ABSTRACT
Trends and variability of extreme precipitation events are important for water‐related disaster prevention and mitigation as well as water resource management. Using daily precipitation ...dataset from 143 meteorological stations in the Yangtze River Basin (YRB), a suite of heavy and extreme precipitation indices recommended by the Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices, which has rarely been applied in this region, were analysed during 1960–2012. Results showed that simple daily intensity index, very wet day precipitation, extremely wet day precipitation, extremely heavy precipitation days, maximum 1‐day precipitation, maximum 5‐day precipitation and maximum consecutive dry days all increased significantly during 1960–2012. In contrast, ≥10 mm precipitation days and maximum consecutive wet days decreased significantly, implying that the precipitation processes in YRB were dominated by precipitation events with shorter durations. Geographically, a wetting tendency was observed in the eastern Tibet Plateau and the middle and lower YRB, while the other regions experienced precipitation deficits. The increasing precipitation was mainly due to the intensification of extreme precipitation events and the decreasing precipitation may be attributed to the decrease of ≥10 mm precipitation days or moderate precipitation events. In addition, the regional trends were of greater magnitudes in the middle and lower YRB, indicating more frequent extreme precipitation events in these sub‐regions. Time series analysis revealed that most precipitation indices exhibited neither a stable nor a gradual pattern during 1960–2012, but a clearly upward trend, although non‐monotonous, since the late‐1980s was evident.
Total laparoscopic abdominal aortic aneurysm resection with tube graft interposition was performed in a 53-year-old woman diagnosed with an infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm. The operation was ...accomplished by a method using three trocars. The operation took 240 minutes. Blood loss was 600 mL. No complications occurred in 13 months of postoperative follow-up. These results show that total laparoscopic abdominal aortic aneurysm repair with three trocars is feasible and worthwhile.
The effective prediction and estimation of hydrometeorological variables are important for water resources planning and management. In this study, we propose a multivariate conditional model for ...streamflow prediction and the refinement of spatial precipitation estimates. This model consists of high dimensional vine copulas, conditional bivariate copula simulations, and a quantile‐copula function. The vine copula is employed because of its flexibility in modeling the high dimensional joint distribution of multivariate data by building a hierarchy of conditional bivariate copulas. We investigate two cases to evaluate the performance and applicability of the proposed approach. In the first case, we generate one month ahead streamflow forecasts that incorporate multiple predictors including antecedent precipitation and streamflow records in a basin located in South China. The prediction accuracy of the vine‐based model is compared with that of traditional data‐driven models such as the support vector regression (SVR) and the adaptive neuro‐fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). The results indicate that the proposed model produces more skillful forecasts than SVR and ANFIS. Moreover, this probabilistic model yields additional information concerning the predictive uncertainty. The second case involves refining spatial precipitation estimates derived from the tropical rainfall measuring mission precipitationproduct for the Yangtze River basin by incorporating remotely sensed soil moisture data and the observed precipitation from meteorological gauges over the basin. The validation results indicate that the proposed model successfully refines the spatial precipitation estimates. Although this model is tested for specific cases, it can be extended to other hydrometeorological variables for predictions and spatial estimations.
Key Points
A novel multivariate probabilistic prediction model is developed
It consists of vine copulas, conditional copula simulation, and quantile‐copula
The model is used for streamflow prediction and spatial precipitation refinement
Laparoscopic procedures for pancreatic surgery have been significantly improved recently; however, only a limited number of successful laparoscopic or laparoscopy-assisted pancreaticoduodenectomy ...(PD) have been reported. The limitations could be attributed to the complexity of the reconstruction procedures under laparoscopic observation and the high incidence of complications. Postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) has been regarded traditionally as the most frequent major complication and is a potentially serious and life-threatening event. It remains the single most important cause of morbidity after PD and contributes significantly to prolonged mortality. Several modified methods of pancreas anastomosis were introduced to prevent POPF. However, few methods with a satisfactory leakage rate have yet to be seen. Collating principle of theoretical mechanics, we introduce a new method of reconstruction by performing an asymmetric sleeving-joint pancreaticojejunostomy (SJPJ). The aim of this study is to summarize the results of a new technique that is designed to decrease the POPF.
