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Self-grafted and pumpkin rootstock-grafted cucumber plants were subjected to the following four treatments: 1) aerated nutrient solution alone (control), 2) nutrient solution with 10 mM Ca(NO3)2 (Ca), 3) nutrient solution with 90 mM NaCl (NaCl), and 4) nutrient solution with 90 mM NaCl + 10 mM Ca(NO3)2 (NaCl+Ca). The NaCl treatment decreased the plant dry mass and content of Ca2+ and K+ but increased the Na+ content in roots and shoots. Smaller changes were observed in pumpkin rootstock-grafted plants. Supplementary Ca(NO3)2 ameliorated the negative effects of NaCl on plant dry mass, relative growth rate (RGR), as well as Ca2+, K+, and Na+ content especially for pumpkin rootstock-grafted plants. Supplementary Ca(NO3)2 distinctly stimulated the plasma membrane (PM) H+-ATPase activity which supplies the energy to remove excess Na+ from the cells. The expressions of gene encoding PM H+-ATPases (PMA) and gene encoding a PM Na+/H+ antiporter (SOS1) were up-regulated when Ca(NO3)2 was applied. The pumpkin rootstock-grafted plants had higher PM H+-ATPase activity as well as higher PMA and SOS1 expressions than the self-grafted plants under NaCl + Ca treatment. Therefore, the addition of Ca2+ in combination with pumpkin rootstock grafting is a powerful way to increase cucumber salt tolerance.

Two experiments were conducted to estimate standardized P retention (SPR) values of dicalcium phosphate (DCP), monocalcium phosphate (MCP), and monopotassium phosphate (MKP) in broilers. In total, ninety-six 22-d-old male broilers with similar BW (780 g average) were used in each experiment. The chicks were randomly allotted to 1 of 4 treatments (P-ffee, DCP, MCP, or MKP diets) with 6 replicate cages of 4 chicks each in a completely randomized design. After 3-d acclimation, chicks were fasted for 24 h and then fed P-free, DCP, MCP, or MKP diets for 4 h in Exp. 1 or 72 h in Exp. 2. Excreta samples were collected for a total of 28 or 52 h (24 or 48 h after feed withdrawal) in Exp. 1 and 96 or 120 h (24 or 48 h after feed withdrawal) in Exp. 2, respectively. The excreta collection time of 52 h in Exp. 1 or 96 h in Exp. 2 was adequate for the estimation of SPR. The estimated basal endogenous P losses (EPL) in chicks fed the P-free diet were 109 ± 4 mg/52 h per bird and 49.2 ± 4.0 mg/96 h per bird in Exp. 1 and 2, respectively. The SPR values of inorganic phosphate sources corrected by the above basal EPL differed (P < 0.001) in Exp. 2 but not in Exp. 1. However, these SPR values were very similar between the 2 experiments with 68.7,69.8, or 76.6% in Exp. 1 and 71.8,70.6, or 78.3% in Exp. 2 for DCP, MCP, or MKP, respectively. The results from the current study indicated that, compared with the 72-h feeding and 96-h excreta collection procedure, the 4-h feeding and 52-h excreta collection procedure was a relatively quicker time- and labor-saving method for estimating the SPR values of inorganic P sources in broilers. The estimated SPR values of commonly used inorganic P sources (MCP and DCP) were about 70%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a diode-pumped high-power continuous-wave (cw) dual-wavelength Nd:YAG laser at 946 and 938.6 nm is reported. By using an end-pumped structure, comparative experiments indicate that a 5 mm-length Nd:YAG crystal with a Nd3+-doping concentration of 0.3 at.% is favorable for high-power laser operation, and the optimal transmissivity of the output coupler is 9%. As a result, a maximum output power of 17.2 W for a dual-wavelength laser at 946 and 938.6 nm is obtained at an incident pump power of 75.9 W, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 26.5%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest output power of a quasi-three-level dual-wavelength laser using a conventional Nd:YAG crystal achieved to date. By using a traveling knife-edge method, the beam quality factor and far-field divergence angle at 17 W power level are estimated to be 4.0 and 6.13 mrad, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A single-layer wideband printed slot antenna with polarisation diversity is presented using a hybrid feeding technique. The antenna consists of an aperture-coupled feeding element and a coplanar waveguide feeding element. The aperture-coupled microstrip feed line with a 180° phase difference is used to reduce the cross-polarisation level and improve the isolation level. A circular patch is connected to the coplanar waveguide feed line for good impedance matching. By introducing a fan-shaped slot to separate the ground plane of the radiating elements, the measured isolation between the two feeding ports is better than 30 dB in the whole operating band. The measured -10 dB impedance bandwidths are 49% (4.72-7.75 GHz) and 63% (3.96-7.64 GHz) at port 1 and port 2, respectively. Moreover, the proposed antenna has a compact structure and stable gain over the operating band; thus it can be used in the 5.2/5.8 GHz WLAN and 5.5 GHz WiMAX systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A compact dual-polarised patch antenna with wide impedance bandwidth is proposed. Two different feed mechanisms are designed to excite a dual orthogonal linearly-polarised mode from a single radiating patch. One of the two modes is excited by an electrically-coupled L-shaped probe while the other is excited by a magnetically-coupled loop. The L-shaped probe consists of a copper pin and a coupled strip. The magnetic loop is comprised of a metal loop with a gap and an open-ended transmission line. The proposed antenna has been fabricated and measured. The impedance bandwidth of return loss less than -10 dB is 43.9% (2.4-3.75 GHz) and 32.8% (2.8-3.9 GHz) at port 1 and port 2, respectively. Due to the complementary nature of the electromagnetic feeding structure, the isolation between the two ports of the antenna is better than -23 dB. Moreover, the proposed antenna has a compact structure and stable gain over the operating band, thus making it suitable for use in 3.5 GHz WiMAX systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Radiomics involves the extraction of quantitative data from medical images to facilitate the diagnosis, prognosis, and staging of tumors. This study provides a comprehensive overview of the efficacy of radiomics in prognostic applications for head and neck cancer (HNC) in recent years. It undertakes a systematic review of prognostic models specific to HNC and conducts a meta-analysis to evaluate their predictive performance., Materials and Methods: This study adhered rigorously to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines for literature searches. The literature databases, including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, and Scopus were systematically searched individually. The methodological quality of the incorporated studies underwent assessment utilizing the radiomics quality score (RQS) tool. A random-effects meta-analysis employing the Harrell concordance index (C-index) was conducted to evaluate the performance of all radiomics models., Results: Among the 388 studies retrieved, 24 studies encompassing a total of 6,978 cases were incorporated into the systematic review. Furthermore, eight studies, focusing on overall survival as an endpoint, were included in the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis revealed that the estimated random effect of the C-index for all studies utilizing radiomics alone was 0.77 (0.71-0.82), with a substantial degree of heterogeneity indicated by an I 2 of 80.17%., Conclusions: Based on this review, prognostic modeling utilizing radiomics has demonstrated enhanced efficacy for head and neck cancers; however, there remains room for improvement in this approach. In the future, advancements are warranted in the integration of clinical parameters and multimodal features, balancing multicenter data, as well as in feature screening and model construction within this field., (Copyright © 2024 The Royal College of Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To summarize the clinical features and postoperative efficacy of patients with oval window atresia accompanied by facial nerve aberration. Methods: The clinical data of patients with congenital middle ear malformation with facial nerve aberration admitted to our hospital from January 2015 to March 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 97 cases (133 ears) in total. Among them, 39 patients (44 ears) had complete follow-up data, including 27 male patients and 12 females, aged 7-48 years old, with an average age of 17.8 years old. Of these, 14 cases (16 ears) were patients combined with facial nerve aberration, and 25 cases (28 ears) were without facial nerve aberration. The results of imaging examination, pure-tone audiometry, selection of surgical strategy, intraoperative findings and postoperative hearing improvement were summarized and analyzed. The malformations of malleus, incus, stapes, oval window and facial nerve were recorded. Prism 9 software was used to statistically analyze the mean bone conductance and air-bone gap of patients before and after surgery. Results: All the 14 patients (16 ears) with middle ear malformation accompanied by facial nerve aberration and oval window atresia showed poor hearing and no facial palsy since childhood. High resolution CT (HRCT) examination of temporal bone, pure tone audiometry and Gelle test were performed before surgery. The malformations of malleus, incus, stapes, oval window and facial nerve were recorded. Preoperative high-resolution CT (HRCT) examination of temporal bone found 12 ears with 4 or more deformities, accounting for 75.00%, in the group of patients with facial nerve malformation. The preoperative average bone conductive threshold was (15.3±10.4) dB and the average air-bone gap was (46.3±10.6) dB in pure-tone audiometry (0.5, 1, 2, 4kHz). According to the different degrees of facial nerve and ossicle malformation, we performed three different hearing reconstruction strategies for the 14 patients (16 ears) with facial nerve aberration and oval window atresia, including 7 ears of incus bypass artificial stape implantation, 7 ears of Malleostapedotomy (MS) and 2 ears of Malleus-cochlear-prothesis (MCP). After 3 months to 18 months of follow-up, all patients showed no facial paralysis. The postoperative mean bone conductive threshold was (15.7±7.9) dB and air-bone gap was (19.8±8.5) dB. There were significant differences in mean air-bone gap before and after operation ( t =7.766, P <0.05), and there was no significant difference between the mean bone conductive threshold before and after surgery ( t =0.225, P =0.824). There was no significant difference of mean reduction of air-bone gap between patients with and without facial nerve aberration ( t =1.412, P =0.165). There was no significant difference between the three hearing reconstruction strategies. There was no significant displacement of the Piston examined by U-HRCT. Conclusion: For patients of middle ear malformation whose facial nerve cover the oval window partially, incus bypass artificial stape implantation or Malleostapedotomy (MS) can be selected according to the specific condition of auditory ossis malformation, and for patients whose facial nerve completely covers the oval window area, Malleus-cochlear-prothesis (MCP) can be selected. Three types of stapes surgery are safe and reliable for patients with oval window atresia accompanied by facial nerve aberration. There was no significant difference in efficacy between them. Preoperative HRCT assessment of middle ear malformation is effective. There is no significant difference of surgical effect with or without facial nerve aberration. The U-HRCT can be used to evaluate the middle ear malformation before surgery and the Piston implantation status after surgery. Due to the risks of surgery, those who do not want to undergo surgery can choose artificial hearing AIDS, such as hearing aid, vibrating soundbridge, bone bridge or bone-anchored hearing aid.

