A cross-sectional study on the impact of hemodialysis duration on retinal nerve fiber layer thinning in hemodialysis patients.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between hemodialysis duration (HDD) and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness. A total of 60 patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis and 67 healthy controls were analyzed. Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) was employed to measure annular RNFL thicknesses.

Anisotropic growth of Au-Ag heteronanostructures through plasmon-induced reduction.

Plasmonic heteronanostructures are promising building blocks for photofunctional materials and devices including photocatalysts, optical materials, and optoelectronic devices. In the present work, we fabricated Au-Ag bimetallic heteronanostructures based on site-selective and anisotropic Ag deposition and growth on Au nanocubes. Plasmonic Au nanocubes were adsorbed onto a glass plate, and the distal mode or proximal-distal mode of the nanocubes was selectively excited in the presence of Ag+ and citrate ions.

BoostXML: Gradient Boosting for Extreme Multilabel Text Classification With Tail Labels.

Multilabel learning involving hundreds of thousands or even millions of labels is referred to as extreme multilabel learning (XML), in which the labels often follow a power-law distribution with the majority occurring in very few data points as tail labels. Recent years have witnessed the intensive use of deep-learning methods for high-performance XML, but they are typically optimized for the head labels with abundant training instances and less consider the performance on tail labels, which, however, like the needles in haystacks, are often the focus of attention in real-life applications. In light of this, we present BoostXML, a deep learning-based XML method for extreme multilabel text classification, enhanced greatly by gradient boosting.

Electrocatalytic Degradation of Levofloxacin, a Typical Antibiotic in Hospital Wastewater.

Presently, in the context of the novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic, several antibiotics are overused in hospitals, causing heavy pressure on the hospital's wastewater treatment process. Therefore, developing stable, safe, and efficient hospital wastewater treatment equipment is crucial. Herein, a bench-scale electrooxidation equipment for hospital wastewater was used to evaluate the removal effect of the main antibiotic levofloxacin (LVX) in hospital wastewater using response surface methodology (RSM).

RAB40C gene polymorphisms rs62030917 and rs2269556 are associated with an increased risk of lumbar disc herniation development in the Chinese Han population.

Background: Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) places a serious burden on the daily lives and socioeconomics of people. Although the pathogenesis of LDH is complex, genetic factors such as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) may affect the risk of developing LDH. In the present study, we aimed to elucidate the effect of RAB40C SNPs on the risk of LDH in the Chinese Han population.

Comparative Three-Dimensional Finite Element Analysis of 4 Kinds of Pedicle Screw Schemes for Treatment of Adult Degenerative Scoliosis.

BACKGROUND This study aimed to evaluate the biomechanical stress of the internal fixation screws and vertebral bodies after the full-segment, interval, key vertebral, and strategy pedicle screw fixations under 7 work conditions in a patient with adult degenerative scoliosis (ADS) using finite elements (FE) analysis. MATERIAL AND METHODS A patient with ADS underwent internal fixation by pedicle screws after posterior incision in combination with subtotal laminectomy decompression and bone graft fusion, and received thin-layer computed tomography (CT) spine scanning at T12-L5. The CT data were used to constitute three-dimensional FE full-segment, interval, key vertebral, and strategic pedicle screw models.

A new supramolecular binder strongly enhancing the electrochemistry performance for lithium-sulfur batteries.

As one of the indispensable components in lithium-sulfur batteries, the binders greatly impact battery performance. Herein, we report a new multifunctional supramolecular eutectic liquid (SEL) binder, consisting of diphenylamine (DP) and benzophenone (BP), which enables a strongly improved conductive network and anchored polysulfides for high-performance lithium-sulfur batteries. Compared with the traditional polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) binder, the SEL binder demonstrates remarkable improvement in both the mechanical performance and the capacity retention (83% over 200 cycles at 1C).

A versatile bottom-up interface self-assembly strategy to hairy nanoparticle-based 2D monolayered composite and functional nanosheets.

Herein, we present a universal bottom-up interface self-assembly of hairy nanoparticle strategy for 2D monolayered composite and functional nanosheets, including polymeric composite nanosheets and functional porous polymer and carbon nanosheets. By using diverse hairy nanoparticles as building blocks, a series of 2D monolayered polymeric composite nanosheets was prepared, demonstrating the universality of our strategy. Furthermore, the 2D polymeric composites could be easily transformed into 2D monolayered functional porous polymer and carbon nanosheets.

[Spatio-temporal dynamics of woody plants seed rains in broad-leaved Korean pine mixed forest in Changbai Mountains form 2006 to 2017, China.].

Seeds are the basis for forest regeneration. To examine the composition and spatio-temporal dynamics of seed rains, a total of 150 seed traps of 0.5 m were installed in a 25 hm broad-leaved Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) mixed forest plot in Changbai Mountains.

[Effects of nitrogen and soil microbe on growth and photosynthesis of Fraxinus mandschurica seedlings.].

We examined the effects of nitrogen, soil microbe and their interactions on biomass allocation, growth and photosynthesis of Fraxinus mandschurica, a typical tree species in Changbai Mountain, through outdoor control experiments. In June 2017, an experiment with two-factor randomized block design was carried out. There were four treatments: control (F), nitrogen addition (FN), sterilization (FS), sterilization and nitrogen addition (FSN), six repetitive blocks, three repetitions per block, including 18 repetitions of each treatment.

[Factors influencing tree radial growth of three common species in broad-leaved Korean pine mixed forests in Changbai Mountains, China].

