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Background: Previous studies have emphasized the association between the intake of artificial sweeteners (AS) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), but the causative relationship remains ambiguous. Methods: This study employed univariate Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to assess the causal link between AS intake from various sources and T2DM. Linkage disequilibrium score (LDSC) regression was used to evaluate the correlation between phenotypes. Multivariate and mediation MR were applied to investigate confounding factors and mediating effects. Data on AS intake from different sources (N = 64,949) were sourced from the UK Biobank, while T2DM data were derived from the DIAbetes Genetics Replication And Meta-analysis.The primary method adopted was inverse variance weighted (IVW), complemented by three validation techniques. Additionally, a series of sensitivity analyses were performed to evaluate pleiotropy and heterogeneity. Results: LDSC analysis unveiled a significant genetic correlation between AS intake from different sources and T2DM (rg range: -0.006 to 0.15, all P < 0.05). After correction by the false discovery rate (FDR), the primary IVW method indicated that AS intake in coffee was a risk factor for T2DM (OR = 1.265, 95% CI: 1.035–1.545, P = 0.021, PFDR = 0.042). Further multivariable and mediation MR analyses pinpointed high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) as mediating a portion of this causal relationship. In reverse MR analysis, significant evidence suggested a positive correlation between T2DM and AS intake in coffee (β = 0.013, 95% CI: 0.004–0.022, P = 0.004, PFDR = 0.012), cereal (β = 0.007, 95% CI: 0.002–0.012, P = 0.004, PFDR = 0.012), and tea (β = 0.009, 95% CI: 0.001–0.017, P = 0.036, PFDR = 0.049). No other causal associations were identified (P > 0.05, PFDR > 0.05). Conclusion: The MR analysis has established a causal relationship between AS intake in coffee and T2DM. The mediation by HDL-C emphasizes potential metabolic pathways underpinning these relationships [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A commentary published in the journal Lung discusses a study by Huang et al. that explores the relationship between adipokines and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) using Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. The commentary raises concerns about the study's methodology, particularly regarding the choice of datasets and the selection of outcome phenotypes. The authors of the commentary conducted a reanalysis using different datasets and found no causal relationship between adipokines and IPF. They emphasize the importance of precise dataset identification and adherence to MR principles in establishing potential causal connections. [Extracted from the article]

A commentary published in the journal Lung discusses a study by Huang et al. that explores the relationship between adipokines and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) using Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. The commentary raises concerns about the study's methodology, particularly regarding the choice of datasets and the selection of outcome phenotypes. The authors of the commentary conducted a reanalysis using different datasets and found no causal relationship between adipokines and IPF. They emphasize the importance of precise dataset identification and adherence to MR principles in establishing potential causal connections. The commentary acknowledges the value of Huang et al.'s work but highlights the need for further research in this complex field. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the relationship between lipid metabolism disorders and psoriasis, highlighting the importance of understanding the causal links between cholesterol levels and autoimmune diseases. The study critiques a previous publication by Zhou et al. for methodological flaws and outdated dataset choices, suggesting a re-analysis using more current data. The re-analysis found significant associations between triglycerides and specific lipid components with psoriasis risk, while no causal link was found between HDL-C, LDL-C, and total cholesterol with psoriasis. The study emphasizes the need for precise data and adherence to Mendelian randomization principles in confirming causal relationships. [Extracted from the article]

Previous studies have highlighted the association between cannabis use and diabetes and its complications; however, the causality remains ambiguous. Univariate Mendelian randomization (MR), multivariate MR, mediation MR, and linkage disequilibrium score (LDSC) analysis to assess the causal relationship between cannabis use and 12 diabetic phenotypes. Summary statistics for lifetime cannabis use (N = 184,765) and cannabis use disorder (CUD) (N = 374,287) from genome-wide association studies. The primary method used was inverse-variance-weighted (IVW). A range of sensitivity analyses ensured the robustness of the results. LDSC analysis revealed a significant genetic correlation between CUD and T2DM, as well as between lifetime cannabis use and four diabetic phenotypes (P < 0.05). After correction by false discovery rate (FDR), the primary IVW analysis indicates that the genetically predicted CUD is positively associated with the risk of diabetic hypoglycemia (OR = 1.11, 95% CI 1.04–1.20, P = 0.003, P FDR = 0.04) and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) (OR = 1.12, 95% CI 1.04–1.19, P = 4.89×10−4, P FDR =0.01). Additionally, suggestive evidence links CUD with increased risks of diabetic nephropathy, type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), diabetic retinopathy, and T1DM associated with diabetic ketoacidosis (P < 0.05 & P FDR > 0.05). No causal relationship was detected between lifetime cannabis use and diabetic phenotypes (P > 0.05 & P FDR > 0.05). Multivariable and mediation MR analyses revealed that glycated hemoglobin A1c partially mediates the causal effect of CUD on PDR and diabetic hypoglycemia. This MR study suggests that CUD may have a causal role in several diabetic disease phenotypes. • LDSC analysis shows significant genetic correlation between cannabis use disorder (CUD) and T2DM phenotypes. • Genetically predicted CUD associated with increased risk of diabetic hypoglycemia and proliferative diabetic retinopathy. • No detected causal link between lifetime cannabis use and diabetic phenotypes after correction. • Mendelian randomization provides insights into the potential causal roles of CUD in diabetic disease phenotypes. • HbA1c identified as a partial mediator for the causal effect between cannabis and diabetic outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eye detection is a very useful technique in many intelligent applications. Since the importance of eyes to human beings, eye detection technique is an indispensable component in intelligent systems, e.g., emotional analysis, iris detection