From January 2004 to December 2010, SJPJ was performed on 86 patients undergoing PD by 1 surgeon: a laparoscopic reconstruction was completed in 9 cases, a hand-assisted laparoscopic reconstruction in 2 cases, and an open SJPJ reconstruction in 75 cases.
We used SJPJ, an asymmetric pancreaticojejunostomy (PJ). The time of operation ranged from 300 minutes to 640 minutes. Postoperatively there were no major morbidities and no deaths. Although POPF was observed in the laparoscopic SJPJ group with pancreatic adenocarcinoma, 3 patients developed POPF in the open SJPJ group with ampullary adenocarcinoma (n=1) and pancreatic adenocarcinoma (n=2). The POPF rate was 9.30% in the open SJPJ group and 9.10% in the laparoscopic SJPJ group. The SJPJ procedure facilitates PJ, both laparoscopically and in open surgery. It is safe, effective, and feasible in experience hands.
We investigated the transcriptional mechanism underlying lung cancer development. RNA sequencing analysis was performed on blood samples from lung cancer cases and healthy controls. Differentially ...expressed microRNAs (miRNAs), circular RNAs (circRNAs), mRNAs (genes), and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) were identified, followed by pathway enrichment analysis. Based on miRNA target interactions, a competing endogenous network was established and significant nodes were screened. Differentially expressed transcriptional factors were retrieved from the TRRUST database and the transcriptional factor regulatory network was constructed. The expression of 59 miRNAs, 18,306 genes,232 lncRNAs, and 292 circRNAs were greatly altered in patients with lung cancer. miRNAs were closely associated with cancer-related pathways, such as pathways in cancer, colorectal cancer, and transcriptional misregulation in cancer. Two novel pathways, olfactory transduction and neuroactive ligand-receptor interactions, were significantly enriched by differentially expressed genes. The competing endogenous RNA network revealed 5 hub miRNAs. Hsa-miR-582-3p and hsa-miR-582-5p were greatly enriched in the Wnt signaling pathway. Hsa-miR-665 was closely related with the MAPK signaling pathway. Hsa-miR-582-3p and hsa-miR-582-5p were also present in the TF regulatory network. Transcriptional factors of WT1 (wilms tumor 1) and ETV1 (ETS variant 1) were regulated by hsa-miR-657 and hsa-miR-582-5p, respectively, and controlled androgen receptor gene expression. miR-582-5p, miRNA-582-3p, and miR-657 may play critical regulatory roles in lung tumor development. Our work may explore new mechanism of lung cancer and aid the development of novel therapy.
The study aimed to uncover the risk factors for the new defined pancreatic fistula (PF) and clinical related PF (CR-PF) after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) surgery and to evaluate the medico-economic ...effect of patients. A total of 412 patients were classified into two groups according to different criteria, PF and NOPF according to PF occurrence: CR-PF (grades B and C) and NOCR-PF (grade A) based on PF severity. A total of 28 factors were evaluated by univariate and multivariate logistic regression test. Hospital charges and stays of these patients were assessed. The results showed that more hospital stages and charges are needed for patients in PF and CR-PF groups than in NOPF and NOCR-PF groups ( P < 0.05 ). The excessive drinking, soft remnant pancreas, preoperative albumin, and intraoperative blood transfusion are risk factors affecting both PF and CR-PF incidence. More professional surgeons can effectively reduce the PF and CR-PF incidence. Patients with PF and CR-PF need more hospital costs and stages than that in NOPF and NOCR-PF groups. It is critical that surgeons know the risk factors related to PF and CR-PF so as to take corresponding therapeutic regimens for each patient.
The Belle II experiment at the SuperKEKB collider is a major upgrade of the KEK “B factory” facility in Tsukuba, Japan. The machine is designed for an instantaneous luminosity of
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, and the experiment is expected to accumulate a data sample of about 50 ab
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. With this amount of data, decays sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model can be studied with unprecedented precision. One promising set of modes are physics processes with missing energy such as
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decays. The
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decay provides one of the cleanest experimental probes of the flavour-changing neutral current process
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events. This report discusses the expected sensitivities of Belle II for these rare decays.
