Yang Liu
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Publication
Journal: Trends in Pharmacological Sciences
December/14/2019
Abstract
A major paradigm in cancer immunotherapy is the use of checkpoint inhibitors to break regulatory mechanisms that usually guard the host against autoimmune diseases. CTLA-4-targeting immunotherapy was the first example that helped establish this paradigm. However, the clinically tested anti-CTLA-4 antibodies exhibit suboptimal efficacy but high toxicity. Recent studies have demonstrated that immunotherapy-related adverse events (irAE) and the cancer immunotherapeutic effect (CITE) represent distinct and therapeutically separable activities of anti-CTLA-4 antibodies. The former is attributable to inactivation of the CTLA-4 checkpoint, while the latter is due to selective depletion of regulatory T cells (Treg) in a tumor microenvironment. Here we argue that for safer and more effective CTLA-4-targeting immune therapy, one should preserve rather than inhibit the CTLA-4 checkpoint while enhancing the efficacy and selectivity of Treg depletion in a tumor microenvironment.
Publication
Journal: ISA Transactions
December/13/2019
Abstract
The design problem of the adaptive robust prescribed performance controller with external disturbance is studied for the excitation system of single-machine infinite power system in here. By combining the Htheory and adaptive control method, the designed controller not only ensures that the external interference influence on the system is attenuated to a degree of giving, but also the unknown parameter existed in the system can also be estimated. The transient performance of the generator rotor angle can be set in advance with the help of the prescribed performance control (PPC) strategy. Finally, the simulation experiment considers two kinds of faults, namely mechanical fault and short circuit fault, and proves the feasibility and effectiveness via simulation results.
Publication
Journal: IEEE transactions on image processing : a publication of the IEEE Signal Processing Society
December/13/2019
Abstract
Existing deep learning methods for action recognition in videos require a large number of labeled videos for training, which is labor-intensive and time-consuming. For the same action, the knowledge learned from different media types, e.g., videos and images, may be related and complementary. However, due to the domain shifts and heterogeneous feature representations between videos and images, the performance of classifiers trained on images may be dramatically degraded when directly deployed to videos. In this paper, we propose a novel method, named Deep Image-to-Video Adaptation and Fusion Networks (DIVAFN), to enhance action recognition in videos by transferring knowledge from images using video keyframes as a bridge. The DIVAFN is a unified deep learning model, which integrates domain-invariant representations learning and cross-modal feature fusion into a unified optimization framework. Specifically, we design an efficient cross-modal similarities metric to reduce the modality shift among images, keyframes and videos. Then, we adopt an autoencoder architecture, whose hidden layer is constrained to be the semantic representations of the action class names. In this way, when the autoencoder is adopted to project the learned features from different domains to the same space, more compact, informative and discriminative representations can be obtained. Finally, the concatenation of the learned semantic feature representations from these three autoencoders are used to train the classifier for action recognition in videos. Comprehensive experiments on four real-world datasets show that our method outperforms some state-of-the-art domain adaptation and action recognition methods.
Publication
Journal: Journal of Natural Products
December/13/2019
Abstract
We report the isolation and characterization of three new nybomycins (nybomycins B-D, <b>1</b>-<b>3</b>) and six known compounds (nybomycin, <b>4</b>; deoxynyboquinone, <b>5</b>; α-rubromycin, <b>6</b>; β-rubromycin, <b>7</b>; γ-rubromycin, <b>8</b>; and [2α(1<i>E</i>,3<i>E</i>),4β]-2-(1,3-pentadienyl)-4-piperidinol, <b>9</b>) from the Rock Creek (McCreary County, KY) underground coal mine acid reclamation site isolate <i>Streptomyces</i> sp. AD-3-6. Nybomycin D (<b>3</b>) and deoxynyboquinone (<b>5</b>) displayed moderate (<b>3</b>) to potent (<b>5</b>) cancer cell line cytotoxicity and displayed weak to moderate anti-Gram-(+) bacterial activity, whereas rubromycins <b>6</b>-<b>8</b> displayed little to no cancer cell line cytotoxicity but moderate to potent anti-Gram-(+) bacterial and antifungal activity. Assessment of the impact of <b>3</b> or <b>5</b> cancer cell line treatment on 4E-BP1 phosphorylation, a predictive marker of ROS-mediated control of cap-dependent translation, also revealed deoxynyboquinone (<b>5</b>)-mediated downstream inhibition of 4E-BP1p. Evaluation of <b>1</b>-<b>9</b> in a recently established axolotl embryo tail regeneration assay also highlighted the prototypical telomerase inhibitor γ-rubromycin (<b>8</b>) as a new inhibitor of tail regeneration. Cumulatively, this work highlights an alternative nybomycin production strain, a small set of new nybomycin metabolites, and previously unknown functions of rubromycins (antifungal activity and inhibition of tail regeneration) and also provides a basis for revision of the previously proposed nybomycin biosynthetic pathway.
