Design and Implementation of a Low-Complexity Multi-h CPM Receiver with Linear Phase Approximation Synchronization Algorithm.

Multi-h continuous phase modulation (CPM), with extremely high spectral efficiency, involves the plague of high demodulation complexity with a large number of matched filters and a complex trellis. In this paper, an efficient all-digital demodulator for multi-h continuous phase modulation (CPM) is proposed based on a low-complexity decision-directed synchronization algorithm. Based on the maximum-likelihood estimation of the carrier phase and timing errors, we propose a reduced-complexity timing error detector with linear phase approximation (LPA) to the phase of the multi-h CPM. Compared with the traditional synchronization methods, it avoids derivative matched filtering and reduces about 2/3 of matched filters. The estimated accuracy and bit error rate (BER) performance of the LPA-based synchronization algorithm have no loss, as shown by the numerical simulation. Its stability is verified by the derived S-curve. Then, the receivers with the LPA-based synchronization for the three kinds of promising multi-h CPM are implemented on a Xilinx Kintex-7 FPGA platform. The experimental results show that the onboard tested BER of the proposed design has an ignorable loss in the numerical simulation. The implementation overhead on FPGA is significantly reduced by about 27% slices, 64% DSPs, and 70% block RAMs compared with the conventional method.

Synthesis of cross-linking chitosan-PVA composite hydrogel and adsorption of Cu(II) ions.

A cross-linked chitosan-PVA spherical hydrogel (CSH) was synthesized and its structure was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The physical and chemical properties of CSH, such as acid resistance and swelling, were determined. Finally, Cu(II) ion removal by the CSH was investigated, and the effects of experimental parameters, including pH, adsorption time, and regeneration performance were examined. Results revealed that CSH has outstanding stability in strong acid solution, thus extending the useful pH range as an adsorbent material. The maximum capacity of CSH for Cu(II) was obtained to be 62.1 mg/g at 25 °C for 24 h. The adsorption process was best described by a pseudo-second-order kinetic model, while isotherm modeling revealed that the Langmuir equation better described the adsorption of Cu(II) on CSH. Moreover, the loaded CSH can be easily regenerated by the HCl-washing method and reused repeatedly for Cu(II) adsorption for up to five cycles.

Adsorption of lead using a novel xanthated carboxymethyl chitosan.

Adsorption of Pb(II) was studied using a novel xanthated carboxymethyl chitosan (XCC). The XCC was synthesized using the xanthation reaction of N-carboxymethyl chitosan (NCMC). The chemical structure of XCC was characterized by UV-visible spectra. The effects of initial pH value of the solutions, contact time and adsorption isotherms on adsorption of Pb(II) were investigated. Moreover, the possible adsorption mechanism was identified using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The experimental results showed XCC experienced a high adsorption capacity. The adsorption isotherm followed the Langmuir model. The maximum adsorption capacity obtained from the Langmuir model was 520.8 mg/g. Thermodynamic studies revealed a spontaneous and exothermic adsorption process. FTIR and XPS studies showed that the carboxyl groups, nitrogen atoms and sulfur atoms participated in the adsorption of Pb(II).

Prediction of the pathological subtypes by intraoperative frozen section for patients with cT1N0M0 invasive lung adenocarcinoma (ECTOP-1015): a prospective multi-center study.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to assess the diagnostic accuracy of intraoperative frozen section (FS) in determining the pathological subtypes among patients diagnosed with cT1N0M0 invasive lung adenocarcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a prospective, multi-center (7 centers in China) clinical trial of Eastern Cooperative Thoracic Oncology Projects (ECTOP-1015). Patients with cT1N0M0 invasive lung adenocarcinoma were enrolled in the study. Pathological images obtained from FS and final pathology (FP) were reviewed by at least two pathologists. The primary endpoint was the concordance between FS and FP diagnoses. The inter-observer agreement for identifying pathological subtypes on FS was evaluated among three pathologists. RESULTS: A total of 935 patients were enrolled. The best sensitivity of diagnosing the predominant subtype was 78.2% in the evaluation of acinar pattern. Presence of acinar pattern diagnosed by FS was an independent factor for the concordance between FS and FP (P=0.007, 95% CI: 2.332-4.736). Patients with tumor size ＞2 cm measured by pathology showed a better concordance rate for the predominant subtype (81.6% vs 74.6%, P=0.023). The presence of radiological ground glass opacity (GGO) component did not affect the diagnosis accuracy of FS for predominant subtype (concordance rate: 76.4% vs 75.2%, P=0.687). Patients with GGO component showed better accuracy of the identification in the presence of LPA (82.1% vs 71.0%, P= 0.026). Substantial agreement between the FS diagnosis from 3 pathologists for the predominant pathological pattern was revealed with κ = 0.846. CONCLUSIONS: This is the largest prospective trial evaluating FS diagnosing pathological subtype in cT1N0M0 invasive lung adenocarcinoma. A favorable concordance in the assessment of the pathological subtypes between FS and FP was observed, indicating the feasibility of utilizing accurate intraoperative pathological diagnoses from FS in guiding surgical strategies. And combination of radiology could improve the precision of FS.

