W-K-TiC alloys with different titanium carbide concentrations (0.05, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2) wt.% were fabricated through Mechanical Alloying and Spark Plasma Sintering. The effects of the addition of ...nano-scaled TiC particles on the relative density, Vickers micro-hardness, microstructure, crystal information, thermal shock resistance, and tensile strength were investigated. It is revealed that the doped TiC nano-particles located at the grain boundaries. The relative density and Vickers micro-hardness of W-K-TiC alloys was enhanced with TiC addition and the highest Vickers micro-hardness is 731.55. As the TiC addition increased from 0.05 to 2 wt%, the room-temperature tensile strength raised from 141 to 353 MPa. The grain size of the W-K-TiC alloys decreased sharply from 2.56 μm to 330 nm with the enhanced TiC doping. The resistance to thermal shock damage of W-K-TiC alloys was improved slightly with the increased TiC addition. Keywords: Potassium-doped tungsten, Titanium carbide, Spark plasma sintering, Tensile strength, Thermal shock
Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) seroclearance and seroconversion are regarded as favorable outcomes of chronic hepatitis B (CHB). This study aimed to develop artificial neural networks (ANNs) ...that could accurately predict HBsAg seroclearance or seroconversion on the basis of available serum variables.
Data from 203 untreated, HBeAg-negative CHB patients with spontaneous HBsAg seroclearance (63 with HBsAg seroconversion), and 203 age- and sex-matched HBeAg-negative controls were analyzed. ANNs and logistic regression models (LRMs) were built and tested according to HBsAg seroclearance and seroconversion. Predictive accuracy was assessed with area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC).
Serum quantitative HBsAg (qHBsAg) and HBV DNA levels, qHBsAg and HBV DNA reduction were related to HBsAg seroclearance (P<0.001) and were used for ANN/LRM-HBsAg seroclearance building, whereas, qHBsAg reduction was not associated with ANN-HBsAg seroconversion (P = 0.197) and LRM-HBsAg seroconversion was solely based on qHBsAg (P = 0.01). For HBsAg seroclearance, AUROCs of ANN were 0.96, 0.93 and 0.95 for the training, testing and genotype B subgroups respectively. They were significantly higher than those of LRM, qHBsAg and HBV DNA (all P<0.05). Although the performance of ANN-HBsAg seroconversion (AUROC 0.757) was inferior to that for HBsAg seroclearance, it tended to be better than those of LRM, qHBsAg and HBV DNA.
ANN identifies spontaneous HBsAg seroclearance in HBeAg-negative CHB patients with better accuracy, on the basis of easily available serum data. More useful predictors for HBsAg seroconversion are still needed to be explored in the future.
Human adenovirus type 55 (HAdV-55) has recently caused multiple outbreaks. This study examined polymorphisms in CD46 to determine their involvement in HAdV-55 infection.
A total of 214 study subjects ...infected with HAdV-55 were included in our study. The study subjects were divided into those with silent infections (n=91), minor infections (n=85), and severe infections (n=38). Ten single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from CD46 were examined.
Compared with the AA genotype, the TT genotype at rs2724385 (CD46, A/T) was associated with a protective effect against disease occurrence, with an odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of 0.20 (0.04-0.97) (P=0.038). There were no significant differences between the patients with minor and severe infection and those who had silent HAdV-55 infection in the other CD46 SNPs. We next compared the polymorphisms of these genes according to disease severity in HAdV-55-infected patients with clinical symptoms. The results showed that there were no significant differences between minor infections and severe infections.
Our results suggested that the CD46 SNP at rs2724385 is associated with the occurrence of disease in HAdV-55-infected patients. A much larger number of samples is required to understand the role of CD46 polymorphisms in the occurrence and progression of infection by HAdV-55. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;12:427-430).