Publication
Journal: Bioresource Technology
December/13/2019
Abstract
Granular activated carbon (GAC) has been shown to mediate direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) in anaerobic digestion. Adding GAC to up-flow anaerobic sludge bed reactor increased the total biomass slightly from 20.0 to 26.6 gVSS/reactor, and maximum organic removal capacity remarkably from 285 to 1660 mgCOD/L/d. Since GAC occupied 7% of reactor volume (denser than suspended sludge, settled to the reactor bottom), we used a spatial sampling strategy (sludge bed top/mid/bottom layers, and tightly attached GAC-biofilm) and DNA- and RNA-based community analyses. RNA-based analysis demonstrated significant community differences between the non-GAC and GAC-amended reactors (p < 0.05) based on ANOSIM statistical analysis. In comparison, DNA-based analysis showed little community difference between these reactors (p > 0.05). RNA-based analysis revealed active enrichments in GAC-biofilm, including bacteria Geobacter, Syntrophus, Desulfovibrio and Blvii28, and archaea Methanosaeta and Methanospirillum. These are potential electro-active syntrophic microorganisms related with DIET, which expand the previously defined list of DIET microorganisms.
Publication
Journal: Journal of Experimental and Clinical Cancer Research
December/13/2019
Abstract
Ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI) has been shown to increase the risk of tumor recurrence after liver surgery. Also, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with increased HCC recurrence. ALOX12-12-HETE pathway is activated both in liver IRI and NASH. Also, ALOX12-12-HETE has been shown to mediate tumorigenesis and progression. Therefore, our study aims to investigate whether the ALOX12-12-HETE-GPR31 pathway involved in IRI induced HCC recurrence in NAFLD.HCC mouse model was used to mimic the HCC recurrence in NAFLD. Western Blot, qPCR, Elisa and Immunofluorescence analysis were conducted to evaluate the changes of multiple signaling pathways during HCC recurrence, including ALOX12-12-HETE axis, EMT, MMPs and PI3K/AKT/NF-κB signaling pathway. We also measured the expression and functional changes of GPR31 by siRNA.ALOX12-12-HETE pathway was activated in liver IRI and its activation was further enhanced in NAFLD, which induced more severe HCC recurrence in fatty livers than normal livers. Inhibition of ALOX12-12-HETE by ML355 reduced the HCC recurrence in fatty livers. In vitro studies showed that 12-HETE increased the expression of GPR31 and induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and matrix metalloprotein (MMPs) by activating PI3K/AKT/NF-κB pathway. Furthermore, knockdown of GPR31 in cancer cells inhibited the HCC recurrence in NAFLD.ALOX12-12-HETE-GPR31 played an important role in HCC recurrence and might be a potential therapeutic target to reduce HCC recurrence after surgery in fatty livers.
Publication
Journal: Journal of Materials Chemistry B
December/13/2019
Abstract
Thrombotic disease is a serious threat to human health. The rapid and accurate detection of thrombosis is still a clinical challenge. To achieve the accurate diagnosis of thrombosis with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), nanomaterials-based contrast agents have been developed in recent years. In this study, cyclic RGD functionalized liposomes targeted to the activated platelets are developed for thrombosis dual-mode MRI. The cyclic RGD functionalized liposomes (cRGD@MLP-Gd) encapsulated with gadolinium diethylenetriamine penta-acetic acid (Gd-DTPA) and superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) are prepared, and their thrombus-targeted T1 and T2 MRI potential is evaluated in vitro and in vivo. Results show that cRGD@MLP-Gd could actively bind to the activated platelets and gradually accumulate at the thrombus site with a T1 - T2 contrast enhancement imaging effect in vitro. In in vivo MRI experiments, cRGD@MLP-Gd exhibits a T2 contrast enhancement at 1 h after intravenous administration, followed by a visibly larger T1 contrast enhancement at the thrombus site. This dynamic property showed that cRGD@MLP-Gd could actively bind to thrombus and possessed an enhanced T1 and T2 dual-mode MRI effect in vivo. Our results establish the characterization, feasibility and superiority of cRGD@MLP-Gd for the rapid identification of thrombosis, showing great potential to improve diagnostic accuracy and sensitivity to thrombosis of the MRI technique.
