Special Location Research Articles

The synthesis and application of nano doxorubicin- indocyanine green matrix metalloproteinase-responsive hydrogel in chemophototherapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

BackgroundHead and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is one of the most common malignancies, with high rates of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Owing to the special anatomical location of this tumor, an effective, minimally invasive treatment with low systemic toxicity is highly desirable. Hydrogels have shown great potential for tumor-targeting therapy, with excellent performance. However, there have been few reports on co-loading photosensitizers and chemotherapeutic drugs into hydrogels. In this study, we synthesized a nano doxorubicin-indocyanine green matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-responsive hydrogel (denoted as NDIMH), combining chemotherapy and phototherapy, to achieve superior antitumor efficacy.MethodsFirst, NDIMH was synthesized and characterized by scanning electron microscopy and drug-release assays. Second, the photosensitivity properties and antitumor efficiency of this drug delivery system were studied in vivo and in vitro. Last, the imaging and biodistribution of NDIMH were monitored using the Maestro EX in vivo imaging system.ResultsThe nanodrugs loaded into the smart hydrogel exhibited uniform size distribution, excellent size stability, and a sustained release in the presence of MMP-2. NDIMH showed ideal photosensitivity characteristics under light. NDIMH with 808 nm near-infrared (NIR) irradiation effectively inhibited the viability, invasion, and metastasis of SCC-15 in vitro. After intratumoral injection of NDIMH with 808 nm NIR illumination, the hydrogels exhibited favorable synergistic antitumor efficacy and acceptable biosafety. Additionally, fluorescence imaging showed that NDIMH could significantly improve the retention of nanodrugs at the tumor site.ConclusionThe intratumoral injection of NDIMH with 808 nm NIR irradiation could be a promising chemophototherapy alternative for HNSCC.

Gramática Espacial Urbana: la orientación espacial guiada por reglas verbales

Objetivo: Analizar el papel que juegan las reglas en forma de instrucciones verbales y conducta no vocal sobre la manera como las personas se orientan en el espacio urbano.
 Método: Investigación descriptiva de tipo exploratoria. Se seleccionaron de manera aleatoria 75 personas, hombres y mujeres, mayores de edad y de diversas condiciones sociales, a quienes se les indagó mediante entrevistas informales en distintos puntos del espacio público de Bogotá por la manera de llegar a un destino específico. La información fue recogida por asistentes de investigación quienes se hacían pasar por transeúntes en busca de un lugar mientras grababan la conversación con el entrevistado. Las entrevistas fueron analizadas mediante el programa Atlas.ti.
 Resultados: Los resultados permiten agrupar las respuestas de los transeúntes a los lugares de destino en cinco categorías de reglas o instrucciones que dan las personas: instrucciones de secuencia geográfica; de secuencia de lugares; instrucciones para reconocimiento del lugar; instrucciones temporo-espaciales y novocales.
 Conclusiones: Las personas estructuran su conocimiento del espacio urbano a partir de un sistema de categorías verbales que tienen que ver con el seguimiento de reglas las cuales se reflejan en instrucciones y comunicación no vocal o gestual a manera de expresiones corporales. Se discuten las implicacionesdel estudio en la identificación de reglas que configuran una gramática espacial en contraposición a los modelos cognoscitivos y las aproximaciones de las neurociencias, así como los alcances para la planeación urbana y la enseñanza de la ubicación especial.

