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Background: No head-to-head trial directly compares the effectiveness of vedolizumab (VDZ) and infliximab (IFX) in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) who were naïve to biologic therapy., Objectives: We aimed to compare the clinical and endoscopic effectiveness of VDZ and IFX in biologic-naïve patients with UC in real-world settings., Design: It was a multicenter, observational, real-world cohort study conducted at five centers., Methods: Patients diagnosed with UC and treated with either IFX or VDZ as their first-line biologic therapy were retrospectively enrolled. Steroid-free remission, clinical response, clinical remission, and endoscopic healing at week 14 and week 52 were compared between the two groups after propensity score weighting., Results: A total of 199 patients (117 VDZ and 82 IFX) were included in the study. There were no significant differences in steroid-free remission (64.6% vs 56.1%, p  = 0.224), clinical response (83.4% vs 73.4%, p  = 0.086), or clinical remission (69.4% vs 60.1%, p  = 0.174) at week 14. However, VDZ showed better results in steroid-free remission (67.5% vs 44.4%, p  = 0.004), clinical response (69.7% vs 47.1%, p  = 0.005), and clinical remission (67.5% vs 44.4%, p  = 0.004) at week 52. In terms of endoscopic healing, VDZ was similar to IFX at week 14 (25.7% vs 17.4%, p  = 0.185), but VDZ had a significantly higher rate at week 52 (29.5% vs 11.8%, p  = 0.027). VDZ was found to be superior to IFX in therapeutic continuation (hazard ratio = 0.339, 95% CI: 0.187-0.614, p  < 0.001). The rate of adverse events was similar between the two groups (6.8% vs 8.5%, p  = 0.655)., Conclusion: VDZ demonstrated similar clinical and endoscopic effectiveness to IFX at week 14 in biologic-naïve patients with UC, but appeared to be superior at week 52. The safety outcomes were comparable between the groups., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest., (© The Author(s), 2024.)

Sea cucumbers, marine benthic invertebrates, play crucial roles in maintaining the stability of marine ecosystems and hold key evolutionary positions. However, information regarding their genomes remains limited. Here, we conducted genome survey analyses on seven species from four orders. Results indicated that Colochirus anceps, Colochirus quadrangularis, and Pseudocolochirus violaceus within the order Dendrochirotida have significantly larger genomes (2238-3754 Mbp) compared to conventional sea cucumber genomes, accompanied by a very high proportion of repeat sequences (69.39-72.52 %). While Holothuria edulis and Holothuria atra exhibited similar genome sizes comparable to those of other species within the order Holothuriida, heterozygosity and repeat content varied among all the six species in this order. The representative species Apostichopus californicus of the order Synallactida possesses the smallest genome size (573.45Mbp) within its order, but its heterozygosity (2.24 %) is significantly higher than that of other species. The representative species Synapta maculata of the order Apodida exhibited a normal genome size (900.97 Mbp), lower proportion of repeat sequences (42.19 %), and lower heterozygosity (0.84 %), making it the species with the least challenges for genome sequencing and assembly in the future among all surveyed species. Subsequently, we compiled genomic information from a total of 19 sea cucumber genomes, both newly sequenced and previously reported, revealing a significant linear relationship (P = 0.0001) between genome size and the proportion of repeat sequences in sea cucumbers. Additionally, phylogenetic and comparative analysis of mitochondrial genomes among them indicated extensive rearrangements within the order Apodida, leading to significant discrepancies between mitochondrial and nuclear genome phylogenies., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Rosiglitazone (RSG), as an insulin-sensitizing drug to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is reported to decrease bone quality and increase bone fracture risk. The multiple off-target effects of Resveratrol (RSV), a natural specific agonist of Sirtuin1 (Sirt1) with pro-osteoblastogenesis and anti-adipogenesis effects, on bone loss in T2DM are still under discussion. In this study, successfully ovariectomized rats were fed with high-fat diet and STZ (HFD/STZ) to induced T2DM mice. RSV alone, RSG alone or co-administration of RSV and RSG were given orally to T2DM rats for 8 weeks to determine whether RSV administration had any prevention effect on T2DM osteoporosis. Bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) and bone marrow‑derived macrophages (BMMs) were cultured under high glucose condition and were induced to osteoblasts or adipocytes and osteoclasts, respectively. μCT and HE staining showed that in T2DM osteoporotic rats, RSV co-administration prevents RSG induced-bone loss. ELISA results confirmed that RSV suppressed osteoclast activity and promoted osteoblast activity in diabetic osteoporosis rats and RSG-administrated diabetic osteoporosis rats. In vitro study showed that RSV significantly reversed RSG induced inhibition on osteogenesis and promotion on adiopogenesis of BMSC under high glucose (HG). Moreover, RSV significantly reverse RSG induced osteoclast formation and mature under HG. Taken together, these findings uncover a previously unappreciated anti-osteoporosis effect of concomitant treatment with RSV in RSG-administrated diabetic rats, suggesting the clinical use of RSV as an adjuvant in the treatment of T2DM for preventing or reversing RSG administration-associated bone loss., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Fritillaria ussuriensis is an endangered medicinal plant known for its notable therapeutic properties. Unfortunately, its population has drastically declined due to the destruction of forest habitats. Thus, effectively protecting F. ussuriensis from extinction poses a significant challenge. A profound understanding of its genetic foundation is crucial. To date, research on the complete mitochondrial genome of F. ussuriensis has not yet been reported., Results: The complete mitochondrial genome of F. ussuriensis was sequenced and assembled by integrating PacBio and Illumina sequencing technologies, revealing 13 circular chromosomes totaling 737,569 bp with an average GC content of 45.41%. A total of 55 genes were annotated in this mitogenome, including 2 rRNA genes, 12 tRNA genes, and 41 PCGs. The mitochondrial genome of F. ussuriensis contained 192 SSRs and 4,027 dispersed repeats. In the PCGs of F. ussuriensis mitogenome, 90.00% of the RSCU values exceeding 1 exhibited a preference for A-ended or U-ended codons. In addition, 505 RNA editing sites were predicted across these PCGs. Selective pressure analysis suggested negative selection on most PCGs to preserve mitochondrial functionality, as the notable exception of the gene nad3 showed positive selection. Comparison between the mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes of F. ussuriensis revealed 20 homologous fragments totaling 8,954 bp. Nucleotide diversity analysis revealed the variation among genes, and gene atp9 was the most notable. Despite the conservation of GC content, mitogenome sizes varied significantly among six closely related species, and colinear analysis confirmed the lack of conservation in their genomic structures. Phylogenetic analysis indicated a close relationship between F. ussuriensis and Lilium tsingtauense., Conclusions: In this study, we sequenced and annotated the mitogenome of F. ussuriensis and compared it with the mitogenomes of other closely related species. In addition to genomic features and evolutionary position, this study also provides valuable genomic resources to further understand and utilize this medicinal plant., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus can expel internal organs under stress and regenerate them subsequently. However, growth is delayed during regeneration, significantly impacting the industry. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are single-stranded circular RNA molecules produced through alternative splicing of mRNA precursors. They play crucial roles in regulating gene expression via the ceRNA mechanism. In this study, circRNA profiles of control and regenerated intestines were constructed. A total of 15,874 circRNAs were identified, with a length of 300-350 nucleotides (nt) being the most abundant. Sanger sequencing confirmed the circular structure of circRNA398. Compared with the normal intestine, 50 and 83 differentially expressed circRNAs (DE-circRNAs) were identified in the regenerated intestine at 1 and 3 days post evisceration (dpe), respectively. Gene ontology (GO) terms for signal transduction and development regulation were most significantly enriched in 1dpeVScon and 3dpeVScon treatments, respectively. The dual-luciferase assay revealed that circRNA8388 functions as a sponge for miR-2392, participating in the remodeling of the extracellular matrix (ECM). In conclusion, these findings will contribute to the enhancement of the non-coding RNA database for echinoderms and lay the groundwork for future investigations into circRNA regulation during intestinal regeneration., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: This study aims to develop a novel MRI-based paravertebral muscle quality (PVMQ) score for assessing muscle quality and to investigate its correlation with the degree of fat infiltration (DFF) and the vertebral bone quality (VBQ) score of paravertebral muscles. Additionally, the study compares the effectiveness of the PVMQ score and the VBQ score in assessing muscle quality and bone quality., Methods: PVMQ scores were derived from the ratio of paravertebral muscle signal intensity (SI) to L3 cerebrospinal fluid SI on T2-weighted MRI. Image J software assessed paravertebral muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) and DFF. Spearman rank correlation analyses explored associations between PVMQ, VBQ scores, DFF, and T-scores in both genders. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves compared PVMQ and VBQ scores' effectiveness in distinguishing osteopenia/osteoporosis and high paraspinal muscle DFF., Results: In this study of 144 patients (94 females), PVMQ scores were significantly higher in osteoporosis and osteopenia groups compared to normals, with variations observed between genders (P < 0.05). PVMQ showed stronger positive correlation with VBQ scores and DFF in females than males (0.584 vs 0.445, 0.579 vs 0.528; P < 0.01). ROC analysis favored PVMQ over VBQ for low muscle mass in both genders (AUC = 0.767 vs 0.718, 0.793 vs 0.718). VBQ was better for bone mass in males (0.737/0.865 vs 0.691/0.858), whereas PVMQ excelled for females (0.808/0.764 vs 0.721/0.718)., Conclusion: The novel PVMQ score provides a reliable assessment of paravertebral muscle quality and shows a strong correlation with VBQ scores and DFF, particularly in females. It outperforms VBQ scores in evaluating muscle mass and offers valuable insights for assessing bone mass in females. These findings underscore the potential of the PVMQ score as a dual-purpose tool for evaluating both muscle and bone health, informing future research and clinical practice., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work., (© 2024 Wang et al.)