Publication
Journal: British Journal of Nutrition
December/13/2019
Abstract
This study was for the first time to investigate the effects of condensed tannins (CT) on intestinal immune function in on-growing grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella). A total of 540 healthy grass carp were fed six diets containing different levels of CT (0, 10.00, 20.00, 30.00, 40.00 and 50.00 g/kg diet) for 70 days and then challenged with Aeromonas hydrophila for 14 days. The results showed that, compared with the control group, dietary CT (1) induced intestinal histopathological lesions and aggravated enteritis; (2) decreased the lysozyme and acid phosphatase activities, complement 3 (C3), C4 and immunoglobulin M contents, and down-regulated the Hepcidin, liver-expressed antimicrobial peptide(LEAP)-2A, LEAP-2B, Mucin2 and β-defensin-1 mRNA levels in the proximal intestine (PI), mid intestine (MI) and distal intestine (DI) (P < 0·05); (3) down-regulated the mRNA levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, TGF-β2 (not in MI and DI), IL-4/13A (not IL-4/13B), IL-10 and IL-11 partly correlated with target of rapamycin (TOR) signalling; (4) up-regulated the mRNA levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines interferon-γ2 (IFN-γ2), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, IL-8 (not in PI), IL-12p35, IL-12p40, IL-15 and IL-17D partly related to nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signalling in the intestine of on-growing grass carp. Overall, the results indicated that CT could impair the intestinal immune function, and its potential regulation mechanisms were partly associated with TOR and NF-κB signalling pathways. Finally, based on the PWG and enteritis morbidity, the maximum allowable levels of CT for on-growing grass carp (232.22-890.11g) were estimated to be 18.6 and 17.4 g/kg diet, respectively.
Publication
Journal: Microbial Drug Resistance
December/13/2019
Abstract
Aim: In this study, we aimed to characterize the CRISPR-Cas systems in clinical carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) isolates and to investigate the potential association of CRISPR-Cas systems with bacterial virulence. Methods: A total of 168 CRKP strains were collected from inpatients in a teaching hospital in Jiangxi Province. Five common carbapenemase genes, subtype genes of the CRISPR-Cas system, and 13 virulence genes were amplified by PCR using specific primers. The potential virulence of all the clinical CRKP strains was tested in a Galleria mellonella infection model. Results: PCR analysis of five common carbapenemase genes revealed the frequency of carbapenemase gene KPC-2 was the highest in the CRISPR-negative strains, compared to CRISPR type I-E* strains or CRISPR type I-E strains (p < 0.01). Isolates having the subtype I-E* CRISPR-Cas system tended to have more virulence genes such as magA, kfu, wcaG, and allS, compared to CRISPR-negative isolates and type I-E CRISPR-Cas isolates (p < 0.01). The average survival time of the larvae infected with the isolates having the subtype I-E* CRISPR-Cas system was significantly shorter than the other two group isolates (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The CRKP strains, which had the subtype I-E CRISPR-Cas system or the subtype I-E* CRISPR-Cas system, showed reduced acquisition of carbapenemase genes compared to CRISPR-negative isolates. Importantly, we first found that a small portion of "CR-hvKP" strains were selected from the CRKP clones, which had the type I-E* CRISPR-Cas systems.
Publication
Journal: Nature Communications
December/13/2019
Abstract
An important goal of the Zika virus (ZIKV) vaccine is to prevent a congenital syndrome in fetuses of pregnant women, but studies directly evaluating maternal vaccination for ZIKV are lacking. Here we report maternal vaccination using a live-attenuated ZIKV vaccine (3'UTR-∆10-LAV) in a pregnant mouse model. Maternal immunization with 3'UTR-∆10-LAV does not cause any adverse effects on pregnancy, fetal development, or offspring behavior. One maternal immunization fully protects dams against ZIKV infection and in utero transmission. Although neutralizing antibody alone is sufficient to prevent in utero transmission, a higher neutralizing titer is required to protect pregnant mice against in utero transmission than that required to protect non-pregnant mice against viral infection. The immunized dams transfer maternal antibodies to pups, which protect neonates against ZIKV infection. Notably, pregnancy weakens maternal T cell response to 3'UTR-∆10-LAV vaccination. Our results suggest that, besides vaccinating non-pregnant individuals, 3'UTR-∆10-LAV may also be considered for maternal vaccination.
