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Abstract We study the mass spectra and spin alignment of vector meson J/ψ in a thermal magnetized background using a generalized theoretical framework based on gauge/gravity duality. Utilizing a soft wall model for the QGP background and a massive vector field for the J/ψ meson, we delve into the meson’s spectral function and spin parameters (λ θ , λ φ , λ θφ ) for different cases, assessing their response to variations in magnetic field strength, momentum, and temperature. We initially examine scenarios where a meson’s momentum aligns parallel to the magnetic field in helicity frame. Our results reveal a magnetic field-induced positive λ θ H $$ {\lambda}_{\theta}^{\textrm{H}} $$ for low meson momentum, transitioning to negative with increased momentum. As a comparison, we also study the case of momentum perpendicular to the magnetic field and find the direction of magnetic field does not affect the qualitative behavior for the eB-dependence of λ θ H $$ {\lambda}_{\theta}^{\textrm{H}} $$ . Moreover, we apply our model to real heavy-ion collisions for three different spin quantization directions. Further comparisons with experimental data show qualitative agreement for spin parameters λ θ and λ φ in the helicity and Collins-Soper frames.

Abstract Purpose To develop and validate a nomogram based on 3D-PDU parameters and clinical characteristics to predict LNM and LVSI in early-stage cervical cancer preoperatively. Materials and methods A total of first diagnosis 138 patients with cervical cancer who had undergone 3D-PDU examination before radical hysterectomy plus lymph dissection between 2014 and 2019 were enrolled for this study. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to analyze the 3D-PDU parameters and selected clinicopathologic features and develop a nomogram to predict the probability of LNM and LVSI in the early stage. ROC curve was used to evaluate model differentiation, calibration curve and Hosmer-Lemeshow test were used to evaluate calibration, and DCA was used to evaluate clinical practicability. Results Menopause status, FIGO stage and VI were independent predictors of LNM. BMI and maximum tumor diameter were independent predictors of LVSI. The predicted AUC of the LNM and LSVI models were 0.845 (95%CI,0.765–0.926) and 0.714 (95%CI,0.615–0.813). Calibration curve and H-L test (LNM groups P = 0.478; LVSI P = 0.783) all showed that the predicted value of the model had a good fit with the actual observed value, and DCA indicated that the model had a good clinical net benefit. Conclusion The proposed nomogram based on 3D-PDU parameters and clinical characteristics has been proposed to predict LNM and LVSI with high accuracy, demonstrating for the first time the potential of non-invasive prediction. The probability derived from this nomogram may have the potential to provide valuable guidance for physicians to develop clinical individualized treatment plans of FIGO patients with early cervical cancer.

Abstract This study aimed to investigate the effects of tea green leafhopper damage on the sensory quality and metabolite composition of Oriental Beauty by using tea leaves from different varieties of tea plants and processing factories. The results indicated that tea green leafhopper damage could reduce bitterness and increase the level of fruity aroma, which was related to the content changes of catechin components and alcohol substances. Furthermore, the tea green leafhopper salivary treatment experiment revealed that the decrease of catechin content and increase of theaflavin content were mainly influenced by the action of saliva and mechanical injury, and changes in volatile components such as linalool oxidation were responsible for the alteration in aroma. These findings provide a theoretical reference for the aroma formation and quality improvement of Oriental Beauty.

Objective Pine needles are rich in many nutrients and exhibit antibacterial and antioxidant biological activities; however, the effects of different production methods of pine needle additives on the growth performance and intestinal flora of broiler chickens are not known. Methods Normal diets were supplemented with pine needle fermentation juice (PNF), pine needle soaking juice (PNS), or pine needle powder (PNP), and the associated effects on growth performance, relative organ weights, intestinal development, intestinal histological morphology, intestinal flora, meat quality, and serum indicators in broiler chickens were observed. Results The results showed that PNF, PNS, and PNP all significantly improved feed utilisation and promoted the growth and development of broilers. All three additives also significantly improved the structure of the intestinal flora, specifically increasing the diversity of bacteria; increasing the abundance of beneficial bacteria, such as Faecalibacterium, Rikenella, and Blautia; and decreasing the abundance of harmful bacteria, such as Staphylococcus. The antioxidant properties of pine needles were also found to intensify lipid metabolic reactions in the blood, thus leading to lower triglycerides and total cholesterol. Meanwhile, high doses of PNF reduced jejunum and ileum weights and also increased meat yellowness. Lastly, none of PNF, PNS, or PNP had an effect on relative organ weights or intestinal histological morphology. Conclusion The addition of pine needles to the diet of broiler chickens can effectively promote their growth performance as well as improve their intestinal flora and serum status without side effects; in particular, the dose of 0.2% of either PNF and PNS is expected to have the capacity to replace growth-promoting antibiotics as diet additives.

