Background. Heart failure (HF) is defined as the inability of the heart’s systolic and diastolic function to properly discharge blood flow from the veins to the heart. The goal of our research is to look into the possible mechanism that causes HF. Methods. The GSE5406 database was used for screening the differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Gene ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), and Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) network were applied to analyze DEGs. Besides, cell counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) was conducted to observe the knockdown effect of hub genes on cell proliferation. Results. Finally, 377 upregulated and 461 downregulated DEGs came out, enriched in the extracellular matrix organization and gap junction. According to GSEA results, Hoft cd4 positive alpha beta memory t cell bcg vaccine age 18–45 yo id 7 dy top 100 deg ex vivo up, Sobolev t cell pandemrix age 18–64 yo 7 dy dn, and so on were significantly related to gene set GSE5406. 7 hub genes, such as COL1A1, UBB, COL3A1, HSP90AA1, MYC, STAT3 and MAPK1, were selected from PPI networks. CCK-8 indicated silencing of STAT3 promoted the proliferation of H9C2 cells and silencing of UBB inhibited the proliferation of H9C2 cells. Conclusion. Our analysis reveals that COL1A1, UBB, COL3A1, HSP90AA1, MYC, STAT3, and MAPK1 might promote the progression of HF and become the biomarkers for diagnosis and treatment of HF.

For every $r\in \mathbb {N}_{\geq 2}\cup \{\infty \}$, we prove a $C^r$-orbit connecting lemma for dynamically coherent and plaque expansive partially hyperbolic diffeomorphisms with one-dimensional orientation preserving center bundle. To be precise, for such a diffeomorphism f, if a point y is chain attainable from x through pseudo-orbits, then for any neighborhood U of x and any neighborhood V of y, there exist true orbits from U to V by arbitrarily $C^r$-small perturbations. As a consequence, we prove that for $C^r$-generic diffeomorphisms in this class, periodic points are dense in the chain recurrent set, and chain transitivity implies transitivity.

Thyroid cancer (TC) incidence has increased greatly during the past decades with a few established risk factors, while no study is available that has assessed the association of the Chinese Health Dietary Index (CHDI) with TC. We conducted a 1:1 matched case–control study in two hospitals in Shanghai, China. Diet-quality scores were calculated according to CHDI using a validated and reliable FFQ. Conditional logistic regression analysis and restricted cubic spline analysis were used to reveal potential associations between CHDI score and TC risk. A total of 414 pairs of historically confirmed TC patients and healthy controls were recruited from November 2012 to December 2015. The total score of cases and controls were 67·5 and 72·8, respectively (P < 0·001). The median score of total vegetables, fruit, diary products, dark green and orange vegetables, fish, shellfish and mollusk, soyabean, whole grains, dry bean and tuber in cases was significantly lower than those in controls. Compared with the reference group (≤60 points), the average (60–80 points) and high (≥80 points) levels of the CHDI score were associated with a reduced risk of TC (OR: 0·40, 95 % CI 0·26, 0·63 for 60–80 points; OR: 0·22, 95 % CI 0·12, 0·38 for ≥80 points). In age-stratified analyses, the favourable association remained significant among participants who are younger than 50 years old. Our data suggested that high diet quality as determined by CHDI was associated with lower risk of TC.

The eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau, a global biodiversity hotspot, is threatened by habitat degradation. Conservation actions are required in this region, but limited knowledge of large and medium-sized mammals is hampering conservation planning. Using 149 camera traps, we surveyed large and medium-sized mammals in Xionglongxi Provincial Nature Reserve and adjacent areas, on the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau, during September 2016–May 2017. We obtained 5,752 independent captures of 29 large and medium-sized mammal species, including 13 that are globally threatened and 22 that are nationally threatened in China. Carnivores were especially diverse, with 16 species recorded. Of particular significance was our detection of seven felid species, including the leopard Panthera pardus and the snow leopard Panthera uncia. Our record of the Chinese mountain cat Felis bieti extends the known range of this species. We documented new upper elevation limits for eight species. There was elevational overlap between the leopard and the snow leopard, suggesting potential competition between the two species. The grey wolf Canis lupus and the leopard were the dominant predators, and the woolly hare Lepus oiostolus and several species of ungulates were the most frequently photographed prey species. The study area maintains a significant community of large and medium-sized mammals, which is more diverse than in other areas on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. We recommend the establishment of a larger nature reserve of national protection status in the region of the Xionglongxi Provincial Nature Reserve, to protect the unique subalpine and alpine ecosystems in this area.