Background: Variations exist in the response of patients with Crohn's disease (CD) to ustekinumab (UST) treatment, but the underlying cause remains unknown. Our objective was to investigate the involvement of immune cells and identify potential biomarkers that could predict the response to interleukin (IL) 12/23 inhibitors in patients with CD., Methods: The GSE207022 dataset, which consisted of 54 non-responders and 9 responders to UST in a CD cohort, was analyzed. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified and subjected to Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression was used to screen the most powerful hub genes. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to evaluate the predictive performances of these genes. Single-sample Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (ssGSEA) was used to estimate the proportions of immune cell types. These significantly altered genes were subjected to cluster analysis into immune cell-related infiltration. To validate the reliability of the candidates, patients prescribed UST as a first-line biologic in a prospective cohort were included as an independent validation dataset., Results: A total of 99 DEGs were identified in the integrated dataset. GO and KEGG analyses revealed significant enrichment of immune response pathways in patients with CD. Thirteen genes (SOCS3, CD55, KDM5D, IGFBP5, LCN2, SLC15A1, XPNPEP2, HLA-DQA2, HMGCS2, DDX3Y, ITGB2, CDKN2B and HLA-DQA1), which were primarily associated with the response versus nonresponse patients, were identified and included in the LASSO analysis. These genes accurately predicted treatment response, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.938. T helper cell type 1 (Th1) cell polarization was comparatively strong in nonresponse individuals. Positive connections were observed between Th1 cells and the LCN2 and KDM5D genes. Furthermore, we employed an independent validation dataset and early experimental verification to validate the LCN2 and KDM5D genes as effective predictive markers., Conclusions: Th1 cell polarization is an important cause of nonresponse to UST therapy in patients with CD. LCN2 and KDM5D can be used as predictive markers to effectively identify nonresponse patients., Trial Registration: Trial registration number: NCT05542459; Date of registration: 2022-09-14; URL: https://www., Clinicaltrials: gov ., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The ocean is facing a multitude of abiotic stresses due to factors such as climate change and pollution. Understanding how organisms in the ocean respond to these global changes is vital to better predicting consequences. Sea cucumbers are popular echinoderms with multiple ecological, nutritional, and pharmaceutical benefits. Here, we reviewed the effects of environmental change on an ecologically important echinoderm of the ocean, aiming to understand their response better, which could facilitate healthy culture programs under environmental changes and draw attention to knowledge gaps. After screening articles from the databases, 142 studies were included on the influence of emergent contaminants and climate variation on the early developmental stages and adults of sea cucumbers. We outlined the potential mechanism underlying the physiological response of sea cucumbers to emerging contaminants and climate change. It can be concluded that the physiological response of sea cucumbers to emergent contaminants differs from their response to climate change. Sea cucumbers could accumulate pollutants in their organs but are aestivated when exposed to extreme climate change. Research showed that the physiological response of sea cucumbers to pollutants indicates that these pollutants impair critical physiological processes, particularly during the more susceptible early phases of development compared to adults, and the accumulation of these pollutants in adults is often observed. For climate change, sea cucumbers showed gradual adaptation to the slight variation. However, sea cucumbers undergo aestivation under extreme conditions. Based on this review, critical suggestions for future research are presented, and we call for more efforts focusing on the co-occurrence of different stressors to extend the knowledge regarding the effects of environmental changes on these economically and ecologically important species., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of the S1 vertebral bone quality (VBQ) score in assessing bone quality among patients with vertebral fragility fractures (VFF). Additionally, whether the combination of S1 VBQ and Hounsfield unit (HU) values improves the predictive accuracy of VFF., Methods: Using lumbar noncontrast computed tomography and T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging, we measured L1 HU values, S1 VBQ, and L1-L4 VBQ. To assess their predictive performance for VFF, we constructed receiver operating characteristic curves. We also compared the diagnostic efficacy of HU values with that of S1 VBQ and L1--L4 VBQ values for the joint diagnosis of VFF. The Delong test was used to compare the value of individual or combined predictions of VFF., Results: In comparison to the nonfracture group, all patients exhibited markedly elevated S1 VBQ and L1--L4 VBQ and notably reduced HU values (P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that elevated S1 VBQ, increased L1--L4 VBQ, and decreased HU values independently correlated with VFF development. The areas under the curve for VFF prediction were 0.806 for S1 VBQ, 0.799 for L1--L4 VBQ, and 0.820 for HU values. According to the Delong test, the combination of HU values with S1 VBQ/L1--L4 VBQ significantly improved the diagnostic accuracy., Conclusions: The simplified S1 VBQ is a valuable tool for predicting the occurrence of VFF and can be used as an alternative to the L1--L4 VBQ. In addition, the combination of S1 VBQ and HU values can significantly improve the predictive value of VFF., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Low dissolved oxygen (LO) conditions represent a major environmental challenge to marine life, especially benthic animals. For these organisms, drastic declines in oxygen availability (hypoxic events) can trigger mass mortality events and thus, act as agents of selection influencing the evolution of adaptations. In sea cucumbers, one of the most successful groups of benthic invertebrates, the exposure to hypoxic conditions triggers adaptive adjustments in metabolic rates and behaviour. It is unclear, however, how these adaptive responses are regulated and the genetic mechanisms underpinning them. Here, we addressed this knowledge gap by assessing the genetic regulation (transcription and translation) of hypoxia exposure in the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus. Transcriptional and translational gene expression profiles under short- and long-term exposure to low oxygen conditions are tightly associated with extracellular matrix (ECM)-receptor interaction in which laminin and collagen likely have important functions. Finding revealed that genes with a high translational efficiency (TE) had a relatively short upstream open reading frame (uORF) and a high uORF normalized minimal free energy, suggesting that sea cucumbers may respond to hypoxic stress via altered TE. These results provide valuable insights into the regulatory mechanisms that confer adaptive capacity to holothurians to survive oxygen deficiency conditions and may also be used to inform the development of strategies for mitigating the harmful effects of hypoxia on other marine invertebrates facing similar challenges., (© 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Objective: This study aimed to assess the utility of a combined assessment using the Osteoporosis Self-Assessment Tool for Asians (OSTA), Hounsfield unit (HU) value, and vertebral bone quality (VBQ) score for preoperative osteoporosis (OP) screening in patients scheduled for spinal surgery., Methods: This study encompassed 288 participants, including 128 males and 160 females. Patients were stratified into 2 groups: the OP group (T-score ≤ -2.5) and the non-OP group (T-score > -2.5), determined by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). Binary logistic regression was used to construct a combined diagnostic model, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve evaluated the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of these metrics individually or in combination to screen for OP., Results: Osteoporosis patients exhibited significantly lower OSTA and HU values in comparison to non-OP patients, while their VBQ scores were significantly higher (P < 0.001). The ROC curve analysis results indicated that within the male group, the combined diagnosis had a sensitivity of 93.8%, specificity of 82.3%, accuracy of 85.2%, PPV of 63.8%, and NPV of 97.5%. In the female group, the combined diagnosis had a sensitivity of 93.9%, specificity of 87.4%, accuracy of 90.0%, PPV of 83.6%, and NPV of 95.4%., Conclusions: The combined use of OSTA, HU values, and VBQ scores in preoperative OP screening for spinal surgery demonstrates significantly higher accuracy and superior screening value compared to individual assessments. These results establish a robust scientific foundation for conducting preoperative OP screening in patients undergoing spinal surgery., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), with the strong toxicity and carcinogenicity, has been reported to great toxicity to the liver and other organs of animals. It cause huge economic losses to breeding industry, including the aquaculture industry. Chinese mitten crabs (Eriocheir sinensis), as one of important species of freshwater aquaculture in China, are deeply disturbed by it. However, the molecular and metabolic mechanisms of hepatopancreas and ovary in crabs underlying coping ability are still unclear. Hence, we conducted targeted injection experiment with or without AFB1, and comprehensively analyzed transcriptome and metabolomics of hepatopancreas and ovary. As a result, 210 and 250 DEGs were identified in the L-C vs. L-30 m and L-C vs. L-60 m comparison, among which 14 common DEGs were related to six major functional categories, including antibacterial and detoxification, ATP energy reaction, redox reaction, nerve reaction, liver injury repair and immune reaction. A total of 228 and 401 DAMs in the ML-C vs. ML-30 m and ML-C vs. ML-60 m comparison both enriched 12 pathways, with clear functions of cutin, suberine and wax biosynthesis, tyrosine metabolism, purine metabolism, nucleotide metabolism, glycine, serine and threonine metabolism, ABC transporters and tryptophan metabolism. Integrated analysis of metabolomics and transcriptome in hepatopancreas discovered three Co-enriched pathways, including steroid biosynthesis, glycine, serine and threonine metabolism, and sphingolipid metabolism. In summary, the expression levels and functions of related genes and metabolites reveal the regulatory mechanism of Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) adaptability to the Aflatoxin B1, and the findings contribute to a new perspective for understanding Aflatoxin B1 and provide some ideas for dealing with it., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Yang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background: Ustekinumab and vedolizumab are both effective for treating Crohn's disease (CD). However, no head-to-head trials have been conducted thus far. We aimed to compare the effectiveness of ustekinumab and vedolizumab in CD patients either naïve or exposed to tumor necrosis factor-alpha inhibitors (TNFi)., Methods: Patients treated with vedolizumab or ustekinumab for luminal CD were included from six centers in China from May 2020 to July 2023. Steroid-free remission, clinical remission, objective response, and remission at Weeks 26 and 52 were evaluated in a retrospective multicenter propensity score-weighted cohort., Findings: A total of 536 patients were included (386 ustekinumab, and 150 vedolizumab). After adjustment, ustekinumab showed higher rates of clinical remission (56.4% vs. 47.8%, P  = 0.005), steroid-free remission (55.4% vs. 46.1%, P  = 0.003), and objective response (67.8% vs. 42.7%, P  < 0.001) than vedolizumab at Week 26. At Week 52, ustekinumab exhibited significantly higher rates of clinical remission (65.8% vs. 37.5%, P  < 0.001), steroid-free remission (65.8% vs. 37.5%, P  < 0.001), objective response (66.7% vs. 23.8%, P  < 0.001), and objective remission (31.4% vs. 12.7%, P  < 0.001). Subgroup analyses revealed that ustekinumab had higher rates of clinical remission, steroid-free remission, and objective response at Weeks 26 and 52, and objective remission at Week 52 in TNFi-exposed patients, while ustekinumab showed higher rates of objective response at Weeks 26 and 52 and clinical remission, steroid-free remission and objective remission at Week 52 in TNFi-naïve patients. Adverse event rates were similar between the groups (4.9% ustekinumab vs. 6.7% vedolizumab, P  = 0.423)., Interpretation: Ustekinumab showed superior clinical and objective outcomes compared to vedolizumab, with comparable safety outcomes. The therapeutic superiority was observed in both short-term and long-term phases in TNFi-exposed patients, and the long-term phase in TNFi-naïve patients., Funding: National Natural Science Foundation of China, Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation, Key Research Projects of the Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, the program of Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Digestive Diseases, and National Key Clinical Discipline., Competing Interests: There is no conflict of interest., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Background: Postoperative complications of spinal surgery are a common clinical problem, which impose significant economic and clinical burdens on patients and medical staff. Previous studies have suggested a close relationship between low-protein malnutrition and postoperative complications of surgery. However, the relationship between preoperative malnutrition and various orthopedic postoperative complications remains unclear., Purpose: To investigate the association between protein malnutrition and postoperative complications and outcomes., Methods: We conducted a systematic search of the PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases for published research articles between the database inception and February 28th, 2023, that evaluated the association between malnutrition and the risk of postoperative complications and death in spinal surgery patients. Malnutrition was defined as low pre-albumin and albumin levels before surgery. Two evaluators independently extracted study data and assessed the risk of bias in each study. Fixed- or random-effect models were used to calculate the pooled effect estimates. Funnel plots and Egger's tests were used to detect publication bias, and the Trim-and -Fill method was conducted to evaluate the impact of publication bias on the results., Results: A total of 26 studies were included in this meta-analysis, comprising 17 retrospective cohort studies and 9 case-control studies. The study included more than 86,000 participants. Analysis of postoperative complications revealed that the overall incidence of malnutrition-related complications after surgery was 3.17 times higher (OR = 3.17, 95% CI 2.69-3.75, z = 13.57, P < 0.05). The incidence of surgical site infections was 2.08 times higher (OR = 2.08, 95% CI 1.66-2.62, z = 6.307, P < 0.05), and the incidence of postoperative urinary tract infections was 2.55 times higher (OR = 2.55, 95% CI 1.80-3.60, z = 5.30, P < 0.05). The incidence of postoperative sepsis was 3.31 times higher (OR = 3.31, 95% CI 2.31-4.75, z = 6.51, P < 0.05), and the incidence of postoperative pneumonia was 3.02 times higher (OR = 3.02, 95% CI 1.331-6.857, z = 2.64, P = 0.008 < 0.05). The incidence of postoperative cardiac complications was 4.24 times higher (OR = 4.24, 95% CI 2.45-7.35, z = 5.15, P < 0.05), and the incidence of postoperative renal complications was 4.04 times higher (OR = 4.04, 95% CI 2.06-7.93, z = 4.05, P < 0.05). The incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications was 2.38 times higher (OR = 2.38, 95% CI 1.46-3.87, z = 6.98, P < 0.05), while the incidence of postoperative thrombotic complications was 2.76 times higher (OR = 2.76, 95% CI 1.756-4.345, z = 4.40, P < 0.05). Furthermore, the incidence of transfusion during and after surgery was 1.33 times higher (OR = 1.33, 95% CI 1.13-1.56, z = 3.40, P = 0.001 < 0.05), the incidence of postoperative readmission was 1.67 times higher (OR = 1.67, 95% CI 1.24-2.27, z = 3.33, P = 0.001 < 0.05), and the risk of postoperative death was 6.01 times higher (OR = 6.01, 95% CI 4.51-8.01, z = 12.27, P < 0.05). After conducting a publication bias test and Trim-and -Fill method analysis, we found no evidence of publication bias, and the results remained stable., Conclusion: Preoperative low protein malnutrition is closely related to the incidence of postoperative complications and postoperative status. More prospective multicenter studies should be conducted to validate this conclusion. Furthermore, more effective assessment and intervention of preoperative nutritional status should be carried out to prevent the occurrence of postoperative complications and mortality risk., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors., (Copyright © 2023 European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: There is little data on the role of endoscopic stricturotomy (ES) in treating deep small bowel strictures. We aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of balloon-assisted enteroscopy-based ES (BAE-based ES) for deep small bowel strictures associated with Crohn's disease (CD)., Methods: This multicentre retrospective cohort study included consecutive patients with CD-associated deep small bowel strictures treated with BAE-based ES between 2017 and 2023. The outcomes included technical success, clinical improvement, surgery-free rate, reintervention-free rate, and adverse events., Results: Twenty-eight patients with CD underwent 58 BAE-based ES procedures for non-passable deep small bowel strictures, with a median follow-up time of 519.5 days (interquartile range, 306-728 days). Fifty-six (96.0%) procedures were technically successful in 26 (92.9%) patients. Twenty patients (71.4%) showed clinical improvement at week 8. The cumulative surgery-free rate at 1 year was 74.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 60.3-92.9%). A higher body mass index was associated with a decreased need for surgery (hazard ratio = 0.084, 95% CI, 0.016-0.45, P = 0.0036). Postprocedural adverse events (bleeding and perforation) requiring reintervention occurred in 3.4% of the procedures., Conclusions: The novel BAE-based ES provides high technical success, favorable efficacy, and safety in CD-associated deep small bowel strictures, which may provide an alternative for endoscopic balloon dilation and surgery., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Aestivation is considered to be one of the "purest" hypometabolic states in nature, as it involves aerobic dormancy that can be induced and sustained without complex factors. Animals that undergo aestivation to protect themselves from environmental stressors such as high temperatures, droughts, and food shortages. However, this shift in body metabolism presents new challenges for survival, including oxidative stress upon awakening from aestivation, accumulation of toxic metabolites, changes in energy sources, adjustments to immune status, muscle atrophy due to prolonged immobility, and degeneration of internal organs due to prolonged food deprivation. In this review, we summarize the physiological and metabolic strategies, key regulatory factors, and networks utilized by aestivating animals to address the aforementioned components of aestivation. Furthermore, we present a comprehensive overview of the advancements made in aestivation research across major species, including amphibians, fish, reptiles, annelids, mollusks, and echinoderms, categorized according to their respective evolutionary positions. This approach offers a distinct perspective for comparative analysis, facilitating an understanding of the shared traits and unique features of aestivation across different groups of organisms.

Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) mainly caused by the Omicron virus strain currently is still prevalent worldwide, and many medical institutions have experienced COVID-19 outbreaks in the past three years., Objective: This article reported COVID-19 outbreak among health care workers in a mental hospital to clarify the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 outbreak in a medical institution, to assess the susceptible factors related to COVID-19 among these personnel and to evaluate the effect of COVID-19 vaccine on the medical workers., Methods: A uniform questionnaire was used to investigate all employees, including age, gender, department, time of onset, clinical symptoms, vaccination status. At the same, the results of laboratory testing, chest computed tomography (CT) and/or X-ray examination were collected., Results: Among 1047 hospital employees, 842 cases were diagnosed as COVID-19, with a total attack rate of 80.42%. The attack rate of doctors, nurses, medical technicians, and administrators (83.50-90.67%) was higher than that of logistics departments (56.81%). Out of the 842 patients, 9 were hospitalized; 833 were non-hospitalized patients who belong to mild or moderate cases. No deaths were reported. The full vaccination rate and booster rate of COVID-19 vaccine were 78.26% and 80.87%, respectively. There was no significant correlation between the attack rate and COVID-19 vaccine ( χ 2 = 3.41 P > 0.05)., Conclusion: This is an outbreak of COVID-19 with a high attack rate among employees in a mental hospital. The attack rate of medical personnel is higher than that of logistics personnel, which may be related to opportunities and duration of contact with infected individuals. COVID-19 vaccine has no significant protective effect on patients with mild or moderate symptoms 13 months after the full vaccination. It is suggested that they should be timely boostered with COVID-19 vaccine to maintain their immunity to the disease., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 Zhou et al.)

