Numerical Air Quality Forecast over Eastern China: Development, Uncertainty and Future

Air pollution is severely focused due to its distinct effect on climate change and adverse effect on human health, ecological system, etc. Eastern China is one of the most polluted areas in the world and many actions were taken to reduce air pollution. Numerical forecast of air quality was proved to be one of the effective ways to help to deal with air pollution. This chapter will present the development, uncertainty and thinking about the future of the numerical air quality forecast emphasized in eastern China region. Brief history of numerical air quality modeling including that of Shanghai Meteorological Service (SMS) was reviewed. The operational regional atmospheric environmental modeling system for eastern China (RAEMS) and its performance on forecasting the major air pollutants over eastern China region was introduced. Uncertainty was analyzed meanwhile challenges and actions to be done in the future were suggested to provide better service of numerical air quality forecast

Numerical Simulation for Exploring the Effect of Viscosity on Single-screw Extrusion Process of Propellant

AbstractSingle-screw extrusion process of propellant has the characteristics of multiple accidents, complicated rheological parameters and difficult measurement of real-time conditions, however, the process details can be reproduced by simulation conveniently and intuitively. In this paper, the POLYFLOW simulation platform was used to model and analyze the single-screw extrusion process of propellant through the application of Finite Element Analysis on extrusion of plastic. The distributions and changes of viscosity in extrusion process, which were taken as the starting point to study the threshold and distribution of pressure, temperature and other sensitive parameters, were obtained. The simulation shows that the risk at the screw edge is higher because of severe mixing and plasticizing process, and the viscous heating is up to 1.4×105 W · m-3. Parameters under different speed conditions were studied as well, which provide guidance for the coordination of security and economy in production

Model averaging based on weighted generalized method of moments with missing responses

Model averaging based on the least squares estimator or the maximum likelihood estimator has been widely followed, while model averaging based on the generalized method of moments is almost rarely addressed. This paper is concerned with a model averaging method based on the weighted generalized method of moments for missing responses problem. The weight vector for model averaging is obtained via minimizing the leave-one-out cross validation criterion. With some mild conditions, the asymptotic optimality of the proposed method in the sense that it can achieve the lowest squared error asymptotically is proved. Some numerical experiments are conducted to evaluate the proposed method with the existing related ones, and the results suggest that the proposed method performs relatively well

Decreased Information Replacement of Working Memory After Sleep Deprivation: Evidence From an Event-Related Potential Study

Working memory (WM) components are altered after total sleep deprivation (TSD), both with respect to information replacement and result judgment. However, the electrophysiological mechanisms of WM alterations following sleep restriction remain largely unknown. To identify such mechanisms, event-related potentials were recorded during the n-back WM task, before and after 36 h sleep deprivation. Thirty-one young volunteers participated in this study and performed a two-back WM task with simultaneous electroencephalography (EEG) recording before and after TSD and after 8 h time in bed for recovery (TIBR). Repeated measures analysis of variance revealed that, compared to resting wakefulness, sleep deprivation induced a decrease in the P200 amplitude and induced longer reaction times. ERP-component scalp topographies results indicated that such decrease primarily occurred in the frontal cortex. The N200 and P300 amplitudes also decreased after TSD. Our results suggest that decreased information replacement of WM occurs after 36 h of TSD and that 8 h TIBR after a long period of TSD leads to partial restoration of WM functions. The present findings represent the EEG profile of WM during mental fatigue

Clinical outcomes of immune checkpoint inhibitor combined with other targeted or immunological therapy regimens for the treatment of advanced bile tract cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background and aimsA single immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) regimen has limited value in treating advanced bile tract cancer (BTC); therefore, ICI combination therapy is often applied. This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of ICI combination therapy for advanced BTC.MethodsThe study protocol was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42023452422). Data on the median progression-free survival (PFS), median overall survival (OS), objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), and grade ≥3 adverse events (AEs) reported in relevant studies were pooled and analyzed to determine the efficacy and safety of ICI combination therapy.ResultsIn total, 15 studies with 665 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The overall ORR and DCR were 34.6% and 77.6%, respectively. The overall median PFS and OS were 6.06 months [95% confidence interval (CI): 4.91–7.21] and 12.11 months (95% CI: 10.66–13.55), respectively. Patients receiving ICI combination therapy in addition to other therapies had a considerably prolonged median PFS and OS (z=9.69, p<0.001 and z=16.17, p<0.001). Patients treated as first-line treatment had a substantially longer median PFS and OS compared to patients treated as non-first-line treatment (z=11.19, p<0.001 and z=49.17, p<0.001). The overall pooled grade ≥3 AEs rate was 38.2% (95% CI: 0.268–0.497) and was not influenced by whether ICI therapy was combined with other treatments or not or the treatment line.ConclusionAdvanced BTC patients may benefit from ICI combination treatment without additional AEs. However, concurrent chemotherapy or radiotherapy is still needed to achieve better outcomes.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD42023452422

