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Osteoarthritis (OA) has the highest disability rate among chronic diseases. The burden on patients and public health care resources is increasingly evident due to increasing obesity rates and aging populations. So, there is still a lack of early diagnosis and treatment for OA.A total of three OA cartilage tissue datasets (GSE1919, GSE32317, and GSE5235) were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Screening of differentially expressed genes and WGCNA of overlapping genes were performed using the R language package. Functional and immune infiltration analyses of overlapping genes were also carried out while hub genes were screened through LASSO regression analysis method and ROC curve. Finally, experimental validation was carried out through PCR and Western Blot analysis of rat cartilage.A total of 149 differentially expressed genes were screened, and they were mainly enriched in the cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, rheumatoid arthritis, and interleukin (IL-17) signaling pathways. Four co-expression modules were obtained, of which the blue module was the most substantial morbidity associated with OA. Thirteen overlapping genes were identified based on significant module network topology analysis and differential genes, upon which their validation through LASSO regression analysis method and ROC curve was performed. From these, five signature genes were determined, before three potential core genes were finally identified after confirmation using the validation set.ATF3, FOSL2, and GADD45B may be hub genes to the osteochondropathy, and they are expected to be new biomarkers and drug targets in OA research.

Adenosine, as an endogenous purine nucleoside, is widely distributed in various tissues and organs of the body. It binds to adenosine receptors to regulate a variety of important biological processes. Adenosine 2A receptors have a close relationship with the occurrence and development of various clinical diseases. This article reviews the research progress of adenosine 2A receptors in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, acute immune hepatitis, liver ischemia-reperfusion injury, liver fibrosis, etc., in order to provide new research strategies for the prevention and treatment of these diseases.腺苷，作为一种内源性嘌呤核苷，广泛分布于全身各组织器官，与腺苷受体结合，调节多种重要的生物过程，其中腺苷2A受体与多种临床疾病的发生、发展都有着密切的关系。现主要综述腺苷2A受体在非酒精性脂肪性肝病、急性免疫性肝炎、肝脏缺血-再灌注损伤和肝纤维化等多种肝脏损伤中的作用研究进展，以期为上述疾病的防治研究提供新的策略。.

In the frame of the UNDP-CPR/91/113 development project, which aimed the diversification of fruit crops, sweet cherry was introduced in Shaanxi province from 1994 to 1998. Experts from several countries visited the targeted growing sites, around Xi'an, further on to the north in Tongchuan, Luochuan, Ansai counties to collect information on soil and climatic data, as well as experiences of local farmers on different fruit species. Based on this compiled information Hungarian experts recommended planting cherries on Prunus mahaleb rootstock, because this rootstock tolerates the high pH level, lime content of the soil on loess plateau and is not sensitive to crown gall. This first project was continued later on by the Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University in cooperation with local farmers, companies supported by foreigner experts. By now the project “Introduction of big cherry cultural and processing techniques from Europe and USA” achieved planting of 5,000 ha modern high-density cherry orchard in the province. The model orchards in research stations of the NWA&FU and the Zhouling Agricultural Science and Technology Demonstration Park contributed to the knowledge transfer for farmers and dissemination of the new fruit crop. Besides the Hungarian cherry spindle, Spanish bush, hedgerow systems, V planting and UFO was tested and demonstrated in outdoor and greenhouse conditions too. On the higher elevations of loess plateau (from 600 to 1,600 m) the mahaleb rootstock proved to be tolerant to high pH and lime soil as well as tolerant to crown gall. Establishing the healthy, nuclear stock of the proposed cherry cultivars, accumulated experiences of NWA&FU and foreign experts support the three large nurseries, which can produce yearly around four million trees. This supply of propagating material from domestic sources provides a solid base for the planned new orchards for the future.