The generation of dual-wavelength domain-wall rectangular-shape pulses in a highly nonlinear fiber (HNLF)-based fiber ring laser is experimentally demonstrated. The dual-wavelength lasing operation ...is realized by employing the intracavity birefringence-induced spectral filtering effect. An 85m long HNLF is introduced into the fiber ring laser to enhance the nonlinear effect, which is favorable for the cross coupling between the two lasing beams. Experimentally, it was found that the interval of two domain walls in the time domain could be adjusted by simply tuning the linear cavity phase delay, which results in the achievement of different output pulse shapes. By properly rotating the polarization controller (PC), the dual-wavelength rectangular-shape pulses could be efficiently obtained. The proposed fiber laser provides a simple and efficient way to generate rectangular-shape pulse.
► We have observed the dual-wavelength domain-wall rectangular shape pulses in the fiber laser. ► The fiber laser provides a simple and efficient way to generate rectangular-shape pulse. ► We found that the interval of two domain walls can be adjusted by tuning the linear cavity phase delay. ► An 85m HNLF was introduced to enhance the nonlinear effect, which is favorable for cross coupling.
Fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19) is a member of the hormone-like FGF family and has activity as an ileum-derived postprandial hormone. It shares high binding affinity with β-Klotho and together ...with the FGF receptor (FGFR) 4, is predominantly targeted to the liver. The main function of FGF19 in metabolism is the negative control of bile acid synthesis, promotion of glycogen synthesis, lipid metabolism and protein synthesis.
Drawing on in vitro and in vivo studies, this review discusses FGF19 and some underlying mechanisms of action of FGF19 as an endocrine hormone in several liver diseases. The molecular pathway of the FGF19-FGFR4 axis in non-alcoholic liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma are discussed. Furthermore, definition of function and pharmacological effects of FGF19 for liver disease are also presented.
A series of studies have highlighted a crucial role of FGF19 in liver disease. However, the conclusions of these studies are partly paradoxical and controversial. An understanding of the underlying biological mechanisms which may explain inconsistent findings is especially important for consideration of potential biomarker strategies and an exploration of the putative therapeutic efficacy of FGF19 for human liver disease.
APOBEC3B (A3B) is one of seven human APOBEC3 DNA cytosine deaminases that restrict viral infections as part of the overall innate immune response, but it also plays a major role in tumor evolution by ...mutating genomic DNA. Given the importance of A3B as a restriction factor of viral infections and as a driver of multiple human cancers, selective antibodies against A3B are highly desirable for its specific detection in various research and possibly diagnostic applications. Here, we describe a high-affinity minimal antibody, designated 5G7, obtained via a phage display screening against the C-terminal catalytic domain (ctd) of A3B. 5G7 also binds APOBEC3A that is highly homologous to A3Bctd but does not bind the catalytic domain of APOBEC3G, another Z1-type deaminase domain. The crystal structure of 5G7 shows a canonical arrangement of the heavy and light chain variable domains, with their complementarity-determining region (CDR) loops lining an antigen-binding cleft that accommodates a pair of α-helices. To understand the mechanism of A3Bctd recognition by 5G7, we used the crystal structures of A3Bctd and 5G7 as templates and computationally predicted the A3B-5G7 complex structure. Stable binding poses obtained by the simulation were further tested by site-directed mutagenesis and in vitro binding analyses. These studies mapped the epitope for 5G7 to a portion of C-terminal α6 helix of A3Bctd, with Arg374 playing an essential role. The same region of A3Bctd was used previously as a peptide antigen for generating a rabbit monoclonal antibody (mAb 5210-87-13), suggesting that this region is particularly immunogenic and that these antibodies from very different origins may share similar binding modes. Our studies provide a platform for the development of selective antibodies against A3B and other APOBEC3 family enzymes.
In research literature, little attention has been applied to the effect of vent openings on greenhouse climates during cooling and dehumidification processes with natural ventilation, which would ...provide guidelines for greenhouse management. To address this problem, a 3D CFD model was successfully designed based on 11-span plastic greenhouses. The model was validated with the measured air temperature and relative humidity, and then used to investigate the effects of vent configuration and opening size on the greenhouse climate. The simulations show that the vent configuration affects greenhouse microclimate patterns and the spatial and temporal variations of the internal climate. Meanwhile, the vent opening size affects greenhouse dehumidification time, air temperature and relative humidity during the dehumidification process. Finally, the assessments of ventilation performance highlight that the roof plus side opening is most suitable for summer cooling, while the roof opening is most suitable for winter dehumidification.