Thermal ablation as an alternative to liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma with clinically significant portal hypertension: propensity score matching study

PurposeThe objectives were to investigate the safety and efficacy of thermal ablation as an alternative to liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma patients with clinically significant portal hypertension (CSPH).Materials and MethodsFrom July 2016 to September 2019, hepatocellular carcinoma patients with CSPH treated by liver transplantation (N=37) or thermal ablation (N=114) were enrolled. Cumulative intrahepatic recurrence, overall survival and major complications were compared by propensity score matching.ResultsIn the two matched groups, the 1-, 2-, and 3-year intrahepatic recurrence rates for the ablation group (22.3%, 50.0%, and 50.0%, respectively) were significantly higher than those for the transplantation group (4.5%, 4.5%, and 4.5%, respectively) (P=0.016). The 1-, 2-, and 3-year overall survival rates were comparable between the two groups [96.1%, 88.7%, and 88.7%, respectively (ablation group) vs. 84.6%, 76.2%, and 76.2%, respectively (transplantation group)] (P=0.07). The major complication rate for the ablation group [4.8% (3/62)] was significantly lower than that for the transplantation group [36.0% (9/25)] (P<0.001).ConclusionsThermal ablation is a safe and effective alternative for hepatocellular carcinoma patients with CSPH

Inhibiting Receptor of Advanced Glycation End Products Attenuates Pressure Overload-Induced Cardiac Dysfunction by Preventing Excessive Autophagy

The receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) is involved in heart failure (HF) by mediating diverse pathologic processes, including the promotion of inflammation and autophagy. However, the role of RAGE in pressure overload-induced HF is not well understood. We found that stimulation of RAGE triggered the death of neonatal rat ventricular myocytes (NRVMs), while cell death was alleviated by ATG5 knockdown. Using transverse aortic constriction (TAC) in mice as a model of pressure overload-induced HF, we demonstrated that RAGE knockout or RAGE blockade attenuated cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis as well as cardiac dysfunction at 8 weeks after TAC. Importantly, RAGE knockout reversed upregulation of autophagy related proteins (LC3BII/I and Beclin 1) and reduced cardiomyocyte death, indicating that excessive autophagy after TAC was inhibited. Moreover, RAGE knockout or blockade reduced the upregulation of pp65-NFκB and BNIP3, which mediate autophagy. Taken together, these results suggest that RAGE plays an important role in the progression of HF by regulating autophagy. Therefore, inhibition of the RAGE-autophagy axis could be a promising new strategy for treatment of heart failure

Key Role of the Membrane Trafficking of Nav1.5 Channel Protein in Antidepressant-Induced Brugada Syndrome

Anti-depressant treatment has been found to be associated with the development of Brugada syndrome (BrS) through poorly defined mechanisms. Herein, this study aimed to explore the molecular basis for amitriptyline-induced BrS. The effects of long-term treatments of amitriptyline on Nav1.5 were investigated using neonatal rat ventricular myocytes. The electrophysiological properties, expression and distribution of Nav1.5 were studied using the patch clamp, Western blot and confocal laser microscopy assays. Interactions between Nav1.5 and its interacting proteins, including ankyrin-G and dystrophin, were evaluated by co-immunoprecipitation. A larger decrease in the peak INa occurred after long-term treatments to amitriptyline (56.64%) than after acute exposure to amitriptyline (28%). Slow recovery from inactivation of Nav1.5 was observed after acute or long-term treatments to amitriptyline. The expression of Nav1.5 on the cell membrane showed a larger decrease by long-term treatments to amitriptyline than by acute exposure to amitriptyline. After long-term treatments to amitriptyline, we observed reduced Nav1.5 proteins on the cell membrane and the disrupted co-localization of Nav1.5 and ankyrin-G or dystrophin. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments further testified that the combination of Nav1.5 and ankyrin-G or dystrophin was severely weakened after long-term treatments to amitriptyline, implying the failed interaction between Nav1.5 and ankyrin-G or dystrophin. Our data suggest that the long-term effect of amitriptyline serves as an important contribution to BrS induced by amitriptyline. The mechanisms of BrS induced by amitriptyline were related to Nav1.5 trafficking and could be explained by the disrupted interaction of ankyrin-G, dystrophin and Nav1.5