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Rectus abdominis diastasis (RAD) is a key factor in the rehabilitation of postpartum women. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of Kinesio Taping (KT) in RAD treatment and abdominal changes. The medical records of women with RAD who received KT treatment at the hospital were reviewed. A total of 138 women were included and their demographic characteristics were reviewed, including data before and after RAD treatment, abdominal circumference at the umbilicus and both above and below the umbilicus, as well as the distance from the xiphoid to the umbilicus, distance from the umbilicus to the pubic symphysis. The width of RAD decreased from 4.58 ± 1.74 cm to 2.33 ± 0.90 cm after KT treatment (t = P < 0.001) compared to before treatment. After treatment, the proportions of women with normal, mild, moderate, and severe RAD were 28.1%, 44.6%, 26.6%, and 0.7%, respectively, showing statistical significance (P < 0.001). A statistically significant difference was observed in the abdominal circumference reduction at the umbilicus and above and below the umbilicus before and after KT treatment. However, no statistically significant difference was noted in terms of the changes in the distance from the umbilicus to the pubic symphysis. A statistically significant difference was observed before treatment in abdominal circumference below the umbilicus between the cured and non-cured groups. Preliminary analysis results showed a positive effect of Kinesio Taping treatment in promoting rectus abdominis diastasis recovery and improving abdominal circumference. Furthermore, rectus abdominis diastasis was positively correlated with lower abdominal circumference and anterior abdominal injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Esketamine (ESK), a noncompetitive antagonist of N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA) receptors, modulates neurotransmitter signaling in the central nervous system. However, the specific mechanisms and therapeutic potential of ESK for intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate whether ESK promotes nerve repair and improves neurological outcomes in an experimental model of ICH. Methods: ICH was induced in mice via collagenase injection into the striatum. Body weight, neurological impairment, and behavioral changes were assessed. ESK administration significantly improved several indicators of ICH. Comprehensive RNA transcriptome sequencing and network pharmacology analyses identified neurotrophin‐3 (NTF3) and the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway as targets for ESK treatment. Western blotting and immunofluorescence detected the protein expression levels and cellular localization of NTF3. Results: After 28 days of adeno‐associated virus infection in the mouse striatum, ESK treatment significantly enhanced neuroprotection, indicating the crucial role of NTF3 in ESK‐mediated neuroprotection in ICH mice. Inhibition of the PI3K/AKT pathway using the PI3K‐specific inhibitor LY294002 significantly attenuated the therapeutic effects of ESK, suggesting that this pathway is involved in ESK‐mediated neurorepair in ICH mice. Conclusions: ESK treatment significantly improved functional outcomes and demonstrated neuroprotective effects in animal models of ICH. NTF3/PI3K/AKT pathway activation by ESK indicates its therapeutic potential in the treatment of ICH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous researches of tobacco use disorder (TUD) has overlooked the hierarchy of cortical functions and single modality design separated the relationship between macroscopic neuroimaging aberrance and microscopic molecular basis. At present, intrinsic timescale gradient of TUD and its molecular features are not fully understood. Our study recruited 146 male subjects, including 44 heavy smokers, 50 light smokers and 52 non-smokers, then obtained their rs-fMRI data and clinical scales related to smoking. Intrinsic neural timescale (INT) method was performed to describe how long neural information was stored in a brain region by calculating the autocorrelation function (ACF) of each voxel to examine the difference in the ability of information integration among the three groups. Then, correlation analyses were conducted to explore the relationship between INT abnormalities and clinical scales of smokers. Finally, cross-modal JuSpace toolbox was used to investigate the association between INT aberrance and the expression of specific receptor/transporters. Compared to healthy controls, TUD subjects displayed decreased INT in control network (CN), default mode network (DMN), sensorimotor areas and visual cortex, and such trend of decreasing INT was more pronounced in heavy smokers. Moreover, various neurotransmitters (including dopaminergic, acetylcholine and μ-opioid receptors) were involved in the molecular mechanism of timescale decreasing and differed in heavy and light smokers. These findings supplied novel insights into the brain functional aberrance in TUD from an intrinsic neural dynamic perspective and confirm INT was a potential neurobiological marker. And also established the connection between macroscopic imaging aberrance and microscopic molecular changes in TUD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural gas is considered a transitional energy source in the transition to clean energy owing to its clean, efficient, and ecologically beneficial properties. The trade of liquefied natural gas (LNG) serves as the backbone of the global natural gas trade and significantly influences the dynamics of the global energy trade system. This paper constructs long-term global LNG trade networks, and explores the spatiotemporal evolution and topological structures of the international LNG trade by utilizing multilevel network analysis methods, to provide insights for comprehensively understanding the market dynamics of the global LNG trade system. The findings indicate the following: (1) The global LNG trade volume shows an overall upward trend, and the global LNG trade network exhibits uneven spatial distribution, clear hierarchical differentiation, and an increasingly complicated structure. Global LNG trade is gradually changing from regionalization to globalization, and the international LNG market is undergoing structural reshaping. (2) The global LNG trade network continues to expand in size and density, and the rapidly growing LNG supply and trade relations are driving the formation of the global natural gas market. (3) Global LNG trade is still in a phase of rapid change, with the global efficiency of the network increasing and then decreasing. The trade network has traditionally been centered on ten countries, including Japan, South Korea, the United States, and Qatar. (4) The global LNG trade network exhibits clear core-periphery structures with considerable polarization effects, and the trade network structure is continuously evolving and is growing unbalanced. Finally, we put forward relevant policy suggestions to promote global LNG trade interconnectivity and enhance environmental protection and respond to global climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing intervisibility analysis methods suffer from computational inefficiency due to redundant sampling points. To address this issue, we propose a new approximate method called line-of-sight (LoS) zoning, which leverages continuous terrain relief to identify potentially obscuring zones (POZ) of LoS. By limiting the sampling range to a much smaller POZ, the number of sampling points is significantly reduced. The optimal sampling interval of 6 is determined by striking a balance between computational efficiency and accuracy. Through experiments in both mountainous and plain areas, regardless of the height range and resolution conditions, we demonstrate the high efficiency of the LoS zoning method, especially in scenarios with a high proportion of visible LoS. To account for potential visibility errors caused by sharp peaks in the terrain, we conducted experiments under fixed time intervals to assess the calculation quality of different methods. The results show that in mountainous and plain areas, the improvement in detection rate compared to the hopping strategy method is around 4–6 times in most scenarios. This significant performance enhancement highlights the superiority of the LoS zoning method, and shows great promise in terrain avoidance, path planning in the military, and detection of dangerous targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Studies have revealed that intrinsic neural activity varies over time. However, the temporal variability of brain local connectivity in internet gaming disorder (IGD) remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to explore the alterations of static and dynamic intrinsic brain local connectivity in IGD and whether the changes were associated with clinical characteristics of IGD. Methods: Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) scans were performed on 36 individuals with IGD (IGDs) and 44 healthy controls (HCs) matched for age, gender and years of education. The static regional homogeneity (sReHo) and dynamic ReHo (dReHo) were calculated and compared between two groups to detect the alterations of intrinsic brain local connectivity in IGD. The Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were used to evaluate the severity of online gaming addiction and sleep quality, respectively. Pearson correlation analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between brain regions with altered sReHo and dReHo and IAT and PSQI scores. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to reveal the potential capacity of the sReHo and dReHo metrics to distinguish IGDs from HCs. Results: Compared with HCs, IGDs showed both increased static and dynamic intrinsic local connectivity in bilateral medial superior frontal gyrus (mSFG), superior frontal gyrus (SFG), and supplementary motor area (SMA). Increased dReHo in the left putamen, pallidum, caudate nucleus and bilateral thalamus were also observed. ROC curve analysis showed that the brain regions with altered sReHo and dReHo could distinguish individuals with IGD from HCs. Moreover, the sReHo values in the left mSFG and SMA as well as dReHo values in the left SMA were positively correlated with IAT scores. The dReHo values in the left caudate nucleus were negatively correlated with PSQI scores. Conclusions: These results showed impaired intrinsic local connectivity in frontostriatothalamic circuitry in individuals with IGD, which may provide new insights into the underlying neuropathological mechanisms of IGD. Besides, dynamic changes of intrinsic local connectivity in caudate nucleus may be a potential neurobiological marker linking IGD and sleep quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individual neurobiological heterogeneity among patients with tobacco use disorder (TUD) hampers the identification of neuroimaging phenotypes. The current study recruited 122 TUD individuals and 57 healthy controls, and obtained their 3D-T1 images. Heterogeneity through discriminative analysis (HYDRA) was applied to uncover the potential subtype of TUD where regional gray matter volume (GMV) was treated as the feature. Then we examined the clinical, neuroimaging and molecular characteristics of subtypes. Two distinct neuroanatomical subtypes were found. In subtype 1, TUD individuals showed decreased GMV in right orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), while subtype 2 exhibited distributed pattern of widely GMV increase. Moreover, subtype 1 showed older initial smoking age, longer duration of smoking than Subtype 2. Persistent smoking behavior in subtype 1 is more likely caused by substance dependence/addiction rather than psychosocial factors. GMV correlated negatively with cumulative tobacco exposure in Subtype 1 but not in Subtype 2. Besides, neuroanatomical aberrance in subtype 1 was mainly associated with dopamine system, while neuroanatomical abnormalities in subtype 2 were primarily associated with GABAa. Overall, our results revealed two opposite neuroanatomical subtypes of TUD, which largely overlapped with their clinical and molecular features respectively. TUD subtypes taxonomy based on objective anatomy could help to facilitate the development of individualized treatment for TUD. • HYDRA method was used to identify objective neuroanatomical subtype of tobacco use disorder (TUD). • Subtype 1 of TUD displayed atrophic gray matter volume (GMV) in orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). • Subtype 2 of TUD exhibited widely GMV increased in cortical and some subcortical areas. • The two neuroanatomical subtypes of TUD largely overlapped with their clinical and molecular features respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high separation of crude oil supply and demand markets has led to the formation of a global crude oil trading system. This paper constructs global crude oil trade networks, integrates macro, meso, and micro network analysis methods, combines geospatial visualization techniques, and then portrays the spatiotemporal patterns and topological evolution of the global crude oil trade networks. Thus, it attempts to dig deeper into the world crude oil competition and cooperation links and evolution laws and provides a scientific reference for a comprehensive understanding of the global crude oil market dynamics. The results show that: (1) After three fluctuations of increase and decrease since 2000, the global crude oil trade volume is entering the adjustment period, and the scale of the crude oil market is rising slowly. (2) The international crude oil trade has formed trade network patterns with complex structures, clear hierarchy and unbalanced distribution. The "rich club" phenomenon is significant, with large trading countries dominating the trade network. (3) The scale and density of the global crude oil trade network show a trend of increasing and then decreasing, the network agglomeration pattern becoming more obvious, the inter-nodal links continuously strengthening, and the network connectivity improving. (4) The global crude oil trade networks are characterized by core–periphery structures, and the polarization effect is significant. The US, Russia, China, Japan, the Netherlands, and South Korea hold the core positions in the crude oil trade network, and the major importing countries have become the dominant forces in the trade network. In addition, we present policy suggestions for different types of countries for energy transformation and security in the global trade market system, which can be used as a reference for policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We isolated 20 SARS-CoV-2 strains from positive clinical samples collected in Columbus, Ohio, and investigated the replication of one pair of isolates: a clade 20G strain and a variant of this strain carrying a Q677H mutation in the spike protein and six other amino acid mutations. The OSU.20G variant replicated to a higher peak infectious titer than the 20G base strain in Vero-E6 cells, but the titers were similar when both strains were grown in Calu-3 cells. These results suggest that the OSU.20G variant has increased replication fitness compared to the 20G base strain. This may have contributed to its emergence in December 2020‐January 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrate the transmission of ultrasound in air using a device that resembles a MEMS microphone in its construction. The device has a 1 mm diameter diaphragm and uses a perforated backplate for electrostatic actuation. The device is driven with large amplitude AC signals, with peak values that exceed the pull-in voltage of the diaphragm. In doing so, relatively large diaphragm displacements are achieved, as the diaphragm oscillations traverse the complete diaphragm-backplate gap. Large amplitude diaphragm vibration is advantageous for high SPL applications in air, as sound pressure is directly proportional to diaphragm displacement for a given operating frequency. Transient diaphragm displacement waveforms are measured in response to tone-burst waveforms ranging in frequency from 4 kHz to 97 kHz. Resultant acoustic pressure waveforms in air are made using a broadband microphone. [2022-0082] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate clinicopathological features and survival outcomes of unilocular cystic renal cell carcinoma (ucRCC) compared with purely solid renal cell carcinoma (sRCC), and to evaluate the oncologic aggressiveness of ucRCC. The relevant data of 957 patients with sporadic unilateral renal cell carcinoma (RCC) underwent surgical treatment in 2 institutions from Jan 2014 to Oct 2018 were obtained. We excluded multilocular cystic renal neoplasm of low malignant potential (MCRNLMP), RCC with multilocular cysts and necrotic RCC. 74 ucRCCs were identified by pathology reports. We performed propensity score matching (PSM) and eventually selected 144 sRCCs. The clinicopathological features and survival outcomes were compared properly. After PSM, age, BMI, Charlson Comorbidity Index, and postoperative Chronic Kidney Disease grade were not significantly different. Both overall survival and progression-free survival of ucRCC were significantly better than sRCC by the log-rank test. Twenty-five cases of sRCCs were in the pT3 or pT4 stage, while no pT3 or pT4 tumors were found in ucRCCs. Fuhrman grade and lymphatic metastasis were found to be significant prognostic factors for the overall survival of ucRCC. Unilocular cystic RCC has a lower Fuhrman grade and pathological stage and a better prognosis compared with solid RCC. Patients with ucRCC still probably have lymphatic metastasis at surgery and may have postoperative metastasis, which is different from MCRNLMP. We recommend that the diagnosis of ucRCC should be reflected in pathology report. Different subtype of cystic RCC should be taken into consideration in counseling and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED), causing up to 100% mortality in neonatal pigs, is a highly contagious enteric disease caused by PED virus (PEDV). The highly virulent genogroup 2 (G2) PEDV emerged in 2010 and has caused huge economic losses to the pork industry globally. It was first reported in the US in 2013, caused country-wide outbreaks, and posed tremendous hardship for many pork producers in 2013–2014. Vaccination of pregnant sows/gilts with live attenuated vaccines (LAVs) is the most effective strategy to induce lactogenic immunity in the sows/gilts and provide a passive protection via the colostrum and milk to suckling piglets against PED. However, there are still no safe and effective vaccines available after about one decade of endeavor. One of the biggest