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According to the transversely isotropic theory and weak plane criterion, and considering the mechanical damages due to stress unloading and hydration during drilling, a shale wellbore stability model with the influence of stress unloading and hydration was established using triaxial test and shear test. Then, factors influencing the wellbore stability in shale were analyzed. The results indicate that stress unloading occurs during drilling in shale. The larger the confining pressure and axial stress, the more remarkable weakening of shale strength caused by stress unloading . The stress unloading range is positively correlated with the weakening degree of shale strength. Shale with a higher development degree of bedding is more prone to damage along bedding. In this case, during stress unloading, the synergistic effect of weak structural plane and stress unloading happens, leading to a higher weakening degree of shale strength and poorer mechanical stability, which brings a higher risk of wellbore instability. Fluid tends to invade shale through bedding, promoting the shale hydration. Hydration also can weaken shale mechanical stability, causing the decline of wellbore stability. Influence of stress unloading on collapse pressure of shale mainly occurs at the early stage of drilling, while the influence of hydration on wellbore stability mainly happens at the late stage of drilling. Bedding, stress unloading and hydration jointly affect the wellbore stability in shale. The presented shale wellbore stability model with the influence of stress unloading and hydration considers the influences of the three factors. Field application demonstrates that the prediction results of the model agree with the actual drilling results, verifying the reliability of the model.

Abstract Background Utilizing the traditional Cox regression model to identify the factors affecting the risk of mortality due to microinvasive cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (micSCC) may produce skewed results. Since cause-specific mortality can guide clinical decision-making, this study employed the Fine-Gray model based on the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database to identify significant predictive variables for the risk of micSCC-related mortality. Methods This study used the information of patients with micSCC who were listed in the SEER database during 2000–2015. Cox regression and Fine-Gray models were utilized for the multivariable analysis, and Gray’s test and the cumulative incidence function were used for the univariable analyses. Results There were 100 patients who died from other reasons and 38 who died from micSCC among the 1259 qualified patients with micSCC. Most were female, white, married, had localized metastasis, etc. According to the univariable Gray’s test (P

Abstract Background Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) mutation represents the most prevalent genetic mutation found in urothelial carcinoma (UC) and holds potential as a prognostic indicator for tumor outcomes. However, the association between TERT mutation and prognosis in UC patients remains poorly elucidated due to conflicting findings in existing literature. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of the TERT mutation on the survival of UC patients. Methods We systematically searched the PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases for studies that investigated the relationship between the TERT mutation and the prognosis of UC patients. Endpoints included the 2-year and 5-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS). The Newcastle–Ottawa Scale (NOS) tool was used to assess the risk of bias in the included studies. Review Manager 5.3 was used for the meta-analysis. Results Nine studies with a total of 1,552 patients were included in the analysis. Two studies were prospective, and seven were retrospective. The TERT promoter mutation was associated with a lower 2-year OS (relative risk [RR] = 0.92, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.86–0.98; P = 0.007) and a lower 5-year OS (RR = 0.80, 95% CI 0.68–0.94; P = 0.008) compared with the TERT wild type. However, no significantly differences were found between two groups in terms of HR for OS (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.29, 95% CI 0.80–2.08; P = 0.29). Furthermore, we investigated the differences in RFS and disease-specific survival (DSS) between the two groups. Conclusion The TERT mutation increases the risk of death and decreases the survival time of UC patients. TERT may be a valuable marker with individual prognostic value.

Abstract Background To investigate underlying mechanism of JMJD2A in regulating cytoskeleton remodeling in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) resistant to docetaxel. Methods Tissue samples from CRPC patients were collected, and the expression of JMJD2A, miR-34a and cytoskeleton remodeling-related proteins were evaluated by qPCR, western blot and immunohistochemistry, and pathological changes were observed by H&E staining. Further, JMJD2A, STMN1 and TUBB3 were knocked down using shRNA in CRPC cell lines, and cell viability, apoptosis and western blot assays were performed. The interaction between miR-34a/STMN1/β3-Tubulin was analyzed with dual-luciferase reporter and co-immunoprecipitation assays. Results In clinical experiment, the CRPC-resistant group showed higher expression of JMJD2A, STMN1, α-Tubulin, β-Tubulin and F-actin, and lower expression of miR-34a and β3-Tubulin compared to the sensitive group. In vitro experiments showed that JMJD2A could regulate cytoskeletal remodeling through the miR-34a/STMN1/β3-Tubulin axis. The expression of miR-34a was elevated after knocking down JMJD2A, and miR-34a targeted STMN1. The overexpression of miR-34a was associated with a decreased expression of STMN1 and elevated expression of β3-Tubulin, which led to the disruption of the microtubule network, decreased cancer cell proliferation, cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase, and increased apoptosis. Conclusion JMJD2A promoted docetaxel resistance in prostate cancer cells by regulating cytoskeleton remodeling through the miR-34a/STMN1/β3-Tubulin axis.

