The most severe sequelae after rehabilitation from SARS are femoral head necrosis and pulmonary fibrosis. We performed a 15-year follow-up on the lung and bone conditions of SARS patients. We ...evaluated the recovery from lung damage and femoral head necrosis in an observational cohort study of SARS patients using pulmonary CT scans, hip joint MRI examinations, pulmonary function tests and hip joint function questionnaires. Eighty medical staff contracted SARS in 2003. Two patients died of SARS, and 78 were enrolled in this study from August 2003 to March 2018. Seventy-one patients completed the 15-year follow-up. The percentage of pulmonary lesions on CT scans diminished from 2003 (9.40 ± 7.83)% to 2004 (3.20 ± 4.78)% (
< 0.001) and remained stable thereafter until 2018 (4.60 ± 6.37)%. Between 2006 and 2018, the proportion of patients with interstitial changes who had improved pulmonary function was lower than that of patients without lesions, as demonstrated by the one-second ratio (FEV
/FVC%,
= 2.21,
= 0.04) and mid-flow of maximum expiration (FEF
,
= 2.76,
= 0.01). The volume of femoral head necrosis decreased significantly from 2003 (38.83 ± 21.01)% to 2005 (30.38 ± 20.23)% (
= 0.000 2), then declined slowly from 2005 to 2013 (28.99 ± 20.59)% and plateaued until 2018 (25.52 ± 15.51)%. Pulmonary interstitial damage and functional decline caused by SARS mostly recovered, with a greater extent of recovery within 2 years after rehabilitation. Femoral head necrosis induced by large doses of steroid pulse therapy in SARS patients was not progressive and was partially reversible.
The ranking of power generation sources is a very important prerequisite for power generation installation planning and power supply security. This study proposed a new multi-criteria system for ...ranking regional power generation sources in one country, including resources, economy, technology, environment, and society, using 11 sub-criteria. Based on the system, a novel decision-maker (DMs) preference-based integrated MCDM framework involving four methods (Visekriterijumsko Kompromisno Rangiranje (VIKOR), Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluations (PROMETHEE), and Weighted Sum Method (WSM)) was developed for ranking six power generation sources (thermal, nuclear, wind, hydro, solar PV, and biomass) at the level of China’s 30 provinces. Six different preferences of DMs are considered in the ranking according to five criteria. The results show that wind should be the power generation source given the top priority in most provinces in China whereas nuclear power and thermal power are the last choice for 26 provinces. Biomass is the most preferable power source for 17 provinces based on technological preference in which DMs regard the technology criteria is prior to all other criteria. Thermal power would still the preferred or secondary power source for provinces rich in coal resources such as Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Henan, and Shaanxi.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Although polypectomy at early stage reduces CRC incidence, 90% of the polyps are small and diminutive, where removal of them ...poses risks to patients that may outweigh the benefits. Correctly detecting and predicting polyp type during colonoscopy allows endoscopists to resect and discard the tissue without submitting it for histology, saving time, and costs. Nevertheless, human visual observation of early stage polyps varies. Therefore, this paper aims at developing a fully automatic algorithm to detect and classify hyperplastic and adenomatous colorectal polyps. Adenomatous polyps should be removed, whereas distal diminutive hyperplastic polyps are considered clinically insignificant and may be left in situ . A novel transfer learning application is proposed utilizing features learned from big nonmedical datasets with 1.4-2.5 million images using deep convolutional neural network. The endoscopic images we collected for experiment were taken under random lighting conditions, zooming and optical magnification, including 1104 endoscopic nonpolyp images taken under both white-light and narrowband imaging (NBI) endoscopy and 826 NBI endoscopic polyp images, of which 263 images were hyperplasia and 563 were adenoma as confirmed by histology. The proposed method identified polyp images from nonpolyp images in the beginning followed by predicting the polyp histology. When compared with visual inspection by endoscopists, the results of this study show that the proposed method has similar precision (87.3% versus 86.4%) but a higher recall rate (87.6% versus 77.0%) and a higher accuracy (85.9% versus 74.3%). In conclusion, automatic algorithms can assist endoscopists in identifying polyps that are adenomatous but have been incorrectly judged as hyperplasia and, therefore, enable timely resection of these polyps at an early stage before they develop into invasive cancer.