Objective: To evaluate the performance of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) multi-sequence feature imputation and fusion mutual model based on sequence deletion in differentiating high-grade glioma (HGG) from low-grade glioma (LGG)., Methods: We retrospectively collected multi-sequence MR images from 305 glioma patients, including 189 HGG patients and 116 LGG patients. The region of interest (ROI) of T1-weighted images (T1WI), T2-weighted images (T2WI), T2 fluid attenuated inversion recovery (T2&#95;FLAIR) and post-contrast enhancement T1WI (CE&#95;T1WI) were delineated to extract the radiomics features. A mutual-aid model of MRI multi-sequence feature imputation and fusion based on sequence deletion was used for imputation and fusion of the feature matrix with missing data. The discriminative ability of the model was evaluated using 5-fold cross-validation method and by assessing the accuracy, balanced accuracy, area under the ROC curve (AUC), specificity, and sensitivity. The proposed model was quantitatively compared with other non-holonomic multimodal classification models for discriminating HGG and LGG. Class separability experiments were performed on the latent features learned by the proposed feature imputation and fusion methods to observe the classification effect of the samples in twodimensional plane. Convergence experiments were used to verify the feasibility of the model., Results: For differentiation of HGG from LGG with a missing rate of 10%, the proposed model achieved accuracy, balanced accuracy, AUC, specificity, and sensitivity of 0.777, 0.768, 0.826, 0.754 and 0.780, respectively. The fused latent features showed excellent performance in the class separability experiment, and the algorithm could be iterated to convergence with superior classification performance over other methods at the missing rates of 30% and 50%., Conclusion: The proposed model has excellent performance in classification task of HGG and LGG and outperforms other non-holonomic multimodal classification models, demonstrating its potential for efficient processing of non-holonomic multimodal data.

We developed a model of inflammation and airway remodeling in C57 mice provoked by exosomes derived from bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells infected by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The mean size of control and infected exosomes in vitro were 167.9 and 118.5 nm, respectively. After induction of modeled pathology, the severity of airway inflammation and its remodeling were analyzed by histopathological methods. In addition, the blood levels of inflammatory factors IL-10, IL-17, transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), and TNFα were assayed; in the lung tissues, the expression levels of MMP-2, MMP-9, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), and TGF-β were measured. In the developed model, the effects of RSV-induced and non-induced exosomes were compared with those of inactivated and non-inactivated RSV. Intranasal administration of RSV-induced exosomes decreased the levels of serum inflammatory factors IL-10 and IL-17 and increased the expression of serum proinflammatory cytokine TNFα. Increased levels of MMP-2, MMP-9, and α-SMA, enhanced expression of TGF-β in the lung tissue, and pathological staining of the lung tissues indicated infiltration with inflammatory cells and luminal constriction. Thus, RSV-induced exosomes can provoke airway inflammation and remodeling in mice similar to RSV, while non-induced exosomes cannot produce such alterations., (© 2024. Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

We conducted a meta-analysis to determine the risk of infection following shoulder arthroscopy and to identify risk factors for infection. We systematically searched the PubMed/Medline, Embase and Cochrane Library databases, as well as the reference lists of previous systematic reviews and meta-analyses; manual searches were also performed. A random-effects model was employed to estimate pooled odds ratios (ORs), based on sample size, the P-value of Egger's test and heterogeneity among studies. Of the 29,342 articles screened, 16 retrospective studies comprising 74,759 patients were included. High-quality evidence showed that patients with diabetes (OR, 1.30; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.20-1.41) or hypertension (OR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.10-1.44) had a higher risk of infection, while moderate quality evidence showed that patients with obesity (body mass index ≥30 kg/m 2 ) (OR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.28-1.57), those who were male (OR, 1.65; 95% CI, 1.12-2.44), those who had an American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class ≥3 (OR, 2.02; 95% CI, 1.02-3.99) and those who had a history of smoking (OR, 2.44; 95% CI, 1.39-4.28) had a higher risk of infection. The meta-analysis revealed that there was no association between age, time of surgery, or alcohol consumption and infection. This meta-analysis identified six significant risk factors for infection following shoulder arthroscopy including diabetes, obesity, hypertension, male sex, ASA class, history of smoking. These patient-related risk factors may help identify postoperative patients at higher risk for infection following shoulder arthroscopy., (Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Objective: To investigate adherence to intravascular catheter (IVC) insertion and maintenance guidelines in Chinese tertiary hospitals., Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey of adult inpatients with IVC placements was conducted from July to September 2022 in 20 tertiary hospitals in China. One clinical staff member from each department in each hospital was assigned to participate in the survey. Questionnaires were uniformly collected and reviewed after three months., Results: This study included 1815 cases (62.69%) of central venous catheter, 471 cases (16.27%) of peripherally inserted central catheter, 461 cases (15.92%) of PORT, and 147 cases (5.08%) of haemodialysis catheter insertions. Statistically significant differences in compliance were observed across the four IVC types, specifically in relation to the insertion checklist, standard operating procedure, and insertion environment (P<0.05). Practice adherence during IVC maintenance differed significantly across the four IVC types in aspects such as availability of IVC maintenance verification forms, daily scrubbing of the catheterized patients, and catheter connection methods (P<0.05). A total of 386 (13.34%) patients developed fever, 1086 (37.53%) were treated with therapeutic antibiotics, 16 (0.55%) developed central-line-associated bloodstream infections, two (0.07%) developed local skin infections, and six (0.21%) developed deep vein thrombosis., Conclusions: Adherence to guidelines regarding insertion and maintenance differed across the four IVC types; there is a gap between the recommended measures and the actual operation of the guidelines. Therefore, it is necessary to further enhance training and develop checklists to prevent central-line-associated bloodstream infections., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To explore the feasibility of constructing an objective tinnitus subtype model based on peripheral blood differentially expressed genes (DEGs) using a combination of Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA) and Random Forest algorithm (RF). Methods: From October 2019 to June 2020, peripheral blood DEGs were obtained from 37 patients (from the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University)with chronic subjective high-frequency tinnitus (21 unbothersome type, 16 bothersome type) and 20 healthy volunteers through high-throughput sequencing. WGCNA was used to construct gene modules with different expression patterns and analyze their relationships with tinnitus characteristics. Subsequently, RF was employed to build subtype models, which were evaluated by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), accuracy, and F1-score. Results: A total of 12 351 intergroup DEGs were divided into 9 gene modules. Among them, MEblue, MEgreen, and MEbrown showed significant negative correlations with the healthy volunteer group, while MEpink showed a significant positive correlation with the tinnitus distress group. The "Tinnitus vs. Normal" and "Compensatory vs. Decompensatory" subtype models, based on MEblue and MEpink respectively, both had AUCs greater than 0.80, accuracies above 90%, and F1-scores above 0.90, indicating good performance. Conclusions: Peripheral blood DEGs are potential biological indicators for objective classification of subjective tinnitus. The combined application of WGCNA and the Random Forest algorithm should be a viable approach to constructing an objective tinnitus subtype model. However, further exploration and refinement are needed to validate the model's generalizability, cross-dataset performance, and algorithm optimization.

