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Background: The differential diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion (MPE) and benign pleural effusion (BPE) presents a clinical challenge. In recent years, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) machine learning models for disease diagnosis has increased. Objective: This study aimed to develop and validate a diagnostic model for early differentiation between MPE and BPE based on routine laboratory data. Design: This was a retrospective observational cohort study. Methods: A total of 2352 newly diagnosed patients with pleural effusion (PE), between January 2008 and March 2021, were eventually enrolled. Among them, 1435, 466, and 451 participants were randomly assigned to the training, validation, and testing cohorts in a ratio of 3:1:1. Clinical parameters, including age, sex, and laboratory parameters of PE patients, were abstracted for analysis. Based on 81 candidate laboratory variables, five machine learning models, namely extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) model, logistic regression (LR) model, random forest (RF) model, support vector machine (SVM) model, and multilayer perceptron (MLP) model were developed. Their respective diagnostic performances for MPE were evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results: Among the five models, the XGBoost model exhibited the best diagnostic performance for MPE (area under the curve (AUC): 0.903, 0.918, and 0.886 in the training, validation, and testing cohorts, respectively). Additionally, the XGBoost model outperformed carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels in pleural fluid (PF), serum, and the PF/serum ratio (AUC: 0.726, 0.699, and 0.692 in the training cohort; 0.763, 0.695, and 0.731 in the validation cohort; and 0.722, 0.729, and 0.693 in the testing cohort, respectively). Furthermore, compared with CEA, the XGBoost model demonstrated greater diagnostic power and sensitivity in diagnosing lung cancer-induced MPE. Conclusion: The development of a machine learning model utilizing routine laboratory biomarkers significantly enhances the diagnostic capability for distinguishing between MPE and BPE. The XGBoost model emerges as a valuable tool for the diagnosis of MPE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We fabricate a series of square-lattice subwavelength circular, rectangular, and trapezoidal air-hole arrays drilled in opaque gold thin films and measured the transmission spectra of light passing through these metallic nanostructures in the near-infrared range. The measured results show strong dependence of extraordinary optical transmission on the lattice constant, hole size, and hole shape. The wavelengths of the transmission peaks and dips are mainly determined by the lattice constant. However, they are also influenced by the parameters of the hole size and hole shape. The experimental data agree well with numerical calculation results by means of a plane-wave transfer-matrix method when the detailed geometry of the air holes is fully considered. The results indicate that the extraordinary light transmission through subwavelength metallic nanostructures of air-hole arrays are governed by excitation of surface plasmon polaritons on the metal surface and their scattering by periodic air-hole arrays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We fabricate periodic arrays of simple-square and composite-square air hole nanostructures on a 120 nm thick Au film deposited on glass substrate by focused ion beam technology and study their optical properties by examining the optical near-field distribution via scanning near-field optical microscopy in the near-infrared region. The simple-square nanostructure only contains one square air hole in each unit cell, while the composite-square one contains the same size square air hole in the center and eight smaller square air holes in the periphery. The measured optical near-field patterns for the two nanostructures show very different distribution features. High intensity light spots locate within the central square air hole in the simple-square structure, while they sit at the peripheral smaller square air holes in the composite-square structure. Numerical simulations based on the plane-wave transfer-matrix method have been carried out to analyze the optical near-field patterns for the two metallic nanostructures and agree well with the experimental data. The results indicate that light interaction with metallic nanostructures is very sensitive to even a small change in the subtle geometrical feature. Meanwhile, by comparing near-field patterns with dielectric nanostructures theoretically, we also find that optical confinement is better for gold nanostructures than for dielectric nanostructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simulated transmission spectra for