We report on a high-power Ho:YAG single-crystal fiber (SCF) laser inband pumped by a high-brightness Tm-fiber laser at 1908 nm. The Ho:YAG SCF grown by the micro-pulling-down technique exhibits a propagation loss of $0.05\pm 0.005~\text{cm}^{-1}$ at $2.09~\unicode[STIX]{x03BC}\text{m}$. A continuous-wave output power of 35.2 W is achieved with a slope efficiency of 42.7%, which is to the best of our knowledge the highest power ever reported from an SCF-based laser in the 2 $\unicode[STIX]{x03BC}\text{m}$ spectral range.

The aim of this study was to determine the most cost-effective strategy for the prevention and control of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) in intensive care units (ICUs) in areas with limited health resources. The study was conducted in 12 ICUs of four hospitals. The total cost for the prevention of MDROs and the secondary attack rate (SAR) of MDROs for each strategy were collected retrospectively from 2046 subjects from January to December 2017. The average cost-effectiveness ratio (CER), incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) and cost-effectiveness acceptability curve were calculated. Hand hygiene (HH) had the lowest total cost (2149.6 RMB) and SAR of MDROs (8.8%) while single-room isolation showed the highest cost (33 700.2 RMB) and contact isolation had the highest SAR of MDROs (31.8%). The average cost per unit infection prevention was 24 427.8 RMB, with the HH strategy followed by the environment disinfection strategy (CER = 21 314.67). HH had the highest iterative cost effect under willingness to pay less than 2000 RMB. Due to the low cost for repeatability and obvious effectiveness, we conclude that HH is the optimal strategy for MDROs infections in ICUs in developing countries. The cost-effectiveness of the four prevention strategies provides some reference for developing countries but multiple strategies remain to be examined.

Sea ice is composed of columnar-shaped grains. To investigate the influence of the loading direction on the uniaxial compressive strength and failure processes of sea ice, field experiments were performed with first-year level ice. Loads were applied both horizontally (parallel to the grain columns) and vertically (across the grain columns) with various nominal strain rates. Two failure modes have been observed: a ductile failure mode at low nominal strain rates, and a brittle failure mode at high nominal strain rates. However, the failure pattern of sea ice was clearly dependent on the loading direction. At low nominal strain rates (ductile failure mode), the sea-ice samples yielded due to the development of wing cracks under horizontal loading and due to splaying out at one end under vertical loading. When sea ice fails in the ductile mode, the deformation is driven by grain boundary sliding under horizontal loading and by grain decohesion and crystal deflection under vertical loading. At high nominal strain rates (brittle failure mode), the sea-ice samples failed in shear faulting under horizontal loading and in cross-column buckling under vertical loading. The nominal strain rate at the brittle–ductile transition zone is about ten times higher under vertical loading.

In this paper, the atomic resolution high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscope (HAADF-STEM) was used as the main research method. Using HAADF-STEM, two types of long-period stacking ordered structure (LPSO)—14H and 18R-LPSO—were observed in Mg96Gd2Y1Ni1 alloy, and the precipitates at various stages of aging were observed. Moreover, a type of rectangular β precipitates were found, and the atomic models of β precipitates along the [0001]Mg and ${\tf="TeXGyrePagella-Bold (TrueType)"\char9001} 11\bar 20\hbox{]}_{{\rm{Mg}}}$ directions were identified. At the aging peak stage, a three-dimensional network structure composed of LPSO/γ′ precipitates and β′ precipitates and β precipitates was observed. The hardness of the unaged homogenized Mg96Gd2Y1Ni1 alloy was only 87 HV and the hardness value of aging peak was 128.4 HV. Compared with the unaged alloy, the hardness of the peak-aged alloy increased by 47.59%. The composite strengthening of the three types of precipitates induced a significant strengthening to the alloy.

The vortex sound interaction in acoustic resonance induced by vortex shedding from a cylinder in a flow duct is numerically studied based on a nonlinear physical model, which consists of three meshless sub-models describing the vortex shedding, sound generation and propagation within the duct. In addition, the acoustic particle velocity near the separation point of the shear layer is solved and added onto the Kutta condition of the vortex shedding, which takes the acoustic feedback effect into consideration and makes the vortex sound interaction bi-directional. The predicted results of resonant frequency and amplitude are found to be in conformity with previous experiment data, especially, a continuous description of the onset–sustain–cease of lock-in phenomenon is well captured. The lock-in phenomenon is depicted as a vigorous competition between the vortex shedding frequency $(f_{s})$ and the inherent frequency of the acoustic $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}$-mode $(f_{a})$. The mutual capturing behaviour of these two frequencies is dominated by $f_{a}$. Moreover, $f_{s}$ cannot always be locked onto $f_{a}$ within the whole lock-in region, which is in marked contrast to the previous understanding. In this aspect, two lock-in regions, the synchronous region and the $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}$-mode dominant region, are defined according to the relevance of $f_{s}$ and $f_{a}$. The maximum resonant sound appears at the end of the synchronous region. The present model not only predicts the proper characteristics of frequency lock-in as observed in experiments, but also helps to provide a more detailed understanding of the underlying lock-in mechanism.