Abstract We study the mass spectra of hidden-charm tetraquark systems with quantum numbers (I G )J P = (1+)1+ (and their I = 1 2 $$ \frac{1}{2} $$ partners) using QCD sum rules. The analysis incorporates the complete next-to-leading order (NLO) contribution to the perturbative QCD part of the operator product expansions, with particular attention to operator mixing effects due to renormalization group evolution. We find that both the parametric dependence and the perturbative convergence are significantly improved for the two mixed operators J 1 , 5 Mixed $$ {J}_{1,5}^{\textrm{Mixed}} $$ and J 2 , 6 Mixed $$ {J}_{2,6}^{\textrm{Mixed}} $$ , compared with those for the unmixed meson-meson or diquark-antidiquark type ones. For the d ¯ c c ¯ u $$ \overline{d}c\overline{c}u $$ system, the masses of J 1 , 5 Mixed $$ {J}_{1,5}^{\textrm{Mixed}} $$ and J 2 , 6 Mixed $$ {J}_{2,6}^{\textrm{Mixed}} $$ are determined to be 3.89 − 0.12 + 0.18 $$ {3.89}_{-0.12}^{+0.18} $$ GeV and 4.03 − 0.07 + 0.06 $$ {4.03}_{-0.07}^{+0.06} $$ GeV, respectively, closely matching those of Z c (3900) and Z c (4020). Similarly, for the s ¯ c c ¯ u $$ \overline{s}c\overline{c}u $$ states, the masses of J 1 , 5 Mixed $$ {J}_{1,5}^{\textrm{Mixed}} $$ and J 2 , 6 Mixed $$ {J}_{2,6}^{\textrm{Mixed}} $$ are found to be 4.02 − 0.09 + 0.17 $$ {4.02}_{-0.09}^{+0.17} $$ GeV and 4.21 − 0.07 + 0.08 $$ {4.21}_{-0.07}^{+0.08} $$ GeV, respectively, in close proximity to Z cs (3985)/Z cs (4000) and Z cs (4220), consistent with the expectation that they are the partners of Z c (3900) and Z c (4020). Our results highlight the crucial role of operator mixing, an inevitable effect in a complete NLO calculation, in achieving a robust phenomenological description for the tetraquark system.

Abstract Thermosensation is vital for the survival, propagation, and adaption of all organisms, but its mechanism is not fully understood yet. Here, we find that TMC6, a membrane protein of unknown function, is highly expressed in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons and functions as a Gαq-coupled G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR)-like receptor to sense noxious heat. TMC6-deficient mice display a substantial impairment in noxious heat sensation while maintaining normal perception of cold, warmth, touch, and mechanical pain. Further studies show that TMC6 interacts with Gαq via its intracellular C-terminal region spanning Ser780 to Pro810. Specifically disrupting such interaction using polypeptide in DRG neurons, genetically ablating Gαq, or pharmacologically blocking Gαq-coupled GPCR signaling can replicate the phenotype of TMC6 deficient mice regarding noxious heat sensation. Noxious heat stimulation triggers intracellular calcium release from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of TMC6- but not control vector-transfected HEK293T cell, which can be significantly inhibited by blocking PLC or IP3R. Consistently, noxious heat-induced intracellular Ca2+ release from ER and action potentials of DRG neurons largely reduced when ablating TMC6 or blocking Gαq/PLC/IP3R signaling pathway as well. In summary, our findings indicate that TMC6 can directly function as a Gαq-coupled GPCR-like receptor sensing noxious heat.

