ABSTRACT
Objectives
To determine the frequency of symptoms meeting Rome IV functional bowel disorder (FBD) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), investigate factors associated with FBD ...symptoms, and assess whether having FBD symptoms might influence AS disease activity.
Methods
In this cross-sectional study, we enrolled 153 AS patients without known colonic ulcers and 56 sex- and age-matched controls to evaluate FBD (or its subtypes) symptoms. Disease characteristics were also evaluated in the AS group.
Results
Sixty (39.2%) of 153 AS patients had FBD symptoms, which were more prevalent than controls (23.2%). Besides, symptoms compatible with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and chronic diarrhoea were detected in 18 and 43 AS patients, respectively. For the AS group, multivariable logistic regression analyses showed that symptoms of FBD, IBS, and chronic diarrhoea were negatively associated with using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and positively associated with comorbid fibromyalgia, respectively. In exploration about the effects of FBD (or its subtypes) symptoms on AS disease activity by multivariable linear regression analyses, FBD symptoms and chronic diarrhoea had universal positive associations with assessments of AS disease characteristics, respectively.
Conclusions
Patients with AS had frequent symptoms compatible with FBD, IBS, and chronic diarrhoea, proportions of which were lower in those with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug use. The improvement of FBD symptoms and chronic diarrhoea might be conducive to the disease status of AS patients.
Soil conservation is of global importance, as accelerated soil erosion by human activity is a primary threat to ecosystem viability. However, the significance and role of soil conservation in ...reshaping landscape carbon (C) accounting has not been comprehensively integrated in the terrestrial C sink. Here, we present the first integrated assessment of the modified terrestrial C sink and aquatic C transport due to soil conservation for the semiarid Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP), the world's most vulnerable region to soil erosion. We show a surprisingly low terrestrial‐aquatic C transfer that offset the terrestrial net ecosystem productivity by only 7.5%, which we attribute to the effective implementation of soil conservation practices. Despite the highest soil erosion, the semiarid CLP acts as effective C sink at 43.2 ± 22.6 g C m−2 year−1, which is comparable to temperate forest in absorbing atmospheric CO2. Moreover, C burial in reservoirs has created an additional anthropogenic C sink of 2.9 ± 1.1 g C m−2 year−1. Our findings indicate that effective soil conservation can significantly increase landscape C sequestration capacity. The co‐benefits of soil conservation in erosion control and C sequestration have important implications for policy makers in other regions undergoing increasing erosion intensity to pursue environmental sustainability.
Plain Language Summary
Aquatic export of terrestrial carbon (C) plays a significant role in modulating the magnitude of terrestrial C sink. Previous estimates of terrestrial C sink may be overestimated because not all C losses across heterogeneous landscapes are accurately determined and properly accounted for. This is particularly possible for catchments with high erosion and terrestrial‐aquatic C transfer potential. Meanwhile, soil conservation can greatly modify landscape C sequestration capacity. Thus, a more comprehensive assessment of net landscape C budget is needed that integrates aquatic export of terrestrial C while considering the role and significance of soil conservation. For the Chinese Loess Plateau in semiarid climates that once characterized the world's high soil erosion rate, we show a surprisingly low aquatic C transfer that offset the terrestrial C sink by only 7.5%, due largely to successful soil conservation in the past decades. Our findings suggest that effective implementation of soil conservation practices can substantially reduce terrestrial‐aquatic C transfer and enhance the landscape C sequestration capacity.
