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Objective The purpose of the study was to assess the clinical efficacy and safety of a combined perfusion suction platform with pressure feedback control function and an ureteroscopic suction sheath that can measure the ureteropelvic pressure in implementing lithotripsies. Methods Fifty-two patients who underwent lithotripsy under intelligent monitoring of ureteral intraluminal pressure from June 2016 to January 2018 were retrospectively recruited. The inclusion standard was stone diameter >1.5 cm but Results Forty-seven patients underwent successful primary sheath placement and lithotripsy with an average operative time of 34.5 ± 18.3 min. Retrograde stone migration did not occur. There were eight patients with hematuria postoperatively. Serious complication was 1.9% with one case of ureteral perforation. Stone clearance was 95.7% at 1–3 days postoperatively, and 100% at 30 days postoperatively. Conclusion Ureteroscopic lithotripsy with intelligent pressure control using our device improved the efficiency of the lithotripsy and rate of stone clearance. The safety of the operation can be ensured. It is worth popularization and application in clinical practice.

Background Ferroptosis, characterized by lipid accumulation in intracellular compartments, is related to acute kidney injury (AKI), but the mechanism remains obscure. In our previous study, we reported important roles for augmenter of liver regeneration (ALR) in antioxidant mechanisms. However, the roles of ALR in ferroptosis, especially the morphological changes in mitochondria induced by this type of regulated cell death, remain unclear and warrant further investigation. Methods We subjected Kidney-specific deletion of the ALR gene (ALR-K-KO), as well as HK-2 cells, to ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) induced AKI models. We assessed the kidney function and ferroptosis of proximal tubular epithelial cells. We also examined the level of lipid peroxidation by MS/MS. ALR and Long chain acyl-CoA synthetase 4 (ACSL4) were colocalized and interacting regions were detected by protein docking-analyses. Results Here, we hypothesize that ALR regulates oxylipin accumulation in proximal tubular cells and attenuates ferroptosis induced by ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury in AKI. Kidney-specific deletion of the ALR gene (ALR-K-KO) aggravated ferroptosis, accompanied by increased ROS production and mitochondrial damage, whereas overexpression of the ALR gene attenuated lipid accumulation. Moreover, acsl4 loss reduced mostly polyunsaturated fatty acids. In addition, ALR and ACSL4 colocalize in the mitochondria of HK-2 cells and protein docking analysis found the interacting regions. Conclusion We showed for the first time that ALR binds to ACSL4 and regulates ferroptosis in proximal tubular cells by attenuating oxylipin accumulation.

Background: It remains unclear what B cell and humoral responses are mounted by chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients in response to recombinant and inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. In this study, we aimed to explore the cellular and humoral responses, and the safety of recombinant and inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in CKD patients. Methods: 79 CKD and 420 non-CKD individuals, who completed a full course of vaccination, were enrolled in the study. Adverse events (AEs) were collected via a questionnaire. Cellular and humoral responses were detected at 1, 3, and 6 months, including IgG antibody against the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (anti-RBD-IgG), neutralizing antibodies (NAbs), the positive rate of NAbs and anti-RBD-IgG, RBD-atypical memory B cells (MBCs) (CD3 − CD19 + RBD + CD21 − CD27−), RBD-activated MBCs (CD3 − CD19 + RBD + CD21 − CD27+), RBD-resting MBCs (CD3 − CD19 + RBD + CD21 + CD27+), and RBD-intermediate MBCs (CD3 − CD19 + RBD + CD21 + CD27−). Results: We found no differences in the positivity rates of NAbs (70.89% vs. 79.49%, p = 0.212) and anti-RBD IgG (72.15% vs. 83.33%, p = 0.092) between the CKD and control groups. A total of 22 CKD individuals completed the full follow-up (1, 3, and 6 months). Significant and sustained declines were found at 3 months in anti-RBD IgG (26.64 BAU/mL vs. 9.08 BAU/mL, p < 0.001) and NAbs (161.60 IU/mL vs. 68.45 IU/mL p < 0.001), and at 6 months in anti-RBD IgG (9.08 BAU/mL vs. 5.40 BAU/mL, p = 0.064) and NAbs (68.45 IU/mL vs. 51.03 IU/mL, p = 0.001). Significant differences were identified in MBC subgroups between CKD patients and healthy controls, including RBD-specific atypical MBCs (60.5% vs. 17.9%, p < 0.001), RBD-specific activated MBCs (36.3% vs. 14.8%, p < 0.001), RBD-specific intermediate MBCs (1.24% vs. 42.6%, p < 0.001), and resting MBCs (1.34% vs. 22.4%, p < 0.001). Most AEs in CKD patients were mild (grade 1 and 2) and self-limiting. One patient with CKD presented with a recurrence of nephrotic syndrome after vaccination. Conclusions: The recombinant and inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine was well-tolerated and showed a good response in the CKD cohort. Our study also revealed differences in MBC subtypes after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination between CKD patients and healthy controls.

