Summary
The kinetics of serum hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) during the natural history of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection has been studied, but the factors affecting them remain unclear. We ...aimed to investigate the factors affecting HBsAg titres, using data from multicentre, large‐sized clinical trials in China. The baseline data of 1795 patients in 3 multicentre trials were studied, and the patients were classified into 3 groups: hepatitis B early antigen (HBeAg)‐positive chronic HBV infection (n = 588), HBeAg‐positive chronic hepatitis B (n = 596), and HBeAg‐negative chronic hepatitis B (n = 611). HBsAg titres in the different phases were compared, and multiple linear progression analyses were performed to investigate the implicated factors. HBsAg titres varied significantly in different phases (P = .000), with the highest (4.60 log10 IU/mL 10%‐90% confidence interval: 3.52 log10 IU/mL‐4.99 log10 IU/mL) in patients with HBeAg‐positive chronic HBV infection. In all phases, age and HBV DNA were correlated with serum HBsAg level. In HBeAg‐positive chronic hepatitis B patients, a negative correlation between HBsAg titres and fibrosis stage was observed. Alanine amonitransferase or necroinflammatory activity was also correlated with HBsAg titres in HBeAg‐negative chronic hepatitis B patients. In conclusion, decreased HBsAg titres may be associated with advancing fibrosis in HBeAg‐positive chronic hepatitis B patients or increased necroinflammation in those with HBeAg‐negative chronic hepatitis B. Our findings may help clinicians better understand the kinetics of HBsAg and provide useful insights into the management of this disease.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Global particle simulations of the lower hybrid (LH) waves have been carried out using fully kinetic ions and drift kinetic electrons with a realistic electron-to-ion mass ratio. The LH wave ...frequency, mode structure, and electron Landau damping from the electrostatic simulations agree very well with the analytic theory. Linear simulation of the propagation of a LH wave-packet in the toroidal geometry shows that the wave propagates faster in the high field side than the low field side, in agreement with a ray tracing calculation. This poloidal asymmetry arises from the non-conservation of the poloidal mode number due to the non-uniform magnetic field. In contrast, the poloidal mode number is conserved in the cylindrical geometry with the uniform magnetic field.
Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies are a group of rare but serious diseases. The treatment of refractory idiopathic inflammatory myopathy is always challenging, especially in children. Three cases of ...refractory idiopathic inflammatory myopathy treated by rituximab were reported and discussed with the review of relevant literature. All were female with on-set age of 8 years and 6 months, 11 years and 7 months, 4 years and 2 months old, respectively. All had acute onset, presenting with progressive and severe muscle weakness. All lost ambulation within 1 or 2 months, with difficult swallowing and low voice. Respiratory distress occurred in case 2 after an attack of asphyxia due to an aspiration of sputum, and ventilator support was required for 1 month. Rashes were detected at the initial stage of the disease in cases 2 and 3. Patient 2 showed facial erythematous papules, spreading to her neck and hands. Patient 3 showed purplish eyelids with peri-orbital swelling, generalized edema involving all her limbs. Cre
Effects of toroidicity on linear mode conversion and absorption of lower hybrid (LH) waves in fusion plasmas have been studied using electromagnetic particle simulation. The simulation confirms that ...the toroidicity induces an upshift of parallel refractive index when LH waves propagate from the tokamak edge toward the core, which affects the radial position for the mode conversion between slow and fast LH waves. Furthermore, moving LH antenna launch position from low field side toward high field side leads to a larger upshift of the parallel refractive index, which helps the slow LH wave penetration into the tokamak core. The broadening of the poloidal spectrum of the wave-packet due to wave diffraction is also verified in the simulation. Both the upshift and broadening effects of the parallel spectrum of the wave-packet modify the parallel phase velocity and thus the linear absorption of LH waves by electron Landau resonance.
The signature of correlated electron materials (CEMs) is the coupling between spin, charge, orbital and lattice resulting in exotic functionality. This complexity is directly responsible for their ...tunability. We demonstrate here that the broken symmetry, through cubic to orthorhombic distortion in the lattice structure in a prototype manganite single crystal, La₀.₆₉Ca₀.₃₁MnO₃, leads to an anisotropic magneto-elastic response to an external field, and consequently to remarkable magneto-transport behavior. An anomalous anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) effect occurs close to the metal-insulator transition (MIT) in the system, showing a direct correlation with the anisotropic field-tuned MIT in the system and can be understood by means of a simple phenomenological model. A small crystalline anisotropy stimulates a "colossal" AMR near the MIT phase boundary of the system, thus revealing the intimate interplay between magneto-and electroniccrystalline couplings.
