English Translation of Linguistic Signs: A Study from the Perspective of Linguistic Landscape

To bring convenience to the life and work of the foreigners who live and/or stay in China but do not know Chinese, a large number of linguistic signs have been set up in bilingual forms at almost every corner of cities, and even towns. Those correctly and properly-translated signs are helpful, practical and informative, hence enhancing the image of the cities. However, current situations of the Chinese-English translation (C-E translation) of linguistic signs are far from being satisfactory. Some poorly or even mistakenly-translated signs often cause confuses to foreigners and may even mislead them. To some extent, it will damage cities’ images as well as China’s international image as a whole. Therefore, the author chooses to conduct a tentative research on this topic from the perspective of linguistic landscape, in the hope that it would inspire further research and provide useful references for the research and practice of C-E translation of linguistic signs in future practice

The Big Data Processing Algorithm for Water Environment Monitoring of the Three Gorges Reservoir Area

Owing to the increase and the complexity of data caused by the uncertain environment, the water environment monitoring system in Three Gorges Reservoir Area faces much pressure in data handling. In order to identify the water quality quickly and effectively, this paper presents a new big data processing algorithm for water quality analysis. The algorithm has adopted a fast fuzzy C-means clustering algorithm to analyze water environment monitoring data. The fast clustering algorithm is based on fuzzy C-means clustering algorithm and hard C-means clustering algorithm. And the result of hard clustering is utilized to guide the initial value of fuzzy clustering. The new clustering algorithm can speed up the rate of convergence. With the analysis of fast clustering, we can identify the quality of water samples. Both the theoretical and simulated results show that the algorithm can quickly and efficiently analyze the water quality in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, which significantly improves the efficiency of big data processing. What is more, our proposed processing algorithm provides a reliable scientific basis for water pollution control in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area

Properties of a Small-scale Short-duration Solar Eruption with a Driven Shock

Large-scale solar eruptions have been extensively explored over many years. However, the properties of small-scale events with associated shocks have been rarely investigated. We present the analyses of a small-scale short-duration event originating from a small region. The impulsive phase of the M1.9-class flare lasted only for four minutes. The kinematic evolution of the CME hot channel reveals some exceptional characteristics including a very short duration of the main acceleration phase ($<$ 2 minutes), a rather high maximal acceleration rate ($\sim$50 km s$^{-2}$) and peak velocity ($\sim$1800 km s$^{-1}$). The fast and impulsive kinematics subsequently results in a piston-driven shock related to a metric type II radio burst with a high starting frequency of $\sim$320 MHz of the fundamental band. The type II source is formed at a low height of below $1.1~\mathrm{R_{\odot}}$ less than $\sim2$ minutes after the onset of the main acceleration phase. Through the band split of the type II burst, the shock compression ratio decreases from 2.2 to 1.3, and the magnetic field strength of the shock upstream region decreases from 13 to 0.5 Gauss at heights of 1.1 to 2.3 $~\mathrm{R_{\odot}}$. We find that the CME ($\sim4\times10^{30}\,\mathrm{erg}$) and flare ($\sim1.6\times10^{30}\,\mathrm{erg}$) consume similar amount of magnetic energy. The same conclusion for large-scale eruptions implies that small- and large-scale events possibly share the similar relationship between CMEs and flares. The kinematic particularities of this event are possibly related to the small footpoint-separation distance of the associated magnetic flux rope, as predicted by the Erupting Flux Rope model.Comment: 20 pages, 16 figure

High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein: An Independent Risk Factor for Left Ventricular Hypertrophy in Patients with Lupus Nephritis