Publication
Journal: Cell Death and Disease
December/13/2019
Abstract
As a new class of non-coding RNA, circular RNAs (circRNAs) play crucial roles in the development and progression of various cancers. However, the detailed functions of circRNAs in cervical cancer have seldom been reported. In this study, circRNA sequence was applied to detect the differentially expressed circRNAs between cervical cancer tissues and adjacent normal tissues. The relationships between circCLK3 level with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis were analyzed. In vitro CCK-8, cell count, cell colony, cell wound healing, transwell migration and invasion, and in vivo tumorigenesis and lung metastasis models were performed to evaluate the functions of circCLK3. The pull-down, RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP), luciferase reporter and rescue assays were employed to clarify the interaction between circCLK3 and miR-320a and the regulation of miR-320a on FoxM1. We found that the level of circCLK3 was remarkably higher in cervical cancer tissues than in adjacent normal tissues, and closely associated with tumor differentiation, FIGO stage and depth of stromal invasion. Down-regulated circCLK3 evidently inhibited cell growth and metastasis of cervical cancer in vitro and in vivo, while up-regulated circCLK3 significantly promoted cell growth and metastasis in vitro and in vivo. The pull-down, luciferase reporter and RIP assays demonstrated that circCLK3 directly bound to and sponge miR-320a. MiR-320a suppressed the expression of FoxM1 through directly binding to 3'UTR of FoxM1 mRNA. In addition, FoxM1 promoted cell proliferation, migration, and invasion of cervical cancer, while miR-320a suppressed cell proliferation, migration, and invasion through suppressing FoxM1, and circCLK3 enhanced cell proliferation, migration and invasion through sponging miR-320a and promoting FoxM1 expression. In summary, circCLK3 may serve as a novel diagnostic biomarker for disease progression and a promising molecular target for early diagnoses and treatments of cervical cancer.
Publication
Journal: Environmental Science and Pollution Research
December/12/2019
Abstract
Mercury pollution is a global problem and of particular concern in high emissions areas, such as China. We studied the migratory Kentish Plover, Charadrius alexandrinus, which breeds in coastal northern/central China and the inland Qinghai Lake, and the White-faced Plover C. dealbatus, a year-round resident of coastal southern China. We measured total mercury (THg) concentrations in feather and blood samples of breeding females. We expected low levels at the remote Qinghai Lake, but we found instead that feather THg concentrations were highest there (3.89 ± 1.53 [SD] μg/g DW [n = 34]; compared to 1.29 ± 0.61 μg/g of Kentish Plover elsewhere [n = 35] and 2.08 ± 1.45 μg/g for White-faced Plover [n = 56]), a result is consistent over 2 years. When including only coastal populations in the analysis, there were no differences in THg concentrations between the two species, although White-faced Plover had more variation. Feather THg concentrations for the coastal populations are similar to other studies on plovers and sandpipers globally, with most birds under the threshold of adverse effects (3 μg/g, an estimate that itself may be too low). Nevertheless, the Qinghai Kentish Plover population has mean feather concentrations above this threshold, indicating high exposure during the nonbreeding season, and some individuals have extreme values (e.g., a bird with a blood level of 7.63 μg/g DW from Zhanjiang, south China), so further research and monitoring are needed.
Publication
Journal: Science Progress
December/12/2019
Abstract
The study of phase-change heat-transfer characteristics of crude oil has been one of the hot issues in the field of gathering and transportation. The process of phase-change heat transfer of crude oil involves many complicated problems such as natural convection treatment, latent heat treatment, phase-change interface determination and fluid characteristic change. A mathematical model based on the additional capacity heat method is proposed in this article, and the momentum equations of crude oil liquid phase are presented for Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of different factors on the heat transfer performance during the shutdown process of an overhead pipe. Experiments were conducted to verify the model and the solution method; the experimental and model results showed good agreement with a maximum relative error of 4.57%. The temperature fields and solidification conditions of crude oil in pipelines under different shutdown conditions were determined, and the sensitivity of the main effect factors was determined through an orthogonal experiment. The results show that the order of influence was oil initial temperature >thickness of insulating layer >air temperature >thickness of wax layer. The results of the study have important guiding significance on the control of shutdown time and the determination of restarting schemes.