Abstract Background The vaccination status of post-stroke patients, who are at high risk of severe outcomes from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a significant concern, yet it remains unclear. We aimed to explore the vaccination status, factors associated with vaccine hesitancy, and adverse effects after vaccination among post-stroke patients. Methods This multi-center observational study enrolled hospitalized post-stroke patients from six Chinese hospitals (Oct 1, 2020 - Mar 31, 2021), examining vaccine uptake and self-reported reasons for vaccine hesitancy, utilizing logistic regression to investigate risk factors for vaccine hesitancy, and recording any adverse reactions post-vaccination. Results Of the total 710 post-stroke patients included in the study, 430 (60.6%) had completed the recommended full-3 dose SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, with 176 (24.8%) remaining unvaccinated. The most common reasons for vaccine hesitancy were concerns about vaccine side effects (41.5%) and impaired mobility (33.9%). Logistic regression identified advanced age (aOR = 1.97, 95%CI: 1.36–2.85, P = 0.001), lower Barthel Index score (aOR = 0.88, 95%CI: 0.82–0.93, P = 0.018), higher Modified Rankin Scale score (aOR = 1.85, 95%CI: 1.32–2.56, P = 0.004), and poorer usual activity level of EuroQol 5-Dimension (aOR = 2.82, 95%CI: 1.51–5.28, P = 0.001) as independent risk factors for vaccine hesitancy. Approximately 14.8% reported minor adverse reactions, mainly pain at the injection site. Conclusion We found that post-stroke patients have insufficient SARS-CoV-2 vaccination rates, with key risk factors for vaccine hesitancy including concerns about side effects, advanced age, and functional impairments. No severe adverse reactions were observed among the vaccinated population.

Abstract Wavefront control is the fundamental requirement in optical informatics. Planar optics have drawn intensive attention due to the merits of compactness and light weight. However, it remains a challenge to freely manipulate the dispersion, hindering practical applications, especially in imaging. Here, we propose the concept of frequency-synthesized phase engineering to solve this problem. A phasefront-frequency matrix is properly designed to encode different spatial phases to separate frequencies, thus makes arbitrary dispersion tailoring and even frequency-separated functionalization possible. The periodically rotated director endows cholesteric liquid crystal with a spin and frequency selective reflection. Moreover, via presetting the local initial orientation of liquid crystal, geometric phase is encoded to the reflected light. We verify the proposed strategy by cascading the chiral anisotropic optical media of specifically designed helical pitches and initial director orientations. By this means, planar lenses with RGB achromatic, enhanced chromatic aberration and color routing properties are demonstrated. Inch-sized and high-efficient lenses are fabricated with low crosstalk among colors. It releases the freedom of dispersion control of planar optics, and even enables frequency decoupled phase modulations. This work brings new insights to functional planar optics and may upgrade the performance of existing optical apparatuses.

Abstract Background Peutz–Jeghers syndrome (PJS) is a rare genetic disorder characterized by the development of pigmented spots, gastrointestinal polyps and increased susceptibility to cancers. Currently, most studies have investigated intestinal microbiota through fecal microbiota, and there are few reports about mucosa-associated microbiota. It remains valuable to search for the key intestinal microbiota or abnormal metabolic pathways linked to PJS. Aim This study aimed to assess the structure and composition of mucosa-associated microbiota in patients with PJS and to explore the potential influence of intestinal microbiota disorders and metabolite changes on PJS. Methods The bacterial composition was analyzed in 13 PJS patients and 12 controls using 16S rRNA gene sequencing (Illumina MiSeq) for bacteria. Differential analyses of the intestinal microbiota were performed from the phylum to species level. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC‒MS) was used to detect the differentially abundant metabolites of PJS patients and controls to identify different metabolites and metabolic biomarkers of small intestinal mucosa samples. Results High-throughput sequencing confirmed the special characteristics and biodiversity of the mucosa microflora in patients with PJS. They had lower bacterial biodiversity than controls. The abundance of intestinal mucosal microflora was significantly lower than that of fecal microflora. In addition, lipid metabolism, amino acid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, nucleotide metabolism and other pathways were significantly different from those of controls, which were associated with the development of the enteric nervous system, intestinal inflammation and development of tumors. Conclusion This is the first report on the mucosa-associated microbiota and metabolite profile of subjects with PJS, which may be meaningful to provide a structural basis for further research on intestinal microecology in PJS.

Abstract Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), known for causing gastric inflammation, gastritis and gastric cancer, prompted our study to investigate the differential expression of cytokines in gastric tissues, which is crucial for understanding H. pylori infection and its potential progression to gastric cancer. Focusing on Il-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-12, IL-18, and TNF-α, we analysed gene and protein levels to differentiate between H. pylori-infected and non-infected gastritis. We utilised real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) for gene quantification, immunohistochemical staining, and ELISA for protein measurement. Gastric samples from patients with gastritis were divided into three groups: (1) non-gastritis (N-group) group, (2) gastritis without H. pylori infection (G-group), and (3) gastritis with H. pylori infection (GH-group), each consisting of 8 samples. Our findings revealed a statistically significant variation in cytokine expression. Generally, cytokine levels were higher in gastritis, but in H. pylori-infected gastritis, IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-8 levels were lower compared to H. pylori-independent gastritis, while IL-12, IL-18, and TNF-α levels were higher. This distinct cytokine expression pattern in H. pylori-infected gastritis underscores a unique inflammatory response, providing deeper insights into its pathogenesis.

