Background and aims
The function of interleukin (IL)‐10‐producing B cells (B10 cell) is compromised in patients with allergic diseases. Protease‐activated receptor (PAR)‐2 has immunoregulatory ...functions. This study aimed to elucidate the role of PAR2 in the suppression of IL‐10 expression in peripheral B cells.
Methods
Peripheral blood B cells were collected from patients with allergic rhinitis (AR). A correlation between the expression of Bcl2‐like protein 12 (Bcl2L12) and IL‐10 in the B cells was analyzed. An AR mouse model was developed.
Results
We observed that the expression of IL‐10 was lower in the peripheral B cells from patients with airway allergy. A negative correlation was identified between the expression of IL‐10 and PAR2 in B cells. Activation of PAR2 of B cells increased the expression of Bcl2L12 and suppression of LPS‐induced IL‐10 expression, which were inhibited by knocking down the Bcl2L12 gene. Treating B cells from AR patients with Bcl2L12‐shRNA‐carrying liposomes reversed the capability of IL‐10 expression and the immunosuppressive function. Administration of Bcl2L12 shRNA‐carrying liposomes attenuated experimental AR in mice.
Conclusions
Activation of PAR2 inhibits the expression of IL‐10 in B cells, which can be reversed by treating B cells with Bcl2L12 shRNA‐carrying liposomes. The data suggest that regulation of Bcl2L12 may be a novel approach in the treatment for AR.
Background
The aim of this study was to evaluate whether adjuvant chemotherapy is associated with improved survival in patients with resectable gastric neuroendocrine carcinomas (G‐NECs) or mixed ...adenoneuroendocrine carcinomas (G‐MANECs).
Methods
The study included patients with G‐NECs or G‐MANECs who underwent surgery in one of 21 centres in China between 2004 and 2016. Propensity score matching analysis was used to reduce selection bias, and overall survival (OS) in different treatment groups was estimated by the Kaplan–Meier method.
Results
In total, 804 patients with resectable G‐NECs or G‐MANECs were included, of whom 490 (60·9 per cent) received adjuvant chemotherapy. After propensity score matching, OS in the chemotherapy group was similar to that in the no‐chemotherapy group. Among patients with G‐NECs, survival in the fluorouracil (5‐FU)‐based chemotherapy group and the non‐5‐FU‐based chemotherapy group was similar to that in the no‐chemotherapy group. Similarly, etoposide plus cisplatin or irinotecan plus cisplatin was not associated with better OS in patients with G‐NECs. Among patients with G‐MANECs, OS in the non‐5‐FU‐based chemotherapy group was worse than that in the no‐chemotherapy group. Patients with G‐MANECs did not have better OS when platinum‐based chemotherapy was
used.
Conclusion
There was no survival benefit in patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy for G‐NECs or G‐MANECs.
Antecedentes
El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar si la quimioterapia adyuvante mejoraba la supervivencia en pacientes con carcinomas gástricos resecables neuroendocrinos (gastric neuroendocrine carcinomas, G‐NECs) y carcinomas adenoneuroendocrinos mixtos (mixed adenoneuroendocrine carcinomas, G‐MANECs).
Métodos
Se incluyeron pacientes con G‐NECs y G‐MANECs tratados quirúrgicamente en 21 centros en China entre 2004 y 2016. Se utilizó un análisis de emparejamiento por puntaje de propensión para reducir el sesgo de selección y el método de Kaplan‐Meier para estimar la supervivencia global (overall survival, OS) de los pacientes en los diferentes grupos de tratamiento.
Resultados
En total, se incluyeron en el estudio 804 pacientes con G‐NECs y G‐MANECs resecables y 490 pacientes (60,9%) recibieron quimioterapia adyuvante. Después del emparejamiento por puntaje de propensión, la OS del grupo con quimioterapia fue similar a la del grupo sin quimioterapia. En los pacientes con G‐NECs, la supervivencia en los grupos con quimioterapia basada en 5‐FU (fluorouracilo) y de quimioterapia sin 5‐FU fue similar a la del grupo sin quimioterapia. Asimismo, la combinación de etopósido y cisplatino o de irinotecán y cisplatino no se asoció con una mejor OS en pacientes con G‐NECs. En pacientes con G‐MANECs, la OS del grupo con quimioterapia sin 5‐FU fue peor que la del grupo sin quimioterapia. Los pacientes con G‐MANECs no presentaron una mejor OS cuando se administró quimioterapia basada en platinos.
Conclusión
La administración de quimioterapia adyuvante en pacientes con G‐NECs y G‐MANECs no mejoró la supervivencia.
This multicentre study enrolled 804 patients with resectable gastric neuroendocrine carcinomas and gastric mixed adenoneuroendocrine carcinomas. In propensity score matching analysis, there were no associations between the use of adjuvant chemotherapy and improved overall survival. Similar results were obtained in stratified analysis according to different chemotherapy regimens.