Low dissolved oxygen (LO) in seawater negatively affects aquatic animals and has received considerable attention. However, there is still much to learn about how echinoderms, which are keystone species in benthic ecosystems, respond to hypoxic stress. Here, we detected differentially expressed metabolites (DEMs) in sea cucumber (Apositchopus japonicus) between normoxic conditions (NC group) and hypoxic conditions (2 mg L -1 ) for 3 and 7 days (i.e., LO3 and LO7 groups). A total of 243, 298, and 178 DEMs were found in the NC versus LO3, NC vs. LO7, and LO3 vs. LO7 comparisons, respectively. Amino acids were the most abundant class of DEMs, and "biosynthesis of amino acids" was an enriched pathway in all three comparisons. Most of the enriched metabolite sets under hypoxic stress were related to metabolism. As the duration of the hypoxia treatment extended, the metabolism-related process maintained an upward trend, and signaling pathways maintained a downward trend. Thus, metabolism-related processes are affected in hypoxia-stressed sea cucumber, and amino acid metabolism is the most important process for adaption to hypoxic conditions, potentially function in osmotic regulation and energy regulation. Our results shed light on the adaptative strategies of sea cucumber to challenging environmental conditions., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus has important nutritional and medicinal value. Unfortunately, we know little of the source of active chemicals in this animal, but the plentiful pigments of these animals are thought to function in intriguing ways for translation into clinical and food chemistry usage. Here, we found key cell groups with the gene activity predicted for the color morphology of sea cucumber body using single-cell RNA-seq. We refer to these cell populations as melanocytes and quinocytes, which are responsible for the synthesis of melanin and quinone pigments, respectively. We integrated analysis of pigment biochemistry with the transcript profiles to illuminate the molecular mechanisms regulating distinct pigment formation in echinoderms. In concert with the correlated pigment analysis from each color morph, this study expands our understanding of medically important pigment production, as well as the genetic mechanisms for color morphs, and provides deep datasets for exploring advancements in the fields of bioactives and nutraceuticals.