Heterogeneity of antibody responses has been reported in SARS-CoV-2 vaccination recipients with underlying diseases. We investigated the impact of the presence of comorbidities on the humoral response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in patients with chronic disease (PWCD) and assessed the effect of the number of comorbidities on the humoral response to vaccination. In this study, neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) and IgG antibodies against the receptor-binding domain (RBD-IgG) were monitored following a full-course vaccination. In total, 1400 PWCD (82.7%, inactivated vaccines; 17.3%, subunit recombinant vaccine) and 245 healthy controls (65.7% inactivated vaccines, 34.3% subunit recombinant vaccine) vaccinated with inactivated or subunit recombinant SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, were included. The seroconversion and antibody levels of the NAbs and RBD-IgG were different in the PWCD group compared with those in the control group. Chronic hepatitis B (odds ratio [OR]: 0.65; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.46-0.93), cancer (OR: 0.65; 95% CI: 0.42-0.99), and diabetes (OR: 0.50; 95% CI: 0.28-0.89) were associated with lower seroconversion of NAbs. Chronic kidney disease (OR: 0.29; 95% CI: 0.11-0.76), cancer (OR: 0.38; 95% CI: 0.23-0.62), and diabetes (OR: 0.37; 95% CI: 0.20-0.69) were associated with lower seroconversion of RBD-IgG. Only the presence of autoimmune disease showed significantly lower NAbs and RBD-IgG titers. Patients with most types of chronic diseases showed similar responses to the controls, but humoral responses were still significantly associated with the presence of ≥2 coexisting diseases. Our study suggested that humoral responses following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination are impaired in patients with certain chronic diseases. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Background: 30% of patients with hypokalemia develop ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation. Through clinical observation, we found that there are more patients with hypokalemia after surgical treatment of urinary calculi; as far as we know, there is no study on the changes of serum potassium after intracavitary treatment of urinary calculi. Objective: The change of electrolyte level through intracavitary treatment of urinary calculi (including URSL, PCNL, FURS combined with double endoscopy). To analyze the risk factors of hypokalemia and to provide evidence-based medical evidence for peri-operative management of intracavitary treatment of urinary calculi. Methods: 585 patients with urolithiasis (including URSL, MPCNL, FURS) from January 2020 to August 2021 were collected and analyzed. The relationship between age, sex, basic diseases, clinical manifestations, mode of operation, operation time, urinary leukocyte, urine culture, serum creatinine, electrolyte, location and size of urinary calculi and serum potassium were analyzed, and the independent risk factors were analyzed. Results: Among the 228 eligible patients, the proportion of women with HK was 63% higher than that of 37% in NG group, 3% in diabetic patients with HK, lower than that in NG group, 14.1% white blood cells in urine of HK (188.5 / ul) was higher than that of NG (96.4 / ul), and the serum creatinine (76mmol/L) before HK was lower than that of NG (85mmol/L). There was no significant difference between the two groups in age, BMI, basic diseases complicated with hypertension and coronary heart disease, clinical manifestations of low back pain and fever, positive urine culture before operation, anti-infection, blood magnesium, blood sodium, blood glucose, stone size, urine red blood cell count and operation time. Compared with men, women had diabetes. The OR values of ureteroscopy and flexible ureteroscope relative to percutaneous nephroscope and urinary leukocyte ≥ 120 / uL were 2.325, 7.793, 3.993, 2.09, respectively. Conclusion: Female, diabetes, ureteroscope, flexible ureteroscope and urinary calculi with elevated white blood cells may develop hypokalemia during the peri-operative period, so we should pay attention to blood potassium supplement.