Publication
Journal: International Journal of Pharmaceutics
December/12/2019
Abstract
The objective of this study was to understand the influence of the water adsorption and glass transition of matrix formers on redispersibility in water of drug nanocrystals-aggregated particles(NAP) during storage, and the critical storage strategy for NAP powders were determined based on the Guggenheim-Anderson-de Boer (GAB) and the Gordon-Taylor models. Apigenin was used as model drug. Six kinds of matrix formers sucrose(SU), lactose(LA), trehalose(TR), inulin(IN), maltodextrin(MA) and PVPK30(PV) were used to prepare apigenin nanocrystals-aggregated particles (AN-NAPs). The results demonstrated that the adsorption isotherms curves of six kinds of matrix formers based AN-NAPs all showed typical II (S) type adsorption. The water activity significantly influenced the redispersibility of AN-NAP, which could be attributed to the microstructure collapse of amorphous matrix induced by moisture adsorption at high water activity or high moisture. MD based AN-NAP(AN-NAP/MD) exhibited much better redispersibility at high water activity(0.689) compared with the other amorphous matrix formers. MD was able to significantly enlarge the Tg of AN-NAP system and prevent from aggregation of AN-NAP compared to other matrix formers. And the critical water activity and moisture content of AN-NAPs were in the ranges of 0.015-0.545 and 0.0412-0.1508g water/g dry matter, respectively. Of all amorphous matrix based NAPs, the critical water activity of AN-NAP/MD was the highest (0.545), and the critical moisture content was 0.1003g water/g dry matter, and followed by TR based on AN-NAP. MD could be used as an excellent matrix former for nanocrystals-aggregated particles during storage. Therefore, the roles of water adsorption and glass transition of matrix formers on redispersibility of drug nanocrystals-aggregated particles during storage was successful elucidated, and the critical storage strategy was proposed based on the GAB model and the Gordon-Taylor model.
Publication
Journal: Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery
December/12/2019
Abstract
To investigate the correlation between fatty infiltration in the multifidus muscle related to the involved nerve root and structural parameters associated with stenosis in patients with degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis (DLSS).Sixty-four patients with single-segment DLSS at L4-5 were retrospectively enrolled. The fatty infiltration rate (FIR) of the multifidus muscle at L5-S1, lumbar lordosis and the cross-sectional area (CSA) of the structural parameters at L4-5, such as dural sac, disc bulge, ligamentum flava and vertebral body of L5 were measured on magnetic resonance images using ImageJ software. All enrolled patients were divided into an FIR < 25 % group and an FIR ≥ 25 % group according to the FIR of the multifidus muscle at L5-S1. The propensity scores matching and adjustment of potential covariates were performed to reduce the confounding bias between the two groups.Lumbar lordosis in the FIR ≥ 25 % group was significantly lower than that in the FIR<25 % group in both cohorts. The mean differences in lumbar lordosis of 14.16 degrees between the two groups in the complete cohort and of 14.23 degrees in the matched cohort remained significant after adjustment. The disc bulge CSA/ vertebral body CSA in the FIR ≥ 25 % group was greater than that in the FIR<25 % group in both cohorts. The mean differences in the disc bulge CSA/ vertebral body CSA between the two groups of 0.67 in the complete cohort and 0.96 in the matched cohort were statistically significant after adjustment. There was no significant difference in the dural sac CSA/ vertebral body CSA and ligamentum flava CSA/ vertebral body CSA between the two groups in either cohort regardless of adjustment. Logistic regression analysis for FIR ≥ 25 % in the multifidus muscle at L5-S1 exhibited that the disc bulge CSA/ vertebral body CSA were independent risk factors with odds ratio (OR) of 8.52, while lumbar lordosis were independent protective factors (OR = 0.72).The disc bulge at the stenosis segment and lumbar lordosis reduction may be correlated with fatty infiltration in the multifidus muscles at L5-S1 in patients with L4-5 single-segment DLSS.