Objective: To examine the impact of arid climates on distribution of Oncomelania hupensis snails in the Poyang Lake area, so as to provide insights into precision control of O. hupensis snails in the Poyang Lake area., Methods: O. hupensis snails-infested grass islands in Hukou County, Lianxi District and Lushan City in the northern Poyang Lake area, and Jinxian County, Nanchang County and Poyang County in the southern Poyang Lake area were selected as the study areas, and the occurrence of frames with living snails and the mean density of living snails were captured from snail surveys in the study areas in spring and autumn each year from 2006 to 2023. Five years 2007, 2011, 2013, 2019 and 2022 were selected as drought years, and the mean daily water levels were collected at the Xingzi hydrological station in the drought years, normal flow year (2012) and flood year (2020). The numbers of days with water levels ranging from the lower elevation (11 m) to the upper elevation (16 m) for snail survival and the numbers of days with water levels of 11 m and below were collected in the Poyang Lake area, and the changes of snail indicators were compared in different grass islands in the Poyang Lake area before and after drought., Results: The numbers of days with water levels ranging from 11 to 16 m were 110, 88, 136 d and 125 d at the Xingzi hydrological station in four drought years 2007, 2011, 2013 and 2019, which were less than in the flow year and flood year, and the days with water levels of 11 m and below were 242, 277, 220 d and 198 d in four drought years 2007, 2011, 2013 and 2019, which were longer than in the flow year and flood year. A total of 416 snails-infested marshlands were surveyed in the Poyang Lake area from 2006 to 2021, and the survey marshlands accounted for 43.12% (307/712) and 46.98% (109/232) of total marshlands in the southern and northern Poyang Lake areas, respectively. The median occurrence of frames with living snails and mean density of living snails were 0.60% (interquartile range, 4.04%) and 0.010 1 snail/0.1 m 2 (interquartile range, 0.076 1 snail/0.1 m 2 ) in drought years, which were both lower than those [1.33% (5.19%) and 0.022 8 (0.098 9) snail/0.1 m 2 ] in non-drought years (χ 2 = 42.170 and 44.911, both P values < 0.01). The proportion of grass islands with a continuous decline in snail indicators was higher in the southern Poyang Lake area than in the northern Poyang Lake area after the next year of drought (24.24% vs. 2.33%; χ 2 = 10.633, P < 0.01), and the proportion of grass islands with rebounding snail indicators was higher in the northern Poyang Lake area than in the southern Poyang Lake area (53.49% vs. 15.76%; χ 2 = 26.966, P < 0.01). A longitudinal analysis of snail indicators in marshlands with rebounding snail indicators after drought showed 1 to 5 years for return to pre-drought snail status, with a median of 2 (interquartile range, 1) years, and snail status was more likely to rebound if the occurrence of frames with living snails and the mean density of living snails were 2.11% and 0.025 5 snail/0.1 m 2 and greater in snails-infested grass islands., Conclusions: Drought causes a remarkable decline in O. hupensis snail indicators in the Poyang Lake area, with a more remarkable impact in the southern Poyang Lake area, and 1 to 5 years are required for return to pre-drought snail status.

Objective: To investigate the correlation between hematocrit (HCT) and cardiovascular events in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. Methods: Patients undergoing maintenance PD in the PD center of Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital from March 19, 2012 to July 9, 2020 were included. Demographic, baseline clinical and laboratory data of the patients were collected and patients were followed up until April 8, 2022. The primary endpoint was the first occurrence of a cardiovascular event. According to the tertiles of baseline HCT, the patients were divided into group Q1 (HCT≤26.6%), group Q2 (HCT>26.6%-32.4%), and group Q3 (HCT>32.4%). Laboratory indexes and cardiovascular events were compared among the three groups. Kaplan-Meier survival curve, Cox regression analysis and sensitivity analysis were used to analyze the effect of HCT on cardiovascular outcomes. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyze the predictive value of HCT for cardiovascular events in PD patients. Results: A total of 860 PD patients were included, including 494 males (57.4%) and 366 females (42.6%), with a mean age of (41.5±15.0) years. There were 287 cases in group Q1, 289 cases in group Q2, and 284 cases in group Q3, respectively. A total of 265 (30.8%) patients experienced first cardiovascular events during the follow-up period. The incidence of cardiovascular events in groups Q1, Q2 and Q3 was 36.2% (104/287), 34.3% (99/289), and 21.8% (62/284), respectively, with a statistically significant difference ( P <0.001). The incidence of cardiovascular events decreased with the increase of HCT. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression model analysis showed that decreased HCT was a risk factor for cardiovascular events. Compared with group Q3, the risk of cardiovascular events in group Q1 increased by 50.7% (group Q2: HR =1.444, 95% CI : 1.029-2.028, P =0.034; group Q1: HR =1.570, 95% CI : 1.096-2.250, P =0.014). In the sensitivity analysis, using kidney transplantation as the competition event, the risk of cardiovascular events was lower in group Q3 than that in group Q1 (subdistributional HR =1.413, 95% CI : 1.006-1.990, P =0.046). Kaplan-Meier survival curve showed that compared with the other two groups, the cardiovascular events-free survival rate of patients in group Q1 was significantly lower (log-rank χ 2 =9.722, P =0.008). ROC analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of HCT for predicting cardiovascular events in PD patients was 0.583 (95% CI : 0.542-0.623, P <0.001), with the sensitivity of 40.6% and the specificity of 75.1%. Conclusion: Low-level HCT is associated with an increased risk of the first cardiovascular event in PD patients.

The kagome metal CsV[Formula: see text]Sb[Formula: see text] is an ideal platform to study the interplay between topology and electron correlation. To understand the fermiology of CsV[Formula: see text]Sb[Formula: see text], intensive quantum oscillation (QO) studies at ambient pressure have been conducted. However, due to the Fermi surface reconstruction by the complicated charge density wave (CDW) order, the QO spectrum is exceedingly complex, hindering a complete understanding of the fermiology. Here, we directly map the Fermi surface of the pristine CsV[Formula: see text]Sb[Formula: see text] by measuring Shubnikov-de Haas QOs up to 29 T under pressure, where the CDW order is completely suppressed. The QO spectrum of the pristine CsV[Formula: see text]Sb[Formula: see text] is significantly simpler than the one in the CDW phase, and the detected oscillation frequencies agree well with our density functional theory calculations. In particular, a frequency as large as 8,200 T is detected. Pressure-dependent QO studies further reveal a weak but noticeable enhancement of the quasiparticle effective masses on approaching the critical pressure where the CDW order disappears, hinting at the presence of quantum fluctuations. Our high-pressure QO results reveal the large, unreconstructed Fermi surface of CsV[Formula: see text]Sb[Formula: see text], paving the way to understanding the parent state of this intriguing metal in which the electrons can be organized into different ordered states., Competing Interests: Competing interests statement:The authors declare no competing interest.

Objective: To explore the effect of intestinal nitrates on the growth of Klebsiella pneumoniae and its regulatory mechanisms., Methods: K. pneumoniae strains with nitrate reductase narG and narZ single or double gene knockout or with NarXL gene knockout were constructed and observed for both aerobic and anaerobic growth in the presence of KNO 3 using an automated bacterial growth analyzer and a spectrophotometer, respectively. The mRNA expressions of narG and narZ in K. pneumoniae in anaerobic cultures in the presence of KNO 3 and the effect of the binary regulatory system NarXL on their expresisons were detected using qRT-PCR. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA) and MST analysis were performed to explore the specific regulatory mechanisms of NarXL in sensing and utilizing nitrates. Competitive experiments were conducted to examine anaerobic growth advantages of narG and narZ gene knockout strains of K. pneumoniae in the presence of KNO 3 ., Results: The presence of KNO 3 in anaerobic conditions, but not in aerobic conditions, promoted bacterial growth more effectively in the wild-type K. pneumoniae strain than in the narXL gene knockout strain. In anaerobic conditions, the narXL gene knockout strain showed significantly lowered mRNA expressions of narG and narZ ( P < 0.0001). EMSA and MST experiments demonstrated that the NarXL regulator could directly bind to narG and narZ promoter regions. The wild-type K. pneumoniae strain in anaerobic cultures showed significantly increased expressions of narG and narZ mRNAs in the presence of KNO 3 ( P < 0.01), and narG gene knockout resulted in significantly attenuated anaerobic growth and competitive growth abilities of K. pneumoniae in the presence of KNO 3 ( P < 0.01)., Conclusion: The binary regulatory system NarXL of K. pneumoniae can sense changes in intestinal nitrate concentration and directly regulate the expression of nitrate reductase genes narG and narZ to promote bacterial growth.

Objective: To investigate the capillarization of liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs) and its association with hepatic fibrosis during the development of alveolar echinococcosis, so as to provide the basis for unraveling the mechanisms underlying the role of LSEC in the development and prognosis of hepatic injuries and hepatic fibrosis caused by alveolar echinococcosis., Methods: Forty C57BL/6 mice at ages of 6 to 8 weeks were randomly divided into a control group and 1-, 2- and 4-week infection groups, of 10 mice in each group. Each mouse in the infection groups was intraperitoneally injected with 2 000 Echinococcus multilocularis protoscoleces, while each mouse in the control group was given an equal volume of phosphate-buffered saline using the same method. All mice were sacrificed 1, 2 and 4 weeks post-infection and mouse livers were collected. The pathological changes of livers were observed using hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining, and hepatic fibrosis was evaluated through semi-quantitative analysis of Masson's trichrome staining-positive areas. The activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition were examined using immunohistochemical staining of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and collagen type I alpha 1 (COL1A1), and the fenestrations on the surface of LSECs were observed using scanning electron microscopy. Primary LSECs were isolated from mouse livers, and the mRNA expression of LSEC marker genes Stabilin-1 , Stabilin-2 , Ehd3 , CD209b , GATA4 and Maf was quantified using real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay., Results: Destruction of local liver lobular structure was observed in mice 2 weeks post-infection with E. multilocularis protoscoleces, and hydatid cysts, which were surrounded by granulomatous tissues, were found in mouse livers 4 weeks post-infection. Semi-quantitative analysis of Masson's trichrome staining showed a significant difference in the proportion of collagen fiber contents in mouse livers among the four groups ( F = 26.060, P < 0.001), and a higher proportion of collagen fiber contents was detected in mouse livers in the 4-week infection group [(11.29 ± 2.58)%] than in the control group ( P < 0.001). Immunohistochemical staining revealed activation of a few HSCs and ECM deposition in mouse livers 1 and 2 weeks post-infection, and abundant brown-yellow stained α-SMA and COL1A1 were deposited in the lesion areas in mouse livers 4 weeks post-infection, which spread to surrounding tissues. Semi-quantitative analysis revealed significant differences in α-SMA ( F = 7.667, P < 0.05) and COL1A1 expression ( F = 6.530, P < 0.05) in mouse levers among the four groups, with higher α-SMA [(7.13 ± 3.68)%] and COL1A1 expression [(13.18 ± 7.20)%] quantified in mouse livers in the 4-week infection group than in the control group (both P values < 0.05). Scanning electron microscopy revealed significant differences in the fenestration frequency ( F = 37.730, P < 0.001) and porosity ( F = 16.010, P < 0.001) on the surface of mouse LSECs among the four groups, and reduced fenestration frequency and porosity were observed in the 1-[(1.22 ± 0.48)/μm2 and [(3.05 ± 0.91)%] and 2-week infection groups [(3.47 ± 0.10)/μm 2 and (7.57 ± 0.23)%] groups than in the control group (all P values < 0.001). There was a significant difference in the average fenestration diameter on the surface of mouse LSECs among the four groups ( F = 15.330, P < 0.001), and larger average fenestration diameters were measured in the 1-[(180.80 ± 16.42) nm] and 2-week infection groups [(161.70 ± 3.85) nm] than in the control group (both P values < 0.05). In addition, there were significant differences among the four groups in terms of Stabilin-1 ( F = 153.100, P < 0.001), Stabilin-2 ( F = 57.010, P < 0.001), Ehd3 ( F = 31.700, P < 0.001), CD209b ( F = 177.400, P < 0.001), GATA4 ( F = 17.740, P < 0.001), and Maf mRNA expression ( F = 72.710, P < 0.001), and reduced mRNA expression of Stabilin-1 , Stabilin-2 , Ehd3 , CD209b , GATA4 and Maf genes was quantified in three infection groups than in the control group (all P values < 0.001)., Conclusions: E. multilocularis infections may induce capillarization of LSECs in mice, and result in a reduction in the expression of functional and phenotypic marker genes of LSECs, and capillarization of LSECs occurs earlier than activation of HSC and development of hepatic fibrosis.