Canonical transient receptor potential-6 (TRPC6) has been reported to be involved in cell damage after ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in target organs. While the effect and of TRPC6 on pyroptosis in renal I/R injury remain unclear. In our study, we first established the renal I/R mouse model and oxygen-glucose deprivation and re-oxygenation (OGD/R) cell model, and investigated the impacts of TRPC6 on the pyroptosis-related proteins using CCK-8, western blot, ELISA, and immunofluorescence probes. Besides, we also explored the mechanism of TRPC6 in pyroptosis of renal tubular epithelial cells through A20 knockdown or overexpression and zinc chloride (ZnCl

Summary Observational studies on dietary or circulating magnesium and risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) stage 1–4 have reported no-to-modest inverse associations. 24 h Urinary magnesium concentration (24 h UMg), an indicator of intestinal magnesium absorption, may provide better insight into the connection of CKD progression. We examined 3179 participants aged 18–74 years with CKD stage 1–4 in the Chinese Cohort Study of Chronic Kidney Disease (C-STRIDE) study, a prospective population-based cohort study. Data were analysed using Spearman rank-order correlation coefficients for all comparisons. We also performed a time-to-event analysis of the data using the Kaplan–Meier survival model, Cox proportional hazard model and competing risk Fine and Gray subdistribution hazard model. During a median follow-up of 4.19 years (interquartile range, 3.43–5.09 years), when modelling end-stage renal disease (ESRD), CVD and death, 24 h UMg was associated with risk of CVD (HR, 1.612 (95% CI, 1.056–2.460)), while no significant association with ESRD and death endpoints could be detected. 24 h UMg risk variants display a modest association with CVD in CKD stage 1–4 patients. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT03041987. Registered January 1, 2012. (retrospectively registered) ( https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03041987?term=Chinese+Cohort+Study+of+Chronic+Kidney+Disease+%28C-STRIDE%29&rank=1 ).

Because of the problems such as the long work cycle and manual efficiency faced by the traditional manual inspection and video monitoring inspection methods of substations, this paper proposes an electrical equipment identification algorithm that improves the Fast RCNN network to realize automatic identification and positioning of electrical equipment. We used affine transformation, background fusion, hue and saturation change, clipping and filling methods to enrich images and change the feature extraction network from VGG16 to ResNet50 with residual structure so that the feature extraction network can focus on specific anchor frames, and then used K-means clustering algorithm in the regional recommendation network to increase the convergence speed of the model, in this way, the improved anchoring height-to-width ratio is more suitable for detecting the image of power equipment. The experimental simulation shows that the average detection accuracy of the improved model is better than that of the original model, with the average accuracy mAP reaching 90.04%, and the image detection speed reaching 11 frames/second.