Objective. To determine the prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and its associated risk factors in lupus nephritis (LN) patients. Methods. 287 LN patients (age: 38.54 ± 13.31, 262 female) were recruited. Echocardiography and serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were measured. Their relationship was evaluated by univariate correlation analysis and multivariate regression analysis. Results. The prevalence of LVH in this cohort was 21.25% (n = 61). Serum hs-CRP level was significantly elevated in patients with LVH compared to those without (8.03 (3.22–30.95) versus 3.93 (1.48–9.48) mg/L, P < .01), and correlated with left ventricular mass index (LVMI) (r = 0.314, P = .001). Multivariate regression analysis further confirmed that hs-CRP was an independent risk factor (β = 0.338, P = .002) for LVH in patients with LN. Conclusions. Our findings demonstrated that serum hs-CRP level is independently correlated with LVMI and suggested that measurement of hs-CRP may provide important clinical information to investigate LVH in LN patients

Serum IL-18 Is Closely Associated with Renal Tubulointerstitial Injury and Predicts Renal Prognosis in IgA Nephropathy

Background. IgA nephropathy (IgAN) was thought to be benign but recently found it slowly progresses and leads to ESRD eventually. The aim of this research is to investigate the value of serum IL-18 level, a sensitive biomarker for proximal tubule injury, for assessing the histopathological severity and disease progression in IgAN. Methods. Serum IL-18 levels in 76 IgAN patients and 36 healthy blood donors were measured by ELISA. We evaluated percentage of global and segmental sclerosis (GSS) and extent of tubulointerstitial damage (TID). The correlations between serum IL-18 levels with clinical, histopathological features and renal prognosis were evaluated. Results. The patients were 38.85 ± 10.95 years old, presented with 2.61 (1.43∼4.08) g/day proteinuria. Serum IL-18 levels were significantly elevated in IgAN patients. Baseline serum IL-18 levels were significantly correlated with urinary protein excretion (r = 0.494, P = 0.002), Scr (r = 0.61, P < 0.001), and eGFR (r = −0.598, P < 0.001). TID scores showed a borderline significance with serum IL-18 levels (r = 0.355, P = 0.05). During follow-up, 26 patients (34.21%) had a declined renal function. Kaplan-Meier analysis found those patients with elevated IL-18 had a significant poor renal outcome (P = 0.03), and Cox analysis further confirmed that serum IL-18 levels were an independent predictor of renal prognosis (β = 1.98, P = 0.003)

HMGB1: a double-edged sword and therapeutic target in the female reproductive system

HMGB1 that belongs to the High Mobility Group-box superfamily, is a nonhistone chromatin associated transcription factor. It is present in the nucleus of eukaryotes and can be actively secreted or passively released by kinds of cells. HMGB1 is important for maintaining DNA structure by binding to DNA and histones, protecting it from damage. It also regulates the interaction between histones and DNA, affecting chromatin packaging, and can influence gene expression by promoting nucleosome sliding. And as a DAMP, HMGB1 binding to RAGE and TLRs activates NF-κB, which triggers the expression of downstream genes like IL-18, IL-1β, and TNF-α. HMGB1 is known to be involved in numerous physiological and pathological processes. Recent studies have demonstrated the significance of HMGB1 as DAMPs in the female reproductive system. These findings have shed light on the potential role of HMGB1 in the pathogenesis of diseases in female reproductive system and the possibilities of HMGB1-targeted therapies for treating them. Such therapies can help reduce inflammation and metabolic dysfunction and alleviate the symptoms of reproductive system diseases. Overall, the identification of HMGB1 as a key player in disease of the female reproductive system represents a significant breakthrough in our understanding of these conditions and presents exciting opportunities for the development of novel therapies

Impact of lockdown on the growth of children in China aged 3-6 years during the COVID-19 pandemic

