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Background Paraplegia after spinal cord ischemia is a devastating condition in the clinic. Here, we develop an awake rabbit model of spinal cord ischemia with delayed paraplegia and explore the influence of ambient temperature on the outcomes after injury. Methods A total of 47 male rabbits were involved in the present study. Transient spinal cord ischemia was induced by occluding the infrarenal abdominal aorta of awake rabbits at different ambient temperatures. To find the optimal conditions for developing delayed paraplegia, hindlimb motor function after ischemia was evaluated between experiments. Results The onset and magnitude of ischemic injury varied with the ambient temperature maintained during the peri‐ischemia period. More serious spinal cord injury occurred when ischemia was induced at higher temperatures. At 18°C, 25‐minute ischemia resulted in 74% of rabbits developing delayed paraplegia. At a temperature of 28°C or higher, most of the animals developed acute paraplegia immediately. While at 13°C, rabbits usually regained normal motor function without paraplegia. Conclusion This awake rabbit model is highly reproducible and will be helpful in future studies of delayed paraplegia after spinal cord ischemia. The ambient temperature must be considered while using this model during investigation of therapeutic interventions. The magnitude of ischemic spinal cord injury varied with the ambient temperature maintained during ischemia. More serious injury occurred when ischemia was induced at higher temperatures. At 18°C, 25‐minute ischemia resulted in most rabbits developing delayed paraplegia.

Precision medicine (PM) aims to revolutionise healthcare, but little is known about the role religion and spirituality might play in the ethical discourse about PM. This Perspective reports the outcomes of a knowledge exchange fora with religious authorities in Singapore about data sharing for PM. While the exchange did not identify any foundational religious objections to PM, ethical concerns were raised about the possibility for private industry to profiteer from social resources and the potential for genetic discrimination by private health insurers. According to religious authorities in Singapore, sharing PM data with private industry will require a clear public benefit and robust data governance that incorporates principles of transparency, accountability and oversight.

To address the problems about the difficulty in accurate recognition of distribution features of gas flow center at blast furnace throat and determine the relationship between gas flow center distribution and gas utilization rate, a method for recognizing distribution features of blast furnace gas flow center was proposed based on infrared image processing, and distribution features of blast furnace gas flow center and corresponding gas utilization rates were categorized by using fuzzy C-means clustering and statistical methods. A concept of gas flow center offset was introduced. The results showed that, when the percentage of gas flow center without offset exceeded 85%, the average blast furnace gas utilization rate was as high as 41%; when the percentage of gas flow center without offset exceeded 50%, the gas utilization rate was primarily the center gas utilization rate, and exhibited a positive correlation with no center offset degree; when the percentage of gas flow center without offset was below 50% but the sum of the percentage of gas flow center without offset and that of gas flow center with small offset exceeded 86%, the gas utilization rate depended on both the center and the edges, and was primarily the edge gas utilization rate. The method proposed was able to accurately and effectively recognize gas flow center distribution state and the relationship between it and gas utilization rate, providing evidence in favor of on-line blast furnace control.

Aim： The mitotic kinesin Eg5 plays a critical role in bipolar spindle assembly, and its inhibitors have shown impressive anticancer activity in preclinical studies. This study was undertaken to investigate the effect of dimethylenastron, a specific inhibitor of Eg5, on the migration and invasion of pancreatic cancer cells. Methods： Human pancreatic cancer cell lines PANC1, EPP85, BxPC3, CFPAC1, and AsPAC1 were used. Eg5 expression was examined using immunofluorescence microscopy. Cell migration and invasion were analyzed with wound healing and transwell assays. Cell proliferation was examined using sulforhodamine B and MTT assays. The binding of dimethylenastron to Eg5 was analyzed with a molecular modeling study, and the ADP release rate was examined with the MANT-ADP reagent. Results： Eg5 expression was 9-16-fold up-regulated in the 5 pancreatic cancer cell lines. Treatment of PANC1 pancreatic cancer cells with dimethylenastron （3 and 10μmol/L） for 24 h suppressed the migratory ability of the cancer cells in a concentration-dependent manner. The invasion ability of the cancer cells was also reduced by the treatment. However, treatment of PANC1 cells with dimethylenastron （3 and 10 μmol/L） for 24 h had no detectable effect on their proliferation, which was inhibited when the cancer cells were treated with the drug for 72 h. Molecular modeling study showed that dimethylenastron could allosterically inhibit the motor domain ATPase of Eg5 by decreasing the rate of ADP release. Conclusion： Dimethylenastron inhibits the migration and invasion of PANC1 pancreatic cancer cells, independent of suppressing the cell proliferation. The findings provide a novel insight into the mechanisms of targeting Eg5 for pancreatic cancer chemotherapy.