Objective: To explore the value of 1.5T magnetic resonance (MR) fat saturation-T2-weighted imaging (FS-T2WI) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) imaging texture features in distinguishing the renal changes of patients with stage III type 2 diabetic kidney disease (DKD) from healthy people., Methods: This study collected 55 patients with stage III DKD (39 males and 16 females) and 33 healthy controls (13 males and 20 females) from December 2021 to June 2022 in the China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University. All subjects were randomly divided in a ratio of 6:4 to extract and screen the FS-T2WI and ADC texture features of the right kidney of the subjects. The area under the curve (AUC) was used to assess the diagnostic accuracy of each model., Results: There were significant differences between urea, creatinine and sex ( p <0.05) of the two groups in the training and test set, and no significant difference in age and body mass index (BMI). We extracted 1409 imaging features from the original ADC sequence and selected them by wavelet and Laplace-Gaussian filter and LASSO algorithm, and using the same methods of FS-T2WI. Finally, FS-T2WI and ADC models were selected to construct the united model, including 3 first-order features and 8 texture features. The AUC values of the training set of FS-T2WI, ADC, FS-T2WI+ADC combined logistic regression model were 0.96, 0.91, 0.98; the AUC values of the test set were 0.91, 0.89 and 0.93, and the specificity and accuracy values of the united model were 0.90 and 0.89, respectively., Conclusion: FS-T2WI and ADC imaging features based on 1.5 T MR had diagnostic value in the early diagnosis of DKD stage III, and the combined model of FS-T2WI and ADC had high diagnostic efficiency., Competing Interests: All of the authors had no any personal, financial, commercial, or academic conflicts of interest separately., (© 2023 Zhang et al.)

Sea cucumber is a morphologically diverse and ecologically important clade of echinoderms. The sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus is the most economically valuable species of sea cucumber. The initial assembly of the A. japonicus genome was released in 2017. However, this genome assembly is fragmented and lacks relative position information of genes on chromosomes. In this study, we produced a high-quality chromosome-level genome of A. japonicus using Pacbio HiFi long-reads and Hi-C sequencing data. The assembled A. japonicus genome spanned 671.60 Mb with a contig N50 size of 17.20 Mb and scaffold N50 size of 29.65 Mb. A total of 99.9% of the assembly was anchored to 23 chromosomes. In total, 19,828 genes were annotated, and 97.2% of BUSCO genes were fully represented. This high-quality genome of A. japonicus will not only aid in the development of sustainable aquaculture practices, but also lay a foundation for a deeper understanding of their genetic makeup, evolutionary history, and ecological adaptation., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Determining the amount of microplastics (MPs) in food is key to clarifying their potential toxicity to humans. Here, we collected canned, instant, and salt-dried sea cucumbers Apostichopus japonicus, the most valued sea cucumbers, from Chinese markets to determine their content of MPs. Sea cucumbers contained MPs in the range of 0-4 MP individual -1 , an average of 1.44 MP individual -1 , and 0.081 MP g -1 . Accordingly, consuming 3 g of sea cucumbers could result in an exposure risk of an average of 0.51 MPs, 0.135 MPs, and 0.078 MPs day -1 for canned, instant, and salt-dried sea cucumbers, respectively. MPs were in size range of 12-575 μm, and fibrous shape was dominant. Furthermore, among the five polymers identified, polypropylene showed the highest energy binding with two catalysts engaged in organic chemical oxidation. This study extends the knowledge regarding MPs occurrence in food and provides a theoretical basis for MPs toxicity in humans., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In this study, a ZSM-5/CLCA molecular sieve was prepared by the hydrothermal method using coal gangue as the raw material and cellulose aerogel (CLCA) as the green templating agent, which not only reduces the cost of traditional molecular preparation but also improves the comprehensive resource utilization rate of coal gangue. Through a series of characterization methods (XRD, SEM, FT-IR, TEM, TG, and BET), the crystal form, morphology, and specific surface area of the prepared sample were tested and analyzed. The performance of the adsorption process of malachite green (MG) solution was analyzed by adsorption kinetics and adsorption isotherm. The results show that the synthesized zeolite molecular sieve and the commercial zeolite molecular sieve are highly consistent. At a crystallization time of 16 h, a crystallization temperature of 180 °C, and an additive amount of cellulose aerogel of 0.6 g, the adsorption capacity of ZSM-5/CLCA for MG was up to 136.5 mg/g, much higher than that of commercially available ZSM-5. This provides an idea for the green preparation of gangue-based zeolite molecular sieves to remove organic pollutants from water. Moreover, the process of adsorbing MG on the multistage porous molecular sieve, which is spontaneous, conforms to the pseudo-second-order kinetic equation and Langmuir isothermal adsorption model.

Graphene aerogels (GAs) possess workable deformation and sensing properties at extreme temperatures. However, their poor tensile properties have restricted their applications in stretchable electronic devices, smart soft robots, and aerospace. Herein, an ultra-stretchable and elastic graphene aerogel with record elongation from -95% to 400% was achieved by constructing a highly crimped and crosslinked graphene network using a microbubble-filled GA precursor by a simple compress-annealing process. This conductive aerogel with near zero Poisson's ratio showed rubber-like but temperature-invariant elasticity from 196.5 °C to 300 °C, and special strain insensitivity from 50% to 400% tensile strain and high sensitivity below 50% tensile strain. Therefore, it can be used as a highly stretchable but strain-insensitive conductor under extreme environments, in which these polymer-based stretchable conductive materials are not workable. Moreover, this work provides new thoughts on constructing inorganic ultra-stretchable materials.

The fabrication of composite materials is an effective way to improve the performance of a single material and expand its application range. In recent years, graphene-based materials/polymer composite aerogels have become a hot research field for preparing high-performance composites due to their special synergistic effects in mechanical and functional properties. In this paper, the preparation methods, structures, interactions, properties, and applications of graphene-based materials/polymer composite aerogels are discussed, and their development trend is projected. This paper aims to arouse extensive research interests in multidisciplinary fields and provide guidance for the rational design of advanced aerogel materials, which could then encourage efforts to use these new kinds of advanced materials in basic research and commercial applications.