280 samples from 14 wild Prunus pseudocerasus populations in China were collected to study their population genetic diversity and structure using 11 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. A total of 82 alleles were detected, and the number of alleles per locus ranged from 4 to 13. The percentage of polymorphic loci (PPL) was 100% in populations. The means of Shannon's information index (I) and Nei's gene diversity (H) were 1.2069 and 0.6440, respectively. About 86.44% of genetic variability was observed within the populations (F(st)=0.1356), indicating that the genetic differentiation was higher within each population than among the populations. According to gene differentiation coefficient, the gene flow (N(m)) was 1.5941. Our study revealed relatively rich genetic diversity in the wild populations of P. pseudocerasus in China. These findings could provide theoretic reference for utilization and conservation of wild P. pseudocerasus resources in China.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation between clinicopathological features and lymph node metastasis, and to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) in early gastric cancer (EGC) by comparing with surgery treatment. METHODS: The clinicopathological data of 320 patients with EGC who were treated in Peking University First Hospital between January 2010 and December 2017 were retrospectively reviewed, in which there were 198 cases of surgical procedure and 122 cases of ESD. Characteristics of lymph node metastasis in EGC were analyzed, and lymph node metastasis of EGC with ESD absolute and expanded indications were summarized. The long-term efficacy of ESD and surgical treatment of EGC were compared to evaluate the rationality of absolute and expanded indications of ESD. RESULTS: Lymph node metastasis was detected in 22 (11.1%) of 198 patients. Univariate analysis showed a positive relationship between tumor size (χ(2)=5.525, P=0.019), depth of invasion(χ(2)=8.235, P=0.004), histological type (χ(2)=6.323, P=0.012), lymphovascular invasion (χ(2)=12.273, P < 0.001) and lymph node metastasis in EGC. Multivariate analysis revealed that depth of invasion(Wald=7.575, P=0.006) and histological type (Wald=6.317, P=0.012) were independent relative factors of lymph node metastasis in EGC. The lymph node metastasis rates of the patients with absolute and expanded ESD indications were both 0%. The 5-year survival rates of the patients who met ESD absolute indication receiving surgery treatment and ESD were 97.6% and 97.9% respectively, and the difference between the two groups was not statistically significant(χ(2)=0.014, P=0.907).The 5-year survival rates of the patients who met ESD expanded indication receiving surgery treatment and ESD were 96.5% and 91.7% respectively, the difference between the two groups was not statistically significant(χ(2)=1.061, P=0.303). CONCLUSION: Lymph node metastasis in EGC is mainly correlated with depth of invasion and histological type. Our data indicate that ESD procedure for EGC is comparable to surgery in terms of long-term efficacy in both absolute and expanded indications. However, some studies of a large sample size are still needed for more confirmation.

Weather radar echo is one of the fundamental data for meteorological workers to weather systems identification and classification. Through the technique of weather radar echo extrapolation, the future short-term weather conditions can be predicted and severe convection storms can be warned. However, traditional extrapolation methods cannot offer accurate enough extrapolation results since their modeling capacity is limited, the recent deep learning based methods make some progress but still remains a problem of blurry prediction when making deeper extrapolation, which may due to they choose the mean square error as their loss function and that will lead to losing echo details. To address this problem and make a more realistic and accurate extrapolation, we propose a deep learning model called Adversarial Extrapolation Neural Network (AENN), which is a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) structure and consist of a conditional generator and two discriminators, echo-frame discriminator and echo-sequence discriminator. The generator and discriminators are trained alternately in an adversarial way to make the final extrapolation results be realistic and accurate. To evaluate the model, we conduct experiments on extrapolating 0.5h, 1h, and 1.5h imminent future echoes, the results show that our proposed AENN can achieve the expected effect and outperforms other models significantly, which has a powerful potential application value for short-term weather forecasting.

Aberrant microRNAs (miRNAs) play vital roles in various human diseases, including atherosclerosis (AS). MiR-647 expression was highly elevated in AS samples. Therefore, this study aimed at exploring the role and mechanism of miR-647 on AS progression.Human aorta vascular smooth muscle cells (HA-VSMCs) were treated with oxidized modified low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) to establish the AS model in vitro. The qRT-PCR assay was used to detect the expression of miR-647 and PTEN mRNA. The levels of PTEN protein, PI3K, AKT, p-PI3K, and p-AKT were measured using Western blot. Cell proliferation and migration were determined by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay and transwell assay, respectively. The target of miR-647 was verified using the dual-luciferase reporter assay.Our data supported that miR-647 was upregulated and PTEN was downregulated in the serum of AS patients and ox-LDL-treated HA-VSMCs. The proliferation and migration of ox-LDL-treated HA-VSMCs were promoted by miR-647 overexpression or PTEN knockdown, while they were suppressed following miR-647 depletion or high PTEN expression. Moreover, PTEN was a direct target of miR-647. PTEN antagonized miR-647-mediated regulatory effects on cell proliferation and migration. Additionally, the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway was involved in miR-647/PTEN-mediated regulation in ox-LDL-treated HA-VSMCs.MiR-647 promoted the proliferation and migration of ox-LDL-treated HA-VSMCs at least partly by targeting the PTEN/PI3K/AKT pathway. Targeting miR-647 may be a promising method for AS treatment.