Publication
Journal: European Journal of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery
December/11/2019
Abstract
To present the pooled quantitative evidence of basic profiles, initial treatment strategies, and clinical outcomes in patients with isolated abdominal aortic dissection (IAAD).A comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis was performed of all available studies reporting IAAD, retrieved from the MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane Databases. The logistic normal random effect model was fitted using the generalised linear mixed model with random intercepts to calculate the pooled proportion estimates.Seventeen studies with 482 patients were included in this meta-analysis. Male smokers with hyperlipidaemia and hypertension were the most prominent basic profile. IAADs were predominantly spontaneous and infrarenal, and roughly half were acute and symptomatic. Approximately 67% [95% confidence interval (CI) 42-86%] of patients were managed initially conservatively. In the overall population, the 30 day all cause mortality was 3% (95% CI 1-5%) and the long term mortality during follow up was 8% (95% CI 5-14%). Re-intervention during follow up occurred in 8% (95% CI 5-15%) of patients. In the subgroup analysis, patients with conservative treatment had a 30 day mortality of 1% (95% CI 0-8%), a long term mortality of 5% (95% CI 1-29%), and a re-intervention rate of 18% (95% CI 10-29%). Patients with open surgery had a 30 day mortality of 9% (95% CI 0-82%), a long term mortality of 12% (95% CI 4-31%), and a re-intervention rate of 9% (95% CI 1-44%). Patients with endovascular repair had a 30 day mortality of 2% (95% CI 0-10%), a long term mortality of 5% (95% CI 2-13%), a re-intervention rate of 6% (95% CI 3-13%), and a persistent endoleak rate of 4% (95% CI 2-10%).Appropriate initial treatment strategies can be used to obtain acceptable clinical outcomes in patients with IAAD. Invasive intervention is necessary if patients match certain indications for intervention. Regular imaging surveillance should be provided for all patients, especially those treated conservatively.
Publication
Journal: Zhongguo xiu fu chong jian wai ke za zhi = Zhongguo xiufu chongjian waike zazhi = Chinese journal of reparative and reconstructive surgery
December/11/2019
Abstract
To compare the effectiveness of all-arthroscopic technique and modified open Broström technique in repair of anterior talofibular ligament (ATFL) for lateral instability of the ankle (LIA).

Methods
A retrospective analysis was made on 65 patients who underwent ATFL repair with anchors for LIA between January 2014 and January 2017. The ATFL was repaired by all-arthroscopic technique in 35 patients (arthroscopic group) and modified open Broström technique in 30 patients (open group). There was no significant difference in age, gender, the side of injured ankle, the time from injury to operation, and preoperative anterior displacement of talus, tilt angle of talus, the Karlsson Ankle Functional (KAF) score, American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) score, and Japanese Society for Surgery of the foot ankle-hindfoot (JSSF) scale score between the two groups (P>0.05). The operation time, the intraoperative bleeding volume, and the length of time for surgery recovery were recorded. The anterior displacement of talus, the tilt angle of talus, KAF score, AOFAS score, and JSSF scale score were evaluated at 2 weeks, 3 months, and the last follow-up.

Results
All patients were followed up 24-30 months, with an average of 26 months. The operation time, intraoperative bleeding volume, and the length of time for surgery recovery of arthroscopic group were superior to open group (P<0.05). There were 2 cases of temporary ankle and dorsum numbness and 1 case of thread reaction in arthroscopic group; and there were 2 cases of temporary ankle and dorsum numbness and 2 cases of thread reaction in open group. The AOFAS score, KAF score, and JSSF scale score in arthroscopic group were significantly higher than those in open group (P<0.05) at 2 weeks after operation; there was no significant difference between the two groups at 3 months and the last follow-up (P>0.05). There was no significant difference in the anterior displacement of talus and the tilt angle of talus between the two groups at 2 weeks, 3 months, and last follow-up (P>0.05).

Compared with the modified open Broström technique, the all-arthroscopic technique, as a minimally invasive technique, can achieve the same effectiveness, and has the advantages of shorter operation time, less intraoperative bleeding, and less pain in the early stage.