Ovarian epithelial carcinomas (OECs) frequently exhibit amplifications at the 20q13 locus which is the site of several oncogenes, including the eukaryotic elongation factor EEF1A2 and the ...transcription factor ZNF217. We reported previously that overexpressed ZNF217 induces neoplastic characteristics in precursor cells of OEC. Unexpectedly, ZNF217, which is a transcriptional repressor, enhanced expression of eEF1A2. In our study, array comparative genomic hybridization, single nucleotide polymorphism and Affymetrix analysis of ZNF217‐overexpressing cell lines confirmed consistently increased expression of eEF1A2 but not of other oncogenes, and revealed early changes in EEF1A2 gene copy numbers and increased expression at crisis during immortalization. We defined the influence of eEF1A2 overexpression on immortalized ovarian surface epithelial cells, and investigated interrelationships between effects of ZNF217 and eEF1A2 on cellular phenotypes. Lentivirally induced eEF1A2 overexpression caused delayed crisis, apoptosis resistance and increases in serum‐independence, saturation densities and anchorage independence. siRNA to eEF1A2 reversed apoptosis resistance and reduced anchorage independence in eEF1A2‐overexpressing lines. Remarkably, siRNA to eEF1A2 was equally efficient in inhibiting both anchorage independence and resistance to apoptosis conferred by ZNF217 overexpression. Our data define neoplastic properties that are caused by eEF1A2 in nontumorigenic ovarian cancer precursor cells, and suggest that eEF1A2 plays a role in mediating ZNF217‐induced neoplastic progression. Published 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Angiogenesis plays a crucial role during tumorigenesis and much progress has been recently made in elucidating the role of VEGF and other growth factors in the regulation of angiogenesis. Recently, ...microRNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to modulate a variety of physiogical and pathological processes. We identified a set of differentially expressed miRNAs in microvascular endothelial cells co‐cultured with tumour cells. Unexpectedly, most miRNAs were derived from tumour cells, packaged into microvesicles (MVs), and then directly delivered to endothelial cells. Among these miRNAs, we focused on miR‐9 due to the strong morphological changes induced in cultured endothelial cells. We found that exogenous miR‐9 effectively reduced SOCS5 levels, leading to activated JAK‐STAT pathway. This signalling cascade promoted endothelial cell migration and tumour angiogenesis. Remarkably, administration of anti‐miR‐9 or JAK inhibitors suppressed MV‐induced cell migration in vitro and decreased tumour burden in vivo. Collectively, these observations suggest that tumour‐secreted miRNAs participate in intercellular communication and function as a novel pro‐angiogenic mechanism.
Secreted miRNAs are increasingly recognized in multiple biological processes. Here, miR‐9 is shown to be secreted from cancer cells to enhance endothelial recruitment. This contribution to tumour angiogenesis could be amenable for therapeutic intervention.
•The naturally regenerated forest had better nutrient status compared with reforestation.•The secondary forest and Eucalyptus plantation had higher carbon substrates use efficiencies than the Pinus ...yunnanensis plantation.•The indicators selection method of Minimum Data Set can adequately represent the Total Data Set method.•The natural regeneration may be a more effective approach to the amelioration of soil quality in the karst areas.
Natural regeneration and reforestation have been widely adopted to improve the degraded soil and promote ecological services in the karst regions of southwestern China. A better understanding the effects of different vegetation types on soil quality and the nutrient limiting factors is very important for each approach. In this study, a secondary forest (SF) and two plantations, Eucalyptus maideni F. V. Muell. (EM, exotic, deciduous broad-leaved) and Pinus yunnanensis Franch. (PY, native, conifer species), were selected in the karst graben basins of southwest China to explore the soil quality using Total Data Set (TDS) and Minimum Data Set (MDS) methods. The results indicated most soil parameters showed significant differences between the different recovery approaches. The TDS method is more precise than the MDS method, but the MDS method can also adequately represent the TDS method for the evaluation of soil quality with different vegetation restoration schemes. In the MDS method, soil organic carbon, available potassium, ammonium nitrogen, acid phosphatase, microbial metabolic quotient, and the Pielou index of the soil microbes were found to be the most important indicators for assessing soil quality. The pure plantation of PY had a negative effect on the soil quality, causing soil nutrient deficiency, compared to the SF and EM plantation, indicating that natural regeneration may be a more effective approach to the amelioration of soil quality in the karst areas. These findings provide an empirical and theoretical basis for the protection, restoration, and management of forest in the degraded karst areas.
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