Parental nutrient reserves are directly related to reproductive performance in sea cucumbers. This study focused on the lipid requirements of male and female sea cucumbers Apostichopus japonicus during the reproductive stage and analyzed their physiological responses to a high-fat diet (HFD). The intestinal lipid metabolites and microbiome profile changed significantly in animals fed with the HFD, as given by an upregulation of metabolites related to lipid metabolism and an increase in the predominance of Proteobacteria in the microbiome, respectively. The metabolic responses of male and female sea cucumbers to the HFD differed, which in turn could have triggered sex-related differences in the intestinal microbiome. These results suggest that the lipid content in diets can be differentially adjusted for male and female sea cucumbers to improve nutrition and promote reproduction. This data contributes to a better understanding of the reproductive biology and sex differences of sea cucumbers.

Exosomes are small extracellular vesicles that contain nucleic acids such as microRNAs and may participate in important biological processes. We made the initial report of exosomes from sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus, that were classically cup-shaped and had an average size of 74.65 nm, and identified specific exosome biomarkers (HSP70, TSG101, and CD9). We explored changes in the global expression of microRNAs in exosomes from the commercially important A. japonicus under normal conditions and heat-stressed conditions for 3 and 7 d. We found that heat stress increased exosome production and modified the expression profiles of the microRNAs that they contained. Novel&#95;mir31, novel&#95;mir132, novel&#95;mir26, miR-92&#95;1, and novel&#95;mir27 were commonly found to be differentially expressed in three comparison groups, indicating their importance in the heat stress response. The microRNA expression levels were validated by qPCR. Function analysis of the target genes of these microRNAs indicated they were involved mainly in replication and repair in the initial response of A. japonicus to heat stress exposure. Conversely, during acclimation to the high temperature conditions, the target genes of the differentially expressed microRNAs were primarily involved in metabolism adjustments. Our results will contribute to a better understanding of the regulatory roles of exosomes in sea cucumber, and provide insights into the functions of sea cucumber exosome-shuttled microRNAs against environmental stresses exacerbated by global warming., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Sea cucumbers are economical and ecologically important species, playing a crucial role in nutrient recycling in the ocean and providing valuable bioactive compounds for nutrition. Previous research has demonstrated that microplastic fibers, which are widely recognized as emerging contaminants, are transferred to the perivisceral coelomic fluid during respiration in sea cucumbers; however, their fate in sea cucumbers is still not well understood. We tracked the status of sea cucumbers (Apostichopus japonicus) with polyester microplastic fibers in their coelomic fluid in clean water. The results showed that after transferring sea cucumbers to clean water, the number of microplastic fibers transferred significantly decreased in the coelomic fluid, but at least one microplastic fiber was found up to 60 days. In addition, sea cucumbers recovered from the effect of microplastic fiber transfer, as indicated by enzyme levels and histological observations. Furthermore, single microplastic fiber transfer over a 60-day farmed period did not significantly affect the growth of sea cucumbers. However, repetitive microplastic fiber transfer (i.e., twice and thrice a week over 60 days) significantly decreased the growth rate (p < 0.05). Accordingly, increasing microplastic fibers in sea cucumber habitats pose a threat to sea cucumbers because they can disrupt development. Thus, farmers are advised to select locations for farming sea cucumbers where low microplastic fiber concentrations are expected. Environ Toxicol Chem 2023;42:205-212. © 2022 SETAC., (© 2022 SETAC.)

Melanin, which is a pigment produced in melanocytes, is an important contributor to sea cucumber body color. MITF is one of the most critical genes in melanocyte development and melanin synthesis pathways. However, how MITF regulates body color and differentiation in sea cucumbers is poorly understood. In this study, we analyzed the expression level and location of MITF in white, purple, and green sea cucumbers and identified the genes regulated by MITF using chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing. The mRNA and protein expression levels of MITF were all highest in purple morphs and lowest in white morphs. In situ hybridization indicated that MITF mRNA were mainly expressed in the epidermis. We also identified 984, 732, and 1191 peaks of MITF binding in green, purple, and white sea cucumbers, which were associated with 727, 557, and 887 genes, respectively. Our findings suggested that MITF contributed to the body color differentiation of green, purple, and white sea cucumbers through expression differences and regulation of downstream genes. These results provided a basis for future studies to determine the mechanisms underlying body color formation and provided insights into gene regulation in sea cucumbers.

As important structural units, biomass nanomaterials have exhibited great potentials to construct high-performance macroscopic materials for broad applications by liquid assembly. However, the liquid aggregation of nanomaterials was less investigated. Here, we demonstrate that the one-dimensional (1D) zwitterionic chitin nanocrystals (ZChNCs) can be reversibly captured and released by two-dimensional (2D) planar catchers of graphene oxide (GO) sheets. The dominant electrostatic regulation strategy by pH variation drives that there are three reversible changes for the liquid aggregation of ZChNCs and GO, which were the isolated dispersion state (pH > 7), homogeneous hybridization state (7 ≥ pH ≥ 5), and partially stacked hybridization state (pH < 5), respectively. We found there are no sedimentation during the change of liquid aggregation with the higher absolute Zeta potentials (almost>30 mV). Moreover, the ZChNCs-GO nanohybrids have reached a maximum Zeta potential up to -80 mV, which can be explained by the ionization of excess carboxyl groups on the surface of ZChNCs. Besides, the electrostatic regulation endows the nanohybrids with rheological behavior, which is beneficial to the macro assembly of liquid nanomaterials. This work provides a new class of hybrid colloidal nanomaterials, opens the structural design dimension of macro assembly and holds great potentials in high-performance biodegradable material., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) is the predominant congener of polybrominated diphenyl ethers, and it is also a persistent organic pollutant that with a higher detection rate in samples from environment and animals. To date, there have been few studies of the effects of BDE-47 on locomotion in sea cucumbers. In this study, we investigated the influence of different concentrations of BDE-47 (low: 0.1 μg/L; moderate: 1.0 μg/L; high: 10.0 μg/L) on locomotion of Apostichopus japonicus and evaluated changes in their muscle physiology using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The behavioural studies showed that the average and maximum velocity of movement decreased significantly in both the moderate and high BDE-47 groups after 1 day of exposure. In addition, levels of 55 metabolites were identified and characterized in the longitudinal muscle of A. japonicus exposed to BDE-47. The alteration of taurine and norepinephrine levels indicated that BDE-47 had drastic physiological effects on the longitudinal muscle of A. japonicus., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

PMMA bone cement has been clinically used for decades in vertebroplasty due to its high mechanical strength and satisfactory injectability. However, the interface between bone and PMMA is fragile and more prone to refracture in situ because PMMA lacks a proper biological response from the host bone with minimal bone integration and dense fibrous tissue formation. Here, we modified PMMA by incoporating borosilicate glass (BSG) with a dual glass network of [BO 3 ] and [SiO 4 ], which spontaneously modulates immunity and osteogenesis. In particular, the BSG modified PMMA bone cement (abbreviated as BSG/PMMA cement) provided an alkaline microenvironment that spontaneously balanced the activities between osteoclasts and osteoblasts. Furthermore, the trace elements released from the BSGs enhanced the osteogenesis to strengthen the interface between the host bone and the implant. This study shows the first clinical case after implantation of BSG/PMMA for three months using the dual-energy CT, which found apatite nucleation around PMMA instead of fibrous tissues, indicating the biological interface was formed. Therefore, BSG/PMMA is promising as a biomaterial in vertebroplasty, overcoming the drawback of PMMA by improving the biological response from the host bone.