The article "MiR-221 inhibits proliferation of pancreatic cancer cells via down regulation of SOCS3", by J. Xie, J.-T. Wen, X.-J. Xue, K.-P. Zhang, X.-Z. Wang, H.-H. Cheng, published in Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2018; 22 (7): 1914-1921-DOI: 10.26355/eurrev&#95;201804&#95;14714-PMID: 29687843 has been retracted by the Editor in Chief for misconduct and data fabrication. An investigation conducted by the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China, determined that the information and images presented in the paper have been manipulated, pieced together, and subjected to various fraudulent alterations. Consequently, the Editor in Chief mistrusts the results presented and has decided to withdraw the articles. The corresponding authors did not respond to journal correspondence about the investigation and retraction of this article. This article has been withdrawn. The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. https://www.europeanreview.org/article/14714.

Background: H101, an innovative oncolytic adenovirus, has shown potential in modifying the tumor microenvironment from immunologically 'cold' to 'hot'. When combined with nivolumab, a programmed cell death protein 1 inhibitor, this synergy may offer substantial therapeutic benefits beyond the capabilities of each agent alone., Patients and Methods: In this pilot study, we assessed the efficacy and safety of combining H101 with nivolumab in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients who failed prior systemic therapy. The participants received initial oncolytic virus (OV) pretreatment with intratumoral H101 injections (5.0 × 10 11 vp/0.5 ml/vial, two vials per lesion) on days 1 and 3. Combination therapy started on day 8, with H101 administered every 2 or 4 weeks and nivolumab (240 mg) injections every 2 weeks. Treatment continued up to 12 months or until disease progression, intolerable toxicity, consent withdrawal, or study conclusion. The primary endpoint was the objective response rate (ORR)., Results: Between March 2020 and March 2022, 18 of 21 screened patients were assessable, showing an ORR of 11.1% [two cases of partial response (PR) and five cases of stable disease], with extrahepatic injections often leading to favorable outcomes. The disease control rate stood at 38.9%, with a 6-month survival rate of 88.9%. Median progression-free survival was 2.69 months, and overall survival (OS) was 15.04 months. Common adverse events included low-grade fever (100%) and pain related to centesis (33.3%), and no grade 3/4 events were reported. Significantly, local H101 injection showed potential in reversing immune checkpoint inhibitor resistance, evidenced by over 2.5 years of extended OS in PR cases with low α-fetoprotein. Additionally, decreasing neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio during OV pretreatment may predict positive outcomes., Conclusions: This study demonstrates the potential efficacy of combining H101 with nivolumab in treating refractory advanced HCC, with well-tolerated toxicities., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To explore the performance of a new multimodal feature fusion classification model based on distance matching and discriminative representation learning for differentiating high-grade glioma (HGG) from solitary brain metastasis (SBM)., Methods: We collected multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from 61 patients with HGG and 60 with SBM, and delineated regions of interest (ROI) on T1WI, T2WI, T2-weighted fluid attenuated inversion recovery (T2&#95;FLAIR) and post-contrast enhancement T1WI (CE&#95;T1WI) images. The radiomics features were extracted from each sequence using Pyradiomics and fused using a multimodal feature fusion classification model based on distance matching and discriminative representation learning to obtain a classification model. The discriminative performance of the classification model for differentiating HGG from SBM was evaluated using five-fold cross-validation with metrics of specificity, sensitivity, accuracy, and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) and quantitatively compared with other feature fusion models. Visual experiments were conducted to examine the fused features obtained by the proposed model to validate its feasibility and effectiveness., Results: The five-fold cross-validation results showed that the proposed multimodal feature fusion classification model had a specificity of 0.871, a sensitivity of 0.817, an accuracy of 0.843, and an AUC of 0.930 for distinguishing HGG from SBM. This feature fusion method exhibited excellent discriminative performance in the visual experiments., Conclusion: The proposed multimodal feature fusion classification model has an excellent ability for differentiating HGG from SBM with significant advantages over other feature fusion classification models in discrimination and classification tasks between HGG and SBM.

Changes in biomarker levels of Alzheimer's disease (AD) reflect underlying pathophysiological changes in the brain and can provide evidence of direct and downstream treatment effects linked to disease modification. Recent results from clinical trials of anti-amyloid β (Aβ) treatments have raised the question of how to best characterize the relationship between AD biomarkers and clinical endpoints. Consensus methodology for assessing such relationships is lacking, leading to inconsistent evaluation and reporting. In this review, we provide a statistical framework for reporting treatment effects on early and late accelerating AD biomarkers and assessing their relationship with clinical endpoints at the subject and group levels. Amyloid positron emission tomography (PET), plasma p-tau, and tau PET follow specific trajectories during AD and are used as exemplar cases to contrast biomarkers with early and late progression. Subject-level correlation was assessed using change from baseline in biomarkers versus change from baseline in clinical endpoints, and interpretation of the correlation is dependent on the biomarker and disease stage. Group-level correlation was assessed using the placebo-adjusted treatment effects on biomarkers versus those on clinical endpoints in each trial. This correlation leverages the fundamental advantages of randomized placebo-controlled trials and assesses the predictivity of a treatment effect on a biomarker or clinical benefit. Harmonization in the assessment of treatment effects on biomarkers and their relationship to clinical endpoints will provide a wealth of comparable data across clinical trials and may yield new insights for the treatment of AD., Competing Interests: TC, RMH, CR, JM, JX, WC, KF, GD, and JO are employees of Biogen Inc. and may be stockholders. YT and PM were employees of Biogen Inc. at the time of this work and have since left the company. SH is CEO of Pentara Corporation and has received consultancy/speaker fees from Biogen Inc. and consults with many companies in the Alzheimer’s field. OH has acquired research support (for the institution) from Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, Biogen Inc., Eli Lilly, Eisai, GE HealthCare, Pfizer, and Roche. In the past 2 years, he has received consultancy/speaker fees from AC Immune, ALZpath, Biogen Inc., Cerveau, and Roche. PSA is chair of the steering committee of the aducanumab program, has received research support from Lilly, Janssen, Eisai, the Alzheimer’s Association, National Institutes of Health, and Foundation of the National Institutes of Health, and has consulted for Merck, Roche, and ImmunoBrain Checkpoint.

