌病的病理生理学机制和常见的病理学表现，以期引起心血管专科医师对该领域的重视。.

经皮心内膜心肌活检是利用心肌活检钳经外周血管夹取心内膜心肌组织的技术，迄今在临床上应用已超过50年，并且相关技术不断更新。目前心内膜心肌活检及心肌病理学诊断已成为诊断心肌炎、心肌病的重要手段。北京协和医院心内科已进行了500余例心内膜心肌活检的操作，积累了一定的经验，因此我们专门制定了心内膜心肌活检临床操作规范，主要包括其适应证、禁忌证、操作要点、标本处理及术后监测等，并提出了并发症的处理策略。由于心内膜心肌活检具有漏检可能，需要与超声心动图、心脏磁共振成像及心血管病理学等专业医师密切配合，以减少漏诊、误诊。建议全国心内科医师高度重视并积极开展此项检查，以提高我国心肌炎、心肌病精准诊断的能力。.

Background Rare genetic variants play a critical role in unprovoked pulmonary embolism (PE). However, the known risk genes only account a small proportion of patients with PE. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between the rare variants of gene encoding methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) and the initiation and long-term clinical outcomes of PE. Methods The rare variants of MTHFR were detected by whole exome sequencing of DNA from 258 unprovoked PE cases and 11,451 controls. Correlation of genotype and clinical phenotype and outcome were evaluated at baseline and after follow-up. Results MTHFR rare variants were found in 15 of 258 cases (5.81%) and 241 of 11,451 controls (2.10%), conferring 2.87-fold greater odds of the PE occurrence (OR = 2.87, 95% CI = 1.68–4.91, P = 5.6 × 10−5, chi-square test). The patients with MTHFR rare variants had higher plasma level of homocysteine than those without. During a follow-up of 3.0 years, a total of 84 events were identified. The recurrent PE (two or more events of PE) were significantly higher in patients carrying MTHFR rare variants (8/15, 53.3%) compared with those without (55/239, 23.0%) (P = 0.023). Conclusion We speculate that MTHFR rare variants may increase the occurrence and recurrence of PE.

Background Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) can occur in families with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT), but it has not been well-characterized. Purpose This study sought to characterize the genetic defects, clinical and hemodynamic features, and outcomes of PAH patients in HHT families. Methods All HHT families with at least one case of PAH investigated in our center from January 2006 to December 2018 were enrolled in the study. We did whole-exome sequencing (WES) or whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to every proband and available family members. The clinical data, hemodynamic features and outcomes of PAH patients were reviewed. Results A total of 64 PAH patients in 57 families were enrolled. Only 7 (12.3%) families had more than one case of PAH. Activin-receptor-like kinase 1 (ALK-1) mutation and Endoglin (ENG) mutation were confirmed in 49 (86.0%) and 3 (5.3%) families and other 5 (8.8%) had no known mutation associated with HHT or PAH. The median age when PAH diagnosis was 22 [9–33] years and female was dominant (70.3%). Most patients (84.4%) had signs of HHT and anemia was recorded in 14 (21.9%) patients. Remarkably, these patients showed severely compromised hemodynamics with elevated mean pulmonary artery pressure (62 [51, 77] mm Hg) and pulmonary vascular resistance index (17.0 [11.2, 22.8] Wood units*m2). Also, impaired exercise capacity was recorded at diagnosis with decreased six-minute walking distance (410 [342–485] meters) and over half (54.7%) were in WHO functional class III or IV. The 1-, 3-, 5- and 10-year transplantation-free survival for the overall PAH patients was 95.0%, 75.9%, 67.1% and 36.4%, respectively. Anemia (HR: 4.24 [1.32–13.65], p=0.016) and CI Conclusions PAH in HHT families is a devastating condition characterized by a young age at PAH diagnosis, poor clinical status and outcomes mainly underlying ALK-1 mutation, which emphasizes the importance to pay attention to this group of patients. Transplantation-free survival Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: Foundation. Main funding source(s): The Beijing Natural Science Foundation (7181009), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC0901502)

Wolbachia influence the fitness of their invertebrate hosts. They have effects on reproductive incompatibility and egg production. Although the former are well characterized, the mechanistic basis of the latter is unclear. Here, we investigate whether apoptosis, which has been implicated in fecundity in model insects, influences the interaction between fecundity and Wolbachia in the planthopper Laodelphax striatellus. Wolbachia-infected females produced about 30% more eggs than uninfected females. We used the terminal deoxyribonucleotidyl transferase (TDT)-mediated dUTP-digoxigenin nick end labeling staining to visualize apoptosis. Microscopic observations indicated that the Wolbachia strain wStri increased the number of ovarioles that contained apoptotic nurse cells in both young and aged adult females. The frequency of apoptosis was much higher in the infected females. The increased fecundity appeared to be a result of apoptosis of nurse cells, which provide nutrients to the growing oocytes. In addition, cell apoptosis inhibition by caspase messenger RNA interference in Wolbachia-infected L. striatellus markedly decreased egg numbers. Together, these data suggest that wStri might enhance fecundity by increasing the number of apoptotic cells in the ovaries in a caspase-dependent manner. Our findings establish a link between Wolbachia-induced apoptosis and egg production effects mediated by Wolbachia, although the way in which the endosymbiont influences caspase levels remains to be determined.