Persicaria perfoliata (L.) H. Gross is an herbal medicine with a long history of common use in China. In this study, we sequenced and assembled the complete chloroplast genome sequence of P. perfoliata and investigated its phylogenetic relationship in the family Polygonaceae. The total genome size is 160,585 bp in length with 37.96% GC content, consisting of a small single-copy (SSC) of 12,876 bp, a large single-copy (LSC) of 85,439 bp, and two inverted repeats (IRs) of 31,135 bp. The cp genome contains 128 genes, including 35 tRNA genes, eight rRNA genes, and 85 protein-coding genes. The phylogenetic tree showed that P. perfoliata was closely related to P. maackiana , and Persicaria exhibited a closer relationship with Bistorta in the family Polygonaceae. This work provides a molecular basis for investigating the evolutionary status, phylogenetic relationships, and population genetics of this species., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s)., (© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.)

Despite the great promise of cancer theranostic platforms, accurate diagnosis and effective treatment are still highly challenging. In this work, nanodevice for intracellular miRNAs detection and artificially controlled drug releasement was developed based on upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs). For analysis aspect, DNAzymes amplified miRNA-21 detection was carried out, giving excellent sensitivity with detection limits of 1.8 × 10 -11  M. Moreover, intracellular fluorescence imaging permitted in situ diagnoses of miRNA-21 expression in living cells. Once the test identifies tumor markers, treatment can be performed. Here, artificially controlled chemo-gene synergetic therapy nanodevice was obtained by integrating UCNPs with photocleavable linkers (PC-linkers). In vitro and in vivo experiments verified the potential application of prepared nanodevice in cancer theranostics., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Malignant and giant pelvic tumors are complex and rare, and hemipelvectomies are complex procedures performed for this malignant lesion. Only a few studies had been conducted on the survival and recurrence of pelvic sarcomas patients undergoing internal or external hemipelvectomy. In the present study, we compared internal with external hemipelvectomy in pelvic sarcomas on clinical outcomes by a meta-analysis., Methods: The survival and recurrence rates of pelvic sarcomas patients were collected from research reports from CNKI, MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Database, and Google Scholar until April 2022. The quality of included articles was evaluated by two independent reviewers. Differences between patients undergoing internal and external hemipelvectomy were analyzed based on postoperative survival and recurrence rates., Results: Five articles were included according to selection criteria. There were 183 patients in total from these studies. Our results showed that there was no significant difference between limb salvage surgery and amputation according to survival; however, patients with internal hemipelvectomy had a lower recurrence rate., Conclusions: Internal hemipelvectomy results in a lower recurrence rate and similar survival rate, while not increasing the risk of metastasis and complications. This study provided more pieces of evidence to support internal hemipelvectomy as a favorable treatment of pelvic sarcomas., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (© 2022 Banskota, Yang, Fang, Yuan, Zhang and Duan.)

The cellulose nanocrystal (CNC)/transition metal oxide hybrid porous microspheres usually have high adsorption performance and degradability, and show promising applications in the field of wastewater treatment. However, single metal oxides are limited by the forbidden band width and electron-hole complexation, and often fail to achieve good effluent treatment. Herein, a CNC/manganese dioxide/titanium dioxide porous microspheres are prepared by the combination of bubble template and ionic crosslinking between sodium alginate and Ca 2+ ions as a matrix. Based on the synergistic effect of two kinds of transition metal oxide, the degradation efficiency of CNC/MnO 2 /TiO 2 porous microspheres for methylene blue is as high as 97.0%, showing easy recovery process and rapid regeneration of this material. Besides, its maximum removal of dyes reaches up to 310.2 mg/g, which is much higher than most CNC based adsorption materials. The concept of concerted catalysis can to explain the origin for excellent performance of as-prepared hybrid microspheres., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Apostichopus japonicus achieves intestinal regeneration in a short period after evisceration, and multiple genes are involved in this process. The transcriptome of A. japonicus was screened for regeneration-associated protein (Aj-Orpin), a gene that is specifically upregulated during intestinal regeneration. The expression and function of Aj-Orpin were identified and investigated in this study. The 5' and 3' RACE polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to clone the full-length cDNA of Aj-Orpin. The open reading frame codes for a 164 amino-acid protein with an EF-hand&#95;7 domain and overlapping signal peptides and transmembrane regions. Moreover, Aj-Orpin mRNA and protein expression during intestinal regeneration was investigated using real-time quantitative PCR and Western blot. The expression pattern of Aj-Orpin in the regenerating intestine was investigated using immunohistochemistry. The results showed that Aj-Orpin is an exocrine protein with two EF-hand-like calcium-binding domains. Expression levels were higher in the regenerating intestine than in the normal intestine, but protein expression changes lagged behind mRNA expression changes. Aj-Orpin was found to play a role in the formation of blastema and lumen. It was primarily expressed in the serosal layer and submucosa, suggesting that it might be involved in proliferation. These observations lay the foundation for understanding the role of Orpin-like in echinoderm intestinal regeneration.

When encountering adverse environmental conditions, some holothurians can eject their internal organs in a process called evisceration. As global warming intensified, eviscerated and intact sea cucumbers both experience heat stress, but how they performed was uncertain. We constructed 24 metabolomics profiles to reveal the metabolite changes of eviscerated and intact sea cucumbers under normal and high temperature conditions, respectively. Carboxylic acids and fatty acyls were the most abundant metabolic categories in evisceration and heat stress treatments, respectively. Neural transduction was involved in sea cucumber evisceration and stress response, and the commonly enriched pathway was "neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction". Lipid metabolism in eviscerated sea cucumbers differed from those of intact individuals and was more seriously affected by heat stress. Choline is a key metabolite for revealing the evisceration mechanism. Our results contribute to understanding the mechanisms of evisceration in sea cucumbers, and how sea cucumbers might respond to increasingly warming ocean conditions., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Most species of the class Holothuroidea are able to regenerate most of their internal organs following a typical evisceration process, which is a unique mechanism that allows sea cucumbers to survive in adverse environments. In this review, we compare autotomy among different type of sea cucumber and summarize the histocytological events that occur during the five stages of intestinal regeneration. Multiple cytological activities, such as apoptosis and dedifferentiation, take place during wound healing and anlage formation. Many studies have focused on the molecular regulation mechanisms that underlie regeneration, and herein we describe the techniques that have been used as well as the development-related signaling pathways and key genes that are significantly expressed during intestinal regeneration. Future analyses of the underlying mechanisms responsible for intestinal regeneration should include mapping at the single-cell level. Studies of visceral regeneration in echinoderms provide a unique perspective for understanding whole-body regeneration or appendage regeneration.

