We perform a detailed phase-space analysis of various phantom cosmological models, where the dark energy sector interacts with the dark matter one. We examine whether there exist late-time scaling attractors, corresponding to an accelerating universe and possessing dark energy and dark matter densities of the same order. We find that all the examined models, although accepting stable late-time accelerated solutions, cannot alleviate the coincidence problem, unless one imposes a form of fine-tuning in the model parameters. It seems that interacting phantom cosmology cannot fulfill the basic requirement that led to its construction.

Actinobacteria are known for their metabolic potential of producing diverse secondary metabolites such as antibiotics. Actinobacteria also playimportant roles in biogeochemical cycling and how soils develop. However, little is known about the effect of the vegetation type on the actinobacterial community structures in soils from arid regions. For these reasons, we have analyzed the actinobacterial communities of five types of ecosystem (tree grove, shrub, meadow, desert, and farm) in the Heihe river basin. Using 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing, we found 11 classes of Actinobacteria, with dominant classes of Actinobacteria (36.2%), Thermoleophilia (28.3%), Acidimicrobiia (19.4%). Five classes, 15 orders, 20 families and 36 genera were present in all samples. The dominant generalist genera were Gaiella, Solirubrobacter, Nocardioides, Mycobacterium, and Pseudonocardia. The actinobacterial community structures were significantly affected by the environment and vegetation type. The diversity of the actinobacterial community in the desert ecosystem was high, and this ecosystem harbored the highest proportion of unclassified sequences, representing rare Actinobacteria. Functional metagenomic prediction, using PICRUSt, indicated that Actinobacteria play an important role in nitrogen cycling in both desert and cultivated farm ecosystems.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the potential influence of Foxp3 polymorphism on preeclampsia (PE) susceptibility, we conducted a case-control study in Han Chinese women.Methods Foxp3 genotyping was determined by polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) in 156 PE patients and 252 age-frequency matched controls. Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the expression of Foxp3 specific transcription factor in 30 PE and 30 normal pregnant women.ResultsThe positive rate of Foxp3 expression in PE (26.67%) was significant difference from that in normal control (63.33%, P<0.05). The frequency of Foxp3-6054 TT genotype was significantly lower in PE patient than that in control. No significant difference was found in Foxp3-3279 genotypes between PE and control, as well as for the variant allele. The frequency of Foxp3-6054A/−3279C haplotype in PE was significantly higher than that in control (P<0.01), while the frequency of Foxp3 6054T/−3279C haplotype was significantly lower in PE patient than that in control (P<0.01).ConclusionOur findings suggest that the immune suppression function in PE patients is weakened, which may result in the occurrence of PE. Foxp3 polymorphism (rs5902434) may be a potential contributor for the development of PE in Han Chinese women.

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Ceramic thermocouples are being developed to replace noblemetal thermocouples that are unable to withstand the harsh environments inside the hot sections of turbine engines used for power generation and propulsion. A number of alloys in the system indium oxide (In 2 O 3 ):tin oxide (SnO 2 ) were systematically investigated as thermocouples. Specifically, solid solutions containing up to 10 wt% SnO 2 were initially tested relative to a platinum reference electrode and the resulting thermoelectric properties were measured. The results indicated that the thermoelectric response was dependent on the SnO 2 content in the alloy. Seebeck coefficients ranged from 53 to 224 lV/1C at temperatures up to 13001C, which are considerably larger than those generated from metal thermocouples. Bi-ceramic thermocouples based on selected solid solutions of indium tin oxide (ITO) exhibited high temperature stability and Seebeck coefficient on the order of 160 lV/1C. Postdeposition treatments had a significant effect on the stability of the ceramic thermocouples. Hightemperature annealing improved the film uniformity, stability, and reproducibility of the ITO thin-film thermocouples. A bi-ceramic thermocouple consisting of In 2 O 3 and In 2 O 3 :SnO 2 (95:5 wt%) was the best-performing thermocouple of all compositions studied.

In this paper, we study the target controllability problem of networked dynamical systems, in which we are tasked to steer a subset of network states towards a desired objective. More specifically, we derive necessary and sufficient conditions for the structural target controllability problem of linear time-invariant (LTI) systems with symmetric state matrices, such as undirected dynamical networks with unknown link weights. To achieve our goal, we first characterize the generic rank of symmetrically structured matrices, as well as the modes of any numerical realization. Subsequently, we provide a graph-theoretic necessary and sufficient condition for the structural controllability of undirected networks with multiple control nodes, for which there are no previous results in the literature. Finally, we derive a graph-theoretic necessary and sufficient condition for structural target controllability of undirected networks. Remarkably, apart from the standard reachability condition, only local topological information is needed for the verification of structural target controllability. arXiv:1809.06773v2 [math.OC]

Objectives/Hypothesis To investigate the simultaneous application of cartilage tympanoplasty combined with eustachian tube (ET) balloon dilatation in the treatment of adhesive otitis media (AdOM). Study Design Multicenter, prospective, double‐blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial. Methods Patients with AdOM were randomly divided into four groups: control group (conservative treatment), ET balloon dilatation (ETBD) group, cartilage tympanoplasty (CT) group, and cartilage tympanoplasty combined with ET balloon dilatation (ETBD+CT) group. Patients were followed up at 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years after treatment, receiving otoendoscopy and pure‐tone audiometry, and were evaluated using the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI), visual analogue scale (VAS) for the symptom of ear stuffiness, Chronic Otitis Media Outcome Test (COMOT‐15), and eustachian tube scores (ETS). Results There was no improvement in tympanic membrane (TM) morphology and mean pure‐tone air‐bone gap (ABG) after treatment in the control and ETBD groups. The postoperative TM morphology was improved in the CT group and ETBD+CT group, although retraction pockets reoccurred in two cases of CT group. Reduced ABG and improvements in ETS, THI, VAS, and COMOT‐15 were all achieved in these two groups, but the difference was not statistically significant. Conclusions Cartilage tympanoplasty combined with ET balloon dilatation could be used as an appropriate surgical technique for AdOM, which could relieve the symptoms of tinnitus and ear stuffiness, and improve postoperative TM morphology, hearing level, ET functions, and quality of life, with low incidence of complications. Level of Evidence 2 Laryngoscope, 129:1462–1467, 2019

Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells (TREM) has been broadly studied in inflammatory disease. However, the expression and function of TREM-2 remain undiscovered in acquired cholesteatoma. The expression of TREM-2 was significantly higher in human acquired cholesteatoma than in normal skin from the external auditory canal, and its expression level was positively correlated with the severity of bone destruction. Furthermore, TREM-2 was mainly expressed on dendritic cells (DCs). In human acquired cholesteatoma, the expression of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, TNF-α and IL-6) and matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-2, MMP-8 and MMP-9) were up-regulated, and their expression levels were positively correlated with TREM-2 expression. Osteoclasts were activated in human acquired cholesteatoma. In an animal model, TREM-2 was up-regulated in mice with experimentally acquired cholesteatoma. TREM-2 deficiency impaired the maturation of experimentally acquired cholesteatoma and protected against bone destruction induced by experimentally acquired cholesteatoma. Additional data showed that TREM-2 up-regulated IL-1β and IL-6 expression via TLR4 instead of the TLR2 signaling pathway and promoted MMP-2 and MMP-8 secretion and osteoclast activation in experimentally acquired cholesteatoma. Therefore, TREM-2 might enhance acquired cholesteatoma-induced bone destruction by amplifying the inflammatory response via TLR4 signaling pathways and promoting MMP secretion and osteoclast activation.