Effects of spatial noncommutativity on energy spectrum of a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate

In noncommutative space, we examine the problem of a noninteracting and harmonically trapped Bose-Einstein condensate, and derive a simple analytic expression for the effect of spatial noncommutativity on energy spectrum of the condensate. It indicates that the ground-state energy incorporating the spatial noncommutativity is reduced to a lower level, which depends upon the noncommutativity parameter $\theta$. The appeared gap between the noncommutative space and commutative one for the ground-state level of the condensate should be a signal of spatial noncommutativity.Comment: 7 pages; revtex

Hilbert-Huang Transform analysis of quasi-periodic oscillations in MAXI J1820+070

We present time-frequency analysis, based on the Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT), of the evolution on the low-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations (LFQPOs) observed in the black hole X-ray binary MAXI J1820+070. Through the empirical mode decomposition (EMD) method, we decompose the light curve of the QPO component and measure its intrinsic phase lag between photons from different energy bands. We find that the QPO phase lag is negative (low energy photons lag behind high energy photons), meanwhile the absolute value of the lag increases with energy. By applying the Hilbert transform to the light curve of the QPO, we further extract the instantaneous frequency and amplitude of the QPO. Compared these results with those from the Fourier analysis, we find that the broadening of the QPO peak is mainly caused by the frequency modulation. Through further analysis, we find that these modulations could share a common physical origin with the broad-band noise, and can be well explained by the internal shock model of the jet

Structure-Activity Relationships of Pentacyclic Triterpenoids as Potent and Selective Inhibitors against Human Carboxylesterase 1

Human carboxylesterase 1 (hCE1), one of the most important serine hydrolases distributed in liver and adipocytes, plays key roles in endobiotic homeostasis and xenobiotic metabolism. This study aimed to find potent and selective inhibitors against hCE1 from phytochemicals and their derivatives. To this end, a series of natural triterpenoids were collected and their inhibitory effects against human carboxylesterases (hCEs) were assayed using D-Luciferin methyl ester (DME) and 6,8-dichloro-9,9-dimethyl-7-oxo-7,9-dihydroacridin-2-yl benzoate (DDAB) as specific optical substrate for hCE1, and hCE2, respectively. Following screening of a series of natural triterpenoids, oleanolic acid (OA), and ursolic acid (UA) were found with strong inhibitory effects on hCE1 and relative high selectivity over hCE2. In order to get the highly selective and potent inhibitors of hCE1, a series of OA and UA derivatives were synthesized from OA and UA by chemical modifications including oxidation, reduction, esterification, and amidation. The inhibitory effects of these derivatives on hCEs were assayed and the structure-activity relationships of tested triterpenoids as hCE1 inhibitors were carefully investigated. The results demonstrated that the carbonyl group at the C-28 site is essential for hCE1 inhibition, the modifications of OA or UA at this site including esters, amides and alcohols are unbeneficial for hCE1 inhibition. In contrast, the structural modifications on OA and UA at other sites, such as converting the C-3 hydroxy group to 3-O-β-carboxypropionyl (compounds 20 and 22), led to a dramatically increase of the inhibitory effects against hCE1 and very high selectivity over hCE2. 3D-QSAR analysis of all tested triterpenoids including OA and UA derivatives provide new insights into the fine relationships linking between the inhibitory effects on hCE1 and the steric-electrostatic properties of triterpenoids. Furthermore, both inhibition kinetic analyses and docking simulations demonstrated that compound 22 was a potent competitive inhibitor against hCE1-mediated DME hydrolysis. All these findings are very helpful for medicinal chemists to design and develop highly selective and more potent hCE1 inhibitors for biomedical applications

The combination of hand grip strength and modified Glasgow prognostic score predicts clinical outcomes in patients with liver cancer

