Stability for first order delay dynamic equations on time scales

AbstractIn this paper, we establish some sufficient conditions for the uniform stability and the uniformly asymptotical stability of the first order delay dynamic equation xΔ(t)+p(t)x(t−τ(t))=0,t∈T, where T is a time scale, p(.) is rd-continuous and positive, the delay function τ:T→(0,r]. Our results unify the corresponding ones for differential and difference equations. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time to discuss the asymptotical behavior of delay dynamic equations on time scales

Predicting Microsatellite Instability Status in Colorectal Cancer Based on Triphasic Enhanced Computed Tomography Radiomics Signatures: A Multicenter Study

BackgroundThis study aimed to develop and validate a computed tomography (CT)-based radiomics model to predict microsatellite instability (MSI) status in colorectal cancer patients and to identify the radiomics signature with the most robust and high performance from one of the three phases of triphasic enhanced CT.MethodsIn total, 502 colorectal cancer patients with preoperative contrast-enhanced CT images and available MSI status (441 in the training cohort and 61 in the external validation cohort) were enrolled from two centers in our retrospective study. Radiomics features of the entire primary tumor were extracted from arterial-, delayed-, and venous-phase CT images. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator method was used to retain the features closely associated with MSI status. Radiomics, clinical, and combined Clinical Radiomics models were built to predict MSI status. Model performance was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.ResultsThirty-two radiomics features showed significant correlation with MSI status. Delayed-phase models showed superior predictive performance compared to arterial- or venous-phase models. Additionally, age, location, and carcinoembryonic antigen were considered useful predictors of MSI status. The Clinical Radiomics nomogram that incorporated both clinical risk factors and radiomics parameters showed excellent performance, with an AUC, accuracy, and sensitivity of 0.898, 0.837, and 0.821 in the training cohort and 0.964, 0.918, and 1.000 in the validation cohort, respectively.ConclusionsThe proposed CT-based radiomics signature has excellent performance in predicting MSI status and could potentially guide individualized therapy

SOLVING IMPLICIT MULTI-MESH FLOW AND CONJUGATE HEA

The fully implicit simulation capability of RELAP

Role of β-catenin in PD-L1 expression of nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a particular type of tumor connected to Epstein-Barr virus infection, genetic, and environmental factors. It is typically discovered late, with few therapeutic options and poor clinical outcomes. Cellular immune responses can be attenuated when programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) and programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) are combined. Although PD-1 inhibitors have a different anti-tumor response rate than chemotherapy alone, they can nevertheless considerably outperform chemotherapy in patients with metastatic or recurrent NPC. The nuclear β-catenin can bind to the CD274 promoter region, promoting transcription and upregulating the expression of tumor-specific PD-L1. Separation of β-catenin from E-cadherin and translocation it into nucleus were both aided by β-catenin phosphorylates at the Tyr654 site. Its function in NPC and the expression of PD-L1 have not yet been investigated. This study investigated the predictive significance of PD-L1 and p-β-cateninTyr654 expressions in NPC. Our findings indicated that patients with distant metastases or poor prognoses exhibited higher levels of PD-L1 and p-β-cateninTyr654 expressions. According to Cox multivariate prognostic analysis, PD-L1 was also an effective indicator for predicting the survival status of patients with NPC. We subsequently demonstrated that PD-L1 transcription and protein production could be downregulated by targeting inhibition of the level of β-catenin in NPC cells. This is for developing the β-catenin or TCF4 inhibitor as a potential new option for immune checkpoint immunosuppression in NPC

MicroRNA-466 (miR-466) functions as a tumor suppressor and prognostic factor in colorectal cancer (CRC)

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have an important role in the regulation of tumor development and metastasis. In this study, we investigated the clinical and prognostic value as well as biological function of miR-466 in colorectal cancer (CRC). Tumor and adjacent healthy tissues were obtained from 100 patients diagnosed with CRC. miR-466 expression was determined by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). mRNA and protein levels of cyclin D1, apoptosis regulator BAX (BAX), and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) were analyzed by qRT-PCR and Western blot, respectively, in SW-620 CRC cells transfected with miR-466 mimics or negative control miRNA. Effects of miR-466 on SW-620 cell proliferation, cell cycle and apoptosis, and invasion were investigated using CCK-8 assay, flow cytometry and Transwell assay, respectively. miR-466 expression was significantly downregulated in tumor tissues compared to matched adjacent non-tumor tissues. Low expression of miR-466 was significantly correlated with the tumor size, Tumor Node Metastasis stage, lymph node metastasis, and distant metastasis. The overall survival of CRC patients with low miR-466 expression was significantly shorter compared to high-miR-466 expression group (log-rank test: p = 0.0103). Multivariate analysis revealed that low miR-466 expression was associated with poor prognosis in CRC patients. The ectopic expression of miR-466 suppressed cell proliferation and migration/invasion, as well as induced G0/G1 arrest and apoptosis in SW-620 cells. Moreover, the ectopic expression of miR-466 decreased the expression of cyclin D1 and MMP-2, but increased BAX expression in SW-620 cells. In conclusion, our findings demonstrated that miR-466 functions as a suppressor miRNA in CRC and may be used as a prognostic factor in these patients

