Potential Geographic Distribution of Brown Marmorated Stink Bug Invasion (Halyomorpha halys)

BACKGROUND: The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB), Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), native to Asia, is becoming an invasive species with a rapidly expanding range in North America and Europe. In the US, it is a household pest and also caused unprecedented damage to agriculture crops. Exploring its climatic limits and estimating its potential geographic distribution can provide critical information for management strategies. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPALS: We used direct climate comparisons to explore the climatic niche occupied by native and invasive populations of BMSB. Ecological niche modelings based on the native range were used to anticipate the potential distribution of BMSB worldwide. Conversely, niche models based on the introduced range were used to locate the original invasive propagates in Asia. Areas with high invasion potential were identified by two niche modeling algorithms (i.e., Maxent and GARP). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Reduced dimensionality of environmental space improves native model transferability in the invade area. Projecting models from invasive population back to native distributional areas offers valuable information on the potential source regions of the invasive populations. Our models anticipated successfully the current disjunct distribution of BMSB in the US. The original propagates are hypothesized to have come from northern Japan or western Korea. High climate suitable areas at risk of invasion include latitudes between 30°-50° including northern Europe, northeastern North America, southern Australia and the North Island of New Zealand. Angola in Africa and Uruguay in South America also showed high climate suitability

Wave Propagation in L-Shape Beams with Piezoelectric Shunting Arrays

Piezoelectric shunting arrays are employed to control the elastic wave propagation in L-shape beams. Unlike straight beams where longitudinal and flexural waves usually propagate independently, these waves are coupled in an L-shape beam. Based on transfer matrix method and Bloch theorem, dispersion curves and vibration transmissibility are evaluated and analyzed. A locally resonant gap is produced on the flexural and longitudinal waves, respectively, whose locations are nonoverlapped if the shunt damping is void. However, the longitudinal wave band gap can be completely overlaid by the flexural one when a proper shunting resistance is involved. With the decreasing of shunting inductance, the locations of longitudinal and flexural wave gaps both go up to higher frequencies which agree with the variation of resonant frequencies, but they are less affected by shunting resistance. As the resistance increases, the width of the band gaps grows, whereas the attainable maximum attenuation within the band gaps shows a significant decrease. Also, finite element simulations are performed to validate the numerical predictions, which demonstrate that the resulting transmissibility of displacements agree well with the band gaps

LncRNA DLEU1 is overexpressed in premature ovarian failure and sponges miR-146b-5p to increase granulosa cell apoptosis

Abstract Background miR-146b-5p has been reported to participate in premature ovarian failure (POF) in mice. However, its role in POF patients is unclear. We predicted that miR-146b-5p might interact with lncRNA DLEU1, a crucial player in ovarian cancer. We then explored the interaction between DLEU1 and miR-146b-5p. Methods Expression of DLEU1 and miR-146b-5p in POF and control ovary tissues was determined by RT-qPCR. The subcellular location of DLEU1 in human KGN cells was analyzed using subcellular fractionation assays. The direct interaction between DLEU1 and miR-146b-5p was analyzed using RNA pull-down assays. The role of DLEU1 in miR-146a expression was analyzed using overexpression assay. Cell proliferation was analyzed using cell apoptosis assay. Results Increased DLEU1 expression and decreased miR-146b-5p expression were observed in POF. DLEU1 directly interacted with MiR-146b-5p and was expressed in both nuclear and cytoplasm samples of KGN cells. In KGN cells, DLEU1 and miR-146b-5p failed to regulate the expression of each other. However, DLEU1 promoted cell apoptosis and reduced the inhibitory effects of miR-146b-5p on cell apoptosis. Conclusions DLEU1 is overexpressed in POF and sponges miR-146b-5p to increase KGN cell apoptosis

The Role of Targeted Temperature Management in Adult Patients Resuscitated from Nonshockable Cardiac Arrests: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Routine targeted temperature management is recommended for comatose adult patients with return of spontaneous circulation after cardiac arrest. However, the role of targeted temperature management in patients resuscitated from nonshockable cardiac arrests remains uncertain. We conducted an updated systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the effects of targeted temperature management in this population. Medline, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases were systematically reviewed for studies published between January 2005 and March 2016, in which targeted temperature management was compared with standard care or normothermia for adult patients resuscitated from nonshockable cardiac arrests. A total of 25 trials that included 5715 patients were identified from 10985 relevant papers. Pooled data showed that targeted temperature management not only associated with improved short-term survival (RR = 1.42, 95% CI: 1.28–1.57) and neurological function (RR = 1.63, 95% CI: 1.39–1.91) but also associated with improved long-term survival (RR = 1.64, 95% CI: 1.27–2.12) and neurological recovery (RR = 1.42, 95% CI: 1.07–1.90) in observational cohort studies. However, more frequent infectious complications were reported in hypothermia-treated patients (RR = 1.46, 95% CI: 1.26–1.70) and the quality of the evidence ranged from moderate to very low

Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio and Platelet-to-Lymphocyte Ratio in Blood to Distinguish Lung Cancer Patients from Healthy Subjects

Objective. Inflammation-driven markers play a crucial role in tumorigenesis and tumor progression. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in blood are systemic inflammatory response markers. Some reports have showed that NLR and PLR are related to a poor prognosis in patients with lung cancer. However, little studies have reported whether NLR and PLR can be diagnostic markers for lung cancer. The aim of the current study is to investigate the roles of NLR and PLR in diagnosing lung cancer. Methods. This study analyzed data from lung cancer patients and healthy individuals in Wuxi People’s Hospital Affiliated with Nanjing Medical University. The Mann–Whitney U test was performed to compare differences between the lung cancer group and the control group. Based on white blood cell (WBC) counts, both lung cancer patients and healthy individuals were divided into the low-level group, moderate-level group, and high-level group. The Kruskal-Wallis test was applied to compare differences of NLR and PLR among those groups with different WBC counts. Spearman correlation analysis was used to assess correlations. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were performed to determine diagnostic accuracy. Results. 210 patients diagnosed with lung cancer and 261 healthy subjects were enrolled in this study. Levels of NLR and PLR increased in the lung cancer group compared with the control group (P<0.001). For the lung cancer group, NLR levels could rise with the increasing of WBC levels (P<0.001) while PLR levels had no significant variation with the increasing of WBC levels (P=0.206). For the control group, NLR levels could rise with the increasing of WBC levels (P<0.001) while PLR levels would decline with the increasing of WBC levels (P<0.001). In the lung cancer group, both NLR and PLR had no significant correlations with aspartate transaminase, urea, and glucose. The area under the curve (AUC) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of NLR and PLR to distinguish lung cancer patients from healthy subjects was, respectively, 0.684 (0.634-0.735) and 0.623 (0.571-0.674). When NLR and PLR were combined, AUC (95% CI) increased to 0.691 (0.642-0.740). Conclusions. NLR and PLR alone have moderate ability to distinguish lung cancer patients from healthy subjects. Furthermore, combination forms of NLR and PLR can improve diagnostic ability