Effect of adoptive transfer of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Treg induced by trichostatin A on the prevention of spontaneous abortion

ObjectiveTo investigate whether epigenetic modification of CD4+CD25− T-cells in vitro can make up for the inadequacy of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Treg in animal model of spontaneous abortion and prevent immune response-mediated spontaneous abortion. MethodsTrichostatin A (TSA) was applied to inhibit histone deacetylases (HDACs) and thereby to epigenetically modify the special location of Foxp3 gene in CD4+CD25− T-cells of CBA/J mice. The expressions of CD25, Foxp3, CTLA-4 and PD-1 of CD4+ T cells isolated from spleen of mice were characterized by flow cytometric analysis. Concentrations of transforming growth factor- β (TGF-β) and IL-10 in the supernatants of cultured Treg were measured using ELISA. The purified CD4+ T cells treated with different reagents were injected into pregnant CBA/J mice mated with DBA/2J males on Day 1 and 4 of pregnancy, respectively. The embryo resorption rate was assessed on Day 14 of pregnancy. ResultsTSA treatment significantly increased the population of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ iTreg. Those TSA induced Treg expressed high levels of PD-1 and CTLA-4, and secreted high levels of TGF-β and IL-10. Adoptive transfer of those iTreg at both early stage and implantation of stage of pregnancy significantly increased population of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Treg in spleens of recipient miscarriage prone mice and significantly reduced resorption in those mice. ConclusionEpigenetic regulation of Foxp3 can generate functional regulatory T-cells. Adoptive transfer of TSA- induced CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Treg at an early stage of pregnancy can induce maternal-fetal immune tolerance and reduce embryo resorption in miscarriage prone mice.

Sorting mRNA Molecules for Cytoplasmic Transport and Localization.

In eukaryotic cells, gene expression is highly regulated at many layers. Nascent RNA molecules are assembled into ribonucleoprotein complexes that are then released into the nucleoplasmic milieu and transferred to the nuclear pore complex for nuclear export. RNAs are then either translated or transported to the cellular periphery. Emerging evidence indicates that RNA-binding proteins play an essential role throughout RNA biogenesis, from the gene to polyribosomes. However, the sorting mechanisms that regulate whether an RNA molecule is immediately translated or sent to specialized locations for translation are unclear. This question is highly relevant during development and differentiation when cells acquire a specific identity. Here, we focus on the RNA-binding properties of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins (hnRNPs) and how these mechanisms are believed to play an essential role in RNA trafficking in polarized cells. Further, by focusing on the specific hnRNP protein CBF-A/hnRNPab and its naturally occurring isoforms, we propose a model on how hnRNP proteins are capable of regulating gene expression both spatially and temporally throughout the RNA biogenesis pathway, impacting both healthy and diseased cells.

Recommending the most ecological sustainable option for the generation of tidal power in the Severn Estuary

The Severn Estuary has great potential on generating tremendous amount of renewable energy due to its surrounding industrialization, population and the world’s second highest tidal ranges. Plans about utilizing and developing the estuary’s tidal power have been raised continually for decades. However, the special location of Severn Estuary determines its great importance on global energy balance and the protection of ecosystem and animal diversity. The tidal fence is considered to be an ecologically sustainable tidal power exploitation option with minimum environmental damage and reliable energy output ability. The implementation of tidal fence in the Severn Estuary will provide UK with a long-term clean energy source and make reference for other tidal power resource development.

A late Miocene ostracod record from the northeastern Tibetan Plateau

Lake Qinghai, the largest inland brackish lake in China, is located on the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau and is affected by both the Asian Monsoon and Westerlies climate systems. It is very sensitive to climate and environmental changes. Moreover, its sediments accumulated over the Cenozoic Era and contain abundant information about past tectonics and environmental changes. Here we present a record of late Miocene ostracods from Lake Qinghai sediment cores. A taxonomic analysis of the ostracods yielded 7 families, 14 genera, and 31 species. Six distinct sediment facies were recognized and their corresponding paleolimnological and paleoenvironmental changes were inferred from the ostracod assemblages. The first appearance of ostracod shells at about 7.60 Ma reflects a switch from an eolian sedimentation facies (ca. 8.10–7.60 Ma) to a shallow lacustrine environment (ca. 7.60–5.85 Ma). Ostracod shells were absent from ca. 5.85 to 4.64 Ma in eolian sediments. A transition to a deep lacustrine facies began at ca. 4.64 Ma, and ended at ca. 3.58 Ma. Thus, Lake Qinghai existed in the late Miocene and became larger and deeper in the early Pliocene (ca. 4.64 Ma). During the time interval ca. 3.58–0.70 Ma, littoral lacustrine sedimentation occurred at the core sites. After ca. 0.70 Ma, there were alternating shallow lacustrine and lakeshore environments at the sites, until ca. 0.12 Ma. Changes in ostracod assemblages and their abundance during the intervals ca. 4.64–3.56 Ma and ca. 0.70–0.12 Ma indicate that the sedimentary environment fluctuated over short time scales. Given Lake Qinghai’s sensitivity to environmental and tectonic changes, related to its special location, we concluded that changes in the relative and absolute abundances of ostracods reflect the evolution of the Asian monsoon-arid environment and Plateau growth, as well as global climate changes.