Background: Amivantamab plus carboplatin-pemetrexed (chemotherapy) with and without lazertinib demonstrated antitumor activity in patients with refractory epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutated advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in phase I studies. These combinations were evaluated in a global phase III trial., Patients and Methods: A total of 657 patients with EGFR-mutated (exon 19 deletions or L858R) locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC after disease progression on osimertinib were randomized 2 : 2 : 1 to receive amivantamab-lazertinib-chemotherapy, chemotherapy, or amivantamab-chemotherapy. The dual primary endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS) of amivantamab-chemotherapy and amivantamab-lazertinib-chemotherapy versus chemotherapy. During the study, hematologic toxicities observed in the amivantamab-lazertinib-chemotherapy arm necessitated a regimen change to start lazertinib after carboplatin completion., Results: All baseline characteristics were well balanced across the three arms, including by history of brain metastases and prior brain radiation. PFS was significantly longer for amivantamab-chemotherapy and amivantamab-lazertinib-chemotherapy versus chemotherapy [hazard ratio (HR) for disease progression or death 0.48 and 0.44, respectively; P < 0.001 for both; median of 6.3 and 8.3 versus 4.2 months, respectively]. Consistent PFS results were seen by investigator assessment (HR for disease progression or death 0.41 and 0.38 for amivantamab-chemotherapy and amivantamab-lazertinib-chemotherapy, respectively; P < 0.001 for both; median of 8.2 and 8.3 versus 4.2 months, respectively). Objective response rate was significantly higher for amivantamab-chemotherapy and amivantamab-lazertinib-chemotherapy versus chemotherapy (64% and 63% versus 36%, respectively; P < 0.001 for both). Median intracranial PFS was 12.5 and 12.8 versus 8.3 months for amivantamab-chemotherapy and amivantamab-lazertinib-chemotherapy versus chemotherapy (HR for intracranial disease progression or death 0.55 and 0.58, respectively). Predominant adverse events (AEs) in the amivantamab-containing regimens were hematologic, EGFR-, and MET-related toxicities. Amivantamab-chemotherapy had lower rates of hematologic AEs than amivantamab-lazertinib-chemotherapy., Conclusions: Amivantamab-chemotherapy and amivantamab-lazertinib-chemotherapy improved PFS and intracranial PFS versus chemotherapy in a population with limited options after disease progression on osimertinib. Longer follow-up is needed for the modified amivantamab-lazertinib-chemotherapy regimen., Competing Interests: Disclosure AP: consulting or advisory role for AstraZeneca, Bayer, Bristol Myers Squibb, Daiichi Sankyo, Lilly, GSK, Janssen, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Mundipharma, Novartis, and Roche; speakers bureaus for AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Daiichi Sankyo, eCancer, Janssen, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Medscape, PeerVoice, and touchONCOLOGY; steering committee member for Janssen and ArriVent Biopharma. SHL: received honoraria from AstraZeneca/MedImmune, Roche, Merck, Lilly, and Amgen; consulting or advisory role for AstraZeneca, Roche, Merck, Pfizer, and Lilly; received research funding from Merck. BM: received speaking honoraria from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, EMD Serono, Janssen, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, and Takeda; received support for attending meetings from Janssen, Pfizer, and Sanofi. JYS: participated in advisory boards for AstraZeneca, Roche, Boehringer Ingelheim, Lilly, Pfizer, Novartis, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co, Ono Pharmaceutical, Takeda, CStone Pharmaceuticals, Janssen, and Bristol Myers Squibb; received speaking honoraria from AstraZeneca, Roche, Boehringer Ingelheim, Lilly, Pfizer, Novartis, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co, Ono Pharmaceutical, and Bristol Myers Squibb; received grant from Roche. KA: received lecture fees for AstraZeneca K.K., MSD K.K., Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Bristol Myers Squibb, and Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. OJV: honoraria or advisory role for Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Roche/Genentech, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Lilly, Takeda, and Janssen; received travel, accommodations, and expenses from Takeda, AstraZeneca, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Pfizer, and Roche/Genentech. EF: consulting or advisory role for Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Bristol Myers Squibb, Lilly, GSK, Janssen, Merck Serono, Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi, Takeda, Peptomyc, Daiichi Sankyo Europe GmbH, F. Hoffman La-Roche, Merck Sharp & Dohme, BerGenBio, and Turning Point Therapeutics; speakers bureaus for AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Lilly, Medscape, Merck Sharp & Dohme, PeerVoice, Pfizer, Takeda, Amgen, F. Hoffman La-Roche, Janssen, Medical Trends, Merck Serono, Sanofi, and touchONCOLOGY; other relationships with GRIFOLS; received research funding from Merck and Merck KgaA. NG: invited speaker for Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Mirati Therapeutics, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, and Sanofi; advisory roles for AbbVie, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Grünenthal, Janssen, Lilly, MSD, Novartis, Owkin, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, and Takeda; received research funding for institution from Bristol Myers Squibb, Janssen, Roche, and Sivan; leadership role at ITMIG; family employment at AstraZeneca. ABC: invited speaker for Pfizer, Amgen, Takeda, Novartis, Roche, AstraZeneca, MSD, Janssen, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Sanofi; advisory roles for Novartis, AbbVie, Roche, Exeliom Biosciences, Pfizer, Janssen, Amgen, Takeda, AstraZeneca, and MSD; research funding of institution from Exeliom Biosciences; support for attending meetings from Roche, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Amgen, and Bristol Myers Squibb; participation on data monitoring safety board for InhaTarget Therapeutics and Merck. RC: invited speaker for Amgen, AstraZeneca, Lilly, GSK, Janssen, MSD, Pfizer, Roche, and Takeda; participated in advisory boards for Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Lilly, GSK, Janssen, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, PharmaMar, Roche, Sanofi, and Takeda; speaker in educational activities for Medscape, PeerVoice, and TouchIME; holds stocks or shares in Supportive Care UK; has ownership interest in Christie Private Care; principal investigator for AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Clovis, Lilly, GSK, Janssen, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, PharmaMar, Roche, and Takeda. FC: received consulting fees from Roche, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Pfizer, Takeda, Lilly, Bayer, Amgen, Sanofi, PharmaMar, Novocure, Mirati Therapeutics, Galecto, OSE Immunotherapeutics, and MSD; received honoraria for advisory role from Roche, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Pfizer, Takeda, Lilly, Bayer, Amgen, Sanofi, PharmaMar, Novocure, Mirati Therapeutics, Galecto, OSE Immunotherapeutics, and MSD; received support for attending meetings from OSE Immunotherapeutics; participated in advisory boards for Roche, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Pfizer, Takeda, Lilly, Bayer, Amgen, Sanofi, PharmaMar, Novocure, Mirati Therapeutics, Galecto, OSE Immunotherapeutics, and MSD. SO: received advisory board consulting fees from Janssen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Novocure, and Roche. SP: participated in advisory boards for Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, BeiGene, Blueprint Medicines, Bristol Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Daiichi Sankyo, EQRx, GSK, Guardant Health, Janssen, Lilly, Medscape, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi, and Takeda; consulting fees from Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Blueprint Medicines, Bristol Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Daiichi Sankyo, GSK, Guardant Health, Incyte, Janssen, Lilly, Merck Serono, MSD, Novartis, Roche, Takeda, Pfizer, Seattle Genetics, Turning Point Therapeutics, and EQRx; expert testimony for Merck Serono and Roche; invited speaker for VJOncology; received payment or honoraria from AstraZeneca, Bayer, Guardant Health, Janssen, Merck Serono, Roche, and Takeda; principal investigator for ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celgene, Daiichi Sankyo, Janssen, Lilly, Roche, Takeda, Trizel, and Turning Point Therapeutics; received support for attending meetings from Janssen and Roche; research grant from Guardant Health; other financial relationships with Amgen, Blueprint Medicines, Elsevier, and MSD. JLT: invited speaker for AstraZeneca, Lilly, MSD, Boehringer Ingelheim, Pfizer, and Takeda; participated in advisory boards for Amgen and AstraZeneca; received support for attending meetings from MSD. PT: received grants and nonfinancial support from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Novartis, Roche, and Takeda. RDG: received grants from Alliance Foundation, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium, Bristol Myers Squibb, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co, Daiichi Sankyo, ECOG-ACRIN, Helsinn, Hoosier Cancer Research Network, Janssen, Jounce Therapeutics, Merck, National Cancer Institute, Pfizer, and Takeda; received payment or honoraria from Clinical Care Options, OncLive, Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer, and Targeted Oncology; received support for attending meetings from the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer; participated in advisory boards for AstraZeneca, Blueprint Medicines, Daiichi Sankyo, Gilead, Janssen, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Mirati Therapeutics, Oncocyte, Sanofi, and Takeda; leadership or other role in ASCO Scientific Review Committee and Meeting Abstracts, Hoosier Cancer Research Network, Journal of Clinical Oncology, National Cancer Institute Investigational Drug Steering Committee, and the Thoracic Clinical Trial Working Group. WNWJr: participated in advisory boards for AstraZeneca, Bayer, Merck, Novartis, Sanofi, and Takeda; invited speaker for Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Lilly, Genentech/Roche, Janssen, Pfizer, and United Medical; expert testimony for Boehringer Ingelheim. KR: consultant for Amgen, AstraZeneca, Blueprint Medicines, Daiichi Sankyo, EMD Serono, Genentech, GSK, Janssen, Lilly, Merck KGA, Mirati Therapeutics, Seattle Genetics, and Takeda; writing assistance from Blueprint Medicines, Genentech, Janssen, Merck, Mirati Therapeutics, Seattle Genetics, and Takeda; research funding of institution from Genentech, Blueprint Medicines, Calithera, Daiichi Sankyo, Elevation Oncology, and Janssen. TT: received honoraria from AstraZeneca K.K., Pfizer Japan Inc, Eli Lilly Japan, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co, MSD K.K., Pfizer Japan Inc, Takeda, Bristol Myers Squibb Japan, Amgen K.K., and Novartis; research funding of institution from Janssen Pharmaceutical K.K., AstraZeneca K.K., Pfizer Japan Inc, Eli Lilly Japan, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co, MSD K.K., Amgen K.K., Merck Biopharma Co., Ltd., and AnHeart Therapeutics Inc. SG: principal investigator for AstraZeneca, Novartis, and Janssen (fees to institution). DMK: participated in advisory boards for MSD, Merck, Roche, Bristol Myers Squibb, Takeda, Boehringer Ingelheim, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Amgen, Sanofi-Aventis, and Novartis. AB: received consulting fees from Pfizer and Roche; honoraria from Novartis and Eli Lilly; participated in advisory boards for Pfizer, Roche, and Regeneron. MM: received consulting fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche, Takeda, and AstraZeneca. PB, ABB, AG, JG, DM, MW, JX, TS, SS, BD, REK, JMB: employee of Janssen and may hold stock in Johnson & Johnson. RGC: invited speaker for AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Janssen, Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, and Takeda; advisory roles for AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Janssen, Lilly, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, and Takeda; steering committee member for AstraZeneca and Janssen. BCC: consulting or advisory role for AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche, Bristol Myers Squibb, Pfizer, Yuhan Corporation, Janssen, Takeda, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Ono Pharmaceutical, Lilly, MedPacto, Blueprint Medicines, Cyrus Therapeutics, Guardant Health, Novartis, CJ, ABION, BeiGene, CureLogen, Onegene Biotechnology, GI-Cell, HK inno.N, IMNEWRUN, Hanmi Pharmaceutical, Kanaph Therapeutics, BridgeBio, and Oscotec; leadership roles for Interpark Bio and J INTS BIO; patents, royalties, or other intellectual property for Champions Oncology, Crown Bioscience, and Imagen; other relationships with DAAN Biotherapeutics; owns stock or has other ownership interests with Theravance Biopharma, Gencurix, BridgeBio, Kanaph Therapeutics, Cyrus Therapeutics, Interpark Bio, and J INTS BIO; received research funding from Novartis, Bayer, AstraZeneca, MOGAM Biotechnology Research Institute, Dong-A ST, Champions Oncology, Janssen, Yuhan Corporation, Ono Pharmaceutical, Dizal Pharma, Merck Sharp & Dohme, AbbVie, GI Innovation, Lilly, Blueprint Medicines, Interpark Bio, LG Chem, Oscotec, GI-Cell, ABION, Boehringer Ingelheim, CJ Bioscience, CJ Blossom Park, Cyrus Therapeutics, Genexine, Nuvalent Inc, Oncternal Therapeutics, Regeneron, BridgeBio, ImmuneOncia, Illumina, Kanaph Therapeutics, Therapex, J INTS Bio, Hanmi Pharmaceutical, and CHA Bundang Medical Center. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Sophorae Flavescentis Radix (Kuh-seng, SFR), a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), is widely used alone or within a TCM formula to treat pruritus, especially histamine-independent intractable itching. In the previous study, potential antipruritic active components of the SFR were screened based on cell membrane immobilized chromatography (CMIC), revealing oxymatrine (OMT) as an antipruritic agent. However, the low oral bioavailability (OB) of OMT cannot explain the antipruritic effect of SFR when administered orally in clinic. In this study, we investigated the antipruritic effects and underlying mechanisms of orally administered SFR., Materials and Methods: A network pharmacology and molecular docking were employed to screen the active components of SFR and predict their binding to disease-related target proteins, while the potential mechanisms were explored with Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis. The binding energy between components and target proteins was calculated by molecular docking., Results: The SFR-components-targets-intractable itching Protein-Protein Interactions (PPI) network was established, and 22 active components and 42 targets were screened. The GO enrichment analysis showed that the key target genes of SFR were related to nuclear receptors, transcription factors, and steroid hormone receptors. The results of the KEGG enrichment pathway analysis include Hepatitis B, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor resistance, advanced glycation end product (AGE)-receptor for AGE (RAGE) signaling pathway in diabetic complications, etc. Molecular docking showed that three key target proteins in the network, the vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and caspase-3 (CASP3), have higher binding activities with inermine, phaseolin and kushenol O, respectively; the binding energy of each pair is stronger than that of the target protein-corresponding inhibitors., Conclusions: The complexity of the SFR-components-targets-intractable itching network demonstrated the holistic treatment effect of SFR on intractable itching. The partial coherence between results screened by CMIC in the previous study and network pharmacology demonstrated the potential of network pharmacology in active component screening. Inermine screened from both CMIC and network pharmacology is a VEGFA inhibitor, which possibly accounts for the antipruritic effect of orally administered SFR.

