Biocompatible Nano-Hydroxyapatites Regulate Macrophage Polarization.

Research on regulation of the immune microenvironment based on bioactive materials is important to osteogenic regeneration. Hydroxyapatite (HAP) is believed to be a promising scaffold material for dental and orthopedic implantation due to its ideal biocompatibility and high osteoconductivity. However, any severe inflammation response can lead to loosening and fall of implantation, which cause implant failures in the clinic. Morphology modification has been widely studied to regulate the host immune environment and to further promote bone regeneration. Here, we report the preparation of nHAPs, which have uniform rod-like shape and different size (200 nm and 400 nm in length). The morphology, biocompatibility, and anti-inflammatory properties were evaluated. The results showed that the 400 nm nHAPs exhibited excellent biocompatibility and osteoimmunomodulation, which can not only induce M2-phenotype macrophages (M2) polarization to decrease the production of inflammatory cytokines, but also promote the production of osteogenic factor. The reported 400 nm nHAPs are promising for osteoimmunomodulation in bone regeneration, which is beneficial for clinical application of bone defects.

Comparison Between Linear Stapler and Circular Stapler After Laparoscopic-Assisted Distal Gastrectomy in Patients With Gastric Cancer.

Background and Aim: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of laparoscopy distal gastrectomy using a linear stapler compared with a circular stapler in patients with gastric cancer. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 173 patients who underwent laparoscopic distal gastrectomy for gastric cancer at a single center from January 2018 to December 2020. Patients were categorized into the linear stapler group and the circular stapler group. General data, intraoperative and postoperative outcomes, postoperative pathological results, postoperative complications, and postoperative follow-up in the two groups were compared and analyzed. Results: The operation time (208.76 ± 32.92 vs. 226.69 ± 26.92 min, p < 0.05), anastomosis time (71.87 ± 9.50 vs. 90.56 ± 3.18 min, p < 0.05), time to first flatus (68.60 ± 25.96 vs. 76.16 ± 21.05 h, p < 0.05), time to the first sip of water (3.66 ± 0.61 vs. 4.07 ± 0.77 days, p < 0.05), and time to the first liquid diet (4.43 ± 1.02 vs. 5.03 ± 1.70 days, p < 0.05) were significantly shorter in the linear stapler group. In addition, the highest postoperative body temperature within 3 days (37.4 ± 0.61 vs. 37.7 ± 0.61, p < 0.05) after the operation, white blood cell count (WBC) on the 3rd day (9.07 ± 2.52 vs. 10.01 ± 2.98 × 10∧9/L, p < 0.05), and average gastric tube drainage within 3 days (36.65 ± 24.57 vs. 52.61 ± 37 ml, p < 0.05) were also significantly lower in the linear stapler group. Conclusions: Both circular and linear staplers are safe and feasible for gastrointestinal reconstruction in laparoscopic distal gastrectomy. In contrast, a linear stapler has advantages over a circular stapler in shortening operation time and accelerating the postoperative recovery of patients.

An analysis of public awareness of core information on tuberculosis in Guizhou Province.

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) is a global public health problem and China is one of the 22 countries with a high TB burden. The characteristics of the epidemic of TB in China include a high rate of infection, high prevalence, serious drug resistance, and low rate of decline and the TB epidemic in Guizhou Province is more serious than in other parts of the country. We conducted a survey during September and October 2019 to investigate public awareness of core TB information. METHODS: A multi-stage, stratified random sampling method was used to survey individuals at 18 investigation sites on their awareness of core information related to TB. SPSS22.0 software was used to analyze data and P<0.05 was considered statistically different. RESULTS: Of the 10,563 questionnaires collected, the total awareness rate of TB, the awareness rates of transmission, symptoms, treatment (doctor visit way), preferential policies, and prognosis of TB were 62.5% (95% CI: 0.6169-0.6329), 62.8% (95% CI: 0.6190-0.6374), 75.2% (95% CI: 0.7434-0.7599), 66.4% (95% CI: 0.6553-0.6733), 39.1% (95% CI: 0.3819-0.4005), 61.2% (95% CI: 0.6029-0.6215) respectively. The personal awareness qualified rate was 45.0% (95% CI: 0.4404-0.4594) and multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that education was the main factor associated with awareness of TB. CONCLUSIONS: Public awareness of the core information about TB is low in Guizhou Province. Intensive education about TB should be carried out.

