Summary Kashin-Beck disease (KBD) is an endemic chronic osteochondral disease, which has a high prevalence and morbidity in the Eastern Siberia of Russia, and in the broad diagonal, northern-east to ...southern-west belt in China and North Korea. In 1990's, it was estimated that in China 1–3 million people had some degree of symptoms of the disease, although even higher estimates have been presented. In China, the extensive prevalence peaked in the late 1950's, but since then, in contrast to the global trend of the osteoarthritis (OA), the number of cases has been dramatically falling. Up to 2013, there are 0.64 millions patients with the KBD and 1.16 millions at risk in 377 counties of 13 provinces or autonomous regions. This is obviously thanks to the preventive efforts carried out, which include providing millions of people with dietary supplements and clean water, as well as relocation of whole villages in China. However, relatively little is known about the molecular mechanisms behind the cartilage damage, the genetic and the environmental risk factors, and the rationale of the preventive effects. During the last decade, new data on a cellular and molecular level has begun to accumulate, which hopefully will uncover the grounds of the disease.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Background
While the majority of studies report that a raised serum α‐fetoprotein (AFP) level before operation is associated with a high risk of recurrence and death in patients who undergo ...hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), results are conflicting. The aim of this study was to assess the prognostic value of AFP.
Methods
Serum AFP levels were measured in patients with hepatitis‐associated HCC who underwent hepatectomy between 1995 and 2012. Kaplan–Meier and multivariable analyses were performed to identify risk factors for overall and disease‐free survival. Univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression was used to evaluate the predictive value of AFP. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated to identify the AFP level that had the highest accuracy in discriminating between survivors and non‐survivors.
Results
Some 376 patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)‐associated HCC were included in the study. The overall survival rate was 58·8 per cent in patients with an AFP level of 400 ng/ml or less compared with 40·4 per cent for those with a level exceeding 400 ng/ml (P = 0·001). AFP concentration above 400 ng/ml was an independent risk factor for shorter disease‐free and overall survival after surgery. ROC analysis indicated that the optimal cut‐off values for AFP varied for different subtypes of HCC. The sensitivity and specificity were lower with areas under the ROC curve of less than 0·600. An AFP level greater than 400 ng/ml was not sensitive enough to predict the prognosis in patients with an HCC diameter smaller than 3 cm.
Conclusion
A serum AFP level above 400 ng/ml predicts poor overall and recurrence‐free survival after hepatectomy in patients with HBV‐associated HCC. AFP is not a strong prognostic marker given its poor discriminatory power, with low sensitivity and specificity.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Half-Heuslers would be important thermoelectric materials due to their high temperature stability and abundance if their dimensionless thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) could be made high enough. ...The highest peak ZT of a p-type half-Heusler has been so far reported about 0.5 due to the high thermal conductivity. Through a nanocomposite approach using ball milling and hot pressing, we have achieved a peak ZT of 0.8 at 700 °C, which is about 60% higher than the best reported 0.5 and might be good enough for consideration for waste heat recovery in car exhaust systems. The improvement comes from a simultaneous increase in Seebeck coefficient and a significant decrease in thermal conductivity due to nanostructures. The samples were made by first forming alloyed ingots using arc melting and then creating nanopowders by ball milling the ingots and finally obtaining dense bulk by hot pressing. Further improvement in ZT is expected when average grain sizes are made smaller than 100 nm.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
The martensitic transition, magnetocaloric effect (MCE) and shape memory effect (MSE) of ferromagnetic Heusler alloys Ni50Mn50-xSbx (x = 12, 13 and 14) have been investigated. A large positive ...magnetic entropy change DeltaSM was observed in the vicinity of the martensitic transition. The maximum value of DeltaSM is 9.1 J kg-1 K-1 in Ni50Mn37Sb13 at 287 K for a magnetic field change of 5 T. This change originates from the first-order transition from a low-temperature weak-magnetic martensitic phase to a high-temperature ferromagnetic parent phase. A magnetic-field-induced shape recovery strain of about 15 ppm at room temperature and at a relatively low magnetic field (1.2 T) was observed to accompany the reverse martensitic transformation. The large field-induced MCE and MSE in the NiMnSb system make it a promising material for room-temperature application.
Dimensionality and symmetry play deterministic roles in the laws of Nature. They are important tools to characterize and understand quantum phase transitions, especially in the limit of strong ...correlations between spin, orbit, charge, and structural degrees of freedom. Here, using newly-developed, high-pressure resonant X-ray magnetic and charge diffraction techniques, we have discovered a quantum critical point in Cd
Os
O
as the all-in-all-out antiferromagnetic order is continuously suppressed to zero temperature and, concomitantly, the cubic lattice structure continuously changes from space group Fd-3m to F-43m. Surrounded by three phases of different time reversal and spatial inversion symmetries, the quantum critical region anchors two phase lines of opposite curvature, with striking departures from a mean-field form at high pressure. As spin fluctuations, lattice breathing modes, and quasiparticle excitations interact in the quantum critical region, we argue that they present the necessary components for strongly-coupled quantum criticality in this three-dimensional compound.