BackgroundLockdowns in COVID-19 pandemic led to less physical activity and more intake of unhealthy food in children. The aim of this study was to investigate the negative impact of major lockdowns on the growth of children aged 3-6 years during COVID-19 pandemic period.MethodsPhysical examination results in 2019 to 2022 from 5834 eligible children (2972 males and 2862 females) from Southwestern China who were 3 years old in 2019 were retrospectively collected. Height and weight data points were extracted from the results, and percentiles of height (height%), weight (weight%), and BMI (BMI%), and rates of overweight and obesity were calculated and compared between different years during the pandemic.ResultsAfter analyzing the 15404 growth data points from 5834 children, a slowly increasing trend of height% from 2019 to 2022 was observed. Weight%, BMI%, overweight rate, obesity rate, and combined overweight and obesity rate had two peaks in 2020 and 2022 when major lockdowns were adopted and a drop in between (year 2021), except for obesity rate which did not drop in 2021. Similar results were shown after stratification by gender.ConclusionThe lockdowns in COVID-19 pandemic promoted obesity of kindergarten children, but did not show any negative impact on their height growth possibly due to over-nutrition of children during lockdowns. More efforts need to be made to limit the increase of obesity rate in kindergarten children during possible future lockdowns

Expression of plasma methylated Septin9 gene and its clinical significance in patients with gastric cancer

Background and purpose: Gastric cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in our country. The diagnosis and treatment process of gastric cancer lacks of sensitive and specific biomarker. This study aimed to explore the expression of plasma methylated Septin9 gene (mSEPT9) and its clinical significance in patients with gastric cancer. Methods: From April 2020 to November 2020, 221 patients with gastric cancer and 34 patients with no evidence of disease who visited Zhongshan Hospital Fudan University were enrolled. The status of mSEPT9 was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) fluorescence probe method, and relative mSEPT9 value was determined by the ΔΔCt method. Detailed clinical data including pathological characteristics (patients characteristics and pathology characteristics) and serum biomarkers [carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), carbohydrate antigen (CA)12-5, CA19-9 and CA72-4] were collected and analyzed. Paired t test, χ2 test and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were performed for statistical analysis. Results: The positive rate, sensitivity and specificity of plasma mSEPT9 were 35%, 35% and 100%, respectively in untreated patients with gastric cancer. The positive rate of mSEPT9 was higher in patients with blood vessel invasion, serosa invasion and lymphatic metastasis, which was 46.87% vs 12.50%, 45.16% vs 14.29%, 75.00% vs 40.00%, respectively (P&lt;0.05). The positive rate of mSEPT9 was higher in progressive disease (PD) patients than in partial response (PR) and stable disease (SD) patients, which were 68.75% and 17.74%, the differences were statistically significant (P&lt;0.05). mSEPT9 level before PD and at the time of PD showed statistically significance. Conclusion: Plasma mSEPT9 detection demonstrates a more satisfactory diagnostic performance in gastric cancer than traditional serum biomarkers. The biomarker can provide information regarding severity with high positive rate among PD patients. The status and level of mSEPT9 were of clinical significance in evaluating tumor burden and predicting treatment response

Identification of Novel Biallelic TLE6 Variants in Female Infertility With Preimplantation Embryonic Lethality

Preimplantation embryonic lethality is a rare cause of primary female infertility. It has been reported that variants in the transducin-like enhancer of split 6 (TLE6) gene can lead to preimplantation embryonic lethality. However, the incidence of TLE6 variants in patients with preimplantation embryonic lethality is not fully understood. In this study, we identified four patients carrying novel biallelic TLE6 variants in a cohort of 28 patients with preimplantation embryonic lethality by whole-exome sequencing and bioinformatics analysis, accounting for 14.29% (4/28) of the cohort. Immunofluorescence showed that the TLE6 levels in oocytes from patients were much lower than in normal control oocytes, suggesting that the variants result in the lower expression of the TLE6 protein in oocytes. In addition, a retrospective analysis showed that the four patients underwent a total of nine failures of in vitro fertilization and intracytoplasmic sperm injection attempts, and one of them became pregnant on the first attempt using donated oocytes. Our study extends the genetic spectrum of female infertility caused by variants in TLE6 and further confirms previously reported findings that TLE6 plays an essential role in early embryonic development. In such case, oocyte donation may be the preferred treatment