An aberrant DNA methylation signature for predicting hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: By the time they are clinically diagnosed, patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are often at the advanced stage. DNA methylation has become a useful predictor of prognosis for cancer patients. Research on DNA methylation as a biomarker for assessing the risk of occurrence in HCC patients is limited. The purpose of this study was to develop an efficient methylation site model for predicting survival in patients with HCC. METHODS: DNA methylation and gene expression profile data were extracted from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Markers of DNA-methylated site in two subsets (the training subset and the test subset) were identified using a random survival forest algorithm and Cox proportional hazards regression. Then, Gene Ontology annotations were applied to investigate the functions of DNA methylation signatures. RESULTS: A total of 37 hub genes containing 713 methylated sites were identified among the differentially methylated genes (DMGs) and differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Finally, seven methylation sites (cg12824782, cg24871714, cg18683774, cg22796509, cg19450025, cg10474350, and cg06511917) were identified. In the training group and the test group, the area under the curve predicting the survival of patients with HCC was 0.750 and 0.742, respectively. The seven methylation sites signature could be used to divide the patients in the training group into high- and low-risk subgroups [overall survival (OS): 2.81 vs. 2.11 years; log-rank test, P<0.05]. Then, the prediction ability of the model was validated in the test dataset through risk stratification (OS: 2.04 vs. 2.88 years; log-rank test, P<0.05). Functional analysis demonstrated that these signature genes were related to the activity of DNA-binding transcription activator, RNA polymerase II distal enhancer sequence-specific DNA binding, and enhancer sequence-specific DNA binding. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study showed that the signature is useful for predicting the survival of HCC patients and thus, can facilitate treatment-related decision-making.

[Study on the Relationship between Soil Emissivity Spectra and Content of Soil Elements].

In this paper, based on the measurements of soil elements content and infrared spectra of 26 soil samples collected in more than 10 places, the relationship between soil emissivity in mid-infrared bands and the content of 11 soil elements including organic matters such as NO(3)-N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn and pH are analyzed. The bands where the soil elements content are significantly correlated with emissivity are given. And soil elements content estimation method is established based on the soil emissivity spectra with the partial least squares regression model and multiple stepwise regression model. The results show that: (1) In 8~10 µm, the correlation coefficient (R(2)) between Ca and soil emissivity is the highest, followed by Mg, Mn and Fe, with the highest correlation coefficient of 0.85 and the lowest, 0.52. In the range of 6~8 µm, the correlations between the contents of K, Fe, NO(3)-N, Zn and emissivity decrease gradually, with the highest correlation coefficient of 0.75 and the lowest 0.48. In 10~14 µm, the correlation between soil elements contents and emissivity is the highest for Mn, followed successively by P and K. (2) The scatter plot of soil emissivity and pH value has a parabola relation basically. The emissivity is the highest when pH value is 7, while the emissivity decreases gradually with the gradual decrease of pH value. (3) The accuracy of the estimated soil elements content from the partial least squares regression method is higher than that from the multiple stepwise regression method. It is noted that R(2) between the measurements and the estimates for the elements of Cu, Fe and Ca from the partial least squares regression method are very high (larger than 0.9). Additionally, using the simulated emissivity spectrum in the ASTER thermal infrared bands, modeling R(2) and validation R(2) between the measurements and the estimates for the elements of Ca from the multiple stepwise regression method are high (0.774 and 0.892, respectively). Using the simulated emissivity spectrum in the MODIS infrared bands, modeling R(2) and validation R(2) for Ca and Fe are higher than 0.85, and modeling R(2) and validation R(2) for Mg, K are higher than 0.5. As a whole, the emissivity spectrum in ASTER band 10 and band 11 and MODIS bands 28, 29, 30 are more sensitive to soil elements content, and thus they are more suitable for the estimation of soil elements content.

Non-Contact Measurement of the Spectral Emissivity through Active/Passive Synergy of CO2 Laser at 10.6 µm and 102F FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared) Spectrometer.

In the inversion of land surface temperature (LST) from satellite data, obtaining the information on land surface emissivity is most challenging. How to solve both the emissivity and the LST from the underdetermined equations for thermal infrared radiation is a hot research topic related to quantitative thermal infrared remote sensing. The academic research and practical applications based on the temperature-emissivity retrieval algorithms show that directly measuring the emissivity of objects at a fixed thermal infrared waveband is an important way to close the underdetermined equations for thermal infrared radiation. Based on the prior research results of both the authors and others, this paper proposes a new approach of obtaining the spectral emissivity of the object at 8-14 µm with a single-band CO2 laser at 10.6 µm and a 102F FTIR spectrometer. Through experiments, the spectral emissivity of several key samples, including aluminum plate, iron plate, copper plate, marble plate, rubber sheet, and paper board, at 8-14 µm is obtained, and the measured data are basically consistent with the hemispherical emissivity measurement by a Nicolet iS10 FTIR spectrometer for the same objects. For the rough surface of materials, such as marble and rusty iron, the RMSE of emissivity is below 0.05. The differences in the field of view angle and in the measuring direction between the Nicolet FTIR method and the method proposed in the paper, and the heterogeneity in the degree of oxidation, polishing and composition of the samples, are the main reasons for the differences of the emissivities between the two methods.