Investigation of adsorption capacity of N-carboxymethyl chitosan for Pb(II) ions.

N-carboxymethyl chitosan (NCMC) was prepared by reacting chitosan (CTS) with chloroacetic acid and characterized by (13)C-NMR spectroscopy to confirm that carboxymethylation occurred only in the amino groups. The adsorption properties of CTS, NCMC and O-carboxymethyl chitosan (OCMC) towards Pb(II) ions were evaluated and the order of the adsorption capacity was as follows: NCMC > OCMC > CTS. The effects of initial pH value (2.0-5.5) of the solutions and contact time (5-120 min) on adsorption of Pb(II) were investigated and the kinetic data were evaluated using the pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order models. Kinetics study showed that the adsorption process followed second-order kinetics rather than the first-order one. Furthermore, the experimental equilibrium data of Pb(II) on the NCMC were analyzed using the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models and the results indicated that the Langmuir model gave a better fit than the Freundlich equation and the maximum adsorption capacity obtained from the Langmuir model was 421.9 mg g(-1).

Conformationally supramolecular chirality prevails over configurational point chirality in side-chain liquid crystalline polymers.

In nature, the communication of primary amino acids in the polypeptides influences molecular-level packing, supramolecular chirality, and the resulting protein structures. In chiral side-chain liquid crystalline polymers (SCLCPs), however, the hierarchical chiral communication between supramolecular mesogens is still determined by the parent chiral source due to the intermolecular interactions. Herein, we present a novel strategy to enable the tunable chiral-to-chiral communication in azobenzene (Azo) SCLCPs, in which the chiroptical properties are not dominated by the configurational point chirality but by the conformationally supramolecular chirality that emerged. The communication of dyads biases supramolecular chirality with multiple packing preference, thereby overruling the configurational chirality of the stereocenter. The chiral communication mechanism between the side-chain mesogens is revealed through the systematic study of the chiral arrangement at the molecular level, including mesomorphic properties, stacking modes, chiroptical dynamics and further morphological dimensions.

Identification of elite fiber quality loci in upland cotton based on the genotyping-by-target-sequencing technology.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of fiber quality traits of upland cotton were conducted to identify the single-nucleotide polymorphic (SNP) loci associated with cotton fiber quality, which lays the foundation for the mining of elite] cotton fiber gene resources and its application in molecular breeding. A total of 612 upland cotton accessions were genotyped using the ZJU Cotton Chip No. 1 40K chip array via the liquid-phase probe hybridization-based genotyping-by-target-sequencing (GBTS) technology. In the present study, five fiber quality traits, namely fiber length, fiber strength, micronaire, uniformity and elongation, showed different degrees of variation in different environments. The average coefficient of variation of fiber strength was the greatest, whereas the average coefficient of variation of uniformity was the least. Significant or extremely significant correlations existed among the five fiber quality traits, especially fiber length, strength, uniformity and elongation all being significantly negative correlated with micronaire. Population cluster analysis divided the 612 accessions into four groups: 73 assigned to group I, 226 to group II, 220 to group III and 93 to group IV. Genome-wide association studies of five fiber quality traits in five environments was performed and a total of 42 SNP loci associated with target traits was detected, distributed on 19 chromosomes, with eight loci associated with fiber length, five loci associated with fiber strength, four loci associated with micronaire, twelve loci associated with fiber uniformity and thirteen loci associated with fiber elongation. Of them, seven loci were detected in more than two environments. Nine SNP loci related to fiber length, fiber strength, uniformity and elongation were found on chromosome A07, seven loci related to fiber length, fiber strength, micronaire and elongation were detected on chromosome D01, and five loci associated with fiber length, uniformity and micronaire were detected on chromosome D11. The results from this study could provide more precise molecular markers and genetic resources for cotton breeding for better fiber quality in the future.

miR-33a-5p inhibits the progression of esophageal cancer through the DKK1-mediated Wnt/ß-catenin pathway.