The non-uniform electric field (E-field) distribution is typically considered a key factor in triggering surface flashover inside gas insulated lines (GILs). To improve the surface E-field distribution along GIL insulators, this study proposed the concept of an interfacial E-field self-regulating (IER) insulator. In this paper, cone-type insulators were coated with epoxy (EP)/SiC composites to fabricate IER insulators. Next, an electrical simulation model was built to calculate the E-field distributions and energy losses of different insulators. As the coating thickness or SiC content increases, the E-field regulation function of the EP/SiC coated insulator becomes increasingly significant with increasing leakage current and energy loss. The DC flashover voltage of the EP/SiC coated insulator was found to be higher than that of the conventional insulator, with the flashover voltage increasing with the SiC content in the coating layer.

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of small nucleolar RNA host gene 8 (SNHG8) in the pathogenesis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma and to explore the possible underlying mechanism.SNHG8 expression in 40 pairs of pancreatic adenocarcinoma tissues and para-cancerous tissues, as well as 10 normal pancreas tissues was detected by quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR). Survival analysis was conducted to explore the correlation between SNHG8 expression and the prognosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients. After the transfection of SNHG8 siRNA into pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells, the proliferation and cell cycle were detected by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay and flow cytometry, respectively. Meanwhile, cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry and Western blot. The regulatory effect of SNHG8 on the chemo-sensitivity of pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells was assessed by CCK-8 assay.The expression of SNHG8 in pancreatic adenocarcinoma tissues was significantly higher than that of para-cancerous tissues and normal pancreatic tissues. Pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients with higher expression of SHNG8 presented shorter overall survival than those with lower expression. Meanwhile, SNHG8 expression was correlated with tumor stage and differentiation level, whereas not correlated with age, sex, tumor location and lymph node metastasis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients. In vitro results showed that SNHG8 knockdown significantly decreased the proliferative ability, prolonged G0/G1 phase and increased the apoptosis of Hs766T and PANC-1 cells. Western blot results elucidated that SNHG8 knockdown remarkably downregulated the protein expression levels of cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved PARP in Hs766T and PANC-1 cells. In addition, SNHG8 significantly decreased the chemo-sensitivity of pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells.SNHG8 is highly expressed in pancreatic adenocarcinoma tissues and is negatively correlated with its prognosis. Moreover, SNHG8 promotes cell proliferation and cell cycle, whereas inhibits cell apoptosis and reduces the chemo-sensitivity of pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells.

The occurrence rate of delayed fracture healing in diabetes mellitus patients is high. Transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) is an important regulatory factor in bone tissue repair and regeneration. However, TGF-β1 expression and its function in diabetic patient fracture have not been fully elucidated.Type 2 diabetes fracture patients (T2DM group), fracture patients without diabetes (non-T2DM group), and healthy volunteers (Control group) were selected for the research. TGF-β1 expression in peripheral blood was detected by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Osteoblast cell line, MG-63 cells, were randomly divided into Control, high glucose group, and TGF-β1 group. TGF-β1 expression was evaluated by using Real Time-PCR (RT-PCR). Cell proliferation was evaluated by using 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Cell apoptosis activity was determined with caspase-3 activity and flow cytometry assay. The effect of TGF-β1 on NF-κB was detected by using Western blot.TGF-β1 was significantly reduced in patients of T2DM and non-T2DM groups compared with Control (p0.05), while it was lower in T2DM group (p0.05). TGF-β1 expression was declined, cell proliferation was inhibited, caspase-3 activity was enhanced, cell apoptosis was elevated, and NF-κB expression was reduced in MG-63 cells of high glucose group compared to Control group (p0.05). TGF-β1 significantly promoted cell proliferation, suppressed caspase-3 activity, alleviated cell apoptosis, and elevated NF-κB expression in MG-63 cells compared with high glucose group (p0.05).TGF-β1 decreased in diabetes fracture patients. Up-regulation of TGF-β1 regulates cell apoptosis and caspase-3 activity, and it facilitates osteoblasts proliferation.