concerns is the potential reversion to virulence of an LAV in the field. In this review, we summarize the status and the major obstacles in PEDV LAV development. We also discuss the function of the transcriptional regulatory sequences in PEDV transcription, contributing to recombination, and possible strategies to prevent the reversion of LAVs. This article provides insights into the rational design of a promising LAV without safety issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, numerous studies have indicated that individuals with internet gaming disorder (IGDs) have aberrant functional connection patterns between multiple brain regions and networks. However, temporal variability in the intra- and interhemispheric dynamic functional connectivity in IGDs remains unknown. This study investigated resting-state functional magnetic resonance data from 55 IGDs and 50 demographically matched healthy controls (HCs). Functional connectivity density (FCD) combined with sliding window analysis is employed to calculate the temporal variability of global functional connectivity. The temporal variability of dynamic functional connectivity further quantified utilizing the standard deviations of global, intra-, and interhemispheric FCD. Finally, correlation analyses were performed between dynamic FCD varience (dFCD) in differential brain regions and clinical behaviors. IGDs showed decreased intra- and interhemispheric dFCD variance in the visual attention network (precuneus and calcarine) and also demonstrated hemispheric-level dFCD variance abnormalities in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) compared to HCs. Moreover, abnormal global dFCD variability of the calcarine and ipsilateral dFCD variability of the PCC were negatively correlated with the severity of IGDs in the IGD group. Our results demonstrate abberant intra- and interhemispheric dynamic functional connectivity in the visual attention network, which emphasizes the neurobiological basis for impaired concentration in IGDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Coronavirus (CoV) nonstructural protein 14 (nsp14) has exoribonuclease (ExoN) activity, responsible for proofreading and contributing to replication fidelity. It has been reported that CoVs exhibit variable sensitivity to nsp14-ExoN deficiency. Betacoronavirus murine hepatitis virus (MHV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV were viable upon nsp14-ExoN deficiency. While betacoronavirus Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 were non-viable with disabled nsp14-ExoN. In this study, we investigated the nsp14-ExoN deficiency of alphacoronavirus porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) in viral pathogenesis using reverse genetics. Results: Eight nsp14-ExoN deficient mutants, targeting the predicted active sites and the Zinc finger or mental-coordinating sites, of PEDV were designed. Only one mutant E191A with a mutation in the Mg2+-binding site was rescued using the infectious clone of PEDV PC22A strain (icPC22A). The passage no.1–3 (P1-3) of E191A grew to very low titers in Vero cells. To evaluate the pathogenesis of the E191A, 4 or 5-day-old gnotobiotic pigs were inoculated orally with 100 TCID50/pig of the E191A-P1, icPC22A, or mock. All mock pigs did not shed virus in feces or show clinical signs. All pigs inoculated with icPC22A shed high viral RNA levels, had severe diarrhea, and died by 6 days post-inoculation (dpi). In contrast, only 3 pigs (3/4, 75%) in the E191A-P1 group shed low levels of viral RNA and 2 pigs had moderate diarrhea at acute infection phase. At 22 dpi, each pig was challenged orally with 106 plaque forming unit of virulent icPC22A. All pigs in the mock group developed severe diarrhea and 2 of the 5 pigs died. Pigs in the E191A-P1 group had less severe diarrhea and no pigs died. Sanger sequencing analysis revealed that the viral genome in the fecal sample of one E191A-P1-inoculated pig and the P4 virus passaged in vitro lost the E191A mutation, suggesting the genetic instability of the E191A mutant. Conclusion: The recombinant PEDV variants carrying mutations at the essential functional sites within nsp14-ExoN were either lethal or genetically unstable. Our finding further confirmed the critical role of nsp14-ExoN in CoV life cycle, suggesting that it may be a target for the design of universal anti-CoV drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Promoting lattice oxygen mobility of Co-based catalysts is crucial to making progress in catalytic oxidation technology. The addition of manganese, a transition metal with similar ionic radius to cobalt and variable valence, was supposed to enhance the mobility of lattice oxygen species of Co-based oxide. A range of hollow CoMn a O x sub-nanosphere catalysts with different Mn/Co ratios was synthesized via a template-sacrificed method, and the effects of different Mn/Co ratios on the structural properties of the catalysts and their catalytic performance for benzene series volatile organic compounds (VOCs) oxidation were investigated. Hollow CoMn 2 O x sub-nanosphere exhibited good catalytic activity for oxidation of toluene (T 90 = 265 °C) and o-xylene (T 90 = 297 °C), as well as excellent recycling ability and water resistance. By adjusting the Mn/Co ratio, metal ions enter into the different tetrahedral or octahedral active sites. Compared with Co 3 O 4 , the desorption temperature of surface lattice oxygen on CoMn 2 O x decreased by 110 °C. These results demonstrate that the addition of manganese can encourage the electron transfer on CoMn a O x , indicating that the introduction of the appropriate amount of manganese accelerates the activation of gas O 2 and mobility of surface lattice oxygen species, thereby expediting the oxidation of benzene series VOCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Avian orthoreovirus (ARV) has been considered as a significant pathogen causing great infectious diseases to the avian, like broiler and waterfowl. The genome of this novel ARV(Reo/SDPY/Goose) was completely sequenced by next-generation sequencing. The complete genome was found to be 23517 bp in length with 10 segments. Although the Reo/SDPY/Goose was isolated from the gosling, it shares great similarity, no matter which segment within the genome, with those published as avian-origin reovirus. Genomic analysis revealed that this virus was distinct from published ARV strains and met criteria to become a novel ARV strain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2017, an emerging disease outbreak with high mortality in goslings occurred in China. A novel goose astrovirus was isolated and identified as the causative agent of this disease. Genomic analysis revealed that this virus strain was significantly distinct from published astrovirus strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "Belt and Road" Initiative (BRI) is a new platform for international economic cooperation with far-reaching implications for restructuring the global energy trading system. This paper constructs the BRI energy trade networks and investigates the evolution of hierarchical structures, core–periphery, and backbone structures of the BRI energy trade networks at long time scales by integrating a flexible methodological framework. The results show that: (1) The BRI energy trade has formed closely linked, complex, and uneven energy trade networks, with spatially variable trade volume and noticeable hierarchical structural features. (2) China, Russia, India, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia are the top five countries with the highest centrality degrees, while the rankings of other countries have varied. (3) The BRI energy trade networks exhibit significant core–periphery structures and some nodal countries are in the absolute cores of the network. (4) Backbone structures of the BRI energy trade networks continue to grow in both numbers and weights, forming backbone networks between major energy-exporting countries and major energy-demanding countries. Therefore, the BRI should strengthen the policy implementation and institutional arrangements at different levels to promote the BRI energy trade system, ensure global energy security, and strengthen energy interconnectivity. • The BRI energy trade networks are constructed considering the stratified heterogeneity of different energy modalities • A flexible methodological framework is established to comprehensively investigate the BRI energy trade networks • The hierarchical, core–periphery, and backbone structures of the BRI energy trade networks are identified • The energy cooperation and development strategies for the energy security of the BRI countries are proposed [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Preparation of Cu x Mg 3 AlO y mixed-metal oxides derived from CuMgAl-LDHs. • High activity of furfural to furfuryl alcohol over Cu x Mg 3 AlO y without H 2 pre-treatment. • Surface CuO x species can be reduced in situ to Cu0 species during the reaction. • Cu0 and Cu+ contribute to H 2 activation and adsorption of furfural, respectively. • Synergistic effect of surface Cu0 and Cu+ species on promoting hydrogenation reaction. In the selective hydrogenation of furfural (FAL) to furfuryl alcohol (FOL), it is important to develop a simple and cheap non-precious metal catalyst to replace the precious metal catalyst. Therefore, Cu x Mg 3 AlO y (x = 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 0.9, 1.1) composite metal oxide catalysts were prepared by CuMgAl-LDHs as precursor for the selective hydrogenation of FAL to FOL. In this series of catalysts, Cu 0.9 Mg 3 AlO y has the best catalytic activity, with 99% FAL conversion and 98.4% selectivity under the mild reaction conditions of 1.6 MPa H 2 pressure, 1.5 h and 120 ℃, and good reusability. XRD, TEM, H 2 -TPR, CO 2 -TPD, XPS and in-situ DRIFTS characterization were used to investigate the activate species for hydrogenation reaction. It can be proved that Cu2+ and Cu+ on the surface of Cu x Mg 3 AlO y can be partially reduced to the Cu0 species in-situ during the reaction, promoting the hydrogenation of FAL. Various studies confirm that Cu0 is mainly responsible for the activation and dissociation of H 2 , and both Cu0 and Cu+ are used to adsorb the carbonyl group in FAL to improve the selectivity of FOL. Moreover, the appropriate amount of the Cu0 and Cu+ species plays an important role in selective hydrogenation of FAL to FOL through their synergy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death and familial lung cancer is a potential contributing factor. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations are important events in carcinogenesis. The present study summarized the common germline mutations of EGFR, including T790M, V843I, R776H and P848L, and provided detailed information regarding each mutation site and potential treatment strategies. Individuals with germline mutations may develop lung cancer upon exposure to environmental stimuli such as smoking, air pollution or radiological contamination, or due to the occurrence of another somatic mutation. The present study recommends regular physical examinations as well as population-wide germline mutation screening for early detection and diagnosis of lung cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The newly emerged disease, duck beak atrophy and dwarfism syndrome (BADS), is caused by novel goose parovirus (N-GPV). Although N-GPV infection has severe consequences, few methods for detecting this virus have been developed. Therefore, the availability of rapid and reliable molecular diagnostic methods would aid future studies of this novel virus. Clinical specimens from 138 suspected cases of N-GPV infection and 120 cloacal swabs from breeding ducks were used in this study. The targeted sequence of N-GPV cloned into the pMD18-T vector was used to generate the N-GPV DNA standard curve. The specificity of the assay was validated using duck plague virus, GPV, duck hepatitis virus, avian influenza virus, duck reovirus, tembusu virus, and fowl adenovirus. The lowest limit of detection was 8.8 × 10 1 copies/μL with a good linear standard curve (Y = −3.3682X + 37.220, R 2 = 0.9953) over a wide range of input DNA, of which the concentration was between 8.8 × 10 1 to 8.8 × 10 8 copies/μL. The results show that the real-time PCR assay is a highly sensitive, specific, reproducible, and versatile method for quantitatively detecting N-GPV DNA, and thus can be used to detect this virus, thereby facilitating epidemiological investigations of animals with BADS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The La 1.6 Ba 0.4 NiO 4 -x%BaO (x = 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30) catalysts were prepared by heating the mixture of Ba(NO 3 ) 2 and La 1.6 Ba 0.4 NiO 4 in situ, and their catalytic performances were evaluated for NO direct decomposition. The results showed that the activities of the La 1.6 Ba 0.4 NiO 4 -x%BaO catalysts had been improved with the increasing of BaO amount. Among these catalysts, the La 1.6 Ba 0.4 NiO 4 -20%BaO exhibited the best catalytic performance for NO direct decomposition, and the yield of N 2 kept 57% during 500 h at 923 K in the absence of O 2 , even the concentration of O 2 was 0.2% in the feed, the N 2 yield still up to 57% at 923 K. So much higher activity for the perovskite(-like) oxides catalysts at such reaction temperature was first observed. In order to understand the role of BaO, a serial of experiments and characterizations were carried out on the La 1.6 Ba 0.4 NiO 4 -x%BaO catalysts. The results revealed that the number of chemical adsorption oxygen adsorbed on the oxygen vacancies increased and the mobility of the lattice oxygen could be improved due to the BaO addition. Moreover, BaO may play an important role in NO x transportation and storage, which is favorable for the regeneration of the active sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ni(0.4)-MnO x catalyst was prepared by citrate combustion, which showed high catalytic performance for NH 3 -SCR reaction. After the resistance tests of SO 2 and H 2 O, Ni(0.4)-MnO x -SH showed better NH 3 -SCR activity than that of Ni(0.4)-MnO x , when the temperature was > 240 °C. The characterizations suggest that Ni(0.4)-MnO x -SH has more acid sites for ammonia adsorption and far weaker oxidation capacity for NH 3 , which resulted in the high catalytic activity at middle-temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Data loss often occurs in the collection of clinical data. Directly discarding the incomplete sample may lead to low accuracy of medical diagnosis. A suitable data imputation method can help researchers make better use of valuable medical data. Methods: In this paper, five popular imputation methods including mean imputation, expectation-maximization (EM) imputation, K-nearest neighbors (KNN) imputation, denoising autoencoders (DAE) and generative adversarial imputation nets (GAIN) are employed on an incomplete clinical data with 28,274 cases for vaginal prolapse prediction. A comprehensive comparison study for the performance of these methods has been conducted through certain classification criteria. It is shown that the prediction accuracy can be greatly improved by using the imputed data, especially by GAIN. To find out the important risk factors to this disease among a large number of candidate features, three variable selection methods: the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), the smoothly clipped absolute deviation (SCAD) and the broken adaptive ridge (BAR) are implemented in logistic regression for feature selection on the imputed datasets. In pursuit of our primary objective, which is accurate diagnosis, we employed diagnostic accuracy (classification accuracy) as a pivotal metric to assess both imputation and feature selection techniques. This assessment encompassed seven classifiers (logistic regression (LR) classifier, random forest (RF) classifier, support machine classifier (SVC), extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) , LASSO classifier, SCAD classifier and Elastic Net classifier)enhancing the comprehensiveness of our evaluation. Results: The proposed framework imputation-variable selection-prediction is quite suitable to the collected vaginal prolapse datasets. It is observed that the original dataset is well imputed by GAIN first, and then 9 most significant features were selected using BAR from the original 67 features in GAIN imputed dataset, with only negligible loss in model prediction. BAR is superior to the other two variable selection methods in our tests. Concludes: Overall, combining the imputation, classification and variable selection, we achieve good interpretability while maintaining high accuracy in computer-aided medical diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac (DCF) has a high prevalence of intestinal side effects in humans and rats. It has been reported that Mrp2 transporter deficient rats (Mrp2 − ) are more resistant to DCF induced intestinal toxicity. This was explained in vivo by impaired Mrp2-dependent biliary transport of DCF-acylglucuronide (DAG), leading to decreased intestinal exposure to DAG and DCF. However, it is not known to what extent adaptive changes in the Mrp2 − intestine itself influence its sensitivity to DCF toxicity without the influence of liver metabolites. To investigate this, DCF toxicity and disposition were studied ex vivo by precision-cut intestinal slices and Ussing chamber using intestines from wild type (WT) and Mrp2 − rats. The results show that adaptive changes due to Mrp2 deficiency concerning Mrp2, Mrp3 and BCRP gene expression, GSH content and DAG formation were different between liver and intestine. Furthermore, Mrp2 − intestine was intrinsically more resistant to DCF toxicity than its WT counterpart ex vivo . This can at least partly be explained by a reduced DCF uptake by the Mrp2 − intestine, but is not related to the other adaptive changes in the intestine. The extrapolation of this data to humans with MRP2 deficiency is uncertain due to species differences in activity and regulation of transporters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of diclofenac (DCF), a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, is associated with a high prevalence of gastrointestinal side effects. In vivo studies in rodents suggested that reactive metabolites of DCF produced by the liver or the intestine might be responsible for this toxicity. In the present study, precision-cut intestinal slices (PCIS) prepared from the jejunum of 18 human donors were used as an ex vivo model to investigate whether DCF intestinal metabolites are responsible for its intestinal toxicity in man. PCIS were incubated with a concentration range of DCF (0-600 µM) up to 24 h. DCF (≥400 µM) caused direct toxicity to the intestine as demonstrated by ATP depletion, morphological damage, caspase 3 activation, and lactate dehydrogenase leakage. Three main metabolites produced by PCIS (4′-hydroxy DCF, 5-hydroxy DCF, and DCF acyl glucuronide) were detected by HPLC. Protein adducts were detected by immunohistochemical staining and showed correlation with the intestinal metabolites. DCF induced similar toxicity to each of the samples regardless of the variation in metabolism among them. Less metabolites were produced by slices incubated with 400 µM DCF than with 100 µM DCF. The addition of the metabolic inhibitors such as ketoconazole, cimetidine, or borneol decreased the metabolite formation but increased the toxicity. The results suggest that DCF can induce intestinal toxicity in human PCIS directly at therapeutically relevant concentrations, independent of the reactive metabolites 4′-OH DCF, 5-OH DCF, or diclofenac acylglucuronide produced by the liver or formed in the intestine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Catalysts made of Pt nanoparticles dispersed on graphene ( X wt %Pt/G, X=2.0, 3.5, and 5.0) were prepared and characterized by XRD, Raman spectroscopy, BET surface area measurements, TEM, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and a 3.5 wt % Pt supported on Vulcan Carbon catalyst (3.5 wt %Pt/VC) was included as a reference. Although the mean Pt nanoparticle size is approximately 4.4 nm for all X wt %Pt/G and 3.5 wt %Pt/VC catalysts, cinnamal alcohol was produced with high selectivity only with the graphene-supported catalysts: 92 % conversion and 88 % selectivity toward cinnamal alcohol were obtained with 3.5 wt %Pt/G. This catalyst also showed good stability in recycling tests. The good selectivity observed with the graphene-based catalysts is attributed to the higher fraction of reduced surface Pt0 atoms seen on the surface of the Pt nanoparticles (determined by XPS). This interpretation is consistent with DFT calculations. Additional π-π interactions between cinnamaldehyde and graphene may also play a role in the selective hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cu@C composite spheres with copper nanoparticles dispersed in the carbonaceous matter have been synthesized by a one-step hydrothermal method by using different copper salts mixed with an aqueous glucose solution. The spheres have been characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, thermogravimetric-differential thermal analysis, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and Raman spectrocopy. The results show that Cu(NO3)2, CuSO4,and CuCl2 exhibit an accelerating effect on the size of the composite spheres, and microsized composites were obtained. However, a morphological change from irregular cubes and spheres to uniform spheres with a narrow size distribution of 340-400 nm was observed when cupric acetate [Cu(Ac)2] was used. Interestingly, Cu2O, generated in situ from Cu(ac)2, plays an important role in the size of the composite spheres. Moreover, a CuO@SiO2 core-shell structure has been synthesized by using the Cu@C composite spheres as a sacrificial template, and the CO + NO reaction was used as a probe reaction to evaluate its catalytic performance. CuO@SiO2 exhibits excellent catalytic performance in the CO + NO reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. The precision-cut intestinal slice (PCIS) technology is a relatively new addition to the battery of in vitro assays for evaluation of xenobiotic toxicity, metabolism, and transport. 2. The intestine is an important target for drug-induced toxicity due to its high exposure after oral administration. Therefore, the prediction of drug-induced intestinal side effects remains a significant safety issue in pharmaceutical development. Although animal experiments have been proven useful, species differences and the requirement for reduction of animal use warrant the development of in vitro methods which can apply human tissue. 3. The enterocytes lining the villi express high activities of enzymes and transporters involved in drug disposition. They vary highly in activities: along the length of the intestine and along the villi, gradients of expression levels of the enzymes and proteins exist, which necessitates an in vitro model that can reflect the different regions of the intestine. 4. In this chapter, the application of PCIS in studies on transport and toxicity of xenobiotics is reviewed. PCIS can be prepared from each region of the intestine and from various species in a similar manner, and the results published so far indicate that they represent a promising model to evaluate intestinal toxicity and transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cu-SBA-16 has been prepared by one-pot synthesis method, and Characterized by XRD, TEM, and N adsorption measurements. An extended study about the nature of copper species in the Cu-SBA-16 has been performed by FT-IR, UV-DRS, H-TPR and XPS. The copper species is mainly present on the mesoporous SBA-16 in the form of isolated mononuclear Cu ions and highly dispersive CuO nanoclusters. The excellent catalytic activity has been obtained for phenol hydroxylation due to the presence of high amount of highly dispersive Cu species. The conversion to phenol and selectivity to diphenol are 29.4 and 91.5%, respectively. Graphical Abstract: A simple EISA strategy for direct synthesis of mesoporous Cu-SBA-16 containing isolated mononuclear Cu ions and highly dispersive CuO clusters which shows an excellent catalytic performance for phenol hydroxylation. [InlineMediaObject not available: see fulltext.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Phosphorylation treatment to regulate both oxidation property and acid sites of V-Ce-O x catalysts. • Higher NO conversion and H 2 O/SO 2 poisoning resistance over 2.4 wt%P-VC. • New Brønsted acid sites for NH 3 adsorption from phosphorylation treatment. • Restraining SO 2 adsorption and oxidation due to P-OH Brønsted acid network leading to excellent resistance. SO 2 poisoning remains an unresolved issue for NH 3 -SCR of NO x catalysts, particularly under low temperature conditions. In this study, a phosphorylation approach was used in preparation of V-Ce-O x (VC) catalysts by regulating both oxidation property and acid sites to improve SO 2 tolerance at low temperature in the NH 3 -SCR process. Among all the as-prepared catalysts, 2.4 wt%P-VC exhibited the widest temperature window (> 90 % NO conversion, 240 ∼ 420 °C) and good resistance to SO 2. A variety of characterization approaches were used to investigate the effects of the phosphorylation approach on the catalytic activity and microstructure of V-Ce-O x catalyst. According to the characterization results, the improvement role of 2.4 wt%P-VC is connected to the balance between acidity and oxidation ability. This originates from the largest amount of Brønsted acid sites to adsorb NH 3 and surface adsorbed oxygen species. The results also showed that different H 3 PO 4 loading contents can promote or inhibit the NH 3 -SCR reaction, it is possible that this is because a lower H 3 PO 4 content (≤2.4 wt%) can result in more Brønsted acid sites (P-O-NH 4 +), whereas the higher H 3 PO 4 content (≥4.2 wt%) can cause a greater reduction in Lewis acid sites and the total surface acidity. Furthermore, the in-situ DRIFTS and SO 2 -TPD results reveal that the oxidation of SO 2 is weakened by the formation of amorphous VOPO 4 and CePO 4 on xwt%P-VC catalysts, which reduces the formation of VOSO 4 and Ce 2 (SO 4) 3 by reducing the oxidation of SO 2 on the catalyst. This work eventually achieves the highest catalytic performance and the superior SO 2 resistance of the V 2 O 5 -CeO 2 -based catalyst by presenting a viable technique for changing the acid and redox sites on the VC catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resistance to alkali metal poisoning remains a challenge for Ce-based denitration (de-NO x) catalysts. In this paper, improved low-temperature performance and resistance to K poisoning were achieved by phosphorylating CeSnO x. The activity tests revealed that the phosphorylated CeSnO x (3 wt%P/CeSn) exhibited over 90 % NO conversion at 190–450 °C and >90 % NO conversion at 240–400 °C even after K poisoning. The mechanism of phosphorylation treatment against K poisoning was investigated by many characterizations and DFT calculation. The results showed that the phosphorylation treatment facilitated the interaction between Ce and Sn, and K interacts more preferentially with PO 4 3- species. This prevents K from destroying the Ce-O-Sn structure to form a Ce-O-K structure, which in turn maintained the catalyst's redox properties. Moreover, the phosphorylation treatment supplemented the acidity of 3 wt%P/CeSn compared with CeSnO x. This effectively mitigated the reduction of acidity caused by K and ensured the adsorption and activation of NH 3 on the catalyst surface. [Display omitted] • Synthesis of CeSnO x catalysts with different degrees of phosphorylation. • Excellent low-temperature NH 3 -SCR activity and K-resistance of 3 wt%P/CeSn. • Protecting Ce-O-Sn structure from K poisoning by phosphorylation treatment. • Increase in surface acid sites on 3 wt%P/CeSn due to phosphorylation treatment. • Outstanding resistance to K poisoning attributed to PO 4 3- and K interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of tobacco smoking on global health persists and it is essential to understand the progression of addiction and the involvement of neurotransmitters. This study assessed 47 participants with tobacco use disorder (TUD) categorized based on changes in Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) scores over 6 years: progressive TUD (pTUD), regressive TUD (rTUD), and stable TUD (sTUD). Additionally, 35 healthy controls were included. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to evaluate brain regional homogeneity (ReHo) and correlations with neurotransmitter distributions using JuSpace. Significant differences in ReHo were observed among pTUD, rTUD, sTUD, and controls. After strict Bonferroni correction, rTUD exhibited increased ReHo in the dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus compared to sTUD (p < 0.001) and controls (p < 0.001). Both pTUD (p < 0.001) and rTUD (p < 0.001) showed decreased ReHo in the superior temporal gyrus compared to sTUD. sTUD had increased ReHo in the supramarginal gyrus compared to all other groups (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p = 0.002, separately). The strongest association, which survived rigorous Bonferroni correction, was between the ReHo changes in rTUD compared to sTUD and neurotransmitter distribution. This includes 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor 2A (p = 0.001), gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptor (p < 0.001), norepinephrine transporter (p < 0.001), and N-Methyl-D-Aspartate (p = 0.002). This study provides insights into how smoking behaviors correlate with alterations in brain activity and neurotransmitter function. By elucidating these neural links to tobacco use disorder progression, our findings contribute to a deeper understanding of smoking's neurological impact and potentially inform more targeted therapeutic strategies. • Subjects categorized by 6-year FTND changes: progressive, regressive, stable TUD. • Brain ReHo patterns vary across stable, progressive, regressive TUD and controls. • Correlations link neurotransmitter variations to ReHo changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Targeting deubiquitinases (DUBs) has emerged as a promising avenue for anticancer drug development. However, the effect and mechanism of pan-DUB inhibitor EOAI on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains to be studied. Materials and methods: The expression of ubiquitin-specific peptidase 5 (USP5) in NSCLC was evaluated by immunohistochemistry. The effect of the USP5 inhibitor, EOAI, on NSCLC cell growth and cell cycle was evaluated by CCK-8 and PI staining. Apoptosis was detected by Annexin V-FITC/PI double staining. Autophagy was examined by LC3 immunofluorescence. Comet assay and γ-H2AX immunofluorescence staining were used to detect DNA damage, and Western blotting was used to detect the expression of apoptosis, cycle, autophagy and DNA damage-related proteins. In vivo experiments demonstrated the effect of EOAI on NSCLC. Results: We also found that USP5 was significantly upregulated in NSCLC tissues in this study. In addition, we show that EOAI can cause DNA damage in NSCLC cells while modulating the transcriptional activity of P53, thereby inducing cell cycle arrest in NSCLC cells, autophagy and apoptosis. In vivo experiments have shown that EOAI can inhibit tumors and synergistically enhance the anti-tumor effect of cisplatin. Conclusion: USP5-mediated epigenetic regulation of oncogenes promotes the occurrence of NSCLC, which provides ideas for developing potential targeted therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Live attenuated vaccines (LAVs) replicate in the respiratory/oral mucosa, mimic natural infection, and can induce mucosal and systemic immune responses to the full repertoire of SARS-CoV-2 structural/nonstructural proteins. Generally, LAVs produce broader and more durable protection than current COVID-19 vaccines. We generated a temperature-sensitive (TS) SARS-CoV-2 mutant TS11 via cold-adaptation of the WA1 strain in Vero E6 cells. TS11 replicated at >4 Log10-higher titers at 32 °C than at 39 °C. TS11 has multiple mutations, including those in nsp3, a 12-amino acid-deletion spanning the furin cleavage site of the S protein and a 371-nucleotide-deletion spanning the ORF7b-ORF8 genes. We tested the pathogenicity and protective efficacy of TS11 against challenge with a heterologous virulent SARS-CoV-2 D614G strain 14B in Syrian hamsters. Hamsters were randomly assigned to mock immunization-challenge (Mock-C) and TS11 immunization-challenge (TS11-C) groups. Like the mock group, TS11-vaccinated hamsters did not show any clinical signs and continuously gained body weight. TS11 replicated well in the nasal cavity but poorly in the lungs and caused only mild lesions in the lungs. After challenge, hamsters in the Mock-C group lost weight. In contrast, the animals in the TS11-C group continued gaining weight. The virus titers in the nasal turbinates and lungs of the TS11-C group were significantly lower than those in the Mock-C group, confirming the protective effects of TS11 immunization of hamsters. Histopathological examination demonstrated that animals in the Mock-C group had severe pulmonary lesions and large amounts of viral antigens in the lungs post-challenge; however, the TS11-C group had minimal pathological changes and few viral antigen-positive cells. In summary, the TS11 mutant was attenuated and induced protection against disease after a heterologous SARS-CoV-2 challenge in Syrian hamsters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is still difficult to obtain high-resolution and fast-updated NDVI data, and spatiotemporal fusion is an effective means to solve this problem. The purpose of this study is to carry out the comparative analysis and comprehensive trade-off of spatiotemporal fusion models for NDVI generation and to provide references for scholars in this field. In this study, four spatiotemporal fusion models (STARFM, ESTARFM, FSDAF, and GF-SG) were selected to carry out NDVI image fusion in grassland, forest, and farmland test areas, and three indicators of root mean square error (RMSE), average difference (AD), and edge feature richness difference (EFRD) were used. A detailed evaluation and analysis of the fusion results and comprehensive trade-off were carried out. The results show that: (1) all four models can predict fine-resolution NDVI images well, but the phenomenon of over-smoothing generally exists, which is more serious in high-heterogeneity areas; (2) GF-SG performed well in the evaluation of the three indicators, with the highest comprehensive trade-off score (CTS) of 0.9658. Followed by ESTARFM (0.9050), FSDAF (0.8901), and STARFM (0.8789); (3) considering the comparative analysis and comprehensive trade-off results of the three test areas and the three indicators, among the four models, GF-SG has the best accuracy in generating NDVI images. GF-SG is capable of constructing NDVI time series data with high spatial and temporal resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Bile acids CDCA and LCA inhibited porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) replication in LLC-PK1 and IPEC-J2 cell lines. • LCA inhibited PDCoV replication through a G protein-coupled receptor-interferon (IFN)-λ-ISG15 signaling axis in PEC-J2 cells. • Our results may open new avenues for the development of antiviral drugs to treat PDCoV infection in pigs. Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) is an emerging enteric coronavirus that causes gastroenteritis in pigs and no vaccines or antiviral drugs are available. Bile acids are active factors in intestines and influence the replication of enteric viruses. Currently, the role of bile acids on PDCoV replication is unknown. In this study, we tested the effects of different types of bile acids on the replication of PDCoV in cell culture. We found that physiological concentrations of bile acids chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) and lithocholic acid (LCA) had antiviral activity against PDCoV in porcine kidney cell line (LLC-PK1) and porcine small intestinal epithelial cell line (IPEC-J2). In IPEC-J2 cells, CDCA and LCA inhibited PDCoV replication at post-entry stages by inducing the production of interferon (IFN)-λ3 and IFN-stimulated gene 15 (ISG15) via G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR). In summary, bile acids CDCA and LCA restricted PDCoV infection and LCA functioned through a GPCR-IFN-λ3-ISG15 signaling axis in IPEC-J2 cells. Our results may open new avenues for the development of antiviral drugs to treat PDCoV infection in pigs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) strain OH-FD22 infects poultry and shares high nucleotide identity with sparrow-origin deltacoronaviruses (SpDCoV) ISU73347 and HKU17 strains. We hypothesized that the spike (S) protein or receptor-binding domain (RBD) from these SpDCoVs would alter the host and tissue tropism of PDCoV. First, an infectious cDNA clone of PDCoV OH-FD22 strain (icPDCoV) was generated and used to construct chimeric icPDCoVs harboring the S protein of HKU17 (icPDCoV-SHKU17) or the RBD of ISU73347 (icPDCoV-RBDISU). To evaluate their pathogenesis, neonatal gnotobiotic pigs were inoculated orally/oronasally with the recombinant viruses or PDCoV OH-FD22. All pigs inoculated with icPDCoV or OH-FD22 developed severe diarrhea