Background: The possibility of an association between Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and cancer has not been thoroughly investigated. Case Presentation: We present a case of ovarian cancer in 58-year-old woman with MS. Radical hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, omentectomy, and pelvic and para-aortic lymph node dissection was performed. Pathohistological analysis and immunohistochemistry confirmed the diagnosis of a clear cell carcinoma of the left ovary, grade Ⅲ, FIGO2014 stage IA. Adjuvant chemotherapy of paclitaxel-carboplatin regimen (paclitaxel 175mg/m2, carboplatin AUC 6, at intervals of 3 weeks) was implemented for 4 courses. Conclusion: The occurrence of ovarian cancer in MS patients may be coincidental. Nevertheless, the longterm use of immunosuppressive and/or immunomodulatory drugs in MS and the incidence of cancer may be associated.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a common neurodegenerative disease with high morbidity among elderly people. A genetic attribution has been extensively proved. Here, we propose to further prioritize genes that harbor single nucleotide variation (SNV) or structural variation (SV) for AD and explore the underlying potential mechanisms through exploiting their expression and methylation spectra. A high-confidence AD-associated candidate gene list was obtained from the ClinVar and Human Gene Mutation Database (HGMD). Genome-wide methylation and expression profiles of AD and normal subjects were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). Through comprehensive comparison of expression and methylation levels between AD and normal samples, as well as different stages of AD samples, SORL1 was identified as the most plausible gene for AD incidence and progression. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) revealed significant activation of the ABC (ATP binding cassette) transporter with the aberrant up-regulation of SORL1 within AD samples. This study unfolds the expression and methylation spectra of previously probed genes with SNV or SV in AD for the first time, and reports an aberrant activation of the ABC transporter pathway that might contribute to AD progression. This should shed some light on AD diagnosis and precision treatment.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect and clinical value of a new type of integrated suctioning semi-rigid ureteroscopic lithotripsy for treating ureteral calculi. METHODS: Retrospective analysis the clinic data of 180 patients who underwent surgery for ureteral calculi from May 2019 to October 2020 in our department, which was divided into three groups, 60 cases each. Group A used traditional semi-rigid ureteroscopic lithotripsy, group B used a suctioning semi-rigid ureteroscopic lithotripsy with a sheath being connected to a vacuum device; group C used a new type of suctioning integrated rigid ureteroscopic lithotripsy with a novelly designed ureteroscope. RESULTS: One hundred and sixty-four cases of ureteroscopic lithotripsy were completed in one stage, and the remaining 16 cases were converted to other surgical methods due to difficulty in placing a suctioning sheath or entering the ureteroscope due to ureteral stricture. Compared with group A, group C had a higher rate of stone stone-clearance rate at 30 days after surgery, a shorter operation time and fewer hospitalization days (PCONCLUSIONS: Compared with the other two types, the new type suctioning integrated semi-rigid ureteroscopic lithotripsy has certain advantages including reduced operation time and length of hospital stay, and higher level of minimally invasiveness for upper urinary calculi.

Objective. The objective is to explore the clinical application value of ultrasound long- and short-axis planar technology in real-time guided puncture in minimally invasive percutaneous nephrology. Methods. The clinical data of 80 patients undergoing real-time ultrasound-guided minimally invasive percutaneous nephrolithotomy from September 2018 to October 2019 were analyzed. The patients were randomly divided into 2 groups with different ultrasound-guided puncture techniques, long-axis in-plane technique and short-axis out-of-plane technique. Results. Minimally invasive percutaneous nephrolithotomies under real-time ultrasound guidance were successfully completed in both groups of patients. The success rate of the first puncture in the short-axis out-of-plane group was significantly higher than that in the long-axis in-plane group, and the differences were statistically significant ( P .05). Conclusion. Ultrasound long-axis and short-axis planar technologies can achieve good clinical application results in real-time guided puncture to establish percutaneous renal channels during minimally invasive percutaneous nephrolithotomy. Compared with the long-axis in-plane technique, the short-axis out-of-plane technique can shorten the puncture time and improve the success rate of the first puncture.

Purpose: The present study aimed to investigate the comprehensive differential expression profile of microRNAs (miRNAs) by screening for miRNA expression in ischemic stroke and normal samples. Methods: Differentially expressed miRNA (DEM) analysis was conducted using limma R Bioconductor package. Target genes of DEMs were identified from TargetScanHuman and miRTarBase databases. Functional enrichment analysis of the target genes was performed using clusterProfiler R Bioconductor package. The miRNA-based ischemic stroke diagnostic signature was constructed via logistic regression analysis. Results: Compared with the normal cohort, a total of 14 DEMs, including 5 up-regulated miRNAs and 9 down-regulated miRNAs, were identified in ischemic stroke patients. These DEMs have 1600 regulatory targets. Using a logistic regression model, the top five miRNAs were screened for constructing an miRNA-based ischemic stroke diagnostic signature. Using the miRNA–mRNA interaction pairs, two target genes (specificity protein 1 (SP1) and Argonaute 1 (AGO1)) were speculated to be the primary genes of ischemic stroke. Discussion and conclusion: Here, several potential miRNAs biomarkers were identified and an miRNA-based diagnostic signature for ischemic stroke was established, which can be a valuable reference for future clinical researches.