Publication
Journal: Journal of Materials Chemistry B
December/11/2019
Abstract
Recently, ultra-small platinum nanoparticles (USPtNs) have been found that can kill cancer cells by leaching Pt ions into acidic organelles, such as cell endosomes or lysosomes. Unfortunately, tumor-specific accumulation is difficult to achieve with such platinum nanodrugs of less than 5 nm due to their short half-life in vivo and broad range of toxicity to normal tissues. Programmable multi-drug release for combinational chemotherapy by hierarchical nanostructures provides a promising solution for cancer-targeted therapy. Herein, we demonstrated a pH/redox dual stimuli-responsive clustered nanoparticle as a vehicle for simultaneously delivering USPtNs and gemcitabine (GEM) to treat non-small-cell lung cancer. The clustered nanoparticle (denoted as GP-NA) was composed of disulfide-bond-containing GEM-grafted copolymers (PEG-b-P(LL-g-GEM)), pH-sensitive polypeptides (OAPI), and USPtNs. Such a hybrid nanosystem completes multiple tasks inside cancer cells, which include the generation of cytotoxic Pt ions in response to lysosomal acidic environments and the subsequent release of GEM in cytoplasmic reduction environments. Compared with non-acid-sensitive nanoparticles or free drugs, GP-NA exhibited cumulative and enhanced anti-tumor efficacy in vivo, which may be attributed to the simultaneous inhibition of ribonucleotide reductase and DNA replication in nuclei by the GEM and Pt ions. Together, our work provides a promising strategy in the co-delivery of USPtNs and GEM for precision cancer chemotherapy.
Publication
Journal: Frontiers in Genetics
December/11/2019
Abstract
The sustainable development of aquaculture has been impeded by infectious diseases worldwide. However, the genomic architecture and the genetic basis underlying the disease resistance remain poorly understood, which severely hampers both the understanding of the evolution of fish disease resistance traits and the prevention of these diseases in the aquaculture community. Cynoglossus semilaevis is a representative and commercially-important flatfish species. Here we combined genome-wide association study and Fst and nucleotide diversity filtration to identify loci important for the disease resistance. Based on 1,016,774 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) identified from 650 Gb genome resequencing data of 505 individuals, we detected 33 SNPs significantly associated with disease resistance and 79 candidate regions after filtration steps. Both the allele frequencies and genotype frequencies of the associated loci were significantly different between the resistant and susceptible fish, suggesting a role in the genetic basis of disease resistance. The SNP with strongest association with disease resistance was located in Chr 17, at 145 bp upstream of fblx19 gene, and overlapped with the major quantitative trait locus previously identified. Several genes, such as plekha7, nucb2, and fgfr2, were also identified to potentially play roles in the disease resistance. Furthermore, the expression of some associating genes were likely under epigenetic regulations between the bacterial resistant and susceptible families. These results provide insights into the mechanism that enable variation of disease resistance to bacterial pathogen infection. The identified polymorphisms and genes are valuable targets and molecular resources for disease resistance and other traits, and for advanced breeding practice for superior germplasm in fish aquaculture.
Publication
Journal: Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology
December/11/2019
Abstract
Lycopene cyclase needs to be inhibited by the blockers like pyridine or imidazole in the lycopene accumulation of Blakeslea trispora. This work investigated how pyridine and imidazole impacted the basal metabolism of B. trispora, the results helped us understand how they could affect the lycopene production and application, and see the metabolic risks from different inhibitors. In this study, the highest yield of lycopene with pyridine was obtained at 176 mg/L without amino acids supplement, and got more lycopene at 237 mg/L adding tyrosine, lysine, proline all together as 0.01 mol/L each in fermented broth. GC-MS and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) were used to find that amino acids, fatty acids, organic acids including phosphoric acid, carbon source and imidazole derivatives played the most important roles in lycopene fermentation with imidazole, differently, fatty acids, carbon source, and pyridine derivatives were more significant in the pyridine process and it was remarkable that the residual of both blockers' derivatives would bring the potential risks on applications of lycopene products. Predominantly, durene met 0.35 mg/g DCW with imidazole and piperidine formaldehyde attained 0.24 mg/g DCW with pyridine after the end of lycopene fermentations.
Publication
Journal: Environmental Geochemistry and Health
December/11/2019
Abstract
This study enhances the understanding of the particulate matters (PM2.5 and PM10) and their physical and chemical behavior over the Taj Mahal, Agra, in North-Central India. The mass concentration was determined, and the shape and size of the particles and chemical characterizations have been carried out using SEM-EDX. The high level and significant variation of PM10 (162.2 µg m-3) and PM2.5 (83.9 µg m-3) were observed. The exceedance factor of the present study region is in critical and moderate condition. Morphological characterization reveals the particles of different shapes and sizes, while elemental analysis shows the presence of Si, Al, Fe, Ca, K, Cl, Mg, Na, Cu, and Zn. The dominance of Si indicated the contribution of natural sources, i.e., soil over this region. Three significant sources, viz. soil/road paved dust/vegetative emissions, vehicular/industrial emissions, and intermingling of dust and combustion particles, have been identified using principal component analysis over North-Central India. Health risk analysis of particulate matter identified carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic metals in the present study, which comes in contact with human beings during inhalation. The non-carcinogenic risk was much higher than the acceptable level. The high carcinogenic risks were found in Zn in PM10 and Cu in PM2.5 for both children and adults.
