Genetic inter-relationships among Chinese wild grapes based on SRAP marker analyses

Sequence-Related Amplified Polymorphism (SRAP) markers were used to assess genetic inter-relationships among 39 grape genotypes. These included 22 indigenous Chinese grape species/varieties, the north American V. riparia and the European V. vinifera L. 'Thompson seedless' and 'Pinot noir'. Of the 72 SRAP primer combinations tested, 25 primers generated 135 reliable bands, with an average of 5.52 bands per primer pair. Further analysis shows that 106 of 135 bands were generated by 25 polymorphic primer pairs, with a polymorphism efficiency of 79 %. The similarity coefficients of SRAP polymorphism varied from 0.463 to 0.981 among the genotypes analysed. A dendrogram analysis divided the 39 Vitis accessions into 21 groups with similarity coefficients of 0.83. It reveals broadly similar genetic relationships among the genotypes examined to those previously determined using classical taxonomic methods. Our results define V. heyneana subsp. ficifolia and V. baihensis as subspecies of V. heyneana and V. bashanica, respectively. We question the placement of V. davidii var. cyanocarpa and V. davidii var. ningqiangensis as varieties in V. davidii

Molecular estimation of alteration in intestinal microbial composition in Hashimoto's thyroiditis patients

The gut microbiota has a crucial effect on human health and physiology. Hypothyroid Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) is an autoimmune disorder manifested with environmental and genetic factors. However, it is hypothesized that intestinal microbes might play a vital role in the pathogenesis of HT. The aim of current was to investigate and characterize the gut microbial composition of HT patients both quantitatively and qualitatively. The fecal samples from 29 HT patients and 12 healthy individuals were collected. The PCR-DGGE targeted V3 site of 16S rRNA gene and real time PCR for Bifidobacterium Lactobacillus, Bacteroides vulgatus and Clostridium leptum were performed. Pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA gene with V4 location was performed on 20 randomly selected samples. The comparative analysis of diversity and richness indices revealed diversification of gut microbiota in HT as compared to control. The statistical data elucidate the alterations in phyla of HT patients which was also affirmed at the family level. We observed the declined abundance of Prevotella_9 and Dialister, while elevated genera of the diseased group included Escherichia-Shigella and Parasutterella. The alteration in gut microbial configuration was also monitored at the species level, which showed an increased abundance of E. coli in HT. Therefore, the current study is in agreement with the hypothesis that HT patients have intestinal microbial dysbiosis. The taxa statistics at species-level along with each gut microbial community were modified in HT. Thus, the current study may offer the new insights into the treatment of HT patients, disease pathway, and mechanism

CFD Investigation on Movement Features of Hydrogen Bubble under Microgravity Environment

A designed cryogenic upper stage adopted liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen (LH2/LO2) as an aerospace propellant. During a zero-gravity coast period in space, the wall heat leakage into the delivery tube could induce liquid propellant evaporation and two-phase flow phenomenon, so that a bubble discharge operation must be employed prior to engine restart. In this study, a CFD approach was utilized to numerically study the bubble discharge behaviors inside the LH2 delivery tube of the upper stage. The bubble motion properties under two different schemes, including positive acceleration effect and circulation flow operation, were analyzed and discussed. The results showed that the boiled hydrogen bubbles could increase to the size of the tube inner diameter and distribute randomly within the entire tube volume, and that, in order for the bubble to spill upward under the acceleration effect, a higher acceleration level than the needed value of acquiring liquid–vapor separation inside the propellant tank should be provided. When creating an acceleration level of 10−3 g0, most of the bubbles could spill upward within 700 s. Significantly, the bubbles could not be completely expelled in the created acceleration condition since a number of small bubbles always stagnate in the bulk liquid region. In the circulation flow operation, the gas volume reduction was mainly attributed to two mechanisms: the vapor condensation effect; and bubble discharge effect. For the case with a circulation flow rate of 0.2 kg/s, a complete bubble discharge purpose was reached within 820 s, while a large bubble stagnation in the spherical distributor occupied a remarkable proportion of the total time. In addition, both the liquid flow rate and liquid subcooling exert important effects on bubble performance. When applying a high circulation flow, the gas volume reduction is mainly due to the inertial effect of liquid flow, but the bubble stagnation in the spherical distributor still affects the total discharge time. The liquid subcooling influence on the gas volume reduction is more significant in smaller circulation flow cases. Generally, the present study provides valuable conclusions on bubble motions inside a LH2 delivery tube in microgravity, and the results could be beneficial to the sequence design of engine restart for the cryogenic upper stage

Clinical evaluation and management of badminton-related eye injuries: a retrospective case series