To examine the expression of interleukin-6 (IL-6), interferon-γ (IFN-γ), smooth muscle 22α (SM22α), and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and their possible roles in aortic dissections (AD).Male SD rats (3 weeks) were induced for AD using 0.25% β-aminopropionitrile (BAPN) treatment for 6 weeks and were subsequently divided into the model I (with AD) and model II (no AD). Aorta was separated and observed, while TUNEL staining observed apoptosis of aortic vascular smooth muscle cells. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining measured the positive expression of IL-6, IFN-γ and MMP-2 in aorta tissues, followed by Western blotting for protein expressions of IL-6, IFN-γ, SM22α, MMP-2, and signal transduction factors phosphorylated c-Jun N-terminal kinase (p-JNK) and p-c-Jun.Under an 80% rate of AD formation in model rats, those with AD had significantly higher aorta diameter and apoptosis of aortic vascular smooth muscle cells compared to those without AD or control rats (p0.05). Elastic fiber gap of model I group was increased, accompanied with elastin fiber breakage and disarrangement. Model rats had significantly higher IL-6, IFN-γ, MMP-2, p-JNK, and p-c-Jun expression than control ones, and lower SM22α expression. No significant difference has been found for these parameters between model I and model II subgroups (p0.05). There were significantly positive correlations between IL-6 versus MMP-2, IL-6 versus p-JNK, IFN-γ versus MMP-2, IFN-γ versus p-c-Jun in the model I group (p0.05).IL-6, IFN-γ, and MMP-2 expressed highly in AD. During AD formation, IL-6 and IFN-γ may enhance MMP-2 expression and increase extracellular matrix degradation of aorta vascular wall via JNK signal pathway. The apoptosis and phenotype transformation of vascular smooth muscle cells is likewise correlated with AD formation.

Objective: Early intervention in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) includes health education, smoking cessation, pulmonary rehabilitation and enhancing immunity (administration of influenza vaccine and polysaccharide nucleic acid fraction of bacillus Calmette-Guerin [BCG-PSN]). The effect of early intervention was investigated systematically in patients with COPD at different stages. Methods: We enrolled 422 patients with COPD at different stages without symptoms and then randomly assigned them to intervention and control groups. The intervention group was provided with early intervention and usual care while the control group was only provided with usual care. One year of follow-up was performed to observe forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), FEV1/forced vital capacity (FVC), and the ratio of patients with acute exacerbation (number of patients with acute exacerbation/total of patients). Results: The values of decline in FEV1 and FEV1/FVC were significantly lower in the intervention groups of stage I and II than control groups (all p < 0.05), but not significantly lower in the intervention groups of stage III and IV than control groups (all p > 0.05). The ratios of patients with acute exacerbation were lower in the intervention groups of all the stages than the control groups (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Early intervention could slow the decline of FEV1 and FEV1/FVC in patients with COPD in stages I and II, but not in stages III and IV. Early intervention could also prevent patients with COPD from getting acute exacerbation and improve their quality of life in all the stages of the disease.

Masson pine (Pinus massoniana Lamb) has long been employed as a main source of pine resin in China. To get a better understanding of genetic regulation of resinyielding capacity (RYC), a total of 50 open-pollinated families of masson pine were planted at three testing sites for progeny testing. Investigation was conducted at ages 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 20, 24 and 26 years to study inheritance, age-age genetic correlation, and early selection efficiency for RYC, height (HT), diameter at breast height (DBH) and volume of individual tree (VOL). Growth characteristics increased gradually with age. RYC had a rapid increase at early ages (before age 15) ficients of variations (CV) for four traits showed a decreasing trend with age and the decreasing rate was rapid at early ages and minor at later ages. Heritability for four traits was relatively stable with minor fluctuation. For across-age classes, heritability was the highest for height, intermediate for RYC, and lowest for volume and DBH. RYC had highly positive genetic correlations with three growth characteristics. Genotype-by-environment interaction for four traits was stronger at Yunan than at other testing sites. Age-age genetic correlations were high for four traits studied, reaching 0.7 after age 9 for most analyses. Early selection at age 13 was highly effective for height, age 15 for DBH and volume, and age 11 for RYC.