MTE15.01 Identifying High Risk Patients: What Makes a Patient Too High Risk for Surgery and Who Decides?

MTE15.01 Identifying High Risk Patients: What Makes a Patient Too High Risk for Surgery and Who Decides?

Dynamic responses of railway ballasted track considering rail pad deterioration

Rail pads, which can be made of polymeric compound, rubber, composite materials etc., are resilient components installed on rail seats between the rail and sleeper in order to attenuate the impact loads and moderate track stiffness at the special locations. Based on literature, rail pad can be deteriorated over time. This can change the dynamic characteristics of rail pads: stiffness and damping. This paper presents the dynamic responses of railway track with new rail pads and aged rail pads. It should be noted that the parameters used of rail pads were analysed using impact excitation technique and then adapted for this study. To study the dynamic responses, D-track software is used based on Winkler foundation principle. Wheel flat is considered as imperfect wheel for impact case. The results obtained show that rail pads deteriorations seem to have significant effects on the increasing of rail/sleeper contact force rather than wheel/rail contact force. It is know that softer pads normally have a better performance on reducing dynamic responses. Although, the stiffness of rail pads reduce over time, damping coefficient also decrease. These lead to a poor performance of rail pad resulting in the reducing of rail/sleeper contact force.

Gene-Gene Interactions among SPRYs for Nonsyndromic Cleft Lip/Palate

Nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCL/P) is a common birth defect with a complex genetic architecture. Gene-gene interactions have been increasingly regarded as contributing to the etiology of NSCL/P. A recent genome-wide association study revealed that a novel single-nucleotide polymorphism at SPRY1 in 4q28.1 showed a significant association with NSCL/P. In the current study, we explored the role of 3 SPRY genes in the etiology of NSCL/P by detecting gene-gene interactions: SPRY1, SPRY2, and SPRY4—with SPRY3 excluded due to its special location on the X chromosome. We selected markers in 3 SPRY genes to test for gene-gene interactions using 1,908 case-parent trios recruited from an international consortium established for a genome-wide association study of nonsyndromic oral clefts. As the trios came from populations with different ancestries, subgroup analyses were conducted among Europeans and Asians. Cordell’s method based on conditional logistic regression models was applied to test for potential gene-gene interactions via the statistical package TRIO in R software. Gene-gene interaction analyses yielded 10 pairs of SNPs in Europeans and 6 pairs in Asians that achieved significance after Bonferroni correction. The significant interactions were confirmed in the 10,000-permutation tests (empirical P = 0.003 for the most significant interaction). The study identified gene-gene interactions among SPRY genes among 1,908 NSCL/P trios, which revealed the importance of potential gene-gene interactions for understanding the genetic architecture of NSCL/P. The evidence of gene-gene interactions in this study also provided clues for future biological studies to further investigate the mechanism of how SPRY genes participate in the development of NSCL/P.

