A male adult skeleton from the Han Dynasty in Shaanxi, China (202 BC–220 AD) with bone changes that possibly represent spinal tuberculosis

Bioarchaeological data for tuberculosis (TB) have been published very sporadically in China or the rest of East Asia. To explore the history of TB in this area, 85 skeletons excavated from the Liuwei Cemetery in Shaanxi, China (202 BC–220 AD) were macroscopically examined to record TB related bone changes. These skeletons represented inhabitants of Maolingyi, an urban area that had a high population density during the Han Dynasty (202 BC–220 CE). Seventeen of the 85 skeletons had spines that were well enough preserved to observe evidence of spinal disease. Among them, a male skeleton aged around 30 years (M34-E) manifested multiple lytic lesions in the eleventh thoracic to second lumbar vertebral bodies (T11 to L2). TB was considered a possible diagnosis for the spinal lesions observed, with differential diagnoses of brucellosis and typhoid. The dense population and overcrowding in urban Maolingyi were considered the potential social risk factors for TB found at this site. The findings of this study contribute to limited knowledge about the history of TB in East Asia and suggest a relationship between population density and the spread of TB in Maolingyi at that time. However, the lack of published bioarchaeological data of TB in East Asia hinders understanding the transmission of TB within Asia and its link to the rest of the world. Further intensive review of archaeological skeletons in Asia is urgently needed

Element Analysis Based on Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence

Energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) spectrometry is a nondestructive, rapid, multielement, highly accurate, and environment friendly analysis compared with other elemental detection methods. Thus, EDXRF spectrometry is applicable for production quality control, ecological environment monitoring, geological surveying, food inspection, and heritage analysis, among others. A hardware platform for the EDXRF spectrometer is designed in this study based on the theoretical analysis of energy-dispersive X-ray. The platform includes a power supply subsystem, an optical subsystem, a control subsystem, and a personal computer. A fluorescence spectrum analytical method is then developed to obtain the category and content of elements in a sample. This method includes qualitative and quantitative analyses. Finally, a series of experiments is performed. Results show that the precision of the proposed measurement method is below 8%, whereas its repeatability is below 2%

Mechanism of METTL14-mediated ERα m6A regulation of endometrial cancer metastasis

Background and purpose: Aberrant N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification caused by dysregulation of methyltransferase-like factor 14 (METTL14) plays an important role in the progression of various cancers, and it is unclear whether it is involved in the endometrial cancer (EC) progression. This study aimed to investigate the role of aberrant m6A modification caused by dysregulation of METTL14 in EC invasion and metastasis. Methods: Ninety-six EC patients who underwent curative surgery in Qinghai Provincial People’s Hospital from 2017 to 2021 were enrolled. RNA (70 pairs) or proteins (10 pairs) were isolated from frozen tissues for real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RTFQ-PCR) or immunoblot analysis to assess METTL14 expression in EC. The expression of METTL14 and its correlation with clinicopathological features of EC were assessed. The biological effects of METTL14 in EC were determined in vitro and in vivo. Methylated RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (MeRIP-seq) combined with RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), and following m6A dot blot, MeRIP-RTFQ-PCR, RIP-RTFQ-PCR or dual luciferase reporter assays were employed to screen and validate the candidate targets of METTL14. Results: The mRNA expression and protein levels of METTL14 were significantly downregulated in EC compared with matched adjacent tissues. Compared with the METTL14 high expression group, the METTL14 low expression group had a significant increase in International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage, infiltration depth, lymphovascular invasion, lymph node metastasis and the number of cases of tumor metastasis (P<0.05). Functionally, METTL14 inhibited the proliferation and invasive capacity of EC cells in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, METTL14-mediated demethylation of m6A resulted in post-transcriptional repression of estrogen receptor alpha (ERα). Furthermore, compared with METTL14, ERα induced oncogenic behavior of tumors. Conclusion: METTL14 attenuates ERα expression in EC cells in a m6A-dependent manner, thereby inhibiting tumor metastasis and invasion