Publication
Journal: Frontiers in Plant Science
December/11/2019
Abstract
The improvement of grain filling is the key issue for promoting wheat thousand grain weight and grain yield. The levels of polyamines (PAs) significantly affect grain filling in cereals, but the mechanism by which PAs affect grain filling in wheat is unclear. In the present study, six wheat cultivars whose grain filling differed were used, and their grain-filling characteristics and endogenous PA contents were measured. In addition, exogenous PAs were supplied during the wheat grain-filling period. The grain-filling characteristics, hormone levels, starch contents, and gene expression [based on RNA sequencing (RNA-seq)] in the grain were analyzed. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of PAs on grain filling in wheat. The results suggested that the direct synthetic pathway from putrescine (Put) to spermidine (Spd) in the grain was a key factor in promoting grain filling and thousand grain weight in wheat. Spd through regulates the grain-filling rate of inferior grain during the early grain-filling period to affecting the grain filling and thousand grain weight of wheat. The promotive effect of Spd on the grain filling of inferior wheat grain was notably related to carbohydrate metabolism in that grain. Spd significantly increased the zeatin (Z) + zeatin riboside (ZR) contents but reduced the ethylene (ETH) evolution rate in the inferior grain. In addition, Spd significantly increased the sucrose synthase (SS) and acid invertase (AI) activities in the inferior grain. These effects of Spd led to increased sucrose content in the inferior grain. These reasons might explain why Spd significantly promoted the filling and weight of inferior wheat grain.
Publication
Journal: Frontiers in Genetics
December/11/2019
Abstract
Genomic selection uses single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to predict quantitative phenotypes for enhancing traits in breeding populations and has been widely used to increase breeding efficiency for plants and animals. Existing statistical methods rely on a prior distribution assumption of imputed genotype effects, which may not fit experimental datasets. Emerging deep learning technology could serve as a powerful machine learning tool to predict quantitative phenotypes without imputation and also to discover potential associated genotype markers efficiently. We propose a deep-learning framework using convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to predict the quantitative traits from SNPs and also to investigate genotype contributions to the trait using saliency maps. The missing values of SNPs are treated as a new genotype for the input of the deep learning model. We tested our framework on both simulation data and experimental datasets of soybean. The results show that the deep learning model can bypass the imputation of missing values and achieve more accurate results for predicting quantitative phenotypes than currently available other well-known statistical methods. It can also effectively and efficiently identify significant markers of SNPs and SNP combinations associated in genome-wide association study.
Publication
Journal: Science of the Total Environment
December/10/2019
Abstract
Droughts have destructive impacts on agricultural production; thus, drought projections are vital for the development of future drought mitigation strategies. This work aimed to project a standardized precipitation and evapotranspiration index (SPEI) at 3-, 6- and 12-month timescales for the period 2011-2100 under two representative concentration pathway (RCP) scenarios - RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 in mainland China and to assess the changes in various drought indices over a baseline period of 1961-2000. The spatiotemporal variations in drought characteristics (e.g., the drought occurrence time, duration, severity, peak, and frequency and the percentage of stations suffering from drought (PSSD) were estimated by the projected SPEI for the periods 2011-2040, 2041-2070 and 2071-2100. The results showed that mainland China would experience more frequent and severe droughts in the future than in the baseline period, as denoted by SPEI and the generated drought variables. In particular, drier areas of northwestern China were likely to suffer from worse drought conditions than those in other areas, with PSSD values of 60% and 81% by 2100 under the RCP4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios, respectively. Although the annual precipitation was projected to increase in most regions, drought conditions would still worsen because of increased the minimum and maximum air temperatures. However, the GCMs contributed more uncertainties to the projection of the SPEI than the stations or the RCPs, because the GCMs made a larger contribution to the variance (>40%). The SPEI performed better than the other indices that only accounted for the influence of a single variable. The relationship between crop yields and the three drought indices varied by month, crop (maize and cotton), and timescale (3- and 6-month). The drought projections from our study can provide invaluable information for stakeholders in developing regionally specific drought adaptation strategies in the face of climate change.
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