Synergistic scale inhibition of both IA/AMPS copolymer and magnetic field

The antiscaling rate of both water magnetic device and IA/AMPS copolymer was investigated by using a stationary scale inhibition experimental device, and the result illustrated that there was a synergistic scale inhibition effect between magnetic field and IA/AMPS copolymer. Under the condition the experimental water through the water magnetizer was 120L / h, and the magnetic field strength was 0.7T, the magnetization time of 40 min, the antiscaling rate of both water magnetic device and copolymer IA/AMPS to CaCO3 increased 11% as compared with that of the copolymer IA/AMPS alone. At this time, the dosage of copolymer IA/AMPS was 6mg/L. And the synergistic antiscaling rate of both water magnetic device and IA/AMPS copolymer to Ca3(PO4)2 increased 25% as compared with that of the copolymer IA/AMPS alone under the same condition except dosage of IA/AMPS copolymer was 20 mg/L

Synthesis and Application of a Phosphorous-Free and Non-Nitrogen Polymer as an Environmentally Friendly Scale Inhibition and Dispersion Agent in Simulated Cooling Water Systems

A novel phosphorus-free and non-nitrogen scale inhibition and dispersion agent was synthesized from epoxysuccinic acid (ESA), itaconic acid (IA), and sodium methyl propylene sulfonate (SMAS). It was characterized by infrared spectroscopy (IR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and elemental analysis, and its molecular weight and distribution were determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). Static experimental methods were used to evaluate the scale inhibition against CaCO3, Ca-3(PO4)(2), and CaSO4. The dispersion ability was evaluated by measuring the dispersive property of iron oxide. By observing the morphology of the CaCO3 scale, the scale inhibition mechanism was discussed. The results showed that when the ratio of raw materials (ESA/IA/SMAS) was 10:10:5, the scale inhibition rate of CaCO3 and CaSO4 reached 100% with the dosages of 20 and 10 mg/L, respectively. In addition, the scale inhibition rate against Ca-3(PO4)(2) was up to 96.64% with a dosage of 100 mg/L. The property of dispersing iron oxide exhibited the best results with 50 mg/L of the agent. On the 21st day, the biodegradation rate reached 63.33%. This polymer was an environmentally friendly antiscale and dispersant with good scale inhibition and biodegradability

Differentiation of retroperitoneal paragangliomas and schwannomas based on computed tomography radiomics

Abstract The purpose of this study was to differentiate the retroperitoneal paragangliomas and schwannomas using computed tomography (CT) radiomics. This study included 112 patients from two centers who pathologically confirmed retroperitoneal pheochromocytomas and schwannomas and underwent preoperative CT examinations. Radiomics features of the entire primary tumor were extracted from non-contrast enhancement (NC), arterial phase (AP) and venous phase (VP) CT images. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator method was used to screen out key radiomics signatures. Radiomics, clinical and clinical-radiomics combined models were built to differentiate the retroperitoneal paragangliomas and schwannomas. Model performance and clinical usefulness were evaluated by receiver operating characteristic curve, calibration curve and decision curve. In addition, we compared the diagnostic accuracy of radiomics, clinical and clinical-radiomics combined models with radiologists for pheochromocytomas and schwannomas in the same set of data. Three NC, 4 AP, and 3 VP radiomics features were retained as the final radiomics signatures for differentiating the paragangliomas and schwannomas. The CT characteristics CT attenuation value of NC and the enhancement magnitude at AP and VP were found to be significantly different statistically (P < 0.05). The NC, AP, VP, Radiomics and clinical models had encouraging discriminative performance. The clinical-radiomics combined model that combined radiomics signatures and clinical characteristics showed excellent performance, with an area under curve (AUC) values were 0.984 (95% CI 0.952–1.000) in the training cohort, 0.955 (95% CI 0.864–1.000) in the internal validation cohort and 0.871 (95% CI 0.710–1.000) in the external validation cohort. The accuracy, sensitivity and specificity were 0.984, 0.970 and 1.000 in the training cohort, 0.960, 1.000 and 0.917 in the internal validation cohort and 0.917, 0.923 and 0.818 in the external validation cohort, respectively. Additionally, AP, VP, Radiomics, clinical and clinical-radiomics combined models had a higher diagnostic accuracy for pheochromocytomas and schwannomas than the two radiologists. Our study demonstrated the CT-based radiomics models has promising performance in differentiating the paragangliomas and schwannomas

Synthesis and Study of Zinc Orotate and Its Synergistic Effect with Commercial Stabilizers for Stabilizing Poly(Vinyl Chloride)

Synthesis and Study of Zinc Orotate and Its Synergistic Effect with Commercial Stabilizers for Stabilizing Poly(Vinyl Chloride