No benefit
Abstract
Recent observations discovered that some repeating fast radio bursts (FRBs) show complicated variations and reversals of Faraday rotation measures (RMs), indicating that the sources of these ...FRBs are embedded in a dynamically magnetized environment. One possible scenario is that repeating FRBs are generated by pulsars in binary systems, especially containing a high-mass companion with strong stellar outflows. Here we study the RM variations caused by stellar winds and a possible stellar disk. If the magnetic field is radial in the stellar wind, RMs will not reverse except if the magnetic axis inclination angle is close to 90°. For the toroidal magnetic field in the wind, RMs will reverse at the superconjunction. For the case of the toroidal field in the disk, the RM variations may have a multimodal and multiple reversal profile because the radio signals travel through different components of the disk during periastron passage. We also apply this model to FRB 20180916B. By assuming that its 16.35 day period is from a slowly rotating or freely precessing magnetar, we find that the secular RM variation can be explained by the periastron passage of a magnetar in a massive binary system. In addition, the clumps in the stellar wind and disk can cause short timescale (<1 day) variations or reversals of RM. Therefore, long-term monitoring of RM variations can reveal the environments of repeating FRBs.
Latent heat storage (LHS) can theoretically provide large heat storage density and significantly reduce the storage material volume by using the material’s fusion heat, Δ
h
m
. Phase change materials ...(PCMs) commonly suffer from low thermal conductivities, being around 0.4
W
m
−1
K
−1 for inorganic salts, which prolong the charging and discharging period. The problem of low thermal conductivity is a major issue that needs to be addressed for high temperature thermal energy storage systems. Since porous materials have high thermal conductivities and high surface areas, they can be used to form composites with PCMs to significantly enhance heat transfer. In this paper, the feasibility of using metal foams and expanded graphite to enhance the heat transfer capability of PCMs in high temperature thermal energy storage systems is investigated. The results show that heat transfer can be significantly enhanced by both metal foams and expanded graphite, thereby reducing the charging and discharging period. Furthermore, the overall performance of metal foams is superior to that of expanded graphite.
MicroRNAs are a class of small, non‐coding RNAs that can negatively regulate protein‐coding genes, and are associated with almost all known physiological and pathological processes, especially ...cancer. The number of studies documenting miRNA expression patterns in malignancy continues to expand rapidly, with continuously gained critical information regarding how aberrantly expressed miRNAs may contribute to carcinogenesis. miRNAs can influence cancer pathogenesis, playing a potential role as either oncogenes or tumour suppressors. Recently, several miRNAs have been reported to exert different regulatory functions in oesophageal cancer – the carcinoma typically arising from the epithelial lining of the oesophagus. These miRNAs also have potential clinical applications towards developing biomarkers or targets for possible use in diagnosis or therapy in oesophageal cancer. In this review, we have summarized the two (oncogenic or tumour suppressive) roles of miRNAs here, and their applications as potential biomarkers or therapeutic targets, which may illuminate future treatment for oesophageal cancer.
Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are highly dispersed, millisecond-duration radio bursts1-3. Recent observations of a Galactic FRB4-8 suggest that at least some FRBs originate from magnetars, but the origin ...of cosmological FRBs is still not settled. Here we report the detection of1,863 bursts in 82 h over 54 days from the repeating source FRB 20201124A (ref.9). These observations show irregular short-time variation ofthe Faraday rotation measure (RM), which scrutinizes the density-weighted line-of-sight magnetic field strength, of individual bursts during the first 36 days, followed by a constant RM. We detected circular polarization in more than half of the burst sample, including one burst reaching a high fractional circular polarization of 75%. Oscillations in fractional linear and circular polarizations, as well as polarization angle as a function of wavelength, were detected. All of these features provide evidence for a complicated, dynamically evolving, magnetized immediate environment within about an astronomical unit (au; Earth-Sun distance) ofthe source. Our optical observations of its Milky-Way-sized, metal-rich host galaxy10-12 show a barred spiral, with the FRB source residing in a low-stellar-density interarm region at an intermediate galactocentric distance. This environment is inconsistent with a young magnetar engine formed during an extreme explosion of a massive star that resulted in a long gamma-ray burst or superluminous supernova.