Background It is unclear whether short‐term blood pressure variability is associated with renal outcomes in patients with chronic kidney disease. Methods and Results This study analyzed data from participants in the C‐ STRIDE (Chinese Cohort Study of Chronic Kidney Disease) who had chronic kidney disease stages 1 to 4. Short‐term blood pressure variability was measured by calculating the weighted SD (w‐ SD ) of systolic blood pressure ( SBP ). Renal outcomes were defined as dialysis initiation and/or transplantation. Risk factors associated with w‐ SD of SBP were evaluated by linear regression. Associations of short‐term SBP variability with renal outcomes were evaluated by Cox regression. In total, 1421 patients with chronic kidney disease were included in this study (mean age, 49.4±13.6 years; 56.2% men; estimated glomerular filtration rate, 50.5±29.3 mL/min per 1.73 m 2 ; proteinuria, 0.9 [0.3–2.0] g/d). Mean w‐ SD of SBP was 12.6±4.4 mm Hg. w‐ SD of SBP was independently associated with older age, 24‐hour SBP , blood pressure circadian pattern, and angiotensin II receptor blocker treatment. During a median follow‐up of 4.9 years, 237 patients developed renal outcomes (37.01 per 1000 patient‐years). The incidence rate increased across the quartiles of w‐ SD (log‐rank P =0.005). w‐ SD of SBP was associated with an increased risk of renal outcomes, both as a continuous variable (hazard ratio [HR], 1.47; 95% CI, 1.09–1.99) and as a categorical variable (quartile 4 versus quartile 1: HR, 1.60; 95% CI, 1.08–2.36), independent of 24‐hour SBP , daytime SBP , and nighttime SBP . Conclusions Short‐term SBP was independently associated with the risk of dialysis initiation and/or transplantation in patients with chronic kidney disease .

Background End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is the most severe stage during the development of the renal failure. And depression is the most common psychological disorder in patients with ESRD, which in turn aggravates the progression of renal failure and seriously reduce the quality of life in ESRD patients with depression, but its underlying mechanism remains unclear. This study aimed to reveal the pathogenesis and discover novel peripheral biomarkers for ESRD with depression through metabolomics analysis.Methods Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography tandem quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF-MS) was used to explore changes of serum metabolites among healthy controls (n = 12), ESRD patients (n = 17), and ESRD patients with depression (n = 17). Also, the differential metabolites between groups were subjected to clustering analysis, pathway analysis, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.Results A total of 57 significant serum differential metabolites were identified between the ESRD without depression group and the ESRD with depression group, which were involved in 19 metabolic pathways, such as energy metabolism, glycerolipid metabolism and glutamate-centered metabolism. Moreover, the area under the ROC curve of Gentisic acid, Uric acid, 5-HT, 2-Phosphoglyceric acid, Leucyl-phenylalanine, Propenoyl carnitine, Malaoxon, Pregnenolone, 6-Thioxanthine 5'-monophosphate, Hydroxyl ansoprazole, Zileuton O-glucuronide, Cabergoline, PA (16:0/18:2(9Z,12Z)), PG (18:0/18:1(11Z)), probucol, etc. and their combination was greater than 0.90.Conclusions Inflammation, oxidative stress and metabolic abnormalities in energy metabolism, glycerolipid metabolism and glutamate-centered metabolism may be associated with the pathogenesis of ESRD with depression, which may be promising targets for therapy. Furthermore, the identified differential metabolites may serve as biomarkers for the diagnosis of ESRD patients with depression.

Dermatological manifestations are common in systemic diseases, such as chronic kidney disease. The present study investigated the clinical features and possible influencing factors of pruritus in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF). A total of 382 inpatients were enrolled from the Department of Nephrology at The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University. A total of 138 subjects were hemodialysis patients, 41 were peritoneal dialysis patients, and 203 were chronic renal failure patients. The patients' clinical performance was observed, and the data was recorded for analysis. The prevalence of pruritus in hemodialysis patients was greater than that in peritoneal dialysis patients. A total of 187 patients were accompanied by xerodermia and 109 patients had pruritus at the same time. With effective and regular dialysis, pruritus could be alleviated in 40% of patients. The intensity of pruritus in the enrolled patients ranged from mild itching to irritability during day and night periods. Moreover, pruritus was intermittent or persistent, and/or limited to generalized. Following treatment, 35% of patients had poor results. A significant difference was noted in the levels of serum urea nitrogen, creatinine, serum phosphorus, calcium × phosphorus, and parathyroid hormone (PTH) between patients with pruritus and non-pruritus. Xerodermia is a common skin manifestation in patients with chronic renal failure and is associated with the occurrence of pruritus. Local cold and heat stimulation can relieve pruritus to some extent, and adequate hemodialysis can also relieve itching.