Esophageal cancer (EC) is one of the most lethal malignancies in humans, and multiple miRNAs have been identified to modulate EC progression by targeting different targets. However, the effect and related mechanism of microRNA-33a-5p (miR-33a-5p) on EC development remain elusive. In this study, we explored the clinical value, function, and possible mechanism of miR-33a-5p in EC. We uncovered that miR-33a-5p and DKK1 are involved in the progression of EC. Significantly, the expression levels of miR-33a-5p were reduced and DKK1 levels were elevated in serum and tissues of clinical EC samples and in EC cell lines. The downregulation of miR-33a-5p and DKK1 upregulation were related to high TNM staging and poor differentiation of patients. The area under the curves (AUCs) of miR-33a-5p and DKK1 for the occurrence of EC were 0.914 and 0.900, respectively. Down-regulation of miR-33a-5p or overexpression of DKK1 indicated a worse prognosis. The miR-33a-5p overexpression or DKK1 depletion induced apoptosis and repressed proliferation, migration, and invasion of EC cells. The repression of miR-33a-5p by inhibitor or DKK1 overexpression presented the conversed effects on EC cells. Mechanically, miR-33a-5p suppressed DKK1 expression, and miR-33a-5p targeted DKK1 to affect the biological behavior of EC through the Wnt/ß-catenin pathway. Meanwhile, miR-33a-5p inhibited the tumor growth of EC in vivo. Thus, we concluded that miR-33a-5p inhibited the progression of EC through the DKK1-mediated Wnt/ß-catenin pathway. MiR-33a-5p and DKK1 can be used as potential therapeutic targets of EC.

Protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis of Kang-ai injection for patients with oesophageal cancer.

BACKGROUND: Oesophageal cancer (OC) is the sixth leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Despite the improvement of therapeutic methods in recent years, the prognosis of OC remains unsatisfactory. Kang-ai injection, a kind of traditional Chinese herbal medicine, has been widely applied as a promising adjunctive drug for OC. In this study, we aimed to summarize the efficacy and safety of Kang-ai injection for patients with advanced OC through the meta-analysis, in order to provide scientific reference for the design of future clinical trials. METHODS: Relevant randomized controlled trials and high-quality prospective cohort studies were searched from PubMed, Web of Science, Medline, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, Excerpt Medica Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, China Scientific Journal Database and Wanfang Database. Papers in English or Chinese published from their inception to August 2020 will be included without any restrictions.Study selection and data extraction will be performed independently by 2 investigators. The clinical outcomes including overall response rate, disease control rate, overall survival, disease-free survival, quality of life, immune function and adverse events, were systematically evaluated. Stata 14.0 and Review Manager 5.3 were used for data synthesis, subgroup analysis, sensitivity analysis, meta regression, and risk of bias assessment. RESULTS: The results of this study will be published in a peer-reviewed journal, or presented the findings at a relevant conference. CONCLUSION: Our study will draw an objective conclusion of the effects of Kang-ai injection combined with conventional treatment for advanced OC and provide a helpful evidence for clinicians to formulate the best postoperative adjuvant treatment strategy for OC patients. INPLASY REGISTRATION NUMBER: INPLASY202080019.

Using three overlapped RILs to dissect genetically clustered QTL for fiber strength on Chro.D8 in Upland cotton.

Fiber strength is an important trait among cotton fiber qualities due to ongoing changes in spinning technology. Major quantitative trait loci (QTL) for fiber quality enable molecular marker-assisted selection (MAS) to effectively improve fiber quality of cotton cultivars. We previously identified a major QTL for fiber strength derived from 7235 in Upland cotton. In the present study, in order to fine-map fiber strength QTL, we chose three recombinant inbred lines (RIL), 7TR-133, 7TR-132, and 7TR-214, developed from a cross between 7235 and TM-1 for backcrossing to TM-1 to develop three large mapping populations. Phenotypic data for fiber strength traits were collected in Nanjing (JES/NAU) and Xinjiang (BES/XJ) in 2006 and 2007. Three simple sequence repeat (SSR) genetic linkage maps on Chro.24(D8) were constructed using these three backcrossed populations. The SSR genetic maps were constructed using 907 individuals in (7TR-133 x TM-1)F(2) (Pop A), 670 in (7TR-132 x TM-1)F(2) (Pop B), and 940 in (7TR-214 x TM-1)F(2) (Pop C). The average distance between SSR loci was 0.62, 1.7, and 0.56 cM for the three maps. MapQTL 5 software detected five-clustered QTL (2.5 < LOD < 29.8) on Chro.D8 for fiber strength following analysis of three RIL backcrossed F(2)/F(2:3) progenies at JES/NAU and BES/XJ over 2 years. Five QTL for fiber strength exhibited a total phenotypic variance (PV) of 28.8-59.6%.