Aim: To review and summarise the clinical and imaging characteristics of intravenous leiomyomatosis (IVL), a rare smooth muscle tumour originating from the uterus., Materials and Methods: Twenty-seven patients with a histopathological diagnosis of IVL who underwent surgery were reviewed retrospectively. All patients underwent pelvic ultrasonography, inferior vena cava (IVC) ultrasonography, and echocardiography before surgery. Computed tomography (CT) with contrast enhancement was performed in patients with extrapelvic IVL. Some patients underwent pelvic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)., Results: Mean age was 44.81 years. Clinical symptoms were non-specific. IVL was intrapelvic in seven patients and extrapelvic in 20. Preoperative pelvic ultrasonography missed the diagnosis in 85.7% of patients with intrapelvic IVL. Pelvic MRI was useful to evaluate the parauterine vessels. Incidence of cardiac involvement was 59.26%. Echocardiography showed a highly mobile sessile mass in the right atrium with moderate-to-low echogenicity that originates from the IVC. Ninety per cent of extrapelvic lesions showed unilateral growth. The most common growth pattern was via the right uterine vein-internal iliac vein-IVC pathway., Conclusion: The clinical symptoms of IVL are non-specific. For patients with intrapelvic IVL, early diagnosis is difficult. Pelvic ultrasound should focus on the parauterine vessels, the iliac and ovarian veins should be explored carefully. MRI has obvious advantages in evaluating parauterine vessel involvement, which is helpful for early diagnosis. For patients with extrapelvic IVL, CT should be performed before surgery as part of a comprehensive evaluation. IVC ultrasonography and echocardiography are recommended when IVL is highly suspected., (Copyright © 2023 The Royal College of Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

To address the issue of low efficiency in extracting plasmid DNA (pDNA) from Lactobacillus plantarum by breaking the cell wall, we proposed an effective pretreatment scheme. This study investigated the impacts of lysozyme concentrations and glucose, as well as centrifugal forces during lysozyme removal in the pretreatment system. The efficiency of pDNA extraction was assessed using non-staining method, acridine orange staining method (AO staining) and agarose gel electrophoresis (AGE). Furthermore, the glucose high lysozyme method was compared to the commercial kit method and the lysozyme removal method using L. plantarum PC518, 9L15, JS193 and Staphylococcus aureus USA300. The results indicated that the pDNA extraction concentrations from the four tested strains were increased by 8.9, 7.2, 8.5, and 3.6 times, respectively, compared to the commercial kit method. Furthermore, they increased by 1.9, 1.5, 1.8, and 1.4 times, respectively, compared to the lysozyme removal method. The maximum average concentration of pDNA extraction (from L. plantarum PC518) reached 590.8 ± 31.9 ng/ul. In conclusion, the incorporation of sugar, high concentration lysozyme and mild lysozyme removal proved to be effective enhancements in improving the efficiency of pDNA extraction from L. plantarum. Using the pretreatment scheme, the concentration of pDNA extraction was significantly increased, approaching levels comparable to pDNA extraction from Gram-negative bacteria., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest，and manuscript is approved by all authors for publication., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Objective: To investigate the relationship between amino acid variations of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) nonstructural protein (NS) 1 and the clinical characteristics. Method: A retrospective case review was conducted. From December 2018 to January 2020, a total of 81 cases of hospitalized children who were tested only positive for RSV by RT-PCR or PCR at the Department of Respiratory Medicine, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University were included in the study. The NS1 genes of RSV subtype A and subtype B were amplified by PCR and sequenced. The amino acid sequences were analyzed. The Chi-square test and Mann-Whitney rank sum test were used to compare the clinical characteristics and type Ⅰ interferon levels of children with or without NS1 variation in the variation and non-variation groups. Results: Among 81 cases, there were 58 males and 23 females. There were 11 cases in the variation group, the age of onset was 2.0 (1.0, 11.0) months, included 4 cases of subtype A (variant sites were: 2 cases for Lys33Gln, one case for Gly2Asp, Pro67Ser, Leu137Phe, respectively) and 7 cases of subtype B (variant sites were: two cases for Val121Ile, one case for Tyr30Cys, Val65Met, Asn85Ser, Ser118Asn, Asp124Asn, respectively). These variant sites all appeared at a very low frequency 0.08 (0.04, 0.29) % in the NCBI PROTEIN database. There were 70 cases in non-variation group, the onset age was 3.5 (1.0, 7.0) months. The proportion of dyspnea in the variation group was higher than that in the non-variation group (10/11 vs. 47% (33/70), χ 2 =7.31, P <0.01). Conclusions: There are some variant sites in nonstructural protein NS1 of RSV. Children may be prone to have dyspnea with NS1 variations.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the application value of lung ultrasound in monitoring bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and pulmonary artery pressure in premature infants., Patients and Methods: A total of 98 preterm infants diagnosed with BPD in the Fourth Hospital in Shijiazhuang were recruited, and their disease severity was classified as mild (n=32), moderate (n=33), or severe BPD (n=33) based on gestational age and oxygen concentration. Lung ultrasonography of the children was performed. The correlation between lung ventilation scores and disease severity was statistically analyzed, and the discrete optimization results were documented. The pulmonary hypertension indexes of the three groups of children were compared., Results: Aberrant alterations of the pleural line were observed in all included children, and the B-line rose as the disease progressed. The duration of invasive ventilation, medication, and hospital stay increased with disease exacerbation (p<0.05). The three groups significantly differed in terms of ultrasound pulmonary ventilation scores and clinical severity (p<0.05). Only mild BDP was identified by lung ultrasound on the first day of birth (T1), and severe BDP was detectable during the first and second week (T2-T3) as well as the third and fourth week (T4-T5). Severe BPD was associated with significantly higher levels of pulmonary hypertension indices vs. mild and moderate BPD (p<0.05)., Conclusions: Pulmonary ultrasonography demonstrates great potential to predict pulmonary hypertension in children and assesses the disease severity. Pulmonary ultrasound allows for dynamical real-time observation of the pulmonary lesions in children with pulmonary hypertension, thereby revealing the severity of pulmonary hypertension in premature children.