The local mean decomposition method is effective in analyzing non-linear and non-stationary data, and it is suitable for the detection of power quality disturbance signals. The endpoint effect caused by the method is studied, and the original method is improved for the problem that the disturbance signal cannot be accurately located. An improved Local Mean Decomposition (ILMD) method is proposed. ILMD uses cubic spline interpolation instead of smoothing to obtain local mean function and envelope estimation function. Radial Basis Function (RBF) neural network is used to extend the information at both ends of the data, which improves the endpoint effect. Combined with Hilbert transform, the instantaneous frequency of power quality disturbance signal can be more accurately calculated. The improved method is also applicable to disturbance signals with weak periodic law, and has less requirement for disturbance signal conditions and universal applicability. The effectiveness of ILMD is validated by simulation examples and the measured data of voltage signal at low voltage side of 35kV bus transformer in a wind farm.

Flexible ureteroscopic lithotripsy (URS) is rapidly becoming a first-line therapy for patients with renal and ureteral calculi. Most current medical infusion devices can only monitor infusion flow and pressure, but not renal pelvic pressure (RPP).We designed a patented intelligent system to facilitate flexible URS that included an irrigation and suctioning platform and a ureteral access sheath (UAS) with a pressure-sensitive tip, enabling regulation of the infusion flow precisely and control of the vacuum suctioning by computerized real-time recording and monitoring of RPP. A stable RPP was ensured by pressure feedback technology. Ninety-three patients with renal or ureteral calculi participated in the study and received flexible URS. Gravel particles were sucked out automatically during the flexible URS. Patients were evaluated on postoperative days 1 and 30 by X-ray of kidneys, ureters, and bladder to assess stone-free status.In 81 of the 93 patients, only one surgery was needed to remove the stone. There were nine cases who failed the first surgery due to difficulty in placing the UAS, but flexible URS was performed in these patients after indwelling a Double-J stent to the ureter with the calculus for 2 weeks. Three cases were converted to percutaneous nephrolithotomy due to significant ureteral stenosis. For the 90 patients who underwent flexible URS, the actual RPP was controlled under 20 mmHg with clear operative visualization. The stone-free rates at postoperative days 1 and 30 were 90.0% (81/90) and 95.6% (86/90), respectively. Clavien I complications were noted in 13 cases, while Clavien II complications were noted in two cases. No major complications (Clavien III-V) were noted.Our patented system is technically feasible, safe, and efficient for treating upper urinary calculi. The advantages include breaking stones effectively and low complication rates because of its automatic control of RPP.

With the increasing number of non-linear loads and impact loads in the actual power grid, power quality problems are becoming more and more serious. Accurate and rapid identification of power quality disturbance signals is of great significance for improving the power quality and ensuring stable operation of the power grid. For this reason, this paper proposes a multi-resolution analysis of wavelet transform and a combination of sample entropy to extract the characteristics of power quality disturbance signals. The classification effect is better than the initial samples. The weighted optimization random forest classifier is used to classify the features, which reduces the error caused by the mode voting method of the random forest. The simulation and actual test results show that the power quality disturbances detection algorithm based on sample entropy and weighted optimization random forest has better classification accuracy than the decision tree, extreme random tree and traditional random forest.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized progressive memory loss and cognitive impairment. In previous studies, the activities of extracts of Chinese medicinal herbs to treat brain function disorders caused by AD have already been reported. ZiShen prescription was a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) compound prescription reformed for AD disease based on the basic theory of TCM. To explore the effect of ZiShen (kidney-reinforcing) prescription on the learning and memory abilities, we made compound AD model rats by injecting d-galactose and ibotenic acid into the abdominal cavity to damage both sides of the nucleus basalis of Meynert with ibotenic acid. The trisected Y-maze was used to test the learning and memory abilities of AD model rats before and after treatment by ZiShen prescription and Piracetam. To investigate the mechanism of ZiShen prescription, the expressions of apoptosis-related genes (Bcl-2/Bax) in the cortex and hippocampus of compound AD model rats were detected in the cortex and hippocampus. The results show that, comparing with Piracetam, a clinical medicine to promote the thinking and memory for AD patients, ZiShen prescription significantly increased the learning and memory abilities of the compound AD model rats. After the treatment of ZiShen prescription, the expression of Bcl-2 was upregulated, along with a downregulation of Bax in the cortex and hippocampus of compound AD model rats. And the results indicated that the clinical benefits of ZiShen prescription were slightly better than Piracetam. Still, further well-designed studies are required to ensure the clinical effect of ZiShen.