Clinical spectrum and gene mutations in a Chinese cohort with anoctaminopathy

Recessive mutations in anoctamin-5 (ANO5) are causative for limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) 2L and non-dysferlin Miyoshi-like distal myopathy (MMD3). ANDS mutations are highly prevalent in European countries; however it is not common in patients of Asian origin, and there is no data regarding the Chinese population. We retrospectively reviewed the clinical manifestations and gene mutations of Chinese patients with anoctaminopathy. A total of five ANDS mutations including four novel mutations and one reported mutation were found in four patients from three families. No hotspot mutation was found. Three patients presented with presymptomatic hyperCKemia and one patient had limb muscle weakness. Muscle imaging of lower limbs showed preferential adductor magnus and medial gastrocnemius involvement. No hotspot mutation has been identified in Chinese patients to date. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

The Stress and Stiffness Analysis of Diaphragm

Diaphragm coupling with its simple structure, small size, high reliability, which can compensate for its input and output displacement deviation by its elastic deformation, is widely used in aerospace, marine, and chemical etc. This paper uses the ANSYS software and its APDL language to analysis the stress distribution when the diaphragm under the load of torque, axial deviation, centrifugal force, angular deviation and multiple loads. We find that the value of maximum stress usually appears in the outer or inner transition region and the axial deviation has a greater influence to the distribution of the stress. Based on above, we got three kinds of stiffness for axial, angular and torque, which the stiffness of diaphragm is nearly invariable. The results can be regard as an important reference for design and optimization of diaphragm coupling

Why did China's energy intensity increase during 1998-2006: Decomposition and policy analysis

Despite the fact that China's energy intensity has continuously decreased during the 1980s and mostly 1990s, the decreasing trend has reversed since 1998 and the past few years have witnessed rapid increase in China's energy intensity. We firstly conduct an index decomposition analysis to identify the key forces behind the increase. It is found that: (1) the high energy demand in industrial sectors is mainly attributed to expansion of production scale, especially in energy-intensive industries; (2) energy saving mainly comes from efficiency improvement, with energy-intensive sectors making the largest contribution; and (3) a heavier industrial structure also contributes to the increase. This study also makes the first attempt to bridge the quantitative decomposition analysis with qualitative policy analyses and fill the gap between decomposition results and policy relevance in previous work. We argue that: (1) energy efficiency improvement in energy-intensive sectors is mainly due to the industrial policies that have been implemented in the past few years; (2) low energy prices have directly contributed to high industrial energy consumption and indirectly to the heavy industrial structure. We provide policy suggestions in the end.China's energy consumption Industrial policy Energy price policy

The Level Set Topological Optimization Method based on the Constraints of Volume and Stress

This paper research the topological optimization based on level set method which based on the reaction diffusion equation. The paper propose a Level set topological optimization method which put the compliance as the objective function and take the volume as the main constraint, the element stress as the auxiliary constraint to regulate the volume constraint. This method not only can significantly speed up the optimization process, but can improve the precision of calculation and ensure the stability of the results when meet the stress constraint. Eventually, the proposed method can convenient the level set topological optimization to apply in engineering practice

The Level Set Topological Optimization Method based on the Constraints of Volume and Stress

This paper research the topological optimization based on level set method which based on the reaction diffusion equation. The paper propose a Level set topological optimization method which put the compliance as the objective function and take the volume as the main constraint, the element stress as the auxiliary constraint to regulate the volume constraint. This method not only can significantly speed up the optimization process, but can improve the precision of calculation and ensure the stability of the results when meet the stress constraint. Eventually, the proposed method can convenient the level set topological optimization to apply in engineering practice

The Stress and Stiffness Analysis of Diaphragm

Diaphragm coupling with its simple structure, small size, high reliability, which can compensate for its input and output displacement deviation by its elastic deformation, is widely used in aerospace, marine, and chemical etc. This paper uses the ANSYS software and its APDL language to analysis the stress distribution when the diaphragm under the load of torque, axial deviation, centrifugal force, angular deviation and multiple loads. We find that the value of maximum stress usually appears in the outer or inner transition region and the axial deviation has a greater influence to the distribution of the stress. Based on above, we got three kinds of stiffness for axial, angular and torque, which the stiffness of diaphragm is nearly invariable. The results can be regard as an important reference for design and optimization of diaphragm coupling