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BLP as a bacteria component is an important factor in autophagy activation and induces apoptosis. BLP-induced macrophage apoptosis was suppressed by inhibiting autophagy.

This study analyses and presents a technical comparison of seepage estimation from 11 empirical equations with measured seepage losses by the inflow-outflow method from two lined and unlined secondary irrigation canals sub-divided into different reach lengths. A significant margin of error was observed between empirical and inflow- outflow methods, hence modifications in empirical equations were performed. Results reveal that the average seepage losses observed in unlined and lined canals by inflow-outflow method were 9.15 and 3.89%, respectively. Moreover, only the Chinese equation estimated seepage losses for an unlined canal as similar to observed losses (0.11 m 3∙s –1) whereas the Indian equation estimated similar results for a lined canal to those observed in the field (0.09 m 3∙s –1). However, the rest of empirical equations were modified in accordance with error percentage with regard to the observed losses. The empirical equations were then observed to estimate reliable results of seepage.

Microchannel heat sinks (MCHSs) are widely utilized in various industries, including electronics, power systems, and aerospace, to dissipate heat generated by high-power components effectively. The efficient cooling of these devices is crucial for maintaining their optimal performance, reliability, and longevity. This research aimed to augment the overall efficiency of the MCHS by utilizing 25 baffles with varying geometric parameters. The aim was to identify the optimum geometry for these baffles using an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model. The ANN model was applied to propose two optimal designs for the baffles, specifically targeting the maximum Nusselt number and overall performance of the MCHS. It was noticed that the vertical pitch of the baffles ''d'' had the most substantial influence on the device's behavior among the investigated geometric parameters. The higher value of ''d'' allowed the fluid to spread over the entire space of the heat sink rather than being confined to a specific area. This spreading effect enabled the fluid to contact all the baffles and channel walls, facilitating efficient heat transfer. The applied ANN model with R2 values of about 0.98 and lower values of MAE and RMSE successfully fitted the data. The findings of this study demonstrated that applying the specified input variables (horizontal pitch of 8.496 mm, vertical pitch of 5 mm, and attack angle of 210. 560°), as defined in the optimal overall design, in manufacturing of the baffles resulted in a remarkable enhancement of about 46% in the overall performance of the MCHS in comparison with the design proposed in the reference paper. The heat transfer improvement of the MCHS with baffles were due to the vortices in the baffles bring about chaotic advection and could greatly enhance the convective fluid mixing.

Liquid-state ionic thermocells (LITCs) can effectively convert low-grade waste heat to electricity. However, the larger structural dimensions and lower power density of LITCs restrict their large-scale practical application in scenarios with limited operating space such as photovoltaics, automotive applications, data centers, etc. In the present work, we demonstrate a micro-ionic thermocell (MiTC) with micrometer-scale structural dimensions prepared by soft lithography, which can synergistically promote the entropy change of the solvation structure and mass transfer of redox ions, and thus ionic thermoelectric properties. The effects of electrolyte concentration, scale effect and interface charge of the microstructure, and electrode gap on the ionic thermopower and Pmax/ΔT2 of MiTCs were comprehensively investigated to reveal the enhancement mechanisms using UV-vis/FTIR/in situ Raman analyses. The interfacial effect of microstructure-electrolyte solution can boost ionic reactions and transport processes at the microscale. It can increase the ionic thermopower and conductivity of 0.4 mol L−1 Fe(CN)64−/Fe(CN)63− electrolytes in MiTCs from −1.4 mV K−1 and 147.6 mS cm−1 to −2.5 mV K−1 and 254.2 mS cm−1, thus reaching a high Pmax/ΔT2 value of 15.4 mW m−2 K−2 at a 2 mm electrode gap and 50 μm microstructure width, respectively, showing a significant enhancement. Combined with microfabrication technology, MiTCs can facilely achieve large-scale integrated stacking and output considerable electricity within limited structural dimensions to meet the practical requirements for the integration and miniaturization of low-grade heat harvesting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Large amounts of azurophilic granules are considered to be a morphological feature of acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL). However, a small percentage of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) patients also have a large number of azurophilic granules. A large cohort of 3210 AML patients in our hospital was screened to identify AML patients who had a large number of azurophilic granules. The clinical parameters of these patients were collected and compared with typical AML patients (control Group 1) and APL patients (control Group 2). The incidence of AML with a large number of azurophilic granules was 1.26%. The fibrinogen and D‐dimer levels of patients in the study group were more similar to those of patients in control Group 2, as was the incidence of bleeding events. Additionally, patients in the study group had higher FLT3‐ITD and NPM1 mutation rates than patients in control Group 1. Finally, patients in the study group had a higher 30‐day mortality rate than those in control Group 2 (24.2% vs. 9.09%) and showed a higher 30‐day mortality trend than those in control Group 1. Therefore, we should pay more attention to the prevention of coagulation dysfunction and bleeding events for these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MitoAMPK was proved to inhibit the Warburg effect, but the