Seed germination, a critical stage of the plant life cycle providing a link between seeds and seedlings, is commonly temperature-dependent. The global average surface temperature is expected to rise, but little is known about the responses of seed germination of woody plants in temperate forests to warming. In the present study, dried seeds of 23 common woody species in temperate secondary forests were incubated at three temperature sequences without cold stratification and after experiencing cold stratification. We calculated five seed germination indices and the comprehensive membership function value that summarized the above indicators. Compared to the control, +2 and +4 °C treatments without cold stratification shortened germination time by 14% and 16% and increased the germination index by 17% and 26%, respectively. For stratified seeds, +4 °C treatment increased germination percentage by 49%, and +4 and +2 °C treatments increased duration of germination and the germination index, and shortened mean germination time by 69%, 458%, 29% and 68%, 110%, 12%, respectively. The germination of Fraxinus rhynchophylla and Larix kaempferi were most sensitive to warming without and with cold stratification, respectively. Seed germination of shrubs was the least sensitive to warming among functional types. These findings indicate warming (especially extreme warming) will enhance the seedling recruitment of temperate woody species, primarily via shortening the germination time, particularly for seeds that have undergone cold stratification. In addition, shrubs might narrow their distribution range., (© 2023 German Society for Plant Sciences, Royal Botanical Society of the Netherlands.)

The proton is one of the main building blocks of all visible matter in the Universe 1 . Among its intrinsic properties are its electric charge, mass and spin 2 . These properties emerge from the complex dynamics of its fundamental constituents-quarks and gluons-described by the theory of quantum chromodynamics 3-5 . The electric charge and spin of protons, which are shared among the quarks, have been investigated previously using electron scattering 2 . An example is the highly precise measurement of the electric charge radius of the proton 6 . By contrast, little is known about the inner mass density of the proton, which is dominated by the energy carried by gluons. Gluons are hard to access using electron scattering because they do not carry an electromagnetic charge. Here we investigated the gravitational density of gluons using a small colour dipole, through the threshold photoproduction of the J/ψ particle. We determined the gluonic gravitational form factors of the proton 7,8  from our measurement. We used a variety of models 9-11 and determined, in all cases, a mass radius that is notably smaller than the electric charge radius. In some, but not all cases, depending on the model, the determined radius agrees well with first-principle predictions from lattice quantum chromodynamics 12 . This work paves the way for a deeper understanding of the salient role of gluons in providing gravitational mass to visible matter., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)

Objective: To analyze the clinical characteristics and to explore the prognostic factors of acute pulmonary embolism(APE) with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation(AF). Methods: The medical records of inpatients with APE discharged from Beijing Anzhen Hospital between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2021 were retrospectively reviewed. The clinical symptoms, complications, laboratory results, echocardiographic parameters, simplified pulmonary embolism severity index (sPESI) and adverse in-hospital outcome were compared between the newly diagnosed AF group and the sinus rhythm group. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the risk factors of adverse in-hospital outcome with APE. Results: Fifty-one patients were included in newly diagnosed AF group and 102 cases in the sinus rhythm group. The patients in newly diagnosed AF group had greater sPESI scores, higher proportion of sPESI≥2 scores, higher incidence of adverse in-hospital outcome as well as longer hospital stay days. Newly diagnosed AF and sPESI≥2 scores were independent predictors affecting adverse in-hospital outcome. The area under ROC curve in newly diagnosed AF combined with sPESI≥2 scores was largest. Conclusions: The APE patients with newly diagnosed AF were more severely ill and prone to in-hospital adverse outcome. Newly diagnosed AF was an independent predictor affecting adverse in-hospital outcome. sPESI≥2 combined with newly diagnosed AF scores had a high predictive value for the occurrence of in-hospital adverse outcome.

In 2022, the World Health Organization proposed a new classification for pituitary adenomas. The major nomenclature change from the previous edition was the transition from"adenoma"to"pituitary neuroendocrine tumor"(PitNETs). The new classification provided the detailed histological subtypes of PitNETs for routine use of antibodies such as pituitary transcription factors (PIT1, TPIT, SF1, GATA3, and ERα) and hormones. The major PIT1, TPIT, and SF1 lineage-defined PitNETs types and subtypes featured distinct morphologic, molecular, and clinical differences. Unlike the 2017 WHO classification, the 2022 WHO version updated some concepts as follows: (1) Mammosomatotroph, acidophil stem cell tumors and mixed somatotroph/lactotroph tumor represented distinct PIT1-lineage PitNETs; (2) The diagnostic category of PIT1-positive plurihormonal tumor was replaced by the immature PIT1-lineage tumor and the mature plurihormonal PIT1-lineage tumor; (3) The term"metastatic PitNET"was advocated to replace the previous terminology"pituitary carcinoma". The new classification emphasizes the importance of pathological classification of PitNETs. Obviously, accurate pathological interpretation is the key to judge the clinical treatment pathway and prognosis of patients.

The Hippo signaling pathway is widely considered a master regulator of organ growth because of the prominent overgrowth phenotypes caused by experimental manipulation of its activity. Contrary to this model, we show here that removing Hippo transcriptional output did not impair the ability of the mouse liver and Drosophila eyes to grow to their normal size. Moreover, the transcriptional activity of the Hippo pathway effectors Yap/Taz/Yki did not correlate with cell proliferation, and hyperactivation of these effectors induced gene expression programs that did not recapitulate normal development. Concordantly, a functional screen in Drosophila identified several Hippo pathway target genes that were required for ectopic overgrowth but not normal growth. Thus, Hippo signaling does not instruct normal growth, and the Hippo-induced overgrowth phenotypes are caused by the activation of abnormal genetic programs.

Objectives: To summarize our experience in the application of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and microwave ablation (MWA) for selective fetal reduction in complicated monochorionic pregnancies and compare the perinatal outcome of the two techniques., Methods: This was a retrospective study of data from a consecutive cohort of all monochorionic twin pregnancies that underwent selective fetal reduction with RFA or MWA at Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China from January 2012 to December 2018. All surviving cotwins were followed up to assess their neurodevelopment using the Age & Stage Questionnaire, Chinese version. Perinatal and neurodevelopmental outcomes were compared between the RFA and MWA groups. We also fitted multivariable models to test the association between procedure-related factors and the main perinatal outcomes, including preterm birth (PTB) &lt; 37 weeks' gestation, intrauterine fetal death (IUFD) of the cotwin, adverse outcome (defined as occurrence of IUFD of the cotwin, termination of pregnancy or PTB &lt; 28 weeks) and overall survival., Results: In total, 45 cases (42 twin and three triplet pregnancies) underwent RFA and 126 cases (105 twin and 21 triplet pregnancies) underwent MWA. The overall survival rates in monochorionic diamniotic twin pregnancies were similar between the RFA and MWA groups (61.0% vs 67.0%; P = 0.494). However, pregnancies whose indication for fetal reduction was selective intrauterine growth restriction or twin reversed arterial perfusion had higher overall survival rates (75.5% and 82.6%, respectively) compared with those in other indication groups. A total of 104 children were followed up (20 in the RFA group and 84 in the MWA group); four (20.0%) and eight (9.5%) children were assessed as having overall developmental delay in the RFA and MWA groups, respectively, with no significant difference between the two groups. Multivariable analyses showed that procedure indication, number of ablation cycles and gestational age at procedure were associated significantly with the main perinatal outcomes., Conclusions: RFA and MWA for selective fetal reduction in complicated monochorionic pregnancies can achieve similar overall survival rate and neurodevelopmental outcome, but MWA is associated with a lower risk of preterm birth. Moreover, procedure-related factors are associated significantly with perinatal outcome. © 2022 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology., (© 2022 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.)

Objective: To analyze the clinical features, treatment and prognosis of solitary rectal ulcer syndrome (SRUS) in children. Methods: The clinical data of 7 children who were diagnosed with SRUS in Department of Gastroenterology in Guangzhou Women and Children' Medical Center from January 2019 to December 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. The clinical data including general demographics, clinical presentations, endoscopic and histologic features, treatment and outcome were extracted from hospital medical records. Results: The 7 patients were all males, and the age of onset was 6-12 years. The course before diagnosis was 2-36 months. The most common symptom was rectal bleeding (6 cases) and most common findings at initial colonoscopy were ulcer in 3 cases and protuberance in 4 cases, both located only in rectum. The intestinal histopathology of 5 cases showed characteristic fibromuscular obliteration of lamina propria. Five children were treated with mesalamine granules or suppositories, and 2 cases underwent local excision. The follow-up lasted for 5-24 months and found symptoms relieved in 5 cases, improved in 1 case, and no remission in 1 case. Colonoscopy after the treatment was performed in 5 children, among whom 2 cases achieved mucosal healing. Conclusions: SRUS in children is mainly presented with rectal bleeding, and has characteristic histological change of ulcer and protuberance in endoscopy. Pathology is crucial for diagnosis and differential diagnosis. Both the medical and surgical treatment are effective for SRUS.