We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of five oral nucleos(t)ide analogues (NAs), including lamivudine, entecavir, adefovir, telbivudine and tenofovir, for the prevention of hepatitis B virus (HBV) ...reactivation and HBV-related complications in chronic hepatitis B virus (CHB) infected patients with hematological malignancies receiving chemotherapy or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) by network meta-analysis.
The search identified 28 articles involving 5 different prophylactic regimens covering 1478 participants.
Among five prophylactic regimes, tenofovir (predicted probability, 90%), was the most effective intervention followed by entecavir (88%) in preventing HBV reactivation. There was no significant difference between tenofovir and entecavir for preventing HBV reactivation. With regards to other outcomes, tenofovir and telbivudine was not included to evaluate due to lack of relevant studies. Entecavir was the most effective intervention in reducing the risk of HBV related hepatitis (100%), HBV related death (61%) and all other causes of hepatitis (98%).
Tenofovir and entecavir might be the most potent regimes in prevention of HBV reactivation for CHB infected patients with hematological malignancies undergoing chemotherapy or HSCT.
Critically ill cirrhotic patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) are associated with high mortality rates. The aims of this study were to develop a specific prognostic score for critically ill ...cirrhotic patients with AKI, the acute kidney injury - Chronic Liver Failure - Sequential Organ Failure- Assessment score (AKI-CLIF-SOFA) score. This study focused on 527 cirrhotic patients with AKI admitted to intensive care unit and constructed a new scoring system, the AKI-CLIF-SOFA, which can be used to prognostically assess mortality in these patient population. Parameters included in this model were analysed by cox regression. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (auROC) of AKI-CLIF-SOFA scoring system was 0.74 in 30 days, 0.74 in 90 days, 0.72 in 270 days and 0.72 in 365 days. Additionally, this study demonstrated that the new model had more discriminatory power than chronic liver failure- sequential organ failure assessment score (CLIF-SOFA), SOFA, model for end stage liver disease (MELD), kidney disease improving global outcomes (KDIGO) and simplified acute physiology score II (SAPS II) (auROC: 0.72, 0.66, 0.64, 0.62, 0.63 and 0.65 respectively, all P < 0.05) for the prediction of the 365-days mortality. Therefore, AKI-CLIF-SOFA demonstrated a valuable discriminative ability compared with KDIGO, CLIF-SOFA, MELD, SAPS II and SOFA in critically ill cirrhotic patients with AKI.
Background
This study aims to investigate the association of epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) accumulation with cardiac function and atrioventricular coupling in a cohort of postmenopausal women ...assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR).
Materials and methods
Overall, 283 postmenopausal women (mean age 61.5 ± 9.1 years) who underwent CMR examination were enrolled. Participants were classified into four groups by the quartile of EAT volume. EAT volume was quantified on short-axis cine stacks covering the entire epicardium. CMR-derived cardiac structure and function, including left atrial (LA)- volume, emptying fraction, deformation, and left ventricular (LV)- mass, volume, ejection fraction, and deformation, were compared among the four groups of graded EAT volume.
Results
Left ventricular mass (LVM) and LV remodeling index were both increased in the group with the highest EAT volume, compared to those in the lowest quartile (
p
= 0.016 and
p
= 0.003). The LV global longitudinal strain (LV-GLS), circumferential strain (LV-GCS), and LA- reservoir strain (LA-RS), conduit strain (LA-CS), and booster strain (LA-BS), were all progressively decreased from the lowest quartile of EAT volume to the highest (all
p
< 0.05). Multivariable linear regression analyses showed that EAT was independently associated with LV-GLS, LA-RS, LA-CS, and LA-BS after adjusting for body mass index and other clinical factors.
Conclusion
Epicardial adipose tissue accumulation is independently associated with subclinical LV and LA function in postmenopausal women. These associations support the role of EAT in mediating deleterious effects on cardiac structure and function.
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