The role of VEGF-C/D and Flt-4 in the lymphatic metastasis of early-stage invasive cervical carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: To investigate the role of vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF)-C/D and their receptor Flt-4 in the lymphatic metastasis of early-stage invasive cervical carcinoma. METHODS: Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining with the antibodies against VEGF-C, VEGF-D, and Flt-4 was used to examine the expression of them in 97 cases of early-stage cervical carcinoma (Ia-IIa). Meanwhile, the lymphatic vessel density (LVD) was measured using the antibody against lymphatic vessel endothelial hyaluronan receptor-1 (LYVE-1). We then analyzed the correlation between Flt-4-positive vessel density (FVD), LVD and clinicopathological features of the tumors. RESULTS: (1) The positive rates of VEGF-C, VEGF-D, and Flt-4 were 57.7%, 60.8%, and 52.6% in the cervical tumor samples, respectively. (2) The expression levels of VEGF-C, VEGF-D, and Flt-4 were significantly correlated with lymphatic metastasis and lymphatic vessel invasion. LVD was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis and lymphatic vessel invasion. On the other hand, FVD was strongly associated with clinical staging. (3) The expression levels of VEGF-C and VEGF-D were significantly correlated with LVD and FVD, while Flt-4 levels showed no correlation with LVD or FVD. CONCLUSION: VEGF-C/D and Flt-4 may play an important role in the process of lymphatic metastasis of early-stage invasive cervical carcinoma through paracrine and autocrine mechanisms.

Scaling-up Transformation of Multisensor Images with Multiple Resolutions.

For scaling up low resolution multispectral images (LRMIs) with high resolution panchromatic image (HRPI), intensity-hue-saturation (IHS) can produce satisfactory spatial enhancement but usually introduces spectral distortion in the fused high resolution multispectral images (HRMIs). In this paper, to minimize this problem, we present a generalized intensity modulation (GIM) by extending the IHS transform to an arbitrary number of LRMIs, which uses the information of the spectral response functions (SRFs) of the multispectral and panchromatic sensors. Before modulation, the generalized intensity is enhanced by injecting details extracted from the HRPI by means of empirical mode decomposition. After the enhanced generalized intensity is substituted for the old one, the HRMIs are obtained through the GIM. Quickbird images are used to illustrate the superiority of this proposed method. Extensive comparison results based on visual analysis and Wald's protocol demonstrate that the proposed method is more encouraging for scaling up the LRMIs with the HRPI spectrally and spatially than the tested fusion methods.

Two Improvements of an Operational Two-Layer Model for Terrestrial Surface Heat Flux Retrieval.

In order to make the prediction of land surface heat fluxes more robust, two improvements were made to an operational two-layer model proposed previously by Zhang. These improvements are: 1) a surface energy balance method is used to determine the theoretical boundary lines (namely 'true wet/cool edge' and 'true dry/warm edge' in the trapezoid) in the scatter plot for the surface temperature versus the fractional vegetation cover in mixed pixels; 2) a new assumption that the slope of the Tm - f curves is mainly controlled by soil water content is introduced. The variables required by the improved method include near surface vapor pressure, air temperature, surface resistance, aerodynamic resistance, fractional vegetation cover, surface temperature and net radiation. The model predictions from the improved model were assessed in this study by in situ measurements, which show that the total latent heat flux from the soil and vegetation are in close agreement with the in situ measurement with an RMSE (Root Mean Square Error) ranging from 30 w/m²~50 w/m²,which is consistent with the site scale measurement of latent heat flux. Because soil evaporation and vegetation transpiration are not measured separately from the field site, in situ measured CO2 flux is used to examine the modeled λEveg. Similar trends of seasonal variations of vegetation were found for the canopy transpiration retrievals and in situ CO2 flux measurements. The above differences are mainly caused by 1) the scale disparity between the field measurement and the MODIS observation; 2) the non-closure problem of the surface energy balance from the surface fluxes observations themselves. The improved method was successfully used to predict the component surface heat fluxes from the soil and vegetation and it provides a promising approach to study the canopy transpiration and the soil evaporation quantitatively during the rapid growing season of winter wheat in northern China.

The Tradeoff Analysis for Remote Sensing Image Fusion Using Expanded Spectral Angle Mapper.

Image fusion is a useful tool in integrating a high-resolution panchromaticimage (HRPI) with a low-resolution multispectral image (LRMI) to produce a highresolutionmultispectral image (HRMI). To date, many image fusion techniques have beendeveloped to try to improve the spatial resolution of the LRMI to that of the HRPI with itsspectral property reliably preserved. However, many studies have indicated that thereexists a trade- off between the spatial resolution improvement and the spectral propertypreservation of the LRMI, and it is difficult for the existing methods to do the best in bothaspects. Based on one minimization problem, this paper mathematically analyzes thetradeoff in fusing remote sensing images. In experiment, four fusion methods are evaluatedthrough expanded spectral angle mapper (ESAM). Results clearly prove that all the testedmethods have this property.