In the era of information explosion, processing and analyzing large-scale and high-dimensional data sets has become a big challenge for data mining and machine learning. In order to obtain and intuitively understand the information underlying the big data, an effective visualization technique is on demand. Many successful visualization techniques project high-dimensional data sets into low-dimensional spaces so that we can present data points in scatter plots, histograms or parallel coordinate plots. In this paper, we propose a new algorithm called PCNE, the algorithm first performs a probabilistic clustering algorithm for coarse classification on the data sets, and then reconstruct the joint probability with the heuristic information of classification results and neighborhood relationship. Our experimental results on the public data sets demonstrate that the PCNE algorithm outperforms the classical embedding algorithms in revealing both local and global structures of data.

Introduction: Sepsis is a deleterious, systemic inflammatory response to infection. Despite advances in treatment, the mortality rate of sepsis remains high. Recently, a new definition has been punished as "life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection" in sepsis-3. Here, we hypothesized that metabolite changes in plasma could be used to study sepsis and patients complicated by organ dysfunction. Methods: Plasma samples from 31 patients with sepsis and 23 healthy individuals of matching age, Body Mass Index(BMI), and gender were collected. We used gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for global metabolic profiling. Then, according to organ dysfunction, plasma samples of sepsis patients were regrouped into acute kidney injury (AKI), acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), sepsis-induced myocardial dysfunction (SIMD), and acute hepatic ischemia(AHI). The other samples were regrouped as controls. The predicted metabolic pathways were from KEGG data. Student's t-test was employed to identify the metabolites and predicted metabolic pathways that significantly differed between septic patients and healthy controls. Results: A total of 222 metabolites were detected, which included 124 metabolites that statistically differed between individuals with sepsis and the controls. In addition, approximately 158 metabolic pathways were predicted, of which 74 were significant. Further subgroup analysis identified seven metabolites in AKI, three metabolites in ARDS, seven metabolites in SIMD, and four metabolites in AHI that were significantly different in metabolite. The results showed that the septic samples exhibited extensive changes in amino acids, fatty acids, and TCA-cycle products. In addition, three metabolic pathways — namely, energy metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and lipid metabolism—were downregulated in sepsis patients. Some metabolites such as phenylalanine and glutamine may be the crucial metabolites that are involved in the progression from sepsis to MODS.. Conclusions: GC-MS detection and metabolomic analysis of serum samples of sepsis patients resulted in the identification of metabolites and metabolic pathways related to sepsis and sepsis-associated organ dysfunction. Three important metabolic pathways (energy metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and lipid metabolism) were downregulated in sepsis patients. These findings may serve as novel clinical evidence for the dysregulated internal environment, particularly involving energy metabolism that results in sepsis. Funding Statement: This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation grants of China (81873928, to FX, 81801894 to SH-L, 81873604 to XH-L), Basic science and cutting-edge technology research projects of Chongqing Science & Technology Commission (cstc2016jcyjA0005, to FX),Special fund of social undertakings and people’s livelihood guarantee of Chongqing science and technology commission(cstc2017shmsA130072, to FX), the Scientific and Technological Research Program of Chongqing Municipal Education Commission (KJ1702034, to FX), Medical research project of Chongqing City Health and Family Planning committee(2017ZDXM007, to FX) and Chinese medicine science and technology project of Chongqing City Health and Family Planning committee(ZY201702071, to FX) Declaration of Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Ethics Approval Statement: This study was approved by the Ethics Committees of the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University. (2016-34)

The study of Chinese nature tourism is a relatively independent research realm which adopts a cultural perspective to study the tourist experience. Chinese tourists are regarded as being accustomed to experiencing nature through associating it with high culture such as landscape poetry and paintings, calligraphy, and so on, and the impacts of traditional popular culture are seldom addressed. Yet, for the majority of Chinese, popular culture has significant influences on their behavior. From a cultural divergence approach, this paper chooses Huangshan Mountain as a case to investigate the way common Chinese people experience nature, and it is found that cultural impacts are differentiated, since neither cultures nor tourist groups are homogeneous. Specifically, tourists can be classified into classicists and folklorists according to whether they have professional knowledge about the traditional arts. As the majority of Chinese are folklorists and are largely neglected in the research, they are the main int...