Key Points
The magnitude of terrestrial‐aquatic C transfer in influencing landscape‐scale C balance on the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) is assessed
The low reduction of terrestrial C sink by terrestrial‐aquatic C transfer on the CLP is largely due to soil conservation
Effective implementation of soil conservation can substantially reduce terrestrial‐aquatic C transfer and enhance landscape C sink capacity
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
The effects of light/dark cycle, mixing pattern and partial pressure of H₂ on the growth and hydrogen production of Rhodobacter sphaeroides ZX-5 were investigated. The results from light/dark cycle ...culture showed that little or no hydrogen production was observed during the dark periods, and the hydrogen production immediately recovered once illumination was resumed. Also, it was found that the optimum condition of shaking velocity was 120rpm for hydrogen photo-fermentation. Meanwhile, shaking during H₂ production phase (i.e., cell growth stationary phase) of photo-fermentation played a crucial role on effectively enhancing the phototrophic hydrogen production, rather than that during cell exponential growth phase. The other factor evaluated was hydrogen partial pressure in the culture system. The substrate conversion efficiency increased from 86.07% to 95.56% along with the decrease of the total pressure in the photobioreactor from 1.082×10⁵ to 0.944×10⁵ Pa, which indicated that reduction of H₂ partial pressure by lowering the operating pressure substantially improved H₂ production in an anaerobic, photo-fermentation process.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Allostery can regulate protein self‐assembly which further affects biological activities, and achieving precise control over the chiral suprastructures during self‐assembly remains challenging. ...Herein, to mimic the allosterical nature of proteins, the poly(phenylacetylene) block copolymers PPA‐b‐PsmNap with the dynamic helical backbone were synthesized to investigate their conformational‐transition‐induced self‐assembly. As the helical conformation of the block PsmNap spontaneously transforms from cis‐transiod to cis‐cisoid, the decreasing solubility of PsmNap blocks in THF induced self‐assembly of PPA‐b‐PsmNap. The self‐assembly structures of copolymers can sequentially evolve from vesicles to nanobelts to helical strands during the process of conformation transformation. The screw sense of final helical strands was strictly correlated to the helicity of the block PsmNap. This is helpful to understand the mechanism of allostery‐modulated self‐assembly.
The poly(phenylacetylene)s block copolymers PPA‐b‐PsmNap with the dynamic helical backbone were synthesized to mimic the allosterical nature of proteins. The copolymers can sequentially evolve from vesicles to nanobelts to helical strands during the process of conformation transformation.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
PD-L1 and PD-L2 expression levels determine immune evasion and the therapeutic efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade. The factors that drive inducible PD-L1 expression have been extensively studied, ...but mechanisms that result in constitutive PD-L1 expression in cancer cells are largely unknown.
DNA elements were deleted in cells by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout. Protein function was inhibited by chemical inhibitors. Protein levels were examined by Western blot, mRNA levels were examined by real-time RT-PCR, and surface protein expression was determined by cellular immunofluorescence and flow cytometry. Immune evasion was examined by
T cell-mediated killing.
We determined the core regions (chr9: 5, 496, 378-5, 499, 663) of a previously identified PD-L1L2-super-enhancer (SE). Through systematic analysis, we found that the E26 transformation-specific (ETS) variant transcription factor (ETV4) bound to this core DNA region but not to DNA surrounding PD-L1L2SE. Genetic knockout of ETV4 dramatically reduced the expressions of both PD-L1 and PD-L2. ETV4 transcription was dependent on ERK activation, and BRAF/TAK1-induced ERK activation was dependent on extracellular signaling from αvβ3 integrin, which profoundly affected ETV4 transcription and PD-L1/L2 expression. Genetic silencing or pharmacological inhibition of components of the PD-L1L2-SE-associated pathway rendered cancer cells susceptible to T cell-mediated killing.
We identified a pathway originating from the extracellular matrix that signaled
integrin/BRAF/TAK1/ERK/ETV4 to PD-L1L2-SE to induce PD-L1-mediated immune evasion. These results provided new insights into PD-L1L2-SE activation and pathways associated with immune checkpoint regulation in cancer.
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FFLJ, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Summary
The annual planting area of major inbred rice (Oryza sativa) cultivars reach more than half of the total annual planting area of inbred rice cultivars in China. However, how the major inbred ...rice cultivars changed during decades of genetic improvement and why they can be prevalently cultivated in China remains unclear.
Here, we investigated the underlying genetic changes of major inbred cultivars and the contributions of landraces and introduced cultivars during the improvement by resequencing a collection of 439 rice accessions including major inbred cultivars, landraces, and introduced cultivars.