The strong and ductile single-phase body-centered-cubic (BCC) HfNbTaTiZr refractory high-entropy alloy (RHEA) is a potential structural material for high-temperature applications. However, the BCC ...phase stability in the intermediate temperature range (500–900 °C) needs to be better understood to make this alloy applicable to industry. In the present work, the phase decomposition of the HfNbTaTiZr RHEA is examined at different temperatures (500–1000 °C). Additionally, the formation of BCC Ta-Nb-rich and hexagonal-close-packed (HCP) Hf-Zr-rich precipitates are studied as a function of annealing time at 700 °C using a combination of atom probe tomography, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. We found that these BCC and HCP precipitates have preferred orientations with the BCC matrix.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Ulceration in the gastrointestinal (GI) mucosa is a common disorder in humans. It has been shown that cigarette smoking is closely related to the increase of peptic ulcer and also plays an inhibitory ...role on ulcer healing. However, the underlying mechanisms by which cigarette smoke exerts these adverse effects remain largely unknown. It is perhaps partly due to the complexity of chemical compositions in the smoke and furthermore their pathological actions are largely undefined. In this review, we have highlighted the potential adverse effects of the toxic chemical components in cigarette smoke and summarized their possible mechanisms of actions on ulcer formation and healing in the GI tract. We also discuss in detail how cigarette smoke disturbs cell proliferation, influences mucus synthesis and secretion, delays blood vessel formation, and interferes the innate immune responses during ulceration and repair in the GI mucosa.
Context.
We investigate the use of saliency-map analysis to aid in searches for transient signals, such as fast radio bursts and individual pulses from radio pulsars.
Aims.
Our aim is to demonstrate ...that saliency maps provide the means to understand predictions from machine learning algorithms and can be implemented in pipelines used to search for transient events.
Methods.
We implemented a new deep learning methodology to predict whether any segment of the data contains a transient event. The algorithm was trained using real and simulated data sets. We demonstrate that the algorithm is able to identify such events. The output results are visually analysed via the use of saliency maps.
Results.
We find that saliency maps can produce an enhanced image of any transient feature without the need for de-dispersion or removal of radio frequency interference. The maps can be used to understand which features in the image were used in making the machine learning decision and to visualise the transient event. Even though the algorithm reported here was developed to demonstrate saliency-map analysis, we have detected a single burst event, in archival data, with dispersion measure of 41 cm
−3
pc that is not associated with any currently known pulsar.
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FMFMET, NUK, UL, UM, UPUK
Ghrelin, a circulating appetite-inducing hormone, is derived from a prohormone by posttranslational processing. On the basis of the bioinformatic prediction that another peptide also derived from ...proghrelin exists, we isolated a hormone from rat stomach and named it obestatin-a contraction of obese, from the Latin "obedere," meaning to devour, and "statin," denoting suppression. Contrary to the appetite-stimulating effects of ghrelin, treatment of rats with obestatin suppressed food intake, inhibited jejunal contraction, and decreased body-weight gain. Obestatin bound to the orphan G protein-coupled receptor GPR39. Thus, two peptide hormones with opposing action in weight regulation are derived from the same ghrelin gene. After differential modification, these hormones activate distinct receptors.
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BFBNIB, NMLJ, NUK, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
A serrated flow, which occurs in a material undergoing mechanical deformation, is a complex process of great engineering significance. Here statistical, dynamical, and multifractal modeling and ...analyses were performed on the stress-time series to characterize and model the stress-drop behavior of an Al0.5CoCrCuFeNi high-entropy alloy (HEA). Results indicate that the spatiotemporal dynamics of the serrated flow is affected by changes in the strain rate and test temperature. The sample entropy, in general, was found to be the highest in the samples tested at 500 °C. The higher complexity in the serrated flow at this temperature appeared to be associated with the stress-drop behavior that had intermediate values in terms of the maximum stress drop, the multifractality of the data set, and the histogram distributions. Moreover, the sample entropy was the lowest for the samples tested at 600 °C. The lower complexity values were associated with a wider multifractal spectrum and a less uniform and sparser distribution of the stress-drop magnitudes. In terms of the serration types, Type-C serrations were related to the lowest complexity values, widest multifractal spectra, and higher probability of exhibiting larger stress drops. Conversely, Type-A and B serrations were associated with the higher complexity, narrower spectra, and lower probability of higher stress drops. Furthermore, the body-centered-cubic (BCC) structure and the fully-ordered L12 nano-particles were found to emerge in the samples at 600 °C and are thought to be linked to the decreased spatiotemporal correlations in the stress-drop behavior.
•Link between complexity, multifractal, and stress-drop magnitude statistics.•Spatiotemporal dynamics of serrations is affected by strain rate and temperature.•Serrations exhibited the most complex behavior at a strain rate of 2 × 10-3 s-1.•Higher spatiotemporal correlations in the serrated flow at 500oC.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
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