We report on the study of single-mode fiber-laser-pumped mode-locked Yb:CALYO lasers via using a passive saturable absorber and Kerr-lens mode-locking technique, respectively. Up to 3.1-W average power with 103-fs pulse duration is obtained from the passive mode-locking, and down to 36-fs pulse duration with more than 2-W average power is achieved by the pure Kerr-lens mode-locking, which is to the best of our knowledge, the highest average power from a reported sub-40-fs Yb-based solid-state oscillator.

Aging treatment plays an important role in strengthening of 2198 Al–Li alloy. Through a serious of heat treatment processes, a large amount of precipitates emerge, mainly observed to be θ′(Al2Cu), Al3Zr, and T1(Al2CuLi), among which, T1 turns to be the most important precipitate that contributes to the strengthening of 2198 Al–Li alloy. While the temperature of the aging process is 175 °C, the density and size of T1 phase keep increasing through the process and reach peak in about 18 h. T1 phase tends to have a certain orientation relationship of ${\left( {0001} \right)_{{{\rm{T}}_1}}}//{\left\{ {111} \right\}_{{\rm{Al}}}}$, ${\left\langle {1010} \right\rangle _{{{\rm{T}}_{\rm{1}}}}}//{\left\langle {110} \right\rangle _{{\rm{Al}}}}$ and may have different kinds of multilayered structures. In most of the multilayered structures, the distance between two adjacent copper-rich laths is less than that in classical single-layered phase. Thus, it can be inferred that the microstructure of T1 phase might change in the process of developing from single-layered structure to multilayered structure. In addition, the interactions between different phases become relatively frequent when the density of T1 phase reaches a threshold.

Underground Nuclear Astrophysics in China (JUNA) will take the advantage of the ultra-low background in Jinping underground lab. High current accelerator with an ECR source and detectors were commissioned. JUNA plans to study directly a number of nuclear reactions important to hydrostatic stellar evolution at their relevant stellar energies. At the first period, JUNA aims at the direct measurements of 25Mg(p,γ)26 Al, 19F(p,α) 16 O, 13C(α, n) 16O and 12C(α,γ) 16O near the Gamow window. The current progress of JUNA will be given.

Effective suppression of transverse stimulated Raman scattering (TSRS) in a large-aperture potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) crystal is an important scientific and technical problem in high-intensity laser research and applications. In this work, a method to suppress TSRS using pulse stacking is proposed. The method suppresses TSRS significantly, with greater numbers of subpulses producing more obvious suppression effects, and the threshold intensity growth rate of the 3ω laser in the KDP crystal reaches up to about 1.9 when the stacked pulse contains four subpulses. This suppression effect is attributed to the fact that the polarization directions of adjacent subpulses are perpendicular to each other. The method can be used to suppress other nonlinear effects, including transverse stimulated Brillouin scattering in large-aperture optical devices and stimulated rotational Raman scattering in long air paths.

Dyeing wastewater has caused serious environmental problems nowadays. In this work, nickel–phosphorus plating–titanium dioxide (Ni-P-TiO2) electroless plating polyimide (PI) fabric was fabricated as an excellent visible light response composite. First, polyaniline (PANI) was in situ polymerized on the surface of the PI fabric. Second, PANI reduced palladium ions to be active seeds for initiating electroless plating of Ni-P-TiO2 layer. Finally, the Ni-P-TiO2/PANI/PI fabric with all-in-one structure was prepared, which can effectively overcome the drawbacks of poor loading fastness and insensitivity to visible light response. It was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and ultraviolet–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by degrading reactive blue 19, methylene blue, and reactive red (M-3BE) under visible light irradiation. The results show that the degradation rates of the all three dyes were over 91% with robust cycle stability for repeated 5 cycles of use. The possible photocatalytic degradation mechanism of fabrics was also proposed based on free radical and hole removal experiments.