specific mechanisms on non‐small‐cell lung cancer remain unclear. Here, we selected SIRT6 and MZF1 to clarify the mechanism. By western blotting, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, the CCK‐8 assay, and immunohistochemistry assays, we found SIRT6 expression was lower in NSCLC tissues and cell lines than normal tissues and cells. Moreover, SIRT6 could inhibit the Warburg effect by regulating glycolysis‐related genes of SLC2A2, SLC2A4 and PKM2. Finally, we demonstrated the interaction between SIRT6 and MZF1 using ChIP‐qPCR. In conclusion, mitoAMPK inhibits the Warburg effect by regulating the expression of the MZF1–SIRT6 complex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coral segmentation poses unique challenges due to its irregular morphology and camouflage-like characteristics. These factors often result in low precision, large model parameters, and poor real-time performance. To address these issues, this paper proposes a novel coral instance segmentation (CIS) network model. Initially, we designed a novel downsampling module, ADown_HWD, which operates at multiple resolution levels to extract image features, thereby preserving crucial information about coral edges and textures. Subsequently, we integrated the bi-level routing attention (BRA) mechanism into the C2f module to form the C2f_BRA module within the neck network. This module effectively removes redundant information, enhancing the ability to distinguish coral features and reducing computational redundancy. Finally, dynamic upsampling, Dysample, was introduced into the CIS to better retain the rich semantic and key feature information of corals. Validation on our self-built dataset demonstrated that the CIS network model significantly outperforms the baseline YOLOv8n model, with improvements of 6.3% and 10.5% in PB and PM and 2.3% and 2.4% in mAP50B and mAP50M, respectively. Furthermore, the reduction in model parameters by 10.1% correlates with a notable 10.7% increase in frames per second (FPS) to 178.6, thus effectively meeting real-time operational requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses a case report of a 32-year-old woman with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) who had the rare genetic aberration MN1:ETV6. The patient initially had a poor response to standard chemotherapy but was found to be significantly sensitive to the BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax (VEN). The article highlights the molecular features and sensitivity to VEN of MN1:ETV6-positive T-ALL and suggests that targeted therapies like VEN can be beneficial for patients with this genetic abnormality. The study was funded by the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. [Extracted from the article]

The Meconopsis species are widely distributed in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Himalayas, and Hengduan Mountains in China, and have high medicinal and ornamental value. The high diversity of plant morphology in this genus poses significant challenges for species identification, given their propensity for highland dwelling, which makes it a question worth exploring how they cope with the harsh surroundings. In this study, we recently generated chloroplast (cp) genomes of two Meconopsis species, Meconopsis paniculata (M. paniculata) and M. pinnatifolia, and compared them with those of ten Meconopsis cp genomes to comprehend cp genomic features, their phylogenetic relationships, and what part they might play in plateau adaptation. These cp genomes shared a great deal of similarities in terms of genome size, structure, gene content, GC content, and codon usage patterns. The cp genomes were between 151,864 bp and 154,997 bp in length, and contain 133 predictive genes. Through sequence divergence analysis, we identified three highly variable regions (trnD-psbD, ccsA-ndhD, and ycf1 genes), which could be used as potential markers or DNA barcodes for phylogenetic analysis. Between 22 and 38 SSRs and some long repeat sequences were identified from 12 Meconopsis species. Our phylogenetic analysis confirmed that 12 species of Meconopsis clustered into a monophyletic clade in Papaveraceae, which corroborated their intrageneric relationships. The results indicated that M. pinnatifolia and M. paniculata are sister species in the phylogenetic tree. In addition, the atpA and ycf2 genes were positively selected in high-altitude species. The functions of these two genes might be involved in adaptation to the extreme environment in the cold and low CO2 concentration conditions at the plateau. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyses and presents a technical comparison of seepage estimation from 11 empirical equations with measured seepage losses by the inflow-outflow method from two lined and unlined secondary irrigation canals sub-divided into different reach lengths. A significant margin of error was observed between empirical and inflowoutflow methods, hence modifications in empirical equations were performed. Results reveal that the average seepage losses observed in unlined and lined canals by inflow-outflow method were 9.15 and 3.89%, respectively. Moreover, only the Chinese equation estimated seepage losses for an unlined canal as similar to observed losses (0.11 m³·s-1) whereas the Indian equation estimated similar results for a lined canal to those observed in the field (0.09 m³·s-1). However, the rest of empirical equations were modified in accordance with error percentage with regard to the observed losses. The empirical equations were then observed to estimate reliable results of seepage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a deadly hematological malignancy. Cellular morphology detection of bone marrow smears based on the French–American–British (FAB) classification system remains an essential criterion in the diagnosis of hematological malignancies. However, the diagnosis and discrimination of distinct FAB subtypes of AML obtained from bone marrow smear images are tedious and time-consuming. In addition, there is considerable variation within and among pathologists, particularly