Salinity is one of the major abiotic stress factors limiting rice production. Glabrousness is a trait of agronomic importance in rice (
L.). We previously found a single-gene recessive mutant
, which ...displayed increased salt tolerance and glabrous leaf and glume without trichomes, and identified an SBP-box gene
as the candidate of the
gene. In this study,
-knockout and
-overexpression mutants were created to check the function of the gene. The knockout mutants exhibited enhanced salt tolerance and glabrous leaves and glumes as expected, while the overexpression mutants showed opposite phenotypes, in which both salt sensitivity and trichome density on leaf and glume were increased. These results clearly confirmed that
is
, and suggested that
controls the initiation rather than the elongation of trichomes. In addition, expression analysis indicated that
was preferentially expressed in young panicle and stem, and protein OsSPL10 was localized in nucleus. Taken together,
negatively controls salt tolerance but positively controls trichome formation in rice.
Abstract Background To explore whether nobiletin has a protective effect on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced enteric nerve injury and its underlying mechanism. Methods An obesity model was induced by a ...HFD. Nobiletin (100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg) and vehicle were administered by gastric gavage for 4 weeks. Lee’s index, body weight, OGTT and intestinal propulsion assays were performed before sacrifice. After sampling, lipids were detected using Bodipy 493/503; lipid peroxidation was detected using MDA and SOD kits and the expression of PGP 9.5, Trem2, GFAP, β-tubulin 3, Bax, Bcl2, Nestin, P75 NTR, SOX10 and EDU was detected using immunofluorescence. The GDNF, p-AKT, AKT, p-FOXO3a, FOXO3a and P21 proteins were detected using western blotting. The relative mRNA expression levels of NOS2 were detected via qPCR. Primary enteric neural stem cells (ENSCs) were cultured. After ENSCs were treated with palmitic acid (PA) and nobiletin, CCK-8 and caspase-3/7 activity assays were performed to evaluate proliferation and apoptosis. Results HFD consumption caused colon lipid accumulation and peroxidation, induced enteric nerve damage and caused intestinal motor dysfunction. However, nobiletin reduced lipid accumulation and peroxidation in the colon; promoted Trem2, β-tubulin 3, Nestin, P75NTR, SOX10 and Bcl2 expression; inhibited Bax and GFAP expression; reduced NOS2 mRNA transcription; and regulated the GDNF/AKT/FOXO3a/P21 pathway. Nobiletin also promoted PA-induced impairment of ENSCs. Conclusions Nobiletin restored HFD-induced enteric nerve injury, which may be associated with inhibiting enteric nerve apoptosis, promoting enteric nerve survival and regulating the GDNF/AKT/FOXO3a/P21 pathway.
Electric vehicles (EVs) play a crucial role in addressing climate change and urban air quality concerns. China has emerged as the global largest EV market with 1.2 million EVs sold in 2018. This ...study established a novel life cycle energy use and emission inventory collecting up-to-date data including the electricity generation mix, emission controls in the power and industrial sectors, and the energy use in the fuel transport to estimate the well-to-wheels (WTW) greenhouse gas (GHG), and air pollutant emissions for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and gasoline passenger vehicles in China. The results show that an average BEV has 35% lower WTW GHG emissions than an average gasoline car. BEVs reduce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NO
X
) emissions by 98% and 34%, respectively, but have comparable or slightly higher primary fine particulate matter (PM
2.5
) and sulfur dioxide (SO
2
) emissions. Compact and small-size vehicles generally have lower GHG and air pollutant emissions than mid- and large-size vehicles. Class A vehicles contribute the most in the absolute amount of GHG and air pollutant emissions and therefore have the biggest potential for emission reduction. Our results suggest that global policymakers should continue to promote the transition to clean power sources, emission control, and fuel economy regulations, which are critical to enhancing emission mitigation benefits of BEVs. We also suggest EV development strategies should be formulated targeting vehicle class with the biggest emission mitigation potentials.