The real-time simulation technology of large-scale open sea surfaces has been of great importance in fields such as computer graphics, ocean engineering, and national security. However, existing technologies typically have performance requirements or platform limitations, and the two are often impossible to balance. Based on the camera-view-based screen space level of detail strategy and virtual camera pose adaptive filtering strategy proposed in this article, we have developed a fast and comprehensive solution for rendering large-scale open sea surfaces. This solution is designed to work without the need for special hardware extensions, making it easy to deploy across various platforms. Additionally, it enhances the degrees of freedom of virtual camera movement. After conducting performance tests under various camera poses, our filtering strategy was found to be effective. Notably, the time cost of simulation using 60 waves at the height of 6 m above sea level was only 0.184 ms. In addition, we conducted comparative experiments with four state-of-the-art algorithms currently in use, and our solution outperformed the others with the best performance and suboptimal visual effects. These results demonstrate the superiority of our approach in terms of both efficiency and effectiveness.

ObjectivesLiterature regarding experience with 3D laparoscopy about prostatectomy has remained scanty, and this could be related to the rise of robotic assisted laparoscopic surgery. This study aimed to perform a systemic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the perioperative, functional, and oncologic outcomes between 3D and 2D laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (LRP).MethodsWe systematically searched the PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases for studies that compared perioperative, functional, or oncologic outcomes of both 3D and 2D LRP. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) tool and Jadad scale were used to assess the risk of bias in the included studies. Review Manager 5.3 was used for the meta-analysis.ResultsSeven studies with a total of 542 patients were included in the analysis. Among them, two were RCTs. There was no difference between groups in terms of preoperative characteristics. Anastomosis time, hospital day, and overall complication rates were similar in 3D than 2D group. However, operative time [mean difference (MD) -36.96; 95% confidence interval [CI] -59.25 to -14.67; p = 0.001], blood loss (MD -83.5; 95% CI -123.05 to -43.94; p

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is an important horticultural crop worldwide. Sodium (Na+) and chloride (Cl−) in the surface soil are the major limiting factors in coastal areas of Shandong Province in China. Therefore, to understand the mechanism used by cucumber to adapt to sodium chloride (NaCl), we analyzed the phenotypic and physiological indicators of eighteen cucumber germplasms after three days under 100 and 150 mM NaCl treatment. A cluster analysis revealed that eighteen germplasms could be divided into five groups based on their physiological indicators. The first three groups consisted of seven salt-tolerant and medium salt-tolerant germplasms, including HLT1128h, Zhenni, and MC2065. The two remaining groups consisted of five medium salt-sensitive germplasms, including DM26h and M1-2-h-10, and six salt-sensitive germplasms including M1XT and 228. A principal component analysis revealed that the trend of comprehensive scores was consistent with the segmental cluster analysis and survival rates of cucumber seedlings. Overall, the phenotype, comprehensive survival rate, cluster analysis, and principal component analysis revealed that the salt-tolerant and salt-sensitive germplasms were Zhenni, F11-15, MC2065, M1XT, M1-2-h-10, and DM26h. The results of this study will provide references to identify or screen salt-tolerant cucumber germplasms and lay a foundation for breeding salt-tolerant cucumber varieties.

Background. The objective of this study is to determine the prognostic factors of keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue (KTSCC) and to establish a prognostic nomogram of KTSCC to assist clinical diagnosis and treatment. Methods. This study identified 3874 patients with KTSCC from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database, and these patients were randomly divided into the training (70%, (n = 2711) and validation (30%, n = 1163) cohorts. Cox regression was then used to filter variables. Nomograms were then constructed based on meaningful variables. Finally, the concordance index (C-index), net reclassification index (NRI), integrated discrimination improvement (IDI), calibration charts, and decision-curve analysis (DCA), were used to evaluate the discrimination, accuracy and effectiveness of the model. Results. A nomogram model was established for predicting the 3-, 5-, and 8-year overall survival (OS) probabilities of patients with KTSCC. The model indicated that age, radiotherapy sequence, SEER stage, marital status, tumor size, American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage, radiotherapy status, race, lymph node dissection status, and sex were factors influencing the OS of patients with KTSCC. Verified by C-index, NRI, IDI, calibration curve, and DCA curve, our model has better discrimination, calibration, accuracy and net benefit compared to the AJCC system. Conclusions. This study identified the factors that affect the survival of KTSCC patients and established a prognostic nomogram that can help clinicians predict the 3-, 5-, and 8-year survival rates of KTSCC patients.