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BFBNIB, NMLJ, NUK, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
The activation of Hh pathway demonstrates therapeutic potential for many diseases. Smo is the main target for the development of Hh pathway modulators. However, compared with Smo antagonist, the ...development of Smo agonists is lagging behind. Based on our previous work, a series of vismodegib derivatives were designed and synthesized, and their potential to activate the Hh pathway were evaluated
via
determining the up-regulation of known pathway target genes Gli1, whcih revealed that many target compounds could activate the Hh pathway. XH-16 and XH-17, with the strongest agonistic effect, could upregulate the expression of Gli1 by more than 50% at a concentration of 10 μM.
In vitro
cytotoxicity against A549 and the MDA-MB-231 cells was evaluated and the results revealed that XH-16 and XH-17 did not exhibit cytotoxicity at a concentration of 50 μM. Molecular docking results confirmed that XH-16 and XH-17 could bind to Smo indicating that their agonistic effect on the Hh pathway may be due to the activation of Smo. XH-16 and XH-17 with novel molecular scaffold could be used as a lead compound for the development of Smo agonists. Moreover, the research process was introduced in a medicinal chemistry experimental course to assist undergraduates in understanding the core of medicinal chemistry and building capabilities for independently carrying out a medicinal chemistry project. And the teaching practice experiences were summed up to provide suggestions for the development of exploratory experimental course.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
The metal hydride heat transformer shows great potential for the low-grade heat recovery. However, the heat output is variable, and these dynamics have to be taken into account in realistic ...applications. In this paper, a new index called true temperature boost is introduced together with conventional indices to assess the performance of the heat transformer system. Detailed analyses are carried out using a mathematical model that authors developed, investigating effects of key design and operating factors on the system’s performance. The amount of hydrogen transferred between coupled reactors is found to be crucial to obtain a high coefficient of performance, while specific heating power is very sensitive to the cycle time. On the true temperature boost, the driving force of reaction and the heat transfer conditions exert the most significant effects.
► A new dynamic index was defined for metal hydride heat transformer. ► Design and operating factors for discussion were clarified. ► Detailed parametric analysis was conducted by numerical simulation. ► Specific heating power was found quite sensitive to the cycle time. ► The new index was found to mainly depend on reaction driving force.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Accumulating evidence indicates that eukaryotic translation elongation factor 1 alpha 1 (eEF1A1) is involved in cancer, while the clinical significance and the exact role of eEF1A1 in renal cell ...carcinoma (RCC) remain obscure. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the clinical significance of eEF1A1 in RCC and to investigate its effective mechanisms in order to identify a potential therapeutic target. The expression levels of eEF1A1 in RCC were explored by immunohistochemistry in tissues from 184 patients. eEF1A1 was knocked down, and cell proliferation and apoptosis were then investigated. The MAPK pathway-related proteins were detected by western blot. Our results revealed that eEF1A1 was highly expressed in RCC tissues and associated with poor prognosis. Knockdown of eEF1A1 attenuated proliferation and promoted the apoptosis of RCC cells. Furthermore, eEF1A1 knockdown decreased the phosphorylation level of AKT and ERK. In conclusion, eEF1A1 may serve as a valuable prognostic biomarker and promising therapeutic target of RCC.
Due to the increasing demand for clean energy and improved energy utilization, the metal hydride heat transformer for low-grade heat recovery has attracted wide attentions recently. In this paper, ...such a system with LaNi sub(5)-LaNi sub(4.7)Al sub(0.3) pair, which is used for upgrading waste heat to a higher temperature, was investigated in detail by numerical simulation. Different from existing studies, in this investigation only ambient and waste heat sources are involved during operation of the heat transformer, which could be advantageous in many aspects. A rigorous 2-D unsteady model was developed and numerically solved by the fully implicit finite volume method (FVM). It was shown that the proposed system can achieve steady heat upgrading operation, resulting in an average temperature boost of 6.8 K using a 358 K waste heat source. The dynamic behavior of the heat transformer in three subsequent cycles was analyzed, and the measures aiming at continuous output were further discussed.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
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