Description: Background: CXC chemokine receptor 2 (CXCR2) has been reported to play an important role in the proliferation and invasion of gastric cancer cells. The present study aims to investigate the impact of CXCR2 expression on the overall survival (OS) of gastric cancer patients after radical resection. Methods: Intratumoral CXCR2 expression was evaluated with immunohistochemistry on tissue microarrays containing tumor samples of 357 gastric cancer patients from a single center. CXCR2 expression levels were correlated to clinicopathological variables and OS. Results: CXCR2 expression was mainly located in the cytoplasm of gastric carcinoma cells. High CXCR2 expression was associated with poor tumor differentiation (p = 0.021), increased tumor depth (p 

Description: Yield of rapeseed is determined by three components: silique number, seed number per silique and thousand seed weight. Seed number per silique and thousand seed weight are influenced by silique length, seed de...

Description: Excited states in the odd-proton nucleus 125 Cs were investigated by means of in-beam γ -ray spectroscopy. The πg 7/2 band is observed to fork into a Δ I = 1 coupled band and a Δ I = 2 decoupled band at high spins. To assign the possible configurations of these two bands, experimental B (M1)/ B (E2) ratios and signature splittings have been evaluated for the Δ I = 1 band, and calculations based on the geometrical model, cranked shell model and total Routhian surfaces model have been performed. They are suggested to be a near-oblate band built on the ( πg 7/2 / d 5/2 ) ⊗ ( νh 11/2 ) 2 configuration and a prolate band built on the πg 7/2 ⊗ ( πh 11/2 ) 2 configuration, respectively.

Description: Accumulating evidence has shown that cigarette smoking is an important risk factor for ischemic stroke. However, it is not clear about the potential mechanisms through which cigarette smoking affects stroke ri...

Description: Background: Previous studies suggest that the metabolic pathway structure influences the selection and evolution rates of involved genes. However, most of these studies have exclusively considered a single gene copy encoding each enzyme in the metabolic pathway. Considering multiple-copy encoding enzymes could provide direct evidence of gene evolution and duplication patterns in metabolic pathways. We conducted a detailed analysis of the phylogeny, synteny, evolutionary rate and selection pressure of the genes in the isoflavonoid metabolic pathway of soybeans. Results: The results revealed that 1) only the phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) gene family most upstream from the pathway preserved all of the ancient and recent segmental duplications and maintained a strongly conserved synteny among these duplicated segments; gene families encoding branch-point enzymes with higher pleiotropy tended to retain more types of duplication; and genes encoding chalcone reductase (CHR) and isoflavone synthase (IFS) specific for legumes retained only recent segmental duplications; 2) downstream genes evolved faster than upstream genes and were subject to positive selection or relaxed selection constraints; 3) gene members encoding enzymes with high pleiotropy at the branching points were more likely to have undergone evolutionary differentiation, which may correspond to their functional divergences. Conclusions: We reconciled our results with existing controversies and proposed that gene copies at branch points with higher connectivity might be under stronger selective constraints and that the gene copies controlling metabolic flux allocation underwent positive selection. Our analyses demonstrated that the structure and function of a metabolic pathway shapes gene duplication and the evolutionary constraints of constituent enzymes.

Description: Background: Hypertensive putaminal haemorrhage comprises major part of intra-cerebral haemorrhages, with particularly high morbidity and mortality. However, the optimal treatments for these individuals remain controversial. Methods: From June 2010 to August 2013, patients with hypertensive putaminal haemorrhages were treated in the Department of Neurosurgery, West China Hospital. Information regarding the age, signs of cerebral herniation, haematoma volume, intra-ventricular haemorrhage, intra-cerebral haemorrhage score and the treatments of each patient were analyzed retrospectively. The outcome was evaluated by the 30-day mortality rate. Results: The 30-day mortality rate of the patients with haematomas volume greater than or equal to 30 ml and intra-cerebral haemorrhage scores of 1 or 2 was decreased in the surgical group compared with those in the conservative group (1.92% VS. 21.40%, OR = 0.072, p = 0.028; 15.40% VS. 33.3%, OR = 0.365, p = 0.248, respectively). The mortality rate of the patients with signs of cerebral herniation was not significantly different between the surgical and conservative groups (83.30% VS. 100%; p = 0.529). The intra-cerebral haemorrhage score was significantly associated with the 30-day mortality rate of patients with intra-cerebral haemorrhages (r = -0.798, p 〈 0.001). Conclusion: Patients with basal ganglia haematomas volume greater than or equal to 30 ml and intra-cerebral haemorrhage scores of 1 or 2 could benefit from the surgical removal of haematomas. The intra-cerebral haemorrhage score can accurately predict the 30-day mortality rate of patients with hypertensive putaminal haemorrhages.