Multilayer coatings were prepared on H13k steel substrate by laser cladding, and Fe-based powders mixed with different Mo and Ni contents were used. The microstructure change between layers in the ...multilayer deposit process was analyzed. The effects of Mo and Ni contents on the microstructure, phase transformation, element distribution, and microhardness were also systematically investigated. Results showed that dendrite matrix and interdendrite netlike eutectic structure were found in Fe-based cladding layers. Furthermore, the bonding zone was mainly composed of coarse dendrites because of remelting and reheating induced by secondary energy input. Due to the heat accumulation, relatively large dendrites in the bonding zone and thick bonding zone could be formed in the latter layers rather than in the early layers. The phases of sample 1 and sample 3 at room temperature are martensite, residual austenite, residual δ ferrite, M2B and metal carbide (M23C6, and M7C3). The phases of sample 2 at room temperature are austenite, residual δ ferrite, M2B and metallic carbide (M23C6, and M7C3) because more Ni content leads to the change of solidification mode. With increasing Ni content up to 8 wt %, the microhardness of laser cladding layer decreased from 600 HV0.5 to 400 HV0.5 but was distributed homogenously from the interior region to the bonding zone.
A regional synthesis of organic carbon (OC) burial was conducted using a comprehensive data set to reveal some of the key drivers and human multi‐stressors controlling OC burial and transport in the ...Eastern China Marginal Seas (ECMS). Both OC and Δ14C values of suspended particulate matter (SPM) in the Changjiang River, were significantly higher than estuarine mobile‐muds, suggesting selective decay of more labile younger OC from both marine and terrestrial sources and the accumulation of more recalcitrant older OC. Some of this decay is likely to be associated with iron‐redox cycling in mobile‐muds. In contrast, OC, δ13C, and Δ14C values increased along the Yellow River sediment dispersal pathway, indicating adding of young marine OC and less decay of terrestrial OC. OC burial efficiency in mud areas in the Bohai Sea (∼43%) was significantly higher than those in the Yellow (∼11%) and East China Seas (∼16%), owing to rapid deposition. Burial flux of biospheric OC in mud areas of the ECMS is 7.00 ± 0.79 Mt yr−1, corresponding to atmospheric CO2 drawdown by silicate weathering in major river drainage basins of mainland China. The burial flux of petrogenic OC was estimated to be 0.81 ± 0.25 Mt yr−1, accounting for >1.9% of total burial in the global ocean. While the ECMS is an important OC sink, river damming has greatly reduced OC burial. Thus, the overall impact on anthropogenically altered river‐dominated marginal seas remains an important and rapidly changing component of the coastal ocean carbon budget.
Plain Language Summary
A comprehensive regional synthesis of organic carbon (OC) burial and its drivers, were investigated across the Eastern China Marginal Seas (ECMS). Variation of OC content and carbon isotopic composition from suspended particulate matter to mobile muds, in Changjiang sediment dispersal pathways, indicated selective decomposition of younger more labile marine and terrestrial OC, which resulted in the accumulation of older more recalcitrant OC. However, continuous adding of young marine OC, with little loss of terrestrial OC, in Yellow River sediment dispersal pathway, resulted in more recalcitrant terrestrial OC buried in this relatively more quiescent sedimentary regime. Burial efficiencies of OC from different sources in the ECMS were mainly controlled by OC reactivity and sediment mixing dynamics. The ECMS is an important sink of both petrogenic and biospheric OC over a timescale of ∼100 years. However, dam building in river basins has reduced sediment loads of the Changjiang and Yellow Rivers, which will continually decrease OC burial in the ECMS for decades to come. The changing residence time and redox pathways in these sedimentary regimes, partly controlled by increasing human stressors in the ECMS, are expected to have an important impact on rates of OC turnover and burial in marginal seas.
Key Points
Aging of terrestrial organic carbon in the Changjiang sedimentary system is more intense than that in the Yellow River sedimentary system
More efficient burial of organic carbon in the quiescent Bohai and Yellow Seas mud areas compared to East China Sea mobile muds
The Eastern China Marginal Seas are important OC sinks in terms of both petrogenic and biospheric OC burial fluxes
Molten salts have better thermal properties than synthetic mineral oil, and hence they can be directly used as heat transfer fluids in solar power plants, but in practice their direct applications as ...heat transfer fluids are constrained due to their high freezing temperature points. In this paper, a class of ternary nitrate salt mixtures consisting of 50–80
wt% KNO
3, 0–25
wt% LiNO
3 and 10–45
wt% Ca(NO
3)
2 were processed and tested. Experimental results indicated that some mixtures within this range exhibited excellent thermal properties, such as a low melting point (<100
°C), robust reliability, high-temperature stability (upto 500
°C) and a low viscosity (e.g.,<5
cP at 190
°C). Apart from these desirable thermo-physical properties, the manufacturing cost of these novel inorganic salts HTFs (Heat Transfer Fluids) is considerably lower than those of the existing commercial heat transfer fluids (HTFs).
Display omitted
► A novel ternary salt mixture with the low melting temperature below 100
°C. ► Ternary salt consists of KNO
3, LiNO
3 and Ca(NO
3)
2. ► Its overall thermal properties advantageous compared to those of commonly used HTFs. ► Viscosity less than 10
cP in the main operation temperature range.
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