To understand the factors influencing tree radial growth, we analyzed the seasonal dynamics of tree growth of 3 common species (Pinus koraiensis, Tilia amurensis, Quercus mongolica), compared interspecific growth rates and explored the effects of size, neighborhood competition, soil and topography based on five years dendrometer bands monitoring data of the 3 common species in a broad-leaved Korean pine (P. koraiensis) mixed forest plot in Changbai Mountain, Northeast China. The results showed that the growth dynamics of 3 species were consistent.

Hybrid quantum receiver for quadrature amplitude modulation coherent-state discrimination beating the classical limit.

We present a quantum receiver for quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) coherent-state discrimination with the homodyne-displacement hybrid structure. Our strategy is to carry out two successive measurements on parts of the quantum states. The homodyne result of the first measurement reveals partial information about the state and is forwarded to a displacement receiver, which finally identifies the input state by using feedback to adjust a reference field.

Assessment of left ventricular function and peripheral vascular arterial stiffness in patients with dipper and non-dipper hypertension.

A non-dipper pattern of high blood pressure is associated with increased risk of organ damage and cardiovascular disease in patients with hypertension. The aim of the study was to evaluate the left ventricular (LV) remodeling and function and arterial stiffness in a dipper/non-dipper pattern of high blood pressure in patients with hypertension. A total of 183 hypertensive patients with no history of adverse cardiovascular events were divided into two groups based on 24 hours ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM): 66 patients with a dipper pattern and 117 patients with non-dipper pattern.

Neural stem cell transplantation combined with erythropoietin for the treatment of spinal cord injury in rats.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) comprises nerve and motor function disorders that may be caused by a variety of damaging factors and is challenging to treat. The aim of the present study was to investigate the regenerative effects of neural stem cell (NSC) transplantation combined with intraperitoneal injection of erythropoietin (EPO) on cross-sectional SCI in rats. A model of SCI was induced in 40 adult Wistar rats via the complete transection of the 10th thoracic vertebra (T10).

Catalytic synthesis of sulfated polysaccharides I: Characterization of chemical structure.

In the present study, sulfated derivatives of Artemisia sphaerocephala polysaccharide (SASP) with high degree of substitution (DS) were synthesized by using 4-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP)/dimethylcyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC) as catalyst in homogeneous conditions. It was found that DMAP/DCC showed marked improvement in DS of sulfated samples. Compared to sulfated derivatives without catalyst, the DS of SASP increased from 0.

Dexamethasone reduces ATDC5 chondrocyte cell viability by inducing autophagy.

Prolonged use of glucocorticoids (GCs) for the treatment of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases commonly exerts various side-effects, including impairment of skeletal development. However, the effect of GCs on chondrocytes, which play a key role in skeletal development, has been rarely reported. In the present study, autophagy was induced in the ATDC5 chondrocyte cell line following treatment with dexamethasone (Dex) at doses of 1‑100 µM, and that this effect can be inhibited by RU486, a GC antagonist.

[Optimization of pre-coated multi-probe fluorescence in situ hybridization for cytogenetic detection of acute leukemia].

Objective: To optimize pre-coated multiple-probe fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to improve its efficiency in cytogenetic diagnosis of acute leukemia.

Methods: The original multiple-probe FISH techniques were optimized by adjusting the cell density and adding a process of protease digestion. Cytogenetic anomalies were detected in 141 patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) or acute myeloid leukemia/ myelodysplastic syndromes (AML/MDS) using the modified technique, and 35 of the patients were also examined using the original technique.

Dietary calcium decreases plasma cholesterol level only in female but not in male hamster fed a high cholesterol diet.

Objective: To investigate the effect of dietary calcium on plasma lipoprotein profile in castrated and ovariectomized hamsters.

Methods: Male, castrated, female and ovariectomized hamsters (n=36 each group) were randomly divided into three sub-groups (n=12) and fed one of the three diets containing 0, 2, and 8 g calcium per kg diet for a period of six weeks. Changes in plasma lipoprotein profile were monitored at the end of week 0, 3 and 6.

[Cytogenetic differences between adults and children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia: eight-probe fluorescence in situ hybridization and karyotype analyses].

Objective: To investigate the cytogenetic differences between children and adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) using eight-probe fluorescence in situ hybridization and karyotype analysis.

Methods: Eight-probe (MYC, P16, E2A, TEL/AML1, BCR/ABL , MLL , IGH, and hyperdiploidy) fluorescence in situ hybridization and karyotype analysis were performed for 86 adults and 39 children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Results: Eight-probe fluorescence in situ hybridization showed significant differences in the positivity rate of TEL/AML1, BCR/ABL, and hyperdiploidy between adult patients and children with ALL.

Metastable region of phase diagram: optimum parameter range for processing ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene blends.

Numerous studies suggest that two-phase morphology and thick interface are separately beneficial to the viscosity reduction and mechanical property maintainence of the matrix when normal molecular weight polymer (NMWP) is used for modification of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE). Nevertheless, it is very difficult to obtain a UHMWPE/NMWP blend which may demonstrate both two-phase morphology and thick interface. In this work, dissipative particle dynamics simulations and Flory-Huggins theory are applied in predicting the optimum NMWP and the corresponding conditions, wherein the melt flowability of UHMWPE can be improved while its mechanical properties can also be retained.

Molecular cloning and biochemical characterization of bovine retina calcineurin.

Calcineurin (CaN) is a member of ser/thr protein phosphatase family. Earlier, we have reported that CaN is present in all eye tissues, although the activity and protein expression varied (Seitz et al., Invest Opthalmol Vis Sci, 43:15-21, 2002).