tapered fibers with no taper, one taper and two tapers in the near infrared wavelength range, calculated by Finite-Difference-Time-Domain method are currently presented. Transmission peak positions tend to shift to the shorter wavelength when the taper deformation is added to the fiber or the taper width gets narrower. The thickness sensitivity for the tapered structures with different taper thicknesses is about 2.28e-3 nm·µm−1. There is an interference structure in the electric field distribution images, which reveals in the fiber structures. The transmission spectra for the fiber without taper, one taper and two-tapered structures were simulated in near infrared wavelength by FDTD. The transmission spectra for tlated in near infrared wavelength by FDTD. The sensitivity of the fiber was about 50 nm × RIU−1 and it had better refractive index detection. The tapered fiber can be applied to the bio-chemical sensors and physical deformation testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simulated transmission spectrums and the change of the transmission peak position with the refractive index by the finite-difference time-domain method are present. The considered structure is the two-dimensional metallic square hole and trapezoid hole array, and the change of the transmission peak position with the refractive index can achieve about 1000 nm RIU −1 . In comparison, the sensor properties of the metallic trapezoid hole array is better than that of the metallic square hole array. Meanwhile, the field intensity enhancement and localization of the metallic trapezoid hole are better. Meanwhile, these array structures can extensively apply to biochemical sensor devices design and localized field enhancement device so on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the transmission spectra of light transmitting a metallic thin film perforated with differently shaped subwavelength hole arrays, which are calculated by a plane-wave-based transfer matrix method. We analyze the transmission peak positions and the phase-shift angles of different surface plasmon polariton (SPP) modes by using the microscopic theoretical model proposed by Haitao Liu and Philippe Lalanne [Liu Haitao and Lalanne Philippe 2008 Nature452 728], in which the phase shift properties of the SPPs scattered by the subwavelength hole arrays are considered. The results show that the transmission peak position and the minus phase shift angle of the SPP increase as the hole size increases. On the other hand, the effective dielectric constant of the metallic film can be deduced by the microscopic theoretical model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To investigate the underlying mechanisms of the protective role of remote ischemic perconditioning (RIPerC) in rat liver transplantation., Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to sham, orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), ischemic postconditioning (IPostC) or RIPerC. After 3 h reperfusion, blood samples were taken for measurement of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, creatinine (Cr) and creatinine kinase-myocardial band (CK-MB). The liver lobes were harvested for the following measurements: reactive oxygen species (ROS), H 2 O 2 , mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) and total nitric oxide (NO). These measurements were determined using an ROS/H 2 O 2 , JC1 and Total NOx Assay Kit, respectively. Endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) was analyzed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blotting, and peroxynitrite was semi-quantified by western blotting of 3-nitrotyrosine., Results: Compared with the OLT group, the grafts subjected to RIPerC showed significantly improved liver and remote organ functions ( P < 0.05). ROS ( P < 0.001) including H 2 O 2 ( P < 0.05) were largely elevated in the OLT group as compared with the sham group, and RIPerC ( P < 0.05) reversed this trend. The collapse of ΔΨm induced by OLT ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury was significantly attenuated in the RIPerC group ( P < 0.001). A marked increase of NO content and phosphoserine eNOS, both in protein and mRNA levels, was observed in liver graft of the RIPerC group as compared with the OLT group ( P < 0.05). I/R-induced 3-nitrotyrosine content was significantly reduced in the RIPerC group as compared with the OLT group ( P < 0.05). There were no significant differences between the RIPerC and IPostC groups for all the results except Cr. The Cr level was lower in the RIPerC group than in the IPostC group ( P < 0.01)., Conclusion: Liver graft protection by RIPerC is similar to or better than that of IPostC, and involves inhibition of oxidative stress and up-regulation of the PI3K/Akt/eNOS/NO pathway., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare there is no conflict of interest related to this study.