An Automatic Instrument to Study the Spatial Scaling Behavior of Emissivity.

In this paper, the design of an automatic instrument for measuring the spatialdistribution of land surface emissivity is presented, which makes the direct in situmeasurement of the spatial distribution of emissivity possible. The significance of this newinstrument lies in two aspects. One is that it helps to investigate the spatial scalingbehavior of emissivity and temperature; the other is that, the design of the instrumentprovides theoretical and practical foundations for the implement of measuring distributionof surface emissivity on airborne or spaceborne. To improve the accuracy of themeasurements, the emissivity measurement and its uncertainty are examined in a series ofcarefully designed experiments. The impact of the variation of target temperature and theenvironmental irradiance on the measurement of emissivity is analyzed as well. Inaddition, the ideal temperature difference between hot environment and cool environmentis obtained based on numerical simulations. Finally, the scaling behavior of surfaceemissivity caused by the heterogeneity of target is discussed.

Improving Empirical Mode Decomposition Using Support Vector Machines for Multifocus Image Fusion.

Empirical mode decomposition (EMD) is good at analyzing nonstationary and nonlinear signals while support vector machines (SVMs) are widely used for classification. In this paper, a combination of EMD and SVM is proposed as an improved method for fusing multifocus images. Experimental results show that the proposed method is superior to the fusion methods based on à-trous wavelet transform (AWT) and EMD in terms of quantitative analyses by Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) and Mutual Information (MI).

[Diagnosis and treatment of 23 cases with stylohyoid syndrome].

PURPOSE: To assess the diagnosis and treatment of stylohyoid syndrome. METHODS: The clinical data of 23 patients with stylohyoid syndrome were analyzed retrospectively,the symptoms,age,gender, length of styloid process, and clinical signs were investigated in their relationship to the disease onset , the value of styloidectomy via transoral and extraoral approach was compared. RESULTS: (1) Pain and foreign body sensation in oropharyngeal area accounted for 83%(19/23) of the symptoms ,followed by 43%(10/23) of headache, tongueache and periauricular discomfort. (2) Females were more often affected than males. The age peak was 50s and 30s ,accounting for 43%(10/23) and 30%(7/23) respectively. (3) 91%(21/23) of the excised styloid processes were longer than 3cm in length, 9% (2/23) of them shorter than 3cm but with abnormality in shape. (4) 57%(13/23) of the elongated styloid processes could be palpated transorally. (5) Through extraoral approach, all kinds of diseased styloid processes could be excised thoroughly and safely. CONCLUSIONS: Stylohyoid syndrome is one of the causes of head and neck pain. A complete medical history , careful palpation of the oral pharyngeal area, and radiographic examination are essential for the diagnosis. Styloidectomy by extraoral approach is effective for curing of the disease.

[Studies on mother-to-infant transmission of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis G virus (HGV) co-infection].

OBJECTIVE: To explore mother-to-infant transmission of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis G virus (HGV) co-infection and the influence factors. METHODS: Antihepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) and anti-hepatitis G virus (anti-HGV) antibodies were detected by third generation enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). HCV RNA and HGV RNA were detected by fluorogenic quantitative-PCR (FQ-PCR). RESULTS: Totally 4506 common pregnant women were tested positive of serum anti-HCV. In these women, 878 were detected of serum anti-HGV, and 10 of them were found with both HCV RNA and HGV RNA positivities. In their 11 infants, two were positive for HCV RNA, and two were positive for HGV RNA. In these 4 infected infants, three were delivered by birth canal, one was delivered by cesarean section. All four were fed by breast-feeding. Three mother's ALTs were abnormally high before delivery. CONCLUSIONS: Hepatitis C and G virus co-infection does not increase the rate of mother-to-infant transmission. Birth canal delivery, breast-feeding and high alanine aminotransferase before delivery are high risk factors for mother-to-infant transmission of HCV and HGV co-infection.

[Rapid measurements of CO2 flux density and water use efficiency of crop community].

In this paper, Eddy Correlation (EC) method was employed to measure the latent heat and CO2 flux density and to calculate Water Use Efficiency (WUE) of winter wheat community in Yucheng district, Shandong Province in 1997. The results showed that the CO2 flux density had an obvious diurnal change, with a maximum about 1.5 mg x s(-1) x m(-2), which appeared at about 9:00-10:00 am in general. The WUE of wheat community presented a fall trend from morning to afternoon, and the CO2 flux density and WUE also had an obvious seasonal change, being lower in the early and late growth stages, and higher in the middle growth stage. The ranges of daily mean CO2 flux density and WUE were 0.2-0.9 mg x s(-1) x m(-2) and 5-20 gCO2 x kg(-1) H2O, respectively.