Sperm competition is recognized as a key event occurring during postcopulatory sexual selection. The evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS) predicts that males in poor condition should invest more heavily in sperm compared with males in good condition. We explored the effects of body condition and season on testes mass in the mole-shrew (Anourosorex squamipes). We used the “scaled mass index” as body condition to analyze the effects of season, body condition and body length on testis size. The results showed that testes mass was greatest in summer. Head body-length also significantly affected testis size in the four seasons. In addition, males in good conditions had relatively heavier testes than those in poor conditions in spring, summer and autumn, but not in winter, suggesting that the finding contradicts the prediction of the evolutionarily stable strategy.

Karst rocky desertification (KRD) is a type of land degradation especially prominent in southwest China. This article analyzes the anthropogenic driving forces of KRD at two scales: rural locality and its macro socio-economic circumstances. At the rural locality scale, the intensive human pressure on land because of a large and fast growing population and unsustainable land use are identified to be the reason for KRD. However, more radical driving forces lie in the farmers' disadvantages in social-economic circumstances, which compel them to overuse rural land. Hukou system, coastal development strategy, and household responsibility system are verified as three important factors in social-economic circumstances. At last, a two-scale framework is constructed to explain how anthropogenic driving forces lead to KRD in southwest China. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Through cost-benefit analysis (CBA), cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) and quantitative optimization analysis to understand the economic benefit and outcomes of strategy regarding preventing mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) on hepatitis B virus.Based on the principle of Hepatitis B immunization decision analytic-Markov model, strategies on PMTCT and universal vaccination were compared. Related parameters of Shenzhen were introduced to the model, a birth cohort was set up as the study population in 2013. The net present value (NPV), benefit-cost ratio (BCR), incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) were calculated and the differences between CBA and CEA were compared.A decision tree was built as the decision analysis model for hepatitis B immunization. Three kinds of Markov models were used to simulate the outcomes after the implementation of vaccination program. The PMTCT strategy of Shenzhen showed a net-gain as 38 097.51 Yuan/per person in 2013, with BCR as 14.37. The universal vaccination strategy showed a net-gain as 37 083.03 Yuan/per person, with BCR as 12.07. Data showed that the PMTCT strategy was better than the universal vaccination one and would end with gaining more economic benefit. When comparing with the universal vaccination program, the PMTCT strategy would save 85 100.00 Yuan more on QALY gains for every person. The PMTCT strategy seemed more cost-effective compared with the one under universal vaccination program. In the CBA and CEA hepatitis B immunization programs, the immunization coverage rate and costs of hepatitis B related diseases were the most important influencing factors. Outcomes of joint-changes of all the parameters in CEA showed that PMTCT strategy was a more cost-effective.The PMTCT strategy gained more economic benefit and effects on health. However, the cost of PMTCT strategy was more than the universal vaccination program, thus it is important to pay attention to the process of PMTCT strategy and the universal vaccination program. CBA seemed suitable for strategy optimization while CEA was better for strategy evaluation. Hopefully, programs as combination of the above said two methods would facilitate the process of economic evaluation.

In order to increase the effectiveness of the kinetic kill vehicle (KKV), control of impact angle is required in the terminal engagement. The purpose of this research is to achieve an optimal guidance law (OGL) with a specified impact angle as well as zero terminal miss distance. An energy OGL based on a simplified mathematical model to achieve the performance of the KKV is presented. Numerical simulation is used to analyse the performance of the guidance law. The results show that the proposed law has higher accuracy, larger capture zone, and lesser energy consumption than the conventional proportional navigation guidance laws. Moreover, the influence of the initial heading angle is discussed, and the capture zone of both the initial heading angle and the terminal impact angle are given.

One of the challenging problems that hinder the development of distributed design systems is the contradiction of large CAD files and the limited speed to share them over the Internet and Web. 3D streaming technique, which can allow effective and efficient dispatch and access of large-volume CAD data as a series of patched streams across the Internet, provides a promising solution to overcome the obstacle. Geometric simplification (or decimation) of 3D models is a key algorithm to realize the streaming technique. In this paper, a new geometric simplification algorithm has been developed, in which two criteria are the crucial elements to control the collapse process for edges in 3D VRML models to reduce the amount of information. After the simplification and sharing of a model, a developed refinement algorithm is carried out to restore the model from its simplified version back to its original, through combining the simplified model with some reconstruction data generated during the simplification process, therefore, to realize the streaming information sharing. The major feature of the simplification algorithm is that it has incorporated some advantages of the previously developed vertex decimation approach and edge collapse approach. Meanwhile, the mechanism of adaptive threshold parameters adopted in this work enhances the adaptability of the algorithm for various applications. Through case studies and comparisons with some related works, the algorithm shows good performance and potentials in terms of effectiveness, adaptability and robustness.