Simulated transmission spectrums of the sphere dimer nanoparticle and the nanoshell structure by the Finite-Difference time-Domain method are present. The considered structure is silver or SiO₂ dimer nanoparticle and nanoshell structures, and the particle distance is 10 nm. There is little transmission dip in the transmission spectrums for the silver dimer nanoparticle and nanoshell structure in the visible wavelength range, which arisen from the excitation of the Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance. The transmission dip sensitivity with the index refractive for the silver dimer nanoparticle is about 80 nm RIU–1. Meanwhile, the electric field enhancement and localization properties of the Silver dimer nanoparticle is better than that of the SiO₂ dimer nanoparticle. Meanwhile, these structures can extensively apply to biochemical sensor devices design and localized field enhancement device so on.

The fingerprints of Rhizoma coptidis (Huanglian) collected in different growing periods were established by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and the seasonal variations of six alkaloids, namely berberine, palmatine, jateorrhizine, coptisine, epiberberine and columbamine were assessed. In order to highlight the differences of their HPLC fingerprints, three chemometrics methods including Spearman's rank correlation, hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis were applied. The anti-inflammatory activity of R. coptidis collected in different developing stages was measured by NO inhibition assay. The relationship between HPLC fingerprints and anti-inflammatory activity named spectrum-effect relationship was investigated by partial least squares regression. The anti-inflammatory activity was positively correlated with the alkaloid contents. Berberine, palmatine, coptisine, jateorrhizine and epiberberine were the main anti-inflammatory components on the basis of the quantitative determination of the six alkaloids and spectrum-effect investigation. The collecting time of R. coptidis impacted the plant's alkaloid contents and its anti-inflammatory activity., (© The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

The title compound, C18H22N2O5, was synthesized by nitrification of its enol precursor. The pyrrolidine ring plane adopts a twisted conformation about the C-C bond linking the spiro centre and the C=O group remote from the N atom. It makes dihedral angles of 71.69 (9) and 88.92 (9)°, respectively, with the benzene ring plane and the plane defined by the four C atoms that form the seat of the of the cyclo-hexane chair. At the spiro centre, the NH group is axial and the C=O group is equatorial with respect to the cyclo-hexane ring. In the crystal, inversion dimers linked by pairs of N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds generate R 2 (2)(8) loops. The dimers are linked by C-H⋯O inter-actions, generating a three-dimensional network.

Study on the pharmacophore model of α(1)-adrenoceptor (α(1)-AR) antagonists led to design a series of novel 7-mercaptocoumarin derivatives as α(1)-AR antagonists. All designed compounds have been synthesized and biologically evaluated. The results showed that most of them exhibited strong antagonistic activity. Especially compound 6 showed excellent activity, which was better than that of the reference compound prazosin. Structure-activity relationship studies revealed that small hydrophobic group at the terminal heterocyclic ring and ortho substituents on the phenyl ring of phenylpiperazine moiety were the essential structural factors for α(1)-AR antagonistic activity. The pharmacophore modeling studies further clarified their structural contributions to antagonistic activity and also demonstrated that 7-mercaptocoumarin moiety could be a useful scaffold for design of α(1)-AR antagonists.

Spontaneous formation of 3D tetrapod-shaped CdS nanostructure networks has been achieved for the first time by vapor diffusion-deposition growth from CdS powders. The growth mechanism of the hexagonal and preferentially oriented CdS tetrapod-shaped nanostructures is a combination of the classic vapor-liquid-solid and vapor-solid processes, and the formation of a 3D network results from the spontaneous growths along the longitudinal and across the axial directions of the primarily formed CdS nanorods. Micro-photoluminescence measurements and near-field scanning optical microscopy investigations show that the synthesized CdS tetrapod networks have an excellent luminescence property and can be used as an optical waveguide cavities in which the guided light can be extremely confined.

We demonstrate design, fabrication, and ray trace observation of negative refraction of near-infrared light in a two-dimensional square lattice of air holes etched into an air-bridged silicon slab. Special surface morphologies are designed to reduce the impedance mismatch when light refracts from a homogeneous silicon slab into the photonic crystal slab. We clearly observed negative refraction of infrared light for TE-like modes in a broad wavelength range by using scanning near-field optical microscopy technology. The experimental results are in good agreement with finite-difference time-domain simulations. The results indicate the designed photonic crystal structure can serve as polarization beam splitter.

We identified a novel ubiquitin-like molecule DULP from human dendritic cells. DULP contains a domain that shares 26% identity and 34% similarity with ubiquitin, and it possesses the corresponding Ile-44 hydrophobic patch used by mono- or poly-ubiquitin to interact with a ubiquitin-interaction motif (UIM) or ubiquitin-associated domain (UBA). Lysine residue corresponding to 6 of ubiquitin, which is involved in the formation of a multi-ubiquitin chain that can bind proteasomal subunit Rpn10/S5a, is also conserved in its ubiquitin-homology domain. However, DULP does not possess the highly conserved C-terminus Gly-Gly required for ubiquitin conjugation or the Lys-48 required for the formation of polyubiquitin chain to target substrates for degradation, suggesting it might be a novel ubiquitin-domain protein (UDP). DULP was found widely expressed in many cells and the ubiquitin-homology domain was not cleaved. We also confirmed that DULP expression was enriched in the nucleus and much weaker in the cytosol. Besides, we found that overexpression of DULP in 293T cells induced apoptosis, which might not be associated with the mitochondrial or proteasome pathway, with the specific mechanism remaining unclear. Further investigations are needed to identify the precise biological functions of DULP.