Aroma characterization of Hanzhong black tea (Camellia sinensis) using solid phase extraction coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and olfactometry and sensory analysis

The unique aroma of the Hanzhong black tea is due to the special location of the harvesting place and specific manufacturing processes. In this study, a solid phase extraction method (SPE) as sample preparation tool was combined with gas chromatography (GC) as separation technique and several detection systems such as mass spectrometry (MS), flame ionization (FID) and olfactometry (O), which, together with sensorial analysis were used to characterize aroma compounds in Hanzhong black tea infusion. Seventy three aroma compounds were identified and quantified in the tea infusion by the GC-MS and GC-FID methods, respectively. Among them, odor perceptions of 24 compounds were characterized by the GC-O analysis. It was found that linalool oxide I, II and III, E,E-2,4-nonadienal, 4,5-dimethyl-3-hydroxy-2,5-dihydrofuran-2-one, 1-octen-3-one, E,Z-2,6-nonadienal, bis(2-methyl-3-furyl) disulfide had higher odor activity value in the tea infusion and offered floral, fatty, and caramel, mushroom, cucumber, and cooked beef -like odors, respectively. Overall, floral and mushroom and caramel -like odors significantly dominated in the Hanzhong black tea infusion.

Earliest use of birch bark tar in Northwest China: evidence from organic residues in prehistoric pottery at the Changning site

The analysis of organic residues in pottery can provide abundant information on the lives of ancient people, including the natural resources consumed, the techniques applied, the functions of pottery, and so on. In this paper, a variety of methods, including FT-IR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy), GC–MS (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry), SEM (scanning electron microscopy) and SR-μCT (synchrotron radiation micro-computed tomography), have been employed to characterize the carbonized residues from an amphora, unearthed from the Changning site, Qinghai Province, Northwest China. The pottery residues were identified as birch bark tar, so ancient people in China could have used the particular local plant resources, birch bark, to produce tar as early as the Qijia cultural period (c. 4,000–3,500 bp). The birch bark tar could have been used to make composite tools discovered at the Changning site, and the amphora has probably been used for tar production. This, to our knowledge so far, is the earliest evidence for the use of birch bark tar in China. Due to the special geographical location of the Gansu-Qinghai Region, and the transition of subsistence strategy during the Qijia cultural period, the production and utilization of birch bark tar could not rule out the possibility of western influence, which needs further evidence.

Multidisciplinary collaboration improving surgical effect of the esophagogastric junction tumor

Esophagogastric junction (EGJ) tumor involves thoracic and celiac cavities due to special lesion location, and its epidemiology and clinical characteristics are different from that of esophageal cancer and gastric cancer. There are many controversies on the etiology, location, staging and surgical treatment of EGJ tumor in the digestive surgery field. Surgical resection is a core method for EGJ tumor, but different surgical procedures are much controverted between thoracic surgery and abdominal surgery. Authors updated the cognition of EGJ tumor and summarized the research progress of surgical treatment through reviewing the recent literatures. Key words: Esophagogastric junction neoplasms; Multidisciplinary collaboration; Surgical procedures, operative; Comprehensive therapy

The performances of different OAM encoding systems

Abstract Recently, the vortex beam carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) has attracted lots of attentions in the optical communication system, which can extend the channel capacity effectively due to the orthogonality among different vortex beams. In addition, the different vortex beams can also be used to encode the information with different topological charges. In this paper, we discuss the performances of different multiplexing methods (coherent superposition or incoherent superposition) and de-multiplexing methods (2-D Dammann fork grating (DFG) or multiplexing phase hologram (MPH)) of vortex beams, from which we can select the better one for encoding/decoding system. On this basis, we establish a free-space optical (FSO) communication system for image transmission by simulation, in which the gray-scale values of each pixel are transformed to eight-bit digital information and then mapped to the multiplexing vortex beam with the corresponding topological charges. After propagation in the ideal environment, the multiplexing vortex beam is separated and detected by the de-multiplexing device at the receiver. According to the intensity profile of each special location, the eight-bit digital information of the gray-scale value can be recovered efficiently.