and shed viral RNA at moderate-high levels (7.62–10.56 log10 copies/mL) in feces, and low-moderate levels in nasal swabs (4.92–8.48 log10 copies/mL). No pigs in the icPDCoV-SHKU17 and icPDCoV-RBDISU groups showed clinical signs. Interestingly, low-moderate levels (5.07–7.06 log10 copies/mL) of nasal but not fecal viral RNA shedding were detected transiently at 1–4 days post-inoculation in 40% (2/5) of icPDCoV-SHKU17- and 50% (1/2) of icPDCoV-RBDISU-inoculated pigs. These results confirm that PDCoV infected both the upper respiratory and intestinal tracts of pigs. The chimeric viruses displayed an attenuated phenotype with the loss of tropism for the pig intestine. The SpDCoV S protein and RBD reduced viral replication in pigs, suggesting limited potential for cross-species spillover upon initial passage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The default mode network (DMN) is not a single system, but rather is composed of smaller and distinct functional subsystems that interact with each other. The functional relevance of these subsystems in tobacco use disorder (TUD) and the neurobiological features associated with smoking motivation are still unclear; thus, we sought to assess causal or direct connectivity alterations within 3 subsystems of the DMN among people with TUD. Methods: We recruited male smokers and nonsmokers. We conducted resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and collected ratings on smoking-related clinical scales. We applied dynamic causal modelling (DCM) to rs-fMRI to characterize changes of effective connectivity in TUD from 3 DMN subsystems, including the midline core network (i.e., the posterior cingulate cortex and the anterior medial prefrontal cortex [PCC-aMPFC] core DMN), the medial temporal subsystem (MTL-DMN), and the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex subsystem (dMPFC-DMN). We used leave-one-out cross-validation to investigate whether the neural response could predict smoking reasons, evaluated using the Russell Reason for Smoking Questionnaire). Results: We recruited 88 smokers and 54 nonsmokers. Among people with TUD, the parahippocampal cortex (PHC) region showed enhanced self-connection, which was associated with the severity of TUD after nighttime withdrawal. Compared with nonsmokers, people with TUD displayed significant increased effective connectivity within the dMPFC-DMN, and decreased effective connectivity from the dMPFC-DMN to the PCC-aMPFC core DMN. Moreover, decreased effective connectivity from the lateral temporal cortex to the dMPFC could predict the smoking reason related to automatic behaviour. Limitations: Although we found aberrance in causal connections in DMN subsystems among people with TUD, our cross-sectional study could not be used to investigate changes in effective connectivity over time and their relationship with clinical features. Conclusion: This study emphasized the aberrant causal connections of different functional subsystems of the DMN in TUD and revealed the neural correlates of automatic smoking behaviours. These findings suggested DMN subsystem–derived indicators could be a potential biomarker for TUD and could be used to identify the heterogeneity in motivation for smoking behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a disabling disorder in which the temporal variability of regional brain connectivity is not well understood. The aim of this study was to investigate alterations in static and dynamic intrinsic neural activity (INA) in first-episode OCD and whether these changes have the potential to reflect neurotransmitters. A total of 95 first-episode OCD patients and 106 matched healthy controls (HCs) were included in this study. Based on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI), the static and dynamic local connectivity coherence (calculated by static and dynamic regional homogeneity, sReHo and dReHo) were compared between the two groups. Furthermore, correlations between abnormal INA and PET- and SPECT-derived maps were performed to examine specific neurotransmitter system changes underlying INA abnormalities in OCD. Compared with HCs, OCD showed decreased sReHo and dReHo values in left superior, middle temporal gyrus (STG/MTG), left Heschl gyrus (HES), left putamen, left insula, bilateral paracentral lobular (PCL), right postcentral gyrus (PoCG), right precentral gyrus (PreCG), left precuneus and right supplementary motor area (SMA). Decreased dReHo values were also found in left PoCG, left PreCG, left SMA and left middle cingulate cortex (MCC). Meanwhile, alterations in INA present in brain regions were correlated with dopamine system (D2, FDOPA), norepinephrine transporter (NAT) and the vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT) maps. Static and dynamic INA abnormalities exist in first-episode OCD, having the potential to reveal the molecular characteristics. The results help to further understand the pathophysiological mechanism and provide alternative therapeutic targets of OCD. • Static and dynamic ReHo were used to investigate the alterations in intrinsic neural activity in first-episode OCD. • PET - and SPECT derived maps were used to analyze the association between changes in INA and neurotransmitters in OCD. • Different window sizes were used to verify the robustness of dReHo results. • The INA abnormalities present in the first-episode OCD have the potential to reveal molecular characteristics, which may provide new ideas for revealing pathological mechanisms and therapeutic targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Current evidence underlines the active role of neural infiltration and axonogenesis within the tumor microenvironment (TME), with implications for tumor progression. Infiltrating nerves stimulate tumor growth and dissemination by secreting neurotransmitters, whereas tumor cells influence nerve growth and differentiation through complex interactions, promoting tumor progression. However, the role of neural infiltration in the progression of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains unclear. Methods: This study employs the techniques of immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, RNA sequencing, molecular biology experiments, and a murine orthotopic lung cancer model to deeply analyze the specific mechanisms behind the differential efficacy of NSCLC immunotherapy from the perspectives of neuro-tumor signal transduction, tumor metabolism, and tumor immunity. Results: This study demonstrates that nerve growth factor (NGF) drives neural infiltration in NSCLC, and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), which is secreted by nerves, is significantly elevated in tumors with extensive neural infiltration. Transcriptome sequencing revealed that 5-HT enhanced glycolysis in NSCLC cells. Pathway analysis indicated that 5-HT activated the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway, promoting tumor metabolic reprogramming. This reprogramming exacerbated immunosuppression in the TME. Neutralizing 5-HT-mediated metabolic reprogramming in tumor immunity enhanced the efficacy of PD-1 monoclonal antibody treatment in mice. Conclusions: The findings of this study provide a novel perspective on the crosstalk between nerves and lung cancer cells and provide insights into further investigations into the role of nerve infiltration in NSCLC progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Reviewing reaction mechanisms of NH 3 -SCR of NO x on VO x -based catalysts. • Discussing strategies to optimize low-temperature NH 3 -SCR deNO x of VO x -based catalysts. • Summarizing deactivation factors and regeneration of VO x -based catalysts. • Presenting challenges and prospects of VO x -based NH 3 -SCR deNO x catalysts. Selective catalytic reduction with NH 3 (NH 3 -SCR) technology has been widely extensively to eliminate NO x. Developing low-temperature (LT) SCR catalysts with high removal efficiency remains a significant challenge. Numerous investigations have demonstrated that VO x -based catalysts have a broad working temperature range and excellent LT activity in reducing NO x in an oxidizing environment. The review concludes recent research on VO x -based catalysts for LT SCR reaction. In this review, five aspects of VO x -based catalysts were introduced in detail, including the study on the summary of VO x -based catalysts, preparation strategy, study on the main active sites and reaction mechanism, deactivation factors of catalysts, and the regeneration of deactivated VO x -based catalysts. Finally, the future development prospects and directions of VO x -based catalysts for LT SCR removal of NO x were proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To investigate potential of enhancing image quality, maintaining interobserver consensus, and elevating disease diagnostic efficacy through the implementation of deep learning-based reconstruction (DLR) processing in 3.0 T cervical spine fast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images, compared with conventional images. Methods: The 3.0 T cervical spine MRI images of 71 volunteers were categorized into two groups: sagittal T2-weighted short T1 inversion recovery without DLR (Sag T2w-STIR) and with DLR (Sag T2w-STIR-DLR). The assessment covered artifacts, perceptual signal-to-noise ratio, clearness of tissue interfaces, fat suppression, overall image quality, and the delineation of spinal