The results showed that landraces were the main genetic contribution sources of major inbred Xian (Indica) cultivars, while introduced cultivars were that of major inbred Geng (Japonica) cultivars. Selection scans and haplotype frequency analysis shed light on the reflections of some well‐known genes in rice improvement, and breeders had different preferences for the Xian's and Geng's breeding. Six candidate regions associated with agronomic traits were identified by genome‐wide association mapping, five of which were under positive selection in rice improvement.
Our study provides a comprehensive insight into the development of major inbred rice cultivars and lays the foundation for genomics‐based breeding in rice.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Nitrogen and phosphorus are key elements in controlling eutrophication in the aquatic system. Water and sediment samples were collected from Hongfeng Lake, a seasonally stratified reservoir in ...southwest China, in winter and summer. Diffusion fluxes of NH4+, NO3−, and labile P in summer using diffusive gradients in thin films technology were 3.4, −37.2, and 0.9 mg m−2 day−1, respectively, based on Fick’s first law. The diffusion flux of labile P was 2.05 mg m−2 day−1 in winter. The contributions fraction of the labile P diffusion flux from sediment to the overlying water were higher in winter than those in summer, because of the relatively lower external input, concentrations and higher diffusion fluxes in winter. After the external input decreased, all of the three diffusion fluxes were lower than the previous record. To understand the influence effect of hydrodynamics, environmental fluid dynamics code modeling was used to simulate the flow and temperature field in winter and summer. Modeling results showed that velocity in summer was higher than that in winter due to concentrated rainfall within the catchment. Moreover, the velocity and temperature in the euphotic zone were higher than that of the hypolimnion in summer. Less variation of velocity and temperature in vertical profile in winter than that in summer was observed, which may be attributable to the high specific heat capacity and the low heat conductivity of water. There was no significant correlation among velocity, hydrochemistry, nitrogen, and phosphorus concentrations. Hydrodynamics, solar radiation, and water depth affect the position of the thermocline, which was consequently to water temperature, hydrochemistry, dissolved nitrogen, and phosphorus concentration. Correlation analysis suggested that the higher bottom velocity and total bed shear may accelerate labile P, NH4+, and NO3− diffusion fluxes. These results provide evidence and suggestions for preventing and controlling reservoir eutrophication and water safety management.
Brushless direct current (BLDC) motors have been widely used in industry and factory automations, and electric vehicles. Interturn short circuit fault is one of the dominated faults for a BLDC motor, ...and this fault affects precision control, induces noise and vibration, and even causes motor burn down and fires. Hence, diagnosis of interturn short circuit fault of BLDC motor is of significance. This paper proposes a method that combines of transfer learning and features fitting to realize accurate fault localization and evaluation. First, the three-phase current signals of the motor stator windings are synchronously sampled. The one-dimensional current signals are transformed to an image, and then a transfer learning-based convolutional neural networks model is trained for fault localization. When the fault phase has been localized, the sensitive features are extracted and selected from the corresponding phase current, and then features fitting method is designed to qualitative evaluate the fault levels. Expe
Abstract
The OPGW of the distribution line combines communication and lightning protection. During the electromagnetic coupling process among power distribution lines, induced voltage and induced ...current will be generated on OPGW. This threatens the safety of power operation and maintenance personnel. This paper uses the ATP-EMTP software to build the electromagnetic coupling model of a 10kV single-loop distribution line with the OPGW. Factors including OPGW grounding mode, OPGW grounding resistance, OPGW relative position, and line load are considered, and the influence of different factors on the induced voltage and current on the OPGW of the distribution line is compared and analyzed in detail. The simulation results show that the ground resistance and relative position have little effect on the induced voltage and induced current of the OPGW. Grounding mode and line load greatly influence the induced voltage and induced current of the OPGW. The simulation conclusion provides a certain theoretical basis for selecting the parameters of OPGW of a 10kV single-circuit distribution line.
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