Abstract Background To describe the clinical features, visual outcomes, management, and complications of ocular injury in badminton and investigate risk factors associated with visual impairment. Methods Data on patients injured while playing badminton admitted to Department of Ophthalmology, Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat Hospital, Fudan University between January 2018 to December 2020.The relationship between visual acuity (VA) and demographic and clinical variables was also analyzed. Patients were managed medically or surgically as per their needs, followed up for at least 18 months. The visual outcomes were predicted using ocular trauma score (OTS), predicted outcomes were compared with actual outcomes using statistical tests. Results This study involved 102 patients (78 men, 24 women) with a mean age of 43.8 ± 16.1 years (7–71 years). Of these, 93 patients had closed-globe injuries and 9 had open-globe injuries. Vision-threatening findings included lens subluxation(31.4%),retinal detachment(13.7%),hyphema(12.7%). Open-globe injury had significantly lower presenting VA and final VA (P= 0.0164, 0.0053).Final VA was found to be correlated with presenting VA, maculopathy, retinal detachment, and OTS (P=0.0000, 0.0494, 0.0001, 0.0000 respectively), it was worse in patients who were under 20 years of age and were female. OTS prediction was not significantly different when compared with actual visual outcomes postoperatively in OTS3, OTS4, and OTS5 (P > 0.05),while the prognosis of patients with OTS1 and OTS2 was better than OTS study (P=0.001, 0.007, respectively). Conclusion Badminton-related closed-globe injuries were more frequent; open-globe injuries were usually more serious. Younger and female patients have poorer visual recovery prognoses. OTS was found to be a reliable tool for predicting visual outcomes

CFD Investigation on Movement Features of Hydrogen Bubble under Microgravity Environment

A designed cryogenic upper stage adopted liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen (LH2/LO2) as an aerospace propellant. During a zero-gravity coast period in space, the wall heat leakage into the delivery tube could induce liquid propellant evaporation and two-phase flow phenomenon, so that a bubble discharge operation must be employed prior to engine restart. In this study, a CFD approach was utilized to numerically study the bubble discharge behaviors inside the LH2 delivery tube of the upper stage. The bubble motion properties under two different schemes, including positive acceleration effect and circulation flow operation, were analyzed and discussed. The results showed that the boiled hydrogen bubbles could increase to the size of the tube inner diameter and distribute randomly within the entire tube volume, and that, in order for the bubble to spill upward under the acceleration effect, a higher acceleration level than the needed value of acquiring liquid–vapor separation inside the propellant tank should be provided. When creating an acceleration level of 10−3 g0, most of the bubbles could spill upward within 700 s. Significantly, the bubbles could not be completely expelled in the created acceleration condition since a number of small bubbles always stagnate in the bulk liquid region. In the circulation flow operation, the gas volume reduction was mainly attributed to two mechanisms: the vapor condensation effect; and bubble discharge effect. For the case with a circulation flow rate of 0.2 kg/s, a complete bubble discharge purpose was reached within 820 s, while a large bubble stagnation in the spherical distributor occupied a remarkable proportion of the total time. In addition, both the liquid flow rate and liquid subcooling exert important effects on bubble performance. When applying a high circulation flow, the gas volume reduction is mainly due to the inertial effect of liquid flow, but the bubble stagnation in the spherical distributor still affects the total discharge time. The liquid subcooling influence on the gas volume reduction is more significant in smaller circulation flow cases. Generally, the present study provides valuable conclusions on bubble motions inside a LH2 delivery tube in microgravity, and the results could be beneficial to the sequence design of engine restart for the cryogenic upper stage

Image_1_Survival prediction of hepatocellular carcinoma by measuring the extracellular volume fraction with single-phase contrast-enhanced dual-energy CT imaging.pdf

PurposeThis study aimed to investigate the value of quantified extracellular volume fraction (fECV) derived from dual-energy CT (DECT) for predicting the survival outcomes of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after transarterial chemoembolization (TACE).Materials and methodsA total of 63 patients with HCC who underwent DECT before treatment were retrospectively included. Virtual monochromatic images (VMI) (70 keV) and iodine density images (IDI) during the equilibrium phase (EP) were generated. The tumor VMI-fECV and IDI-fECV were measured and calculated on the whole tumor (Whole) and maximum enhancement of the tumor (Maximum), respectively. Univariate and multivariate Cox models were used to evaluate the effects of clinical and imaging predictors on overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS).ResultsThe correlation between tumor VMI-fECV and IDI-fECV was strong (both pConclusionThe quantified fECV determined by the equilibrium-phase contrast-enhanced DECT can potentially predict the survival outcomes of patients with HCC following TACE treatment.</p

Synergistic Effect of Reactive Oxygen Species in Photothermocatalytic Removal of VOCs from Cooking Oil Fumes over Pt/CeO₂/TiO₂

The volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from cooking oil fumes are very complex and do harm to humans and the environment. Herein, we develop the high-efficiency and energy-saving synergistic photothermocatalytic oxidation approach to eliminate the mixture of heptane and hexanal, the representative VOCs with high concentrations in cooking oil fumes. The Pt/CeO2/TiO2 catalyst with nanosized Pt particles was prepared by the simple hydrothermal and impregnation methods, and the physicochemical properties of the catalyst were measured using numerous techniques. The Pt/CeO2/TiO2 catalyst eliminated the VOC mixture at low light intensity (100 mW cm–2) and low temperature (200 °C). In addition, it showed 25 h of catalytic stability and water resistance (water concentration up to 20 vol %) at 140 or 190 °C. It is concluded that O2 picked up the electrons from Pt to generate the •O2– species, which were transformed to the O22– and O– species after the rise in temperature. In the presence of water, the •OH species induced by light irradiation on the catalyst surface and the •OOH species formed via the thermal reaction were both supplementary oxygen species for VOC oxidation. The synergistic interaction of photo- and thermocatalysis was generated by the reactive oxygen species