Many studies have investigated the changes of immune cells and proinflammatory cytokines in patients with acute schizophrenia, but few studies have investigated the functional phenotypes of immune ...cells and the expression rate of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)/ programmed cell death-Ligand 1 (PD-L1). The aim of this study was to investigate the extent of immune cells activation, PD-1/PD-L1 expressions, and altered cytokine levels in drug-naïve schizophrenia patients with acute-phase. 23 drug-naïve schizophrenia patients in acute-phase and 23 healthy individuals were enrolled in this study as experimental and control groups, separately. Socio-demographic information including gender, age, duration of illness, and smoking status was collected for each subject. Beckman DXFLEX triple laser thirteen-color flow cytometer and self-contained software CytoFLEX flow cytometric analysis software were used to detect the expressions of PD-1/PD-L1 on CD4+/CD8+ T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, monocytes and NK cells. BD Bioscience was used to examine the levels of cytokines including interferon (IFN)-γ, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, Interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, IL-6, and IL-10. Drug-naïve schizophrenia patients in acute-phase had higher levels of peripheral blood CD4+ T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes, higher PD-1 expression in B lymphocytes, and lower levels of CD8+ T lymphocytes. In addition, IL-6 levels of peripheral blood were higher in schizophrenia patients (all P < 0.05). Significant immune stress was present in schizophrenia patients with acute-phase.
Attributing intensification extreme precipitation to anthropogenic factors on the regional scale is challenging, given the large fluctuations and the complexity of quantifying interactions among ...these anthropogenic factors. Here, we propose a new variance‐based method to investigate the roles of human‐induced greenhouse gas (GHG), aerosol (AER), and their interactions (GA) in shaping extreme precipitation on the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau (QTP) at stational scale. In terms of contribution, GHG has the greatest impact on total wet‐day precipitation and simple daily intensity. In terms of significance, GA, and AER exert significant effects on all 10 extreme indices (P; < 0.05) over 48.3% and 44.8% of all stations, while GHG affects less (25.9%). Overall, GHG is not the only dominant factor, and GA and AER are expected to play vital roles in intensifying extreme precipitation over the QTP under SSP2‐4.5. These findings challenge the conventional insights that GHG is the primary anthropogenic driver of extreme precipitation.
Plain Language Summary
Greenhouse gas (GHG) has long been regarded as the primary anthropogenic driver of the intensification of extreme precipitation. However, extreme precipitation is closely linked to the complex interplay of various anthropogenic influences, with contributions varying across regions due to differences in longitude, latitude, and altitude. Here, we propose a new method to robustly quantify the contributions of GHG, AER, and GA to extreme precipitation at each station on the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau (QTP). The results show that the majority of the stations quantified by this method are statistically significant. Importantly, we find that complex interactions of GHG and AER will shape extreme precipitation over the QTP. These findings challenge the traditional understanding of climate change attributed solely to GHG and prompt a reconsideration of whether reducing GHG alone could effectively mitigate climate change.
Key Points
We propose a new variance‐based factorial analysis method to quantify contributions of anthropogenic factors at each meteorological station over Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau (QTP)
Extreme precipitation over the QTP is projected to increase in the upcoming century
The interaction between greenhouse gas and aerosol would play a key role in intensification extreme precipitation over QTP under SSP2‐4.5
Numerous studies suggest that various secular geologic and geochemical transitions occurred between ~3.2 Ga and 2.5 Ga. During this age-window, the ~2.70 Ga tectono-thermal event of the Neoarchean is ...by far the most influential, and is unusual in terms of coeval mafic-felsic magmatic rocks which were interpreted to reflect widespread crustal accretion. Here we report the early Neoarchean TTG and potassic granite association preserved in the Yunmengshan area, Taihang Mountain, North China Craton (NCC). TTG and potassic granites emplaced at 2712 ± 65 to 2644 ± 25 Ma, followed by ~2.57 to 2.50 Ga metamorphism and partial anatexis. TTG has geochemical features corresponding to high-Al medium-pressure (MP) TTG. Their high CaO, low to moderate Al2O3/(FeOT + MgO), and positive εHf (t) values (+3.8 to +7.2) with TDM2 of 2.96 to 2.75 