This paper presents a new method for the detection and elimination of global interference in five-axis machining of sculptured surfaces. Projecting points on the surface to the axis of cutter, the minimum distance from surface to cutter axis can be directly calculated by an iterative algorithm; the amount of interference is subsequently determined. A corrective method for generating an interferential-free cutter location is then proposed. The implementation has proved that the proposed method has a high efficiency and precision.

Two-dimensional (2D) FT-IR spectroscopy along with high-resolution and cryogenic techniques was used to investigate the CH 2 rocking bands (750–700 cm −1 ) of high-density polyethylene (HDPE). The 2D asynchronous spectrum shows that multiple forms of orthorhombic polyethylene co-exist in HDPE. Each of the two orthorhombic bands around 730 and 720 cm −1 , is composed of at least two sub-bands. The differences in peak position for the sub-bands are less than 1 cm −1 . The co-existence of multiple orthorhombic polyethylene may be helpful in understanding the variation of the peak positions, bandwidths and relative intensities of the orthorhombic polyethylene bands of polyethylene.

The present study was undertaken to explore the relationship between environmental exposure and risk of uterine leiomyoma in women using an epidemiologic survey.We conducted a case-control survey of premenopausal Han women aged 30-50 years in Nanjing. The subjects included 600 patients with uterine leiomyoma confirmed at the Affiliated Zhongda Hospital of Southeast University between February 2010 and June 2012 and 600 patients with non-uterine leiomyoma or healthy volunteers who presented to the above mentioned hospital for physical examination during the same period. We entered the results into a database and explored the relationship between risk factors and prevalence of uterine leiomyoma using univariate or multivariate non-conditional logistic regression analysis.The results showed that patients aged 40-45 years had a high prevalence of uterine leiomyoma. The prevalence of uterine leiomyoma in subjects with an education beyond high school was higher than in those with a high school education or less. Exposure to plastic products (odds ratio [OR]: 1.481; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.046-2.097); exposure to cosmetics and other chemicals (OR: 1.954; 95% CI: 1.479-2.582); and consumption of soybean milk (OR: 2.518; 95% CI: 1.894-3.347), food additives, sweeteners, and preserved food (OR: 3.166, 95% CI: 2.247-4.461) had a significant effect on the occurrence of uterine leiomyoma (p0.05).Exposure to plastic products, cosmetics, and other chemicals as well as intake of soybean milk, food additives, sweetener, and preserved foods may be risk factors for uterine leiomyoma.

This study aimed to observe the effects of octreotide (OCT) on cisplatin resistance reversal of cancer cells in vitro and in nude mice in vivo. MTT method and flow cytometry were used to investigate the effect of cisplatin, OCT or the combination of these two compounds on the proliferation and apoptosis of SKOV3-DDP cells. The size and weight of xenograft tumors from the nude mice model were measured. Real-time PCR was used to detect the mRNA expression of SSTR2, MDR1, MRP2, GST-pi and EGFR in SKOV3/DDP cells following the different treatment. At the concentration of 2.5-20 g/ml, OCT significantly reduced IC50 (p0.05) and promoted apoptosis (p0.05) of SKOV3-DDP cells' response to cisplatin. Unchanged expression was found in SSTR2 on the SKOV3/DDP cell in vitro after OCT treatment, but increased expression in vivo (p0.05). OCT increased GST-pi expression (p0.05) and reduced MRP2 and EGFR expression (p0.05) in a dose-dependent manner. The similar results were obtained in mice in vivo experiment, except the reduced expression of GST-pi. It is suggested that OCT could inhibit ovarian cancer proliferation and promote apoptosis, via the cell surface SSTR2, and reverse cisplatin resistance through inhibition of MRP2, EGFR, and even GST-pi expressions.