When proceeding new employee orientation training in electrical industry, it is indispensable to lead new workers in a safe environment. However, due to the deficiency in the skill and stressfulness in mind, most freshmen would not conduct proper operation on the substation device, which would cause heavily person injury and grid accident. To that end, we proposed and established a virtual simulation system of 500kV substation. With the latest technology adopted, our system can bring the immersive experience to the trainees. The system has fulfilled the substation roaming and animation demonstration; The system implements the parameter display of the substation equipment and the simultaneous speech reading; The bottom of the system is well developed and extensible, which lays the foundation for the development of the incoming functions. Through experiments, the system meets the requirements of substation training, which can be used for new employee training and undergraduate cognitive learning.

Virtual reality technology has been widely used by constructing a virtual space to simulate and restore the real world. The system uses 3ds MAX and Unity3D software to establish a 500kV substation virtual simulation system. The system completely establishes the 3D models of primary and secondary equipment of 500kV substations, and truly restores the overall layout of the substations. At the same time, the Unity3D engine, VR technology and interactive equipment are used at the same time to make this system able to provide trainees with an immersive training experience, which is more realistic than the application over the same period. The system completes the realization of substation training, station roaming and fault simulation functions, including substation equipment technical parameter display and synchronous voice introduction, interface design, basic operation, and fault phenomenon simulation; the infrastructure of the system is developed well and has strong expandability, which lays a foundation for subsequent function development. This system satisfies the substation training needs and can be used for related staff training of substations and to help students in electrical major to gain cognitive learning.

Netrin-1 has been found to protect kidneys from ischemia/reperfusion injury. In this study, we aimed to address whether the protective effects were mediated through suppression of oxidative stress and neuropeptide Y. Compared to sham-operated animals, animals after ischemia/reperfusion showed marked kidney damage and significantly increased levels of serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, malondialdehyde, and neuropeptide Y. Renal myeloperoxidase activity was elevated in animals with ischemia/reperfusion relative to sham-operated animals, whereas renal superoxide dismutase activity was reduced. Netrin-1 pretreatment attenuated ischemia/reperfusion-induced functional and pathological changes in the kidney. Moreover, the ischemia/reperfusion-induced changes in the oxidative stress biomarkers and neuropeptide Y were significantly counteracted by prior administration of netrin-1. Taken together, our data showed that netrin-1 pretreatment prevented renal ischemia/reperfusion injury, at least partially through reduction of oxidative stress and neuropeptide Y expression.

Background There are still disagreements on which is a better approach to choose to establish percutaneous tract for percutaneous nephrolitotomy (PCNL), between supracostal and infracostal approaches. The aim of this study is to investigate the safety, efficacy and practicability of minimally invasive PCNL (MPCNL) with the aid of a patented system either through supracostal or through infracostal access. Methods A retrospective study was carried out for 83 patients with renal or upper ureteral stones. Under the guidance of B ultrasound or C-arm, these patients were treated by MPCNL through either 12th rib infracostal (Group 1, 43 cases) or supracostal (Group 2, 40 cases) access approach. These 2 groups were compared for total number of percutaneous tracts, average time in establishing a given percutaneous tract, the number of percutaneous tract used for each case, the average stone clearance time, the clearance rate of all stones by one surgery, and the amount of bleeding using a single percutaneous tract. Results There was a significantly smaller total number of percutaneous tracts needed, a smaller number of cases that needed two percutaneous tracts to clear stones completely, a shorter average time in establishing a percutaneous tract, and a smaller average amount of bleeding in infracostal access group. At the same time, there were a significantly larger number of cases in which stones were cleared completely using a single percutaneous tract and a higher renal stone clearance rate by one surgery. Conclusion There were several advantages of infracostal access. These included accuracy in establishing a percutaneous tract, safety, quickness, convenience and flexibility in moving the patented sheath, and higher renal and upper ureteral stone clearance rate by one surgery.