Interconnection of social purpose and planning of the territory of the rehabilitation park

The article is an intermediate result of research in the field of sociology of rehabilitation activities. Its purpose is to investigate the relationship between social purpose and the planning of objects located on the territory of the rehabilitation park for children with disabilities.The starting point in the article is the understanding that the rehabilitation park is a specialized medical and social location in which patients can undergo physical, psycho-social recovery by receiving physiotherapeutic, medical, cultural, animated, psychological, cognitive and social services. In the architectural sense, as a rule, it includes a specialized health-improving complex, a hotel, as well as a park area.The article emphasizes that the object of its research conceptually coincides with the interests of the general population, including a special place taken by parents of children with special needs, state and municipal socially oriented institutions, community of the territorial community, sponsors and grantees. It is proved that under the influence of their requests the social purpose of the rehabilitation park is formed, which is to provide systemic physical and mental restoration, social and intellectual development of visitors in the conditions of «recovery during rest».One of the main provisions of the publication is that the unity of social and functional purpose directly affects the concept of landscape design of a rehabilitation park for children with disabilities. As a result, planning and designing of the characterized location is carried out according to the following principles: system, functionality, integration, accessibility, ergonomics, optimization, nosology, load efficiency, aesthetics and others.In the course of writing the article the author came to the conclusion that the locations of the rehabilitation park can be conditionally divided into several groups - physiological, psycho-esthetic, nature-therapeutic nature. But the methods implemented in them are constantly gaining socialization and educational content. These, along with the main thing – improvement of physical health, social skills and communication experience, are no less important for children with special needs as they can be transferred from the artificially created atmosphere of the park every day.

Co-seismic surface rupture of Papatea fault and reactivation mechanism of the Clarence landslide during the 2016 Mw7.8 Kaikoura earthquake, New Zealand

Large earthquake-triggered landslides near a seismogenic fault are usually closely linked to fault slipping. Therefore, it is important to research the relationship between the landslide movement and the deformation pattern of faults to better understand the location and influencing factors related to the large landslides. A large landslide, on the right bank of the Clarence River, New Zealand, was reactivated during the 2016 Mw 7.8 Kaikoura earthquake. The landslide is located in close proximity to the Papatea Fault which ruptured during the earthquake. The special tectonic location of this landslide provided favorable conditions to research the failure mechanism of earthquake-triggered landslides. Field investigation and remote-sensing images revealed that the co-seismic surface rupture zone of the Papatea Fault is relatively complicated and characterized by a wide deformation zone with a width of ~80–170 m. The northern section showed as left-lateral strike-slip and thrust-slip, with a vertical displacement of up to 4–6 m. However, it exhibited thrust motion in the Clarence landslide area. The Clarence landslide was a reactivation of a pre-existing landslide. The thrust faulting of the Papatea Fault produced a wide deformation and fractured zone near the top of the landslide mass, and resulted in over-steepened topography in the landslide area. It should be noted that long-team seismic shaking, especially the main frequency of the seismic acceleration and rapid co-seismic vertical slip of the fault, played the principal role in further accelerating topographic instability during the earthquake. The landslide body thus started to slide along a pre-existing sliding surface under these actions. Our results indicate that the deformation pattern of the seismogenic fault could also play an important role in the occurrence of earthquake-triggered landslides, in addition to geological and geomorphological conditions and local seismic acceleration.