in rural areas, where pathologists may not have relevant expertise. Here, we established a comprehensive database encompassing 8245 bone marrow smear images from 651 patients based on a retrospective dual-center study between 2010 and 2021 for the purpose of training and testing. Furthermore, we developed AMLnet, a deep-learning pipeline based on bone marrow smear images, that can discriminate not only between AML patients and healthy individuals but also accurately identify various AML subtypes. AMLnet achieved an AUC of 0.885 at the image level and 0.921 at the patient level in distinguishing nine AML subtypes on the test dataset. Furthermore, AMLnet outperformed junior human experts and was comparable to senior experts on the test dataset at the patient level. Finally, we provided an interactive demo website to visualize the saliency maps and the results of AMLnet for aiding pathologists' diagnosis. Collectively, AMLnet has the potential to serve as a fast prescreening and decision support tool for cytomorphological pathologists, especially in areas where pathologists are overburdened by medical demands as well as in rural areas where medical resources are scarce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, platelet to white blood cell ratio (PWR) was reported as an independent prognostic predictor in acute promyelocytic leukemia. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) often presents with abnormal platelet counts and white blood cell counts (WBC) at disease diagnosis. However, the clinical impact of PWR on cytogenetically normal AML (CN-AML) is still unclear. Therefore, we evaluate its prognostic impact on CN-AML patients. We recorded the clinical information at the time of disease diagnosis, and calculated the ratio of platelet counts to WBC in 338 patients with CN-AML. To assess the prognostic value of PWR, we divided patients into low, intermediate and high group based on the values of PWR. The independent prognostic value of PWR was investigated in the context of the well-established predictors including white blood cell counts, age, and genes of NPM1, FLT3-ITD, CEBPA, and DNMT3A mutations. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to assess the performance of its prognostic prediction. Higher PWR have the higher levels of platelet counts, but lower levels of white blood cell counts, percentage of bone marrow blasts, FLT3-ITD and NPM1 mutations. The performance of survival prediction was comparable between PWR alone and combined molecular biomarkers. Moreover, PWR had the additional prognostic information to the molecular biomarkers. Finally, PWR was associated with favorable overall survival and event free survival in CN-AML patients independent of genetic subtypes and clinical parameters. We found PWR was an independent prognostic predictor in CN-AML. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Saxifraga species are widely distributed in alpine and arctic regions in the Northern hemisphere. Highly morphological diversity within this genus brings great difficulties for species identification, and their typical highland living properties make it interesting how they adapt to the extreme environment. Here, we newly generated the chloroplast (cp) genomes of two Saxifraga species and compared them with another five Saxifraga cp genomes to understand the characteristics of cp genomes and their potential roles in highland adaptation. The genome size, structure, gene content, GC content, and codon usage pattern were found to be highly similar. Cp genomes ranged from 146,549 bp to 151,066 bp in length, most of which comprised 130 predicted genes. Yet, due to the expansion of IR regions, the second copy of rps19 in Saxifraga stolonifera was uniquely kept. Through sequence divergence analysis, we identified seven hypervariable regions and detected some signatures of regularity associated with genetic distance. We also identified 52 to 89 SSRs and some long repeats among seven Saxifraga species. Both ML and BI phylogenetic analyses confirmed that seven Saxifraga species formed a monophyletic clade in the Saxifragaceae family, and their intragenus relationship was also well supported. Additionally, the ndhI and ycf1 genes were considered under positive selection in species inhabiting relatively high altitudes. Given the conditions of intense light and low CO2 concentration in the highland, the products of these two genes might participate in the adaptation to the extreme environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boll weight (BW) is a key determinant of yield component traits in cotton, and understanding the genetic mechanism of BW could contribute to the progress of cotton fiber yield. Although many yield-related quantitative trait loci (QTLs) responsible for BW have been determined, knowledge of the genes controlling cotton yield remains limited. Here, association mapping based on 25,169 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 2,315 insertions/deletions (InDels) was conducted to identify high-quality QTLs responsible for BW in a global collection of 290 diverse accessions, and BW was measured in nine different environments. A total of 19 significant markers were detected, and 225 candidate genes within a 400 kb region (± 200 kb surrounding each locus) were predicted. Of them, two major QTLs with highly phenotypic variation explanation on chromosomes A08 and D13 were identified among multiple environments. Furthermore, we found that two novel candidate genes (Ghir_A08G009110 and Ghir_D13G023010) were associated with BW and that Ghir_D13G023010 was involved in artificial selection during cotton breeding by population genetic analysis. The transcription level analyses showed that these two genes were significantly differentially expressed between high-BW accession and low-BW accession during the ovule development stage. Thus, these results reveal valuable information for clarifying the genetic basics of the control of BW, which are useful for increasing yield by molecular marker-assisted selection (MAS) breeding in cotton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]