BackgroundVasculogenic Mimicry (VM) can reduce the efficacy of anti-angiogenesis and promote distant metastasis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Our previous studies have found that Celastrus orbiculatus extract (COE) can inhibit the VM formation in HCC by reducing EphA2 expression. However the underlying mechanism related to EphA2 in VM formation is unclear.PurposeThis study aimed to confirm that EphA2 is one of the potential targets of COE, and to explore the effect of EphA2 in VM formation in hypoxia context in HCC.MethodsTCM Systems Pharmacology database and proteomics analysis were used to explore the key targets of COE in HCC treatment. CD31-PAS double staining and VE-CAD staining were used to indicate vasculogenic mimicry. The localization of EphA2 and VE-CAD was examined through fluorescent microscopy. CCK8 assay, cell invasion assay, and tube formation assay were used to indicate the formation of VM under hypoxic conditions. The regulatory relationship of EphA2 upstream and downstream molecules were evaluated through COIP and Western Blot. The nude mouse xenograft tumor models were used to observe the VM formation after knocking down or overexpressing EphA2.ResultsEphA2 is identified to the target of COE, and the driving gene of HCC. In HCC surgical specimens, EphA2 expression is closely associated with the VM formation of HCC. COE-regulated EphA2 is involved in hypoxia-induced VM formation in HCC cells in vitro. EphA2 is regulated by HIF directly or indirectly by C-MYC. Overexpression of EphA2 can promote the VM formation of HCC in nude mice, while knocking down EphA2 can inhibit the VM formation.ConclusionEphA2, as a target of COE, plays a crucial regulatory role in the formation of vasculogenic mimicry in HCC, involving upstream HIF/MYC transcriptional promotion and downstream PI3K/FAK/VE-CAD expression regulation.

Background: The current prophylactic tuberculosis vaccine Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), was derived in the 1920s, but the humoral immune responses induced by BCG vaccination have not been fully elucidated to date. In this study, our aim was to reveal the profiles of antibody responses induced by BCG vaccination in adults and identify the potential biomarkers for evaluating the BCG vaccination response. Methods: Proteome microarrays were performed to reveal the serum profiles of antibody responses induced by BCG vaccination in adults. ELISA was used to validate the potential biomarkers in validation cohort (79 healthy controls and 58 BCG-vaccinated subjects). Then combined panel was established by logistic regression analysis based on OD values of potential biomarkers. Results: Multiple antigens elicited stronger serum IgG or IgM antibody responses in BCG vaccinated subjects than healthy subjects at 12 weeks post BCG vaccination; among the antigens, Rv0060, Rv2026c and Rv3379c were further verified using 137 serum samples and presented the moderate performance in assessment of the BCG vaccination response by receiver operating characteristic analysis. Furthermore, a combined panel exhibited an improved AUC of 0.923, and the sensitivity and specificity were 77.59 % and 91.14 %, respectively. In addition, the antibody response against Rv0060, Rv2026c and Rv3379c was related to the clinical background to a certain extent. Conclusions: The novel antigens identified in our study could offer better knowledge towards developing a more efficacious vaccine based on humoral immune responses, and they could be potential biomarkers in assessments of BCG vaccination responses.

An electron vortex beam (EVB) carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) plays a key role in a series of fundamental scientific researches, such as chiral energy-loss spectroscopy and magnetic dichroism spectroscopy. So far, almost all the experimentally created EVBs manifest isotropic doughnut intensity patterns. Here, based on the correlation between local divergence angle of electron beam and phase gradient along azimuthal direction, we show that free electrons can be tailored to EVBs with customizable intensity patterns independent of the carried OAM. As proof-of-concept, by using computer generated hologram and designing phase masks to shape the incident free electrons in the transmission electron microscope, three structured EVBs carrying identical OAM are tailored to exhibit completely different intensity patterns. Furthermore, through the modal decomposition, we quantitatively investigate their OAM spectral distributions and reveal that structured EVBs present a superposition of a series of different eigenstates induced by the locally varied geometries. These results not only generalize the concept of EVB, but also demonstrate an extra highly controllable degree of freedom for electron beam manipulation in addition to OAM.