Based on the results of TAX 327, a nomogram was developed to predict the overall survival of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer （mCRPC） after first-line chemotherapy. The nomogram, however, has not been validated in an independent dataset, especially in a series out of clinical trials. Thus, the objective of the current study was to validate the TAX 327 nomogram in a community setting in China. A total of 146 patients with mCRPC who received first-line chemotherapy （docetaxel or mitoxantrone） were identified. Because clinical trials are limited in mainland China, those patients did not receive investigational treatment after the failure of first-line chemotherapy. The predicted overall survival rate was calculated from the TAX 327 nomogram. The validity of the model was assessed with discrimination, calibration and decision curve analysis. The median survival of the cohort was 21 months （docetaxel） and 19 months （mitoxantrone） at last follow-up. The predictive c-index of the TAX 327 nomogram was 0.66 （95% CI： 0.54-0.70）. The calibration plot demonstrated that the 2-year survival rate was underestimated by the nomogram. Decision curve analysis showed a net benefit of the nomogram at a threshold probability greater than 30%. In conclusion, the present validation study did not confirm the predictive value of the TAX 327 nomogram in a contemporary community series of men in China, and further studies with a large sample size to develop or validate nomograms for predicting survival and selecting therapies in advanced prostate cancer are necessary.

Heavy-ion collisions at very high colliding energies are expected to produce a quark-gluon plasma （QGP） at the highest temperature obtainable in a laboratory setting. Experimental studies of these reactions can provide an unprecedented range of information on properties of the QGP at high temperatures. We report theoretical investigations of the physics perspectives of heavy-ion collisions at a future high-energy collider. These include initial parton production, collective expansion of the dense medium, jet quenching, heavy-quark transport, dissociation and regeneration of quarkonia, photon and dilepton production. We illustrate the potential of future experimental studies of the initial particle production and formation of QGP at the highest temperature to provide constraints on properties of strongly interaction matter.

Several prediction models have been developed to estimate the outcomes of prostate biopsies. Most of these tools were designed for use with Western populations and have not been validated across different ethnic groups. Therefore, we evaluated the predictive value of the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial （PCPT） and the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer （ERSPC） risk calculators in a Chinese cohort. Clinicopathological information was obtained from 495 Chinese men who had undergone extended prostate biopsies between January 2009 and March 2011. The estimated probabilities of prostate cancer and high-grade disease （Gleason 〉6） were calculated using the PCPT and ERSPC risk calculators. Overall measures, discrimination, calibration and clinical usefulness were assessed for the model evaluation. Of these patients, 28.7% were diagnosed with prostate cancer and 19.4% had high-grade disease. Compared to the PCPT model and the prostate-specific antigen （PSA） threshold of 4 ng m1-1, the ERSPC risk calculator exhibited better discriminative ability for predicting positive biopsies and high-grade disease （the area under the curve was 0.831 and 0.852, respectively, P〈O.01 for both）. Decision curve analysis also suggested the favourable clinical utility of the ERSPC calculator in the validation dataset. Both prediction models demonstrated miscalibration： the risk of prostate cancer and high-grade disease was overestimated by approximately 20% for a wide range of predicted probabilities. In conclusion, the ERSPC risk calculator outperformed both the PCPT model and the PSA threshold of 4 ng ml- z in predicting prostate cancer and high-grade disease in Chinese patients. However, the prediction tools derived from Western men significantly overestimated the probability of prostate cancer and high-grade disease compared to the outcomes of biopsies in a Chinese cohort.