cord, vertebrae, discs, dopamine, and joints. Spanning canal stenosis, neural foraminal stenosis, herniated discs, annular fissures, hypertrophy of the ligamentum flavum or vertebral facet joints, and intervertebral disc degeneration were evaluated by three impartial readers. Results: Sag T2w-STIR-DLR images exhibited markedly superior performance across quality indicators (median = 4 or 5) compared to Sag T2w-STIR sequences (median = 3 or 4) (p < 0.001). No statistically significant differences were observed between the two sequences in terms of diagnosis and grading (p > 0.05). The interobserver agreement for Sag T2w-STIR-DLR images (0.604–0.931) was higher than the other (0.545–0.853), Sag T2w-STIR-DLR (0.747–1.000) demonstrated increased concordance between reader 1 and reader 3 in comparison to Sag T2w-STIR (0.508–1.000). Acquisition time diminished from 364 to 197 s through the DLR scheme. Conclusions: Our investigation establishes that 3.0 T fast MRI images subjected to DLR processing present heightened image quality, bolstered diagnostic performance, and reduced scanning durations for cervical spine MRI compared with conventional sequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing body of evidence indicates the existence of abnormal local and long‐range functional connection patterns in patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD). However, it has yet to be established whether AUD is associated with abnormal interhemispheric and intrahemispheric functional connection patterns. In the present study, we analysed resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 55 individuals with AUD and 32 healthy nonalcohol users. For each subject, whole‐brain functional connectivity density (FCD) was decomposed into ipsilateral and contralateral parts. Correlation analysis was performed between abnormal FCD and a range of clinical measurements in the AUD group. Compared with healthy controls, the AUD group exhibited a reduced global FCD in the anterior and middle cingulate gyri, prefrontal cortex and thalamus, along with an enhanced global FCD in the temporal, parietal and occipital cortices. Abnormal interhemispheric and intrahemispheric FCD patterns were also detected in the AUD group. Furthermore, abnormal global, contralateral and ipsilateral FCD data were correlated with the mean amount of pure alcohol and the severity of alcohol addiction in the AUD group. Collectively, our findings indicate that global, interhemispheric and intrahemispheric FCD may represent a robust method to detect abnormal functional connection patterns in AUD; this may help us to identify the neural substrates and therapeutic targets of AUD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Short-term poor uterine involution manifests as uterine contraction weakness. This is one of the important causes of postpartum hemorrhage, posing a serious threat to the mother's life and safety. The study aims to investigate whether low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFUS) can effectively shorten lochia duration, alleviate postpartum complications, and accelerate uterine involution compared with the sham treatment. Methods: A multicenter, concealed, randomized, blinded, and sham-controlled clinical trial was conducted across three medical centers involving 176 subjects, utilizing a parallel group design. Enrollment occurred between October 2019 and September 2020, with a 42-day follow-up period. Participants meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria based on normal prenatal examinations were randomly divided into the LIFUS group or the sham operation group via computer-generated randomization. Patients in the LIFUS group received usual care with the LIFUS protocol, wherein a LIFUS signal was transmitted to the uterine site through coupling gel, or sham treatment, where no low-intensity ultrasound signal output was emitted. The primary outcome, lochia duration, was assessed via weekly telephonic follow-ups post-discharge. The involution of the uterus, measured by uterine fundus height, served as the secondary outcome. Results: Among the 256 subjects screened for eligibility, 176 subjects were enrolled and randomly assigned to either the LIFUS group (n = 88) or the Sham group (n = 88). Data on the height of the uterine fundus were obtained from all the patients, with 696 out of 704 measurements (99%) successfully recorded. Overall, a statistically significant difference was noted in time to lochia termination (hazard ratio: 2.65; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.82–3.85; P < 0.001). The decline in fundal height exhibited notable discrepancies between the two groups following the second treatment session (mean difference: −1.74; 95% CI: −1.23 to −2.25; P < 0.001) and the third treatment session (mean difference: −3.26; 95% CI: −2.74 to −3.78; P < 0.001) after delivery. None of the subjects had any adverse reactions, such as skin damage or allergies during the treatment. Conclusions: This study found that LIFUS treatment can promote uterine involution and abbreviate the duration of postpartum lochia. Ultrasound emerges as a safe and effective intervention, poised to address further clinical inquiries in the domain of postpartum rehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract We numerically and experimentally investigate the propagation properties of dissipative soliton in single mode fiber. The M-shaped spectrum is found to evolve into a spectrum with two deep valleys. The depth of valleys is polarization dependent because of the nonlinear birefringence. The simulation results agree well with the experimental results. After a segment of fiber propagation, the input pulse can be reproduced using a bandpass filter to filter out the spectrum between the two deep valleys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To compare total pelvic floor reconstruction with vaginal mesh (TVM) and laparoscopic uterus/sacrocolpopexy (LSC) for the treatment of pelvic organ prolapse (POP). Methods: Six hundred and seventy patients with POP stage 3 and 4 underwent LSC (n = 350) or TVM (n = 320) at the West China Second Hospital, Sichuan University between January 2011 and December 2016. Retrospective analysis was done to compare the POP‐Q value before operation and 6 months, 5 years after operation, also compare the, patient global impression of change (PGI‐C), pelvic floor distress inventory (PFDI‐20) and pelvic floor impact questionnaire (PFIQ‐7). Patients were followed for a median 36 months. Thirty‐five patients in the LSC and 37 in the TVM groups were lost to follow‐up. Results: Preoperative POP value and disease course were similar (P = 0.075). The LSC group was younger (52.8 ± 6.8 vs. 63.9 ± 8.7 years, P = 0.037). Intraoperative bleeding was smaller in the LSC group (74.4 ± 33.2 vs. 150.4 ± 80.3 mL, P < 0.01), with longer operation time (130.0 ± 34.1 min vs 100.4 ± 40.4 min, P < 0.035). The patients were followed for 10–60 months (median, 36 months). Postoperative PISQ‐12 (P < 0.01) was better in the LSC group. PFDI‐20 and PFIQ‐7 were improved after operation in both groups. Objective satisfaction (94.9% vs 91.9%, P > 0.05) and recurrence rate (8.4% vs 5.1%, P = 0.064) were similar. No infection or fistula occurred after operation in both groups. The complication rate of intraoperative bladder injury and postoperative perineal pain in LSC group was lower than those in the TVM group (P < 0.05). Conclusion: LSC showed no serious adverse events and led to higher postoperative satisfaction than TVM in selected patients. Nevertheless, treatment should be selected in accordance with the willingness and condition of each patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sacral nerve neuromodulation (SNM) has been considered the optimal second-line treatment for fecal incontinence (FI). However, SNM involves high cost and requires highly skilled operators. Percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS) has emerged as an alternative treatment modality for FI, yielding varying clinical outcomes. We conducted this meta-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of PTNS compared to sham electrical stimulation for FI. Methods: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library were searched for studies from May 12, 2012 to May 12, 2022. Results: Four randomized controlled studies were included in this review, involving a total of 439 adult patients with FI (300 in the PTNS group and 194 in the sham electrical stimulation group). Our meta-analysis revealed that PTNS demonstrated superior efficacy in reducing weekly episodes of FI compared to the control groups (MD − 1.6, 95% CI − 2.94 to − 0.26, p = 0.02, I2 = 30%). Furthermore, a greater proportion of patients in the PTNS group reported more than a 50% reduction in FI episodes per week (RR 0.73, 95% CI 0.57–0.94, p = 0.02, I2 = 6%). However, no significant differences were observed in any domains of the FI Quality of Life (QoL) and St Mark's incontinence scores (MD – 2.41, 95% CI – 5.1 to 0.27, p = 0.08, I2 = 67%). Importantly, no severe adverse events related to PTNS were reported in any of the participants. Conclusions: Our meta-analysis revealed that PTNS was more effective than sham stimulation in reducing FI episodes and led to a higher proportion of patients reporting more than a 50% reduction in weekly FI episodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]