Ga, indicate that they formed by partial melting of juvenile low-K mafic rocks, representative of crustal accretion. Besides, TTG can be subdivided into two groups based on Eu anomalies. Those with Eu/Eu* < 1.0 underwent advanced amphibole and plagioclase fractionation. The possible reason for their weakly negative Eu anomalies is that plagioclase has negated the effects of amphibole fractionation which is theoretically accompanied by plagioclase removal. Those with positive Eu anomalies accord with “slab-melt” identification criterion (Sr > 300 ppm plus elevated Sr/Y > 40, (La/Yb)N > 12 and Eu/Eu* > 1.0). The high Eu/Eu*, Sr/Y and low Yb probably represent the contribution of amphibole fractionation and plagioclase accumulation during the magma evolution. The evidence favors an arc-related setting for the TTG. The early Neoarchean potassic granites are monzogranite to syenogranite, and formed shortly after TTG. They belong to high-K calc-alkaline to shoshonitic I-type granite, and display depleted and concave-upward REE patterns between middle and heavy REEs and higher Zr/Sm ratios (69.6 on average) than TTG (45.4). The calculated εHf (t) values are mainly positive (+1.4 to +7.0) with TDM2 from 3.03 Ga to 2.72 Ga, together with low Al2O3/(FeOT + MgO), low to moderate CaO and high K2O/Na2O ratios, indicating a high-K mafic crustal source with metapelite involvement. Meanwhile, we reviewed geochemical data of the early Neoarchean TTGs published in the NCC and other cratons abroad. The results show that samples from Trans-North China Orogen in NCC have lower Y contents, higher Sr/Y and (La/Yb)N ratios, and more depleted HREE than those from Eastern Block, which could be interpreted to reflect an increase in the depth of melting. Alternatively, according to previous studies and comparison globally, elevated Sr/Y values could also reflect increased consumption of plagioclase in melting reactions due to higher temperatures, or magma fractionation. Therefore, it mostly lacks a clear distinction between the “arc” and “non-arc” settings based on geochemistry. However, many researchers put forward evidence that subduction was well attested in the late Archean (3.0 to 2.5 Ga), but it might be unstable.
•TTG and high-K granites in the Yunmengshan area formed at 2.74 to 2.64 Ga.•TTG formed by partial melting of juvenile low-K mafic rocks at medium pressure.•High-K granite derived from Archean high-K mafic rocks with metapelites involved.•Subduction was well attested in the late Archean, but it might be unstable.
Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a major cause of death worldwide and occurs with variable severity. There are few studies focused on the expression of soluble urokinase-type plasminogen ...activator receptor (suPAR) and syndecan-4 in patients with CAP.
A prospective, multi-centre study was conducted between January 2014 and December 2016. A total of 103 patients with severe CAP (SCAP), 149 patients with non-SCAP, and 30 healthy individuals were enrolled. Clinical data were recorded for all enrolled patients. Serum suPAR and syndecan-4 levels were determined by quantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The t test and Mann-Whitney U test were used to compare between two groups; one-way analysis of variance and the Kruskal-Wallis test were used to compare multiple groups. Correlations were assessed using Pearson and Spearman tests. Area under the curve (AUCs), optimal threshold values, sensitivity, and specificity were calculated. Survival curves were constructed and compared by log-rank test. Regression analyses assessed the effect of multiple variables on 30-day survival.
suPAR levels increased in all patients with CAP, especially in severe cases. Syndecan-4 levels decreased in patients with CAP, especially in non-survivors. suPAR and syndecan-4 levels were positively and negatively correlated with severity scores, respectively. suPAR exhibited high accuracy in predicting SCAP among patients with CAP with an AUC of 0.835 (p < 0.001). In contrast, syndecan-4 exhibited poor diagnostic value for predicting SCAP (AUC 0.550, p = 0.187). The AUC for predicting mortality in patients with SCAP was 0.772 and 0.744 for suPAR and syndecan-4, respectively; the respective prediction threshold values were 10.22 ng/mL and 6.68 ng/mL. Addition of both suPAR and syndecan-4 to the Pneumonia Severity Index significantly improved their prognostic accuracy, with an AUC of 0.885. Regression analysis showed that suPAR ≥10.22 ng/mL and syndecan-4 ≤ 6.68 ng/mL were reliable independent markers for prediction of 30-day survival.
suPAR exhibits high accuracy for both diagnosis and prognosis of SCAP. Syndecan-4 can reliably predict mortality in patients with SCAP. Addition of both suPAR and syndecan-4 to a clinical scoring method could improve prognostic accuracy.
ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03093220 . Registered on 28 March 2017 (retrospectively registered).
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