Background: Ustekinumab is effective in treating Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). However, the loss of response (LOR) to ustekinumab and the efficacy of dose escalation have not been systematically explored., Methods: Databases were searched for eligible studies from inception through July 2021. Summary estimates were pooled, and subgroup analyses were performed to explore heterogeneity., Results: We included 14 studies (CD: 13; UC: 1). In CD patients, the annual risk of LOR to ustekinumab and dose escalation among primary responders was 21% (95% confidence interval [CI] 12-31%, 1530 person-years, n = 9) per person-year and 25% (95% CI 12-32%, 657 person-years, n = 5) per person-year respectively. Clinical response was regained in 58% (95% CI 49-67%, 279 patients, n = 8) of secondary non-responders after dose escalation (interval reduction or intravenous reinduction). In UC patients, no studies provided data on LOR, but only one study showed that 35% (100/284) of patients underwent dose escalation (or sham dose adjustment), leading to an annual risk of dose escalation of 18% per person-year. After dose escalation, 58% (14/24) of the patients regained symptomatic remission., Conclusions: Primary responders with CD experienced LOR to ustekinumab at a risk of 21% per person-year and required dose escalation at a risk of 25% per person-year. Fifty-eight per cent of secondary non-responders with CD may benefit from dose escalation. LOR has not been well characterized in patients with UC., (© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The treatment of benign pelvic lesions and tumors is still a challenge in clinical orthopedics. The surgical procedure was complicated and the postoperative complication was hard to avoid usually. The purpose of this study is to analyze the clinical outcome and predict the fracture risk of benign bone tumors on acetabular dome by finite element analysis. In our research, clinical data of 25 patients were collected from January 2010 to January 2017, including basic information of patients, reconstruction methods, complications, and postoperative MSTS function scores. Finite element analysis (FEA) was used to predict the fracture risk when a benign tumor involved an acetabular dome. 25 patients were followed up for 37.5 ± 5.6 (ranging from 24 to 78) months. Intraoperative bleeding was 100-3000 ml (mean 858.3 ml). The postoperative MSTS93 score was 19.61 ± 7.32 before operation and 26.28 ± 15.59 at the last follow-up. The results of finite element analysis suggest that there was a high risk for pathological fracture in the following: both columns were damaged by tumors; the anterior column and 50% of the posterior column were affected. Other cases were in the low fracture risk group. Based on this study, we believe that, according to the risk assessment results of tumor cavity fracture suggested by the FEA results, combined with the nature of tumor, it may become a useful tool which is a great significance to guide the operation plan, select the operation time, and guide the postoperative functional exercise., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Hongsheng Yang et al.)

A novel sulfonic-cellulose succinate half ester (S-CSHE) dispersant for coal-water slurry (CWS) was successfully synthesized using cotton linters, sulfamic acid and succinic anhydride in DMF by a one-pot synthesis. The effects of the synthetic condition of S-CSHE as a dispersant for CWS were studied. An S-CSHE with a maximum degree of substitution of 0.98 was obtained under these optimized conditions. The synthesized samples were characterized by GPC, FT-IR spectroscopy, 13 C-NMR, and SEM. The molecular weight was from 2.2 × 10 3 to 1.2 × 10 4 , revealed by GPC; FT-IR spectra analysis revealed characteristic absorptions of the sulfonic-cellulose succinate half ester; SEM images showed smooth cellulose structures, while the S-CSHE had a compact surface. Effects of S-CSHE on the fluidity of application as the dispersants for the CWS prepared from Chinese Zhundong coal were studied further. The CWS application performance investigations showed that S-CSHE can most effectively reduce CWS viscosity, and perform excellent dispersity and stability. When the dosage of S-CSHE was up to 0.5 wt.%, the maximum coal content of CWS may reach 70 wt.%, and the apparent viscosity of CWS was 487 mPa·s. The CWS prepared using S-CSHE (0.38 wt.%) for Zhundong coal showed the rheological characteristics of shear-thinning, and is consistent with the Herschel-Bulkley model. This work found a new route for utilizing cotton linters cellulose and enlarged the selecting range of the dispersant for CWS. It has a positive significance for efficient and clean utilization of Xinjiang Zhundong coal.

Co-assembly of metal ion and cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) is a promising strategy to fabricate novel iridescent CNC materials with advanced applications. By combining ultrasonication pretreatment and vacuum-assisted self-assembly (VASA) technique, a facile and rapid strategy is proposed to prepare the Mn 2+ -doped carboxylated CNC (C-CNC) iridescent films with multifunctional application. The ultrasonication pretreatment temporarily disassembles the aggregates of C-CNC nanorods caused by the electrostatic interaction between negative charged C-CNC and Mn 2+ . The subsequent VASA process accelerates the self-assembly of chiral liquid crystals prior to the re-agglomeration of C-CNC by the bridge effect of Mn 2+ . Furthermore, the as-prepared Mn 2+ /CNC film exhibits a rapid and visible color change in ammonia atmosphere along with the formation of MnO 2 . The reversible change can be realized by the stimulation of reducing agent. The derived MnO 2 /C-CNC composite film displays efficient removal of methylene blue dye in aqueous solution by both of adsorption and degradation procedure., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Microplastics (MPs; ≤ 5 mm) have become a potential threat to human health due to the widespread detection of MPs in foods consumed by humans. Here, we investigated the potential of MP occurrence in the main edible part of the most valuable species of sea cucumbers (Apostichopus japonicus). Laboratory experiments showed that fluorescent MPs and microfibers (MFs) could transfer into the body wall of the sea cucumber. The evidence revealed that these MPs enter the body wall via the outer surface. Although these MPs decreased after the sea cucumbers were transferred to clean water, traces of MPs (at least one MP particle) were found up to 60 d post-transfer. To validate these laboratory observations, sea cucumber samples were collected from the field. MPs were found in 86% of live and processed sea cucumber samples. The MP abundances in the field samples ranged from 0-15 MPs animal -1 and 0-2 MP g -1 . The isolated MPs were mainly MFs, constituting 81% of MPs, followed by fragments, films, and beads. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed that the polymer composition of the isolated MPs mainly included rayon, followed by polyester and chlorinated polyethylene. The findings of this study demonstrated that the body walls of farmed and processed sea cucumbers contain MPs, thus highlighting the need to control MP pollution during the farming and processing of sea cucumbers., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The association of heavy metals with plastics could represent a source of contamination, presenting acute metal exposure to ecosystems. Here, we aimed to evaluate the level of 20 metals on plastics employed in aquaculture areas and their surrounding water. All the selected metals were detected on six different polymers/types of plastics. Despite the difference in sampling sites, there was no significant difference among metal concentrations on plastics. However, some metals showed a significant difference in the surrounding seawater among sites or were not detected. Additionally, the median concentrations of all heavy metals were higher on plastic than in their surrounding water at all sites. Furthermore, multivariate analysis showed that metals accumulate on plastics in a similar pattern among sites but distinct from the surrounding water. This study contributes to understanding the accumulation of metals on plastics used in aquaculture areas., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Genetic linkage maps have become an indispensable tool for genetics and genomics research. Sea cucumber ( Apostichopus japonicus ), which is an economically important mariculture species in Asia, is an edible echinoderm with medicinal properties. In this study, the first SNP-based high-density genetic linkage map was constructed by sequencing 132 A. japonicus individuals (2 parents and 130 offspring) according to a genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) method. The consensus map was 3181.54 cM long, with an average genetic distance of 0.52 cM. A total of 6144 SNPs were assigned to 22 linkage groups (LGs). A Pearson analysis and QTL mapping revealed the correlations among body weight, body length, and papillae number. An important growth-related candidate gene, protein still life, isoforms C/SIF type 2 ( sif ), was identified in LG18. The gene was significantly highly expressed during the larval developmental stages. Its encoded protein reportedly functions as a guanine nucleotide exchange factor. These results would facilitate the genetic analysis of growth traits and provide valuable genomic resources for the selection and breeding of new varieties of sea cucumbers with excellent production traits.