The Intersection R-Torsion for Finite Cone

We prove a formula for the intersection R-torsion of a finite cone and use it to introduce a family of spectral invariants which is closely related to Cheeger's half torsion.Comment: introduction revise

Urban transformation of Fotang town in the recent 20 years - a sample in small city fostering program of Zhejiang Province, China

This paper studies the recent twenty years' morphological change of a small city Fotang in China. Although many cities are shrinking at present, the coastal metropolitan areas in China are experiencing a continuing growth, both in terms of population and built-up area. Comply with such a trend, Zhejiang Province launched a "Small City Fostering program" starting from 2010, by which to cultivate certain qualified but low administration level "Zhen" (town) into small city. There were annual evaluations for these towns and Fotang always gain outstanding rating. By a description of the town's morphological transformation process in the past 20 years, this paper analyses the influence and process of different agents to its morphological changes. The researchers collected historical satellite maps, and historical urban planning documents. Interviews to government officials and local residents were carried out, and on-site investigation are done to confirm the information. The changes of urban form in the recent 20 years are sorted out in chronological order. The growth and densification of the street network, the construction on plots, and the replacement of land use, are the main focuses of the analysis. By Space Syntax method, the structures of street network in four phases are depicted, namely 2006, 2010, 2016, and 2020. This paper compares the real urban changes with the urban planning documents; and then reflects the spatial relation between the core of spatial structure and the functional live centres. It provided a vivid illustration for the urban transformation of Chinese small cities, which are rare in the current literature. The study shows how the top-down and bottom-up forces work together to shape the urban form of this small but vibrant historical city

Research progress of neoantigen-based dendritic cell vaccines in pancreatic cancer

The mutation of the crucial genes such as tumor suppressors or oncogenes plays an important role in the initiation and development of tumors. The non-synonymous mutations in the tumor cell genome will produce non-autologous proteins (neoantigen) to activate the immune system by activating CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Neoantigen-based peptide vaccines have exhibited exciting therapeutic effects in treating various cancers alone or in combination with other therapeutic strategies. Furthermore, antigen-loaded DC vaccines are more powerful in inducing stronger immune responses than vaccines generated by antigens and adjuvants. Therefore, neoantigen-based dendritic cell (DC) vaccines could achieve promising effects in combating some malignant tumors. In this review, we summarized and discussed the recent research progresses of the neoantigen, neoantigen-based vaccines, and DC-based vaccine in pancreatic cancers (PCs). The combination of the neoantigen and DC-based vaccine in PC was also highlighted. Therefore, our work will provide more detailed evidence and novel opinions to promote the development of a personalized neoantigen-based DC vaccine for PC

Global Bifurcation in 2

We consider the systems of (-1)mu(2m)=λu+λv+uf(t,u,v),  t∈(0,1),  u(2i)(0)=u(2i)(1)=0, and 0≤i≤m-1,  (-1)mv(2m)=μu+μv+vg(t, u,v),  t∈(0,1),  v(2i)(0)=v(2i)(1)=0,  0≤i≤m-1, where λ,μ∈R are real parameters. f,g:[0,1]×R2→R are Ck,k≥3 functions and f(t,0,0)=g(t,0,0)=0,t∈[0,1]. It will be shown that if the functions, f and g are “generic” then the solution set of the systems consists of a countable collection of 2-dimensional, Ck manifolds

Cytoplasmic-genetic male sterility gene provides direct evidence for some hybrid rice recently evolving into weedy rice

Weedy rice infests paddy fields worldwide at an alarmingly increasing rate. There is substantial evidence indicating that many weedy rice forms originated from or are closely related to cultivated rice. There is suspicion that the outbreak of weedy rice in China may be related to widely grown hybrid rice due to its heterosis and the diversity of its progeny, but this notion remains unsupported by direct evidence. We screened weedy rice accessions by both genetic and molecular marker tests for the cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) genes (Wild abortive, WA, and Boro type, BT) most widely used in the production of indica and japonica three-line hybrid rice as a diagnostic trait of direct parenthood. Sixteen weedy rice accessions of the 358 tested (4.5%) contained the CMS-WA gene; none contained the CMS-BT gene. These 16 accessions represent weedy rices recently evolved from maternal hybrid rice derivatives, given the primarily maternal inheritance of this trait. Our results provide key direct evidence that hybrid rice can be involved in the evolution of some weedy rice accessions, but is not a primary factor in the recent outbreak of weedy rice in China

Case Report: Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing in Diagnosis of Legionella pneumophila Pneumonia in a Patient After Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplantation

We report a case of hospital-acquired Legionella pneumonia that was detected by metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) of blood from a 7-year-old girl after umbilical cord blood stem cell transplantation (UCBT) with myelodysplastic syndrome. UCBT is traditionally associated with an increased risk of infection, particularly during the first 3 months after transplantation. Controlling interstitial pneumonia and severe infection is the key to reducing patient mortality from infection. Legionella pneumophila can cause a mild cough to rapidly fatal pneumonia. After mNGS confirmed that the pathogen was L. pneumophila, azithromycin, cefoperazone sulbactam, and posaconazole were used for treatment, and the patient's temperature decreased and remained normal. The details of this case highlight the benefits of the timely use of metagenomic NGS to identify pathogens for the survival of immunocompromised patients

Hydrodynamic Delivery of Chitosan-Folate-DNA Nanoparticles in Rats with Adjuvant-Induced Arthritis

50 kDa chitosan was conjugated with folate, a specific tissue-targeting ligand. Nanoparticles such as chitosan-DNA and folate-chitosan-DNA were prepared by coacervation process. The hydrodynamic intravenous injection of nanoparticles was performed in the right posterior paw in normal and arthritic rats. Our results demonstrated that the fluorescence intensity of DsRed detected was 5 to 12 times more in the right soleus muscle and in the right gastro muscle than other tissue sections. β-galactosidase gene expression with X-gal substrate and folate-chitosan-plasmid nanoparticles showed best coloration in the soleus muscle. Treated arthritic animals also showed a significant decrease in paw swelling and IL-1β and PGE2 concentration in serum compared to untreated rats. This study demonstrated that a nonviral gene therapeutic approach using hydrodynamic delivery could help transfect more efficiently folate-chitosan-DNA nanoparticles in vitro/in vivo and could decrease inflammation in arthritic rats

Efficient Nonviral Gene Therapy Using Folate-Targeted Chitosan-DNA Nanoparticles In Vitro

Nonviral cationic polymers like chitosan can be combined with DNA to protect it from degradation. The chitosan is a biocompatible, biodegradable, nontoxic, and cheap polycationic polymer with low immunogenicity. The objective of this study was to synthesize and then assess different chitosan-DNA nanoparticles and to select the best ones for selective in vitro transfection in human epidermoid carcinoma (KB) cell lines. It revealed that different combinations of molecular weight, the presence or absence of folic acid ligand, and different plasmid DNA sizes can lead to nanoparticles with various diameters and diverse transfection efficiencies. The intracellular trafficking, nuclear uptake, and localization are also studied by confocal microscopy, which confirmed that DNA was delivered to cell nuclei to be expressed