LncRNA downregulated in liver cancer stem cells (lnc-DILC) has been implicated as a tumor suppressor in colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the clinical significance of lnc-DILC in CRC patients has not been investigated. In this study, we aimed to explore the diagnostic and prognostic value of lnc-DILC in CRC patients.The expression of lnc-DILC was measured in 174 paired CRC tissues and adjacent normal tissues using Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). The correlation of lnc-DILC expression with clinicopathological factors was statistically analyzed by the Chi-square test. Besides, overall survival analysis was carried out with the Kaplan-Meier curve with the log-rank test. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to explore the prognostic significance of lnc-DILC expression.We found that lnc-DILC expression was downregulated in CRC tissues compared to their adjacent normal tissues (p0.01). ROC analyses showed that lnc-DILC levels were reliable in distinguishing patients with CRC from normal colorectal tissues. Then, down-regulation of lnc-DILC was positively associated with aggressive clinical characteristics, including depth of invasion (p=0.018) and advanced TNM stage (p=0.009). Moreover, the Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that overexpression of lnc-DILC was associated with poorer overall survival (p=0.0205) and disease-free survival (p0.001). Finally, multivariate analyses confirmed that expression of lnc-DILC was an independent prognostic factor in CRC.Our results firstly suggested that lnc-DILC could be a favorable indicator of prognosis in CRC.

Yolk ratio is an important production index in the salted duck egg industry. Yolk constituents are deposited during development of follicles. However, the molecular mechanism responsible for different yolk ratios in laying ducks remains elusive. In this study, Shaoxing ducks laying eggs with different yolk ratios were chosen for an analysis of liver and ovary transcriptome information. Twelve libraries were constructed and generated an average of 58.5 million clean reads per library, of which 69% of clean reads from liver and 65% of clean reads from ovary were mapped to a reference genome. Between cross-phenotype groups, a total of 250 and 230 differently expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in liver and ovary respectively, of which 101 and 50 DEGs respectively were characterized. Several DEGs were detected, among which HMGCS1, HMGCR, FDFT1, (DHCR7), (STARD4), CYP46A1 and LPIN3 are involved in cholesterol metabolism-related pathways; KIAA0319, STARD4, AP1S3, SH3GL2 and CAV2 are involved in vesicular transport in the liver; and ELOVL2 and PSD2 are involved in fatty acid elongation and endocytosis in the ovary. High yolk-ratio ducks had higher activity for cholesterol synthesis and molecular trafficking. The identification of candidate genes greatly advances the understanding of the genetic basis of the formation of different yolk ratios.

Microstructure and pitting corrosion resistance of UNS S32205 DSS weld were systematically studied, and its failure causes were analyzed carefully. The results showed the uneven metallographic microstructures with majority of austenite in the HAZ and then the significantly reduced pitting corrosion resistance of the weld. Furthermore, large potential difference between the both sides of the insulation joint and high salinity of the formation water in the pipeline make the leakage current preferably flow out from the weld and enter the transmission fluid, so localized corrosion happens at the inner surface of the weld and leads to the corrosion perforation eventually.

There are abundant water resources in Tibet plateau area. With the increasing demand for electric power, it is necessary to build hydropower stations and test bench in Tibet Plateau area. The low air pressure has an influence on the flow in the hydraulic turbine. Therefore, a hydraulic turbine test bench is designed and built in the Tibet Plateau for low pressure hydraulic turbine experiment. The laboratory building is a three-storey structure with one distribution room and two control rooms. The civil structure is designed according to the layout of two test bench. The built underground storage tank has an area of 300 m2, a 15-meter high water tower and a capacity of 50 m3, which can meet the requirements of simultaneous operation of the two test bench The maximum head of the main pump is 30 meters, the rated power of the main motor is 160 kW, and the rated power of the dynamometer is 110 kW, which can be operated in both positive and negative directions. Meanwhile, a set of measurement and control system software is designed to acquire experimental data. The test bench will meet the needs of experimental teaching and scientific research of hydraulic turbines in Plateau area, and meet the performance comparison and acceptance test of medium and small hydro-machinery.

Wolbachia influence the fitness of their invertebrate hosts. They have effects on reproductive incompatibility and egg production. Although the former are well characterized, the mechanistic basis of the latter is unclear. Here, we investigate whether apoptosis, which has been implicated in fecundity in model insects, influences the interaction between fecundity and Wolbachia in the planthopper Laodelphax striatellus. Wolbachia-infected females produced about 30% more eggs than uninfected females. We used the terminal deoxyribonucleotidyl transferase (TDT)-mediated dUTP-digoxigenin nick end labeling staining to visualize apoptosis. Microscopic observations indicated that the Wolbachia strain wStri increased the number of ovarioles that contained apoptotic nurse cells in both young and aged adult females. The frequency of apoptosis was much higher in the infected females. The increased fecundity appeared to be a result of apoptosis of nurse cells, which provide nutrients to the growing oocytes. In addition, cell apoptosis inhibition by caspase messenger RNA interference in Wolbachia-infected L. striatellus markedly decreased egg numbers. Together, these data suggest that wStri might enhance fecundity by increasing the number of apoptotic cells in the ovaries in a caspase-dependent manner. Our findings establish a link between Wolbachia-induced apoptosis and egg production effects mediated by Wolbachia, although the way in which the endosymbiont influences caspase levels remains to be determined.