PurposePrevious studies have shown that both hand grip strength (HGS) and the modified Glasgow Prognostic Score (mGPS) are associated with poor clinical outcomes in patients with liver cancer. In spite of this, no relevant studies have been conducted to determine whether the combination of HGS and mGPS can predict the prognosis of patients with liver cancer. Accordingly, this study sought to explore this possibility.MethodsThis was a multicenter study of patients with liver cancer. Based on the optimal HGS cutoff value for each sex, we determined the HGS cutoff values. The patients were divided into high and low HGS groups based on their HGS scores. An mGPS of 0 was defined as low mGPS, whereas scores higher than 0 were defined as high mGPS. The patients were combined into HGS-mGPS groups for the prediction of survival. Survival analysis was performed using Kaplan–Meier curves. A Cox regression model was designed and adjusted for confounders. To evaluate the nomogram model, receiver operating characteristic curves and calibration curves were used.ResultsA total of 504 patients were enrolled in this study. Of these, 386 (76.6%) were men (mean [SD] age, 56.63 [12.06] years). Multivariate analysis revealed that patients with low HGS and high mGPS had a higher risk of death than those with neither low HGS nor high mGPS (hazard ratio [HR],1.50; 95% confidence interval [CI],1.14–1.98; p = 0.001 and HR, 1.55; 95% CI, 1.14–2.12, p = 0.001 respectively). Patients with both low HGS and high mGPS had 2.35-fold increased risk of death (HR, 2.35; 95% CI, 1.52–3.63; p < 0.001). The area under the curve of HGS-mGPS was 0.623. The calibration curve demonstrated the validity of the HGS-mGPS nomogram model for predicting the survival of patients with liver cancer.ConclusionA combination of low HGS and high mGPS is associated with poor prognosis in patients with liver cancer. The combination of HGS and mGPS can predict the prognosis of liver cancer more accurately than HGS or mGPS alone. The nomogram model developed in this study can effectively predict the survival outcomes of liver cancer

Association between C-reactive protein-albumin-lymphocyte (CALLY) index and overall survival in patients with colorectal cancer: From the investigation on nutrition status and clinical outcome of common cancers study

BackgroundColorectal cancer (CRC) is among the most common malignant cancers worldwide, and its development is influenced by inflammation, nutrition, and the immune status. Therefore, we combined C-reactive protein (CRP), albumin, and lymphocyte, which could reflect above status, to be the CRP-albumin-lymphocyte (CALLY) index, and evaluated its association with overall survival (OS) in patients with CRC.MethodsThe clinicopathological and laboratory characteristics of 1260 patients with CRC were collected from the Investigation on Nutrition Status and Clinical Outcome of Common Cancers (INSCOC) study. Cox regression analysis was performed to assess the association between the CALLY index and OS. A nomogram including sex, age, the CALLY index and TNM stage was constructed. The Concordance Index (C-index) was utilized to evaluate the prognostic value of the CALLY index and classical CRC prognostic factors, such as modified Glasgow prognostic score (mGPS), neutrocyte to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), systemic immune inflammation index (SII), and platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR), as well as to assess the prognostic value of the nomogram and TNM stage.ResultsMultivariate Cox regression analyses demonstrated that the CALLY index was independently associated with OS in patients with CRC [Hazard ratio (HR) = 0.91, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.87-0.95, P<0.001]. The CALLY index showed the highest prognostic value (C-index = 0.666, 95% CI = 0.638-0.694, P<0.001), followed by mGPS, NLR, SII, and PLR. The nomogram demonstrated higher prognostic value (C-index = 0.784, 95% CI = 0.762-0.807, P<0.001) than the TNM stage.ConclusionThe CALLY index was independently associated with OS in patients with CRC and showed higher prognostic value than classical CRC prognostic factors. The nomogram could provide more accurate prognostic prediction than TNM stage

Preimplantation genetic testing guidelines of International Society of Reproductive Genetics

The International Society of Reproductive Genetics (ISRG) assembled a workgroup made up of clinicians, clinical laboratory directors, and scientists for the purpose of creating the guidelines for preimplantation genetic testing (PGT). The most up-to-date information and clinical insights for the optimal PGT practice were incorporated in these guidelines. Recommendations are provided for embryologists, medical geneticists, clinical laboratorians, and other healthcare providers to improve the wellbeing of patients seeking assisted reproductive treatment and their offspring