Description: Background: Gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) is a common and often serious complication after stroke. Although several risk factors for post-stroke GIB have been identified, no reliable or validated scoring system is currently available to predict GIB after acute stroke in routine clinical practice or clinical trials. In the present study, we aimed to develop and validate a risk model (acute ischemic stroke associated gastrointestinal bleeding score, the AIS-GIB score) to predict in-hospital GIB after acute ischemic stroke. Methods: The AIS-GIB score was developed from data in the China National Stroke Registry (CNSR). Eligible patients in the CNSR were randomly divided into derivation (60%) and internal validation (40%) cohorts. External validation was performed using data from the prospective Chinese Intracranial Atherosclerosis Study (CICAS). Independent predictors of in-hospital GIB were obtained using multivariable logistic regression in the derivation cohort, and beta-coefficients were used to generate point scoring system for the AIS-GIB. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) and the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test were used to assess model discrimination and calibration, respectively. Results: A total of 8,820, 5,882, and 2,938 patients were enrolled in the derivation, internal validation and external validation cohorts. The overall in-hospital GIB after AIS was 2.6%, 2.3%, and 1.5% in the derivation, internal, and external validation cohort, respectively. An 18-point AIS-GIB score was developed from the set of independent predictors of GIB including age, gender, history of hypertension, hepatic cirrhosis, peptic ulcer or previous GIB, pre-stroke dependence, admission National Institutes of Health stroke scale score, Glasgow Coma Scale score and stroke subtype (Oxfordshire). The AIS-GIB score showed good discrimination in the derivation (0.79; 95% CI, 0.764-0.825), internal (0.78; 95%CI, 0.74-0.82) and external (0.76; 95% CI, 0.71-0.82) validation cohorts. The AIS-GIB score was well calibrated in the derivation (P = 0.42), internal (P = 0.45) and external (P = 0.86) validation cohorts. Conclusion: The AIS-GIB score is a valid clinical grading scale to predict in-hospital GIB after AIS. Further studies on the effect of the AIS-GIB score on reducing GIB and improving outcome after AIS are warranted.

Description: There has been growing interest in revealing exotic properties of chiral phonons since they were found in honeycomb AB lattice, and very recently they were experimentally verified in a tungsten diselenide monolayer (2018 Science 359 579). In this work, we manipulate phonon chirality through interface transmission via a one-dimensional atomic junction model by using the scattering boundary method. Due to the difference of phase change between two transverse directions induced by the anisotropy at interface coupling, the phonon polarization can be tuned between circular and linear in the high-frequency range. In a double-junction atomic model with an anisotropic center, we find that the phase change accumulates when the phonon transmits through the interface material thus the phonon can be tuned between different chirality in the medium frequency range. The phase change is found to linearly depend on the width of the interface material, while the transmission coeffic...

Description: To explore the reaction characteristics and mechanism of Al/MnO 2 thermite, selecting the high purity micron grade Al and MnO 2 powder, the Al/MnO 2 thermite sample was mixed by the ultrasonic dispersion method. On the basis of the study of thermal decomposition of MnO 2 powder, the thermal performance of the sample was study by simultaneous thermal analysis technique at the temperature range from room temperature to 900°C, and the reaction products were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The microstructure changes of the thermite during reaction were observed by field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). The results showed that the MnO 2 has two processes of thermal decomposition during the temperature rising, and the reaction products were Mn 2 O 3 and Mn 3 O 4 , and the onset temperature were 498.3°C and 781.5°C, the heat release were - 197.1J/g and -57.4 J/g, respectively. Al/...

Description: The parametric design macro programs of two basic types of single-layer hemi-ellipsoidal latticed shell are developed by using APDL (Ansys Parametric Design Language) parameterized design language. The parametric design of single-layer hemi-ellipsoidal latticed shell structures can be built under the condition of giving the macroscopic geometric parameters such as specifical parameter t, parameter k, span S1, span S2, rise f, valley number Kn, radial node number Nx etc. Ansys software is applied to study comparison of characteristics of the Kewitte type net shell structure of different vector height f, radial node number Nx and boundary constraints. The results show that modeling design of hemi-ellipsoidal latticed shell can be built conveniently and quickly by the application of parametric design of macro program. The three-way grid type is more reasonable force performance, and it’s mechanical performance is better when the span ratio is 1/2. Thus it is suggested to give prior...