Three-phase material imaging such as oil, gas and water is a critical problem in many processes. Monitoring and separation of each phase before corresponding process can be a key to realise cost efficiency production. In the oil and gas industry such a tool can generate great environmental benefits. In recent years, several multi-modality imaging systems are being adapted for such an application. It is not possible to gain information on three phase flow using a single imaging modality that can be deployed in production field. For a three-phase flow dominated by water phase, this is more challenging. The capability of the majority of current dual-modality systems was only demonstrated under limited flow regime conditions. This paper presents a novel combined imaging system including electrical impedance tomography (EIT), and ultrasound transmission tomography (UTT) for mapping three-phase flow. In water dominate mode, the EIT is able to image the nonconductive phases of oil and gas in a water dominate background phase, but not able to separate oil and gas. The EIT two-phase imaging then complimented with the speed of sound imaging of the UTT, which can separate liquid (oil and water) and gas. A dual modality EIT-UTT system combining a 32-electrode EIT array and a 32-transducer UTT sensor array is developed to demonstrate this novel three-phase material imaging. The concept was demonstrated using simulation study and then shown with experimental lab tests. Measurement principles and method are described, experiment based on several three-phase flow scenarios are established, and the results show successful distinguishably for all three phases.

In recent times, Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) synthesized from plant extracts and their anticancer activity have attracted significant attention. We report the green approach for the synthesis of AuNPs using extract from Abies spectabilis plant. In this study, the reaction parameters were optimized to control the size of the nanoparticle, which was confirmed by Transmission Electron microscopy (TEM). Various characterization technique such as SAED pattern, UV visible spectroscopy, EDX, FTIR, and AFM were employed to analyze the synthesized AuNPs obtained from A. spectabilis plant extract. Furthermore, we investigated the anticancer activities using T24 cell lines. Interestingly, the results of extensive screening on the applications of newly synthesized AuNPs were tested for their cytotoxicity effects on anticancer activity against T24 cells by MTT assay. The cell apoptosis was studied using TUNEL, DAPI, caspase activity, cell invasion and migration. Nanoparticles at different concentrations ranging from 1 to 25 μg/ml exhibited a dose dependent cytotoxicity for 24 h. Condensation and DNA fragmentation are characteristic of apoptosis by DAPI, TUNEL staining, and the significant up regulations of Beclin-1, Bax and caspase 3, whereas the expressions of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 and Bid were down regulated. However, this study, therefore attempts to report the synthesis, characterization, and anticancer activity of gold nanoparticles of A. spectabilis plant extract beneficial for cancer therapeutics.

Recent relation extraction models' architecture are evolved from the shallow neural networks to natural language model, such as convolutional neural networks or recurrent neural networks to Bert. However, these methods did not consider the semantic information in the sequence or the distance dependence problem, the internal semantic information may contain the useful knowledge which can help relation classification. Focus on these problems, this paper proposed a BERT-based relation classification method. Compare with the existing Bert-based architecture, the proposed model can obtain the internal semantic information between entity pair and solve the distance semantic dependence better. The pre-trained BERT model after fine tuning is used in this paper to abstract the semantic representation of sequence, then adopt the piecewise convolution to obtain semantic information which influence the extraction results. Compare with the existing methods, the proposed method can achieve a better accuracy on relational extraction task because of the internal semantic information extracted in the sequence. While, the generalization ability is still a problem that cannot be ignored, and the numbers of the relationships are difference between different categories. In this paper, the focal loss function is adopted to solve this problem by assigning a heavy weight to less number or hard classify categories. Finally, comparing with the existing methods, the F1 metric of the proposed method can reach a superior result 89.95% on the SemEval-2010 Task 8 dataset.

Ralstonia solanacearum is a causative agent of bacterial wilt and therefore poses a serious threat to cultivated peppers (Capsicum annuum L.). Although attempts have been made to control bacterial wilt by grafting, the disease resistance mechanisms that protect grafted peppers are poorly understood. Here, we grew grafted peppers composed of the rootstock Buyeding or Weishi and the scion Xinfeng 2. Following infection by R. solanacearum, we assessed the differences in lipid peroxidation, cellular structure, root secondary metabolism, and biomass, between grafted plants and controls. The grafted plants exhibited a greater root biomass than the control plants after infection. The root cell ultrastructure of the grafted plants showed only slight injury relative to that in the controls, and the roots of the grafted peppers were partially resistant to R. solanacearum. Grafted pepper plants showed lower levels of lipid peroxidation. Lignin content, salicylic acid levels, and the activities of phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), and polyphenol oxidase (PPO), were also higher in grafted plants. All of these effects occurred concomitantly with increased R. solanacearum resistance. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that grafting can significantly improve the disease resistance of pepper. Moreover, our results suggest that the Weishi rootstock may be very useful for the prevention and control of bacterial wilt in cultivated peppers.

Highlight MADS-box TF CmANR1 modulates both AR and LR development by directly regulating auxin transport gene CmPIN2 in chrysanthemum.