and gaze estimation. Recently, there have been proposed a large number of methods for eye detection, wherein good performances have been achieved. But these methods cannot take human visual perception into account, that is to say, human beings will first pay attention to the eyes when they are communicating with each other, and then nose, then mouth. In addition, their geometric positions are almost fixed, i.e., eyes are above the nose and mouth, and eyes are on both sides of the nose. So in our work, a novel method for eye detection is proposed using human visual perception. More specifically, we first derive object patches from a large quantity of training images. Then, a geometry-preserved object patches ranking method is designed to effectively mimic human visual mechanism when human beings are communicating with each other. After that, these ordered object patches will be fed into CNN to extract patch-level deep features, then patch-level deep features will be represented by deep representations. Finally, eye detection can be achieved using learned deep representation. Experimental results on different database show that our method can achieve high efficiency and accuracy of eye detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs) have promised as potential light source device for display. However, interfacial barrier generated from the mismatched band structure of charge transport layer and perovskite, which leads to the charge accumulation and low charge transport efficiency at the interface, resulting in an inferior performance of true-blue PeLEDs particularly. Herein, we show the interfacial band structure regulation realized by aqueous compatible alkali cations modification on poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene): poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS), which achieves deeper highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) level for modified PEDOT:PSS benefiting charge transport at the interface, as well as reduces defect density of the perovskite film through improved crystallinity. Eventually, the champion device obtained on the true-blue PeLEDs based on Li cation modified PEDOT:PSS, exhibiting maximum luminance of 512.59 cd m−2, and a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 5.43% at 479 nm. Those performance values locate at the top ranking of similar devices. We modified PEDOT:PSS by different alkali cations. The HOMO level of the modified PEDOT:PSS films shift to deeper level that benefits the hole injection at the interface, thus enhances the performance of their true-blue PeLEDs with achieved maximum luminance of 512.59 cd m−2, and maximum EQE of 5.43% for the Li+ cations contained device. [Display omitted] • Interfacial band structure of PEDOT:PSS is regulated by alkali cations. • Deeper HOMO level of PEDOT:PSS benefits charge transport at the interface. • The champion true-blue PeLEDs exhibits luminance of 512.59 cd m−2 and EQE of 5.43%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blue-emitting perovskite materials have attracted remarkable attention in recent years owing to their potential in full-color display and lighting applications. Two-dimensional (2D) perovskite nanoplatelets (NPls) are considered as competitive blue emitters due to high carrier recombination probability and good spectrum stability compared with their mixed-halide counterparts. However, the 2D nature and high defect density of perovskite NPls generally result in nonradiative carrier recombination, making it problematic for achieving efficient blue emission. Herein, we reported a novel way to enhance the blue emission efficiency of perovskite NPls. We found that by using formamidinium cation (FA+) to replace the cesium cation (Cs+) during NPls synthesis, the photoluminescence (PL) of the NPls can be significantly enhanced. The PL quantum yield (PLQY) of NPls exhibited a monoclinic rising tendency with increased FA+ content, and the FAPbBr 3 NPls finally show efficient deep blue emission at 433 nm with PLQY up to 70% as well as narrow emission bandwidth of only 12 nm. We further demonstrated that efficient blue emission can be realized not only by FA+ alloying but also by post-synthetic treatment of the as-synthesized CsPbBr 3 NPls using FA+, where the FA+ was capable to replace the Cs+ in perovskite NPls through cation exchange. Resultantly, PLQY as high as 90% was achieved at a pure blue wavelength of 457 nm. Our work provides a promising strategy for achieving efficient and color-pure blue-emitting perovskite materials, which could potentially further promote their light-emitting applications. • Blue-emitting perovskite nanoplatelets with optimized ligand amount were synthesized using polar-solvent-free strategy. • Formamidinium cation was introduced via synthetic alloying and post-treatment routes, thus efficiently enhance the PLQY. • Efficient blue emission was achieved, with PLQY reaching 70% for 433nm and 90% for 457nm, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective of this study was to summarize the accuracy of preoperative vascular invasion with endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) and computed tomography (CT) test performance in pancreatic cancer with meta-analysis Method: Two reviewers searched MEDLINE database to identify relevant studies. The reference lists of the trials were manually searched. Included studies used surgical and/or histological findings as the 'gold standard,' and provided sufficient data to construct a diagnostic 2 × 2 table. A statistical program of Meta-Disc was used to calculate the pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive LR, negative LR, DOR, and the SROC curve. Publication bias was assessed by Deeks' asymmetry test. Sensitivity analysis and subgroup analysis were calculated to down the heterogeneity. Meta-regression was calculated to evaluate potential sources of heterogeneity Result: A total of 30 studies with 1,554 patients were included for the analysis, nine of these studies compared EUS with CT to assess the diagnostic efficiency The pooled sensitivity of EUS and CT was 72 % (95 % CI 67-77 %) and 63 % (95 % CI 58-67 %), and the pooled specificity of EUS and CT was 89 % (95 % CI 86-92 %) and 92 % (95 % CI 90-94 %), respectively. The positive LR of EUS and CT was 5.14 (95 % CI 3.14-8.40) and 6.21 (95 % CI 3.96-9.71), and the negative LR was 0.36 (95 % CI 0.25-0.52) and 0.41 (95 % CI 0.31-0.55), respectively. The AUCs of EUS and CT were 0.9037 and 0.8948. The subgroup analysis of nine studies performed both EUS and CT showed CT scan with a lower sensitivity of 48 % (95 % CI 0.40-0.56), when compared to EUS of 69 % (95 % CI 0.61-0.77). The overall AUCs of CT scan appear to be lower (AUCs = 0.8589), compared with EUS (AUCs = 0.9379) Conclusion: EUS performed better than CT in differentiating vascular invasion preoperative on pancreatic cancer. EUS could provide other additional information when compared with CT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]