One of the challenging problems that hinder the development of Cloud-based collaborative systems is the contradiction of large design or manufacturing visualization data and the limited bandwidth of the Internet and Web to share the data remotely to support collaborative work. Faster visualization of design and manufacturing models during collaboration has been needed for a long time. Recently, a new scheme for visualization has been presented, viz., the 3D streaming technology. 3D streaming technique can allow effective dispatch and access of large-volume design and manufacturing data as a series of patched streams across the Internet, and therefore provide a promising solution to overcome the obstacle. The key technology to realize the streaming technique is geometric simplification (or decimation) of 3D models. In this chapter, a new streaming technology based on a geometric simplification algorithm has been developed, in which two criteria are the crucial elements to control the collapse process for edges in 3D visualization models represented in VRML. After the simplification and sharing of a model, a developed refinement algorithm is carried out to restore the model from its simplified version back to its original, through combining the simplified model with some reconstruction data generated during the simplification process, therefore, to realize the streaming information sharing. The major feature of the streaming algorithm is that it has incorporated some advantages of the previously developed vertex decimation approach and edge collapse approach. Meanwhile, the mechanism of adaptive threshold parameters adopted in this work enhances the adaptability of the algorithm for various applications. Case studies and comparisons with some related works have been carried out to demonstrate the performance and potentials of the algorithm in terms of efficiency, adaptability and robustness.

SummaryFlower clusters were removed at full bloom from ten year old ‘Cox’s Orange Pippin’ trees on M.9 rootstocks, over the whole tree, on alternate branches or on whole sides. Mean fruit weight per tree at harvest was linearly dependent on leaf area per fruit and on light interception per fruit, both relationships accounting for over 90% of the variance. These relationships did not differ between treatments, implying either a mobile pool of carbohydrate or photosynthetic adjustment within the tree to crop load. Measurements of leaf photosynthesis in July and September showed no statistically significant differences in photosynthetic rate of spur or extension shoot leaves on bearing or non-bearing branches. Although the treatments caused no overall effects on shoot growth or leaf area per tree, sides of trees without fruit had greater leaf area and shoot growth than did sides bearing fruit. Fruit mineral composition and percentage dry weight were not affected by treatment except where the treatments signi...

In recent years, highly sensitive and selective as well as cost-effective sensing and detection of bio-molecules (e.g. virus, bacterial, DNA and protein) by MEMS/NEMS (Micro-/Nano Electro-Mechanical-System) structures have attracted extensive attention for its importance in clinical diagnostics, treatment, and various genome projects. Meanwhile, substantial research efforts have been spent on the improvement of sensitivity of BioMEMS structures. Among a variety of methods that have been investigated, surface modification by nanoparticles (NPs) turns out to be an attractive way, which provides a platform for the enhancement of the sensitivity for biosensor devices. However, conventional applications for surface modification were mostly implemented on microelectrodes. This paper is going to present the self-assembly surface binding of nano-gold particle and functional MWCNT on the cantilever sensor, which can easily facilitate biomolecular detection by resonance frequency shift. Its sensitivity can be improved due to the large binding area of probes to the targeting biomolecules. The LPCVD SiN low-stress rectangular cantilever is produced by laser micromachining and alkaline KOH etching, which is a maskless, simple, convenient, fast-prototyping way to produce such cantilever sensor for biomolecular detection. The commercially available Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) cantilevers are also used to verify the concept.

To compare the efficacy and safety between huperzine-A (Hup) in capsules and tablets for treating patients with Alzheimer disease (AD).Using multicenter, prospective, double-blind, double-mimic, parallel, positive controlled and randomized methods, 60 patients meeting with the NINCDS-ARDRA criteria of AD were divided into 2 equal groups. Patients in the capsule group received 4 capsules of Hup (each contains 50 micrograms) and 4 tablets of placebo (lactose and starch inside); while the tablet group received 4 tablets of Hup (each contains 50 micrograms) and 4 capsules of placebo, p.o., twice a day for 60 d. All the patients were evaluated with a lot of related ranting scales, and physiological and laboratory examination.There were significant differences (P0.01) on all the psychological evaluations between 'before' and 'after' the 60-d trial of 2 groups, but there was no significant difference between 2 groups by group t test (P0.05). The changes of oxygen free radicals in 2 groups showed marked improvement. No severe side effect besides moderate to mild nausea was found in both groups.There is equal efficacy and safety between Hup in capsule and tablet for treating patients with AD, and Hup can reduce the pathological changes of the oxygen free radicals in the plasma and erythrocytes of patients with AD.