Mare volcanics on the Moon are the key record of thermo-chemical evolution throughout most of lunar history 1 – 3 . Young mare basalts—mainly distributed in a region rich in potassium, rare-earth elements and phosphorus (KREEP) in Oceanus Procellarum, called the Procellarum KREEP Terrane (PKT) 4 —were thought to be formed from KREEP-rich sources at depth 5 – 7 . However, this hypothesis has not been tested with young basalts from the PKT. Here we present a petrological and geochemical study of the basalt clasts from the PKT returned by the Chang’e-5 mission 8 . These two-billion-year-old basalts are the youngest lunar samples reported so far 9 . Bulk rock compositions have moderate titanium and high iron contents  with KREEP-like rare-earth-element and high thorium concentrations. However, strontium–neodymium isotopes indicate that these basalts were derived from a non-KREEP mantle source. To produce the high abundances of rare-earth elements and thorium, low-degree partial melting and extensive fractional crystallization are required. Our results indicate that the KREEP association may not be a prerequisite for young mare volcanism. Absolving the need to invoke heat-producing elements in their source implies a more sustained cooling history of the lunar interior to generate the Moon’s youngest melts. Isotopic analysis of basalt clasts returned from the Moon by the Chang’e-5 mission indicates that the rocks were derived from a mantle source that lacked potassium, rare-earth elements and phosphorus.

The Hengduan Mountains (HDM) biodiversity hotspot exhibits exceptional alpine plant diversity. Here, we investigate factors driving intraspecific divergence within a HDM alpine species Salix brachista (Cushion willow), a common component of subnival assemblages. We produce a high - quality genome assembly for this species and characterize its genetic diversity, population structure and pattern of evolution by resequencing individuals collected across its distribution. We detect population divergence that has been shaped by a landscape of isolated sky island-like habitats displaying strong environmental heterogeneity across elevational gradients, combined with population size fluctuations that have occurred since approximately the late Miocene. These factors are likely important drivers of intraspecific divergence within Cushion willow and possibly other alpine plants with a similar distribution. Since intraspecific divergence is often the first step toward speciation, the same factors can be important contributors to the high alpine species diversity in the HDM. Exceptional alpine plant diversity exists in the Hengduan Mountains. Here, through genome assembly and population genomics studies, the authors find notable intraspecific divergence among Cushion willow populations isolated by the sky island-like habitats and consider it contributes to speciation and biodiversity.

Summary Nitrogen (N) is one of the key essential macronutrients that affects rice growth and yield. Inorganic N fertilizers are excessively used to boost yield and generate serious collateral environmental pollution. Therefore, improving crop N use efficiency (NUE) is highly desirable and has been a major endeavour in crop improvement. However, only a few regulators have been identified that can be used to improve NUE in rice to date. Here we show that the rice NIN‐like protein 4 (OsNLP4) significantly improves the rice NUE and yield. Field trials consistently showed that loss‐of‐OsNLP4 dramatically reduced yield and NUE compared with wild type under different N regimes. In contrast, the OsNLP4 overexpression lines remarkably increased yield by 30% and NUE by 47% under moderate N level compared with wild type. Transcriptomic analyses revealed that OsNLP4 orchestrates the expression of a majority of known N uptake, assimilation and signalling genes by directly binding to the nitrate‐responsive cis‐element in their promoters to regulate their expression. Moreover, overexpression of OsNLP4 can recover the phenotype of Arabidopsis nlp7 mutant and enhance its biomass. Our results demonstrate that OsNLP4 plays a pivotal role in rice NUE and sheds light on crop NUE improvement.