Propagation of a vortex elliptical Airy beam

Because elliptical beams have many special properties and applications, an elliptical Airy beam with and without a vortex phase has been proposed. Based on the definition of the elliptical Airy beam, an experimental setup for the generation is given, and the formula for the evolution of the intensity is derived. Meanwhile, from the propagation of the Airy beam in vacuum, the abruptly autofocusing length is derived. Based on the formula of the abruptly autofocusing length, the intensity distributions at some special locations are analyzed and discussed, especially in the autofocusing point. Study shows that some interesting intensity profiles are reformed due to the asymmetry intensity distribution of the elliptical Airy beam and abrupt autofocusing of the circular Airy beam during propagation. The different eccentricity of the elliptical Airy beam has similar properties, such as the beam split with the propagation distance and the reformed beam shaped like a ”light knife” (very narrow beam) at some positions due to the convergence process out of synchronization along the x- and y-axis. When we impart a vortex on the elliptical Airy beam, the intensity distribution will rotate and split with the propagation distance.

Precise surgery of hilar cholangiocarcinoma

Due to the special location and biological characteristics, the therapy of hilar cholangiocarcinoma is still challenging. Curative resection can offer a better chance for long-term survival than any other therapeutic modalities for hilar cholangiocarcinoma. To meet the demand of precise surgery, the knowledge of anatomy, biological characteristics and liver functional reserve is needed and the technical aspects of pre-surgical intervention, liver resection and reconstruction of vessels are also very important. This review highlights recent improvements in hilar cholangiocarcinoma management, with special attention to the new staging system for hilar cholangiocarcinoma, the perioperative management and the accurate dissection approach to achieve more adequate tumor-free resection margin. Overall, the precise surgical strategy and appropriate surgical techniques may provide an increased chance to cure patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma. Key words: Bile duct neoplasms; Surgical procedures, operative; Staging; Precise surgery

Impact of settlement location conditions on the formation of urban coal mining area borders

The solution of city planning tasks of the significant coal resource potential use and sustainable living environment creation in the coal mining areas with the use of boundaries of urban coal mining areas and interposition of settlements is considered. There are substantiate the possibility of urban planning in specific boundaries distinct from the administrative-territorial division in the proposed structure of the pre-project organization of urban-planning activity. For existing coal mining areas in Russia with the use of GIS technologies, a mapping scheme of the current urban situation of development of coalfields has been drawn up, showing the boundaries of urban coal mining areas, taking into account the population in the settlements, zones of urban settlements impact and their spatial relationship. The types of interposition of settlement impact zones in forming urban coal mining area borders have been developed and their characteristics have been determined. The close relative positions of zones of impact of urban settlements have been established in the major significant urban development areas of coal mining in Russia. The types of interposition of settlement impact zones and their parameters are designed to unify urban development analysis of coal mining areas in terms of special location of settlements and formation of the city planning potential of territories. The acquired results can be used by the federal, regional and municipal authorities while drawing the urban policy and the implementation of major public-private projects.

Microstructural investigation of Al-Mg/B4C composite deformed at elevated temperature

The microstructure evolution of Al-3wt.%Mg reinforced with 10 vol% B4C during isothermal compression at temperatures ranging 300–500 °C at strain rates of 0.001–10 s−1 was investigated by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). According to the results, at strain rates lower than 0.01 s−1 and temperatures higher than 400 °C, the grain size distribution in the microstructure is uniform, dynamic recovery is the predominant softening mechanism and continues recrystallization through lattice rotation is responsible for grain refinement. However, during deformation at higher strain rates or lower temperatures, deformation zones appeared in special locations around particles where microstructure is formed by recovered and hardened grains, and particle stimulating nucleation leaded to partially discontinues dynamic recrystallization which in turns promoted finer average grain and sub-grain size than those in single phase Al-Mg alloy. Moreover, it was found that the variation of grain and sub-grain size with deformation parameters (Zener-Holloman parameter (Z)) can be described by a power law type equation rather than by an initially expected exponential expression.

CD169+ macrophages: Rheostats for tuning adaptive immunity

CD169 + macrophages are a unique subset of macrophages known for their special location in different organs and their ability to support viral replication for the presentation and activation of adaptive immune cells. Simultaneously, they restrict viral replication in other cells through production of IFN-I and balance T cell activation through upregulation of PD-L1 to prevent immunopathology.