To observe the effect of combination therapy of traditional and Western medicine (TCM-WM) on brainstem auditory evoked potential (BAEP) in hepatolenticular degeneration patients.BAEP was recorded and analyzed in 65 patients with hepatolenticular degeneration (HLD) before and after decoppered TCM-WM treatment.The peak latency (PL) and interpeak latency (IPL) of BAEP in untreated patients were greatly increased compared with those of control group, especially in the prolongations of III, V, III- V and I-V. The PL and IPL improved as improvement of clinical symptoms in HLD patients treated with TCM-WM than that in untreated patients. The abnormal rates of men and women in BAEP were decreased from 21.97% and 19.05% in untreated patients to 9.09% and 6.75% in treated patients respectively.BAEP not only has an complementary diagnosis but also judge the efficacy of treatment on the HLD disease.

Intelligence quotient (IQ) of 28 hepatic lenticular degeneration (HLD) patients was analysed with Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-revised by China (WAIS-RC) before and after two months treatment by the HLD-Relief decoction supplemented with copper-clearing drug, and the result was compared with that of 30 healthy persons for control. The results showed that the Vocable IQ (VIQ), Performance IQ(PIQ) and Full IQ(FIQ) of HLD patients were markedly lower than that of control (P0.005), especially in visual space disorder, which indicated that the copper ion depositing in patient's brain not only damaged neuronic motorial functions but also produced a marked effect on the patient's intelligence. After treatment, the total intelligential level including VIQ, PIQ and FIQ has been raised, particularly in PIQ in which all scores were obviously increased (P0.001). It was also showed that the damage of intelligence in HLD patient became more serious as the course of disease was prolonged and the early treatment facilitated the IQ level to approach the normal criterion. It indicated that the treatment with combined therapy is effective to the intelligence and extrapyramidal symptoms in HLD patients.

This is a retrospective review for 40 patients with malignant tumour of the floor of mouth.In the group,squamous carinoma is 62.5%.adenoid cystic carcinoma is 22.5%.Both of them are the major type,stage III.IV were 72.5%,Generally ipsilateral;radical mandibular and neck dissection was performed sellectively.65% of patient were given preoprative chemotherapy.Total 5 years survival rate was 50%,for stage I-III were 78.6%.Although preoperative chemotherapy was given that the group of lower pathological differetiation was still in lower survival rate,higher recurrence and mortality than those given surgery alone. Survival rate for squamous carcinoma was higher than that for adenoid cystic carcinoma.

From August 1989 to May 1991,160 patients with malignancies of the head and neck region were treated by surgery and postoperative radiotherapy.Seventy seven patiens underwent resection of the primary lesion combined with neck dissection and 83 patients had resecton of the primary lesion only before radiotherapy.After irradiation 33.8% (54/160) patients developed edema in face and neck,13.1%(21/160) patients developed headache.The style of neck dissection (unilateral,bilateral or no neck dessection) did significantly influence the rates of the acute side effect(P0.01).The interval between surgery and radiotherapy and radiation dose were not important influential factors(P0.05).The clinical manifestations,possible mechanism and prevention of the acuter side effect is presented.

Matrine (MT) is an alkaloid isolated from Sophra alopecuroids L. The LD50 of MT iv to mice was 72.1 mg/kg (95% CL 68.2-76.5 mg/kg). MT had significant effects on different experimental models of arrhythmias induced by aconitine, barium chloride or coronary ligation. The ECG of anesthetized rats was significantly changed after iv of MT. The HR was retarded and the PR and QTc intervals were prolonged.

One of the challenging problems that hinder the development of collaborative design systems is the contradiction of large CAD files and the limited speed to share them over the Internet and Web. 3D streaming technique, which can allow effective and efficient dispatch and access of large-volume CAD data as a series of patched streams across the Internet, provides a promising solution to overcome the obstacle. Geometric simplification (or decimation) of 3D models is the key algorithm to realize the streaming technique. In this paper, a new geometric simplification algorithm has been developed, in which two criteria are the crucial elements to control the collapse process for edges in 3D VRML models to reduce the amount of information. The major feature of the algorithm is that it has incorporated some advantages of the previously developed vertex decimation approach and edge collapse approach. Meanwhile, the mechanism of adaptive threshold parameters adopted in this work enhances the adaptability of the algorithm for various applications. Through case studies and comparisons with some related works, the algorithm shows good performance and potentials in terms of efficiency, adaptability and robustness.Copyright © 2005 by ASME