We present an extremely rare case of ureteric obstruction caused by a migrated intrauterine device. A 36-year-old female with complaints of almost 10 months left flank pain presented to our hospital. She used an IUD for contraception for 6 months after the birth of her first child. The IUD was not visible then. Ultrasonography (US) revealed that left severe hydronephrosis and upper ureterectasis. Pelvic computed tomography (CT) found that IUD was located very close to the lower ureter which was adjacent to the third anatomize physiological narrow. Laparoscopy was performed to remove the migrated IUD. After 5 months of surgery, left hydronephrosis was exacerbated. This time we chose to perform the ureterocystostomy to relieve the hydronephrosis. We reported this rare case to remind that we must keep alert to the loss of the IUD to prevent it may cause severe injury of the nearby organs. IUD must be carefully researched for possible perforation of the uterus and migration to the pelvic organs.

Limonitic laterite contains low iron and nickel grades and much high smelting minerals and loss on ignition (LOI), identified as refractory iron ore for sintering. Thus, sinter pot tests of limonitic laterite via pressurized densification sintering and its intensification mechanism were conducted, and the industrial application prospect was explored. The results indicate that the sintering performance of the limonitic laterite of the new process is significantly improved with the tumble index and productivity increased by 19.2% and 18.6%, respectively, and solid fuel rate lowered by 10.3%. The external pressure field promotes the synchronization of heat front velocity and combustion front velocity for better sintering heat and mass transfer conditions, which also greatly improves the mineral compositions and microstructure of the product sinter. The microstructure is converted from large thin-wall pores into small thin-wall or large thick-wall pores with the sinter porosity decreased by 42.4%. Much close interlocking texture between hercynite and silico-ferrite of calcium and alumina (SFCA) is formed with hercynite grains aggregation and growth, and SFCA amount substantially increased. The better sintering performance will bring about a remarkable economic benefit of 282.78 million RMB/a if the industrial application is implemented. The pressurized densification sintering process is considered as one of the effective technologies for improving limonitic laterite sintering.

AIM: To observe the macular retinal microvascular density and thickness of each retinal layer in children with monocular myopia by optical coherence tomography angiography(OCTA). Meanwhile, the correlation with the above-mentioned retinal parameters and axial length(AL)were analyzed. METHODS: A cross-sectional study. A total of 32 children(64 eyes)with monocular myopia who were treated at the Affiliated Eye Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from November 2020 to April 2021 were selected,with an average age of 10.88±2.34 years old. According to the spherical equivalent refraction(SER)of the children, SER≤-0.75D was included in the myopia group, with an average SER of -2.15±1.10D; The contralateral healthy eye was included in the non-myopia group, with an average SER of 0.01±0.48D. All participants underwent general ophthalmic examination and OCTA was performed to measure the blood flow density of superficial retinal capillaries(SCP), deep retinal capillaries(DCP)blood flow density and the thickness of each retinal layer in the macular region.RESULTS: The uncorrected visual acuity(UCVA)of the myopia group was lower than that of the non-myopia group, the SER and AL were higher than those of the non-myopia group(all P0.05). The blood flow density of SCP above the macular area and the DCP blood flow density of the fovea in the myopia group were significantly higher than those in the non-myopia group(P=0.029, 0.010), and there was no difference in the blood flow density of retinal capillaries in other regions(all P>0.05). Except for the fovea, the whole retinal thickness of myopia group in temporal, superior, nasal and inferior regions was significantly lower than those in the control group(all P

Background: This study employs a meta-analytic approach to investigate the impact of robotic-assisted partial nephrectomy, with and without near-infrared fluorescence imaging (NIRF-RAPN vs S-RAPN), on patients' perioperative outcomes and postoperative changes in renal function. Materials and methods: The authors conducted a comprehensive and rigorous systematic review and cumulative meta-analysis of primary outcomes following the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses), AMSTAR (Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews) Guidelines, and Risk-of-Bias Tool (RoB2). To ensure a thorough search, the authors systematically searched five major databases, including Medline, PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and Web of Science, from databases' inception to April 2023. Results: No significant differences were found between the two groups in terms of age (P=0.19), right side (P =0.54), BMI (P =0.39), complexity score (P =0.89), tumor size (P=0.88), operating time (P=0.39), estimated blood loss (P=0.47), length of stay (P =0.87), complications (P=0.20), transfusion (P=0.36), and positive margins (P=0.38). However, it is noteworthy that the NIRFRAPN group exhibited significant reductions in warm ischemia time (P= 0.001), the percentage change in estimated glomerular filtration rate at discharge (P =0.01) compared to the S-RAPN group. Conclusion: This meta-analysis provides evidence that the group undergoing NIRF-RAPN showed a statistically significant protective effect on the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]