Objective: To investigate the morphological characteristics of upper airway and laryngopharyngeal reflux in obese patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 284 adult patients who underwent polysomnography (PSG) from April 2020 to April 2021 in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, including 83 males and 201 females, aged (32.70±7.74) years. Patients were divided into obese group ( n =234) and non-obese group ( n =50) according to body mass index (BMI). Patients were divided into mild OSA group, moderate OSA group, severe OSA group and extremely severe OSA group by PSG.The results of sleepiness and laryngopharyngeal reflux questionnaire, nasolaryngoscopy and polysomnography were compared in each group. SPSS (version 22.0) software was used in data analysis. Results: Compared with the non-obese OSA group, the lymphoid hyperplasia of tongue root was more heavy in the obese OSA group, and Mueller's maneuver showed that the left-right lateral collapse of the velopharyngeal plane was more serious. Meanwhile, the scores of reflux symtom index (RSI) and reflux finding score (RFS) in the obese OSA group were significantly increased, and the scores of RSI and RFS increased with the increase of OSA severity. The main respiratory events in obese patients with OSA were obstructive hypopnea, their apnea-hypopnea indices(AHI) during REM (AHI REM ) was significantly higher than non-REM (AHI NREM ), and they had lower average blood oxygen saturation. Yet, there was no significant difference in the lowest blood oxygen saturation between the two groups. Conclusions: Our study suggests that lateral pharyngeal wall stenosis in velopharyngeal plane and the lymphoid hyperplasia of tongue root in glossopharyngeal plane occurs more frequently in obese patients with OSA. Laryngopharyngeal reflux is significantly increased in obese patients, and OSA increases laryngopharyngeal reflux in obese patients.

Objective: The molecules released from cells undergoing necrosis are recognized as alarmins, and S100A8/9, a typical alarmin, is associated with several inflammation-related diseases. This study was to investigate the molecular role of S100A8/A9 on the process of intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) and inflammation-related pain., Methods: The expression pattern of S100A8/A9 in different degenerated human nucleus pulposus (NP) tissues were measured by Real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) and immunohistochemical (IHC). The effects of S100A8/A9 on matrix production were assessed by RT-qPCR, western blotting, and cell immunofluorescence. Involvement of TLR4 and NF-κB signaling pathways were studied by pharmachemical inhibitors and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs). The development of degenerative and pain features in the IVDD model were examed by IHC and pain-behavior testing., Results: The expression of S100A8/A9 was significantly elevated in severely degenerated human NP tissue with similar expression pattern of TNF-α. In NP cells, S100A8/A9 increased MMP-3/13, TNF-α, IL-6 expression and inhibited aggrecan and collagen II expression. RT-qPCR and western blotting showed that the regulatory effects of S100A8/A9 on IVD were TLR4 dependent. Pharmacological inhibition or siRNA knockdown of the NF-κB signaling attenuated S100A8/A9-induced upregulation of MMP-3/13, TNF-α and IL-6. In vivo, S100A9 inhibitor treatment inhibited disc-puncture induced IVDD and inflammation-related pain., Conclusions: This study showed that S100A8/A9 bound to TLR4 and increased the expression of MMPs, TNF-α, and IL-6 through NF-κB signaling pathways in NP cells. Furthermore, S100A8/A9 inhibitor could prevent development of IVDD and inflammation-related pain in the rat model., (Copyright © 2022 Osteoarthritis Research Society International. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Precise information on sea ice thickness (SIT) and its prediction at medium-range (2-week) timescale is crucial for the safe maritime navigation in the Arctic Ocean. In this study, we investigate the sensitivity of medium-range prediction skill of summertime SIT distribution in the Arctic marginal seas to atmospheric forecast data, using the 51-member ECMWF operational ensemble prediction system (EPS). For a synoptic-scale cyclone event occurred in July 5-6, 2015, two-week probabilistic forecast experiments were conducted with the TOPAZ4 ice-ocean forecast system, starting on 1st July. The ensemble correlation analysis between the forecast SIT and the meteorological parameters shows that the forecast error of SIT distribution is sensitive to the sea ice drift speed until 1-week, indicating that realistic sea ice drift improves the sea ice thickness prediction. On the other hand, beyond 1 week lead, the forecast error of SIT distribution is more sensitive to surface heat flux rather than sea ice drift. The surface heat flux signal is confined to the sea ice edge region, where the shortwave radiation flux is related to the SIT change through the sea ice melting process. The shortwave radiation flux in the sea ice edge is mostly determined by the sea ice distribution, suggesting that the skillful prediction of sea ice distribution, which is largely affected by synoptic-scale disturbance, at shorter lead times indirectly affects the medium-range forecast skill. A comparison of different ensemble perturbation techniques shows that the prediction skill is better at shorter lead times (up to 1 week), when using an atmospheric EPS rather than the random perturbations used in the operational forecast system, but the random perturbations are advantageous beyond 1 week. Thus, the application of the EPS to an ice-ocean coupled forecast system leads to a more precise sea ice prediction on medium-range timescale, which we expect to become of practical use for the optimum shipping route in the Arctic Ocean., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To understand the regular exercise status and influencing factors in 18-64 year-old labor force population in Beijing, and provide evidences for behavioral intervention. Methods: Data were collected from Beijing Adult Non-communicable and Chronic Diseases and Risk Factors Surveillance Program from August to December, 2017. The stratified cluster sampling method was used to select 13 240 survey subjects throughout the city. The valid sample size included in this study were 11 604 persons aged 18 to 64 years. Questionnaire was used to collection the information about basic demographic characteristics, chronic disease history and physical activity prevalence of the study subjects. The body height and weight were measured by standard methods. Fasting venous blood samples were collected for the detection of fasting blood glucose, blood lipids and other biochemical indicators. Software SPSS 20.0 was used fort complex sampling sample weighting and data analysis. Results: The proportions of the study subjects who did regular exercise and never had leisure-time activity in 18-64 year-old labor force population in Beijing were 23.74% (95% CI : 21.51%-26.12%) and 64.34% (95% CI : 61.66%-66.94%) respectively; The average daily physical activity time was 23.44 min (95% CI : 21.16-25.71), and the total daily sedentary behavior time was 6.96 hours (95% CI : 6.80-7.13). With the increase of age, the proportions of the study subjects who did regular exercise and never had leisure-time activity increased ( P =0.006, P <0.001). With the increase of educational level, the proportion of those who did regular exercise increased ( P <0.001), and the proportion of those who never had leisure-time activity decreased ( P <0.001); the higher the level of physical activity, the higher the regular exercise proportion ( P <0.001); the proportions of employed people who did regular exercise was lower than those in unemployed people ( P <0.001); the proportions of women never had leisure-time activity was higher than those in men ( P =0.024). The results of multivariate analysis showed that older age and higher education level were positive factors for regular exercise (35- years old: OR =0.653, 95% CI : 0.530-0.804, P <0.001; 50-64 years old: OR =0.695, 95% CI : 0.560-0.864, P =0.001; high school/technical secondary school/technical School: OR =0.679, 95% CI : 0.593-0.777, P <0.001; college graduation: OR =0.478, 95% CI : 0.387-0.590, P <0.001; bachelor degree and above: OR =0.435, 95% CI : 0.347-0.546, P <0.001), while employment ( OR =1.631, 95% CI : 1.330-2.000, P <0.001) and married/cohabitation ( OR =1.340, 95% CI : 1.093-1.644, P =0.038) were negative factors for regular exercise. Conclusions: The rate of regular exercise in 18-64 year-old labor force population in Beijing needs to be improved. Older age and high educational level were positive factors for regular exercise, while being married and employed were negative factors for it.

Objective: To explore the knowledge, attitude and behavior of salt reduction in adults of Beijing in 2017. Methods: Based on the monitoring data of chronic diseases and corresponding risk factors in adults of Beijing in 2017, the indicators of salt reduction knowledge, attitude and behavior of 13 240 participants aged 18-79 years old were analyzed. The awareness rate, attitude support rate and behavior rate were calculated by complex weighting method, and compared among different age groups, genders, residential areas, and history of hypertension. The proportion of people taking various salt reduction measures to the total number of people was compared. Results: The awareness rate of recommended daily salt intake, the awareness of hypertension caused or aggravated by more salt intake, the attitude support rate and behavior rate of adults were 31.77%, 88.56%, 90.27% and 53.86%, respectively. After weighted adjustment, the awareness rate of recommended daily salt intake was 31.08%, which increased with age (χ 2 trend =431.56, P <0.001) and education level (χ 2 trend =95.44, P <0.001). The awareness rate of women was higher than that of men (χ²=118.89, P <0.001), and the awareness rate of population in urban areas was higher than that of population in suburban areas (χ²=34.09, P =0.001). The awareness rate of hypertension caused or aggravated by eating more salt was 86.73%. The support rate of salt reduction attitude was 90.45%. The rate of salt-reducing behavior was 54.05%. Among different salt reduction measures, reducing salt when cooking was the most common measure (52.41%), while the least common one (35.22%) was using low sodium salt. Logistic regression model analysis showed that the gender, age, education level, self-reported history of hypertension, awareness of salt recommendation, awareness of hypertension caused or aggravated by eating more salt, and salt reduction attitude were significantly associated with salt reduction behavior. Conclusion: In 2017, adults in Beijing have a basic understanding of the impact of high-salt diet on health and support salt reduction, but the rate of salt reduction behavior is still relatively low. There are obvious gender and age differences, and the salt reduction measure is simple. Targeted measures should be taken to promote the formation of salt reduction behavior.

Objective: To understand the current status of taking nutrient supplements for residents aged 18 to 79 years old in Beijing and its related factors. Methods: Data were gathered from the 2017 Beijing Non-communicable and Chronic Disease Surveillance Program. Multiple classified cluster sampling method was used, and participants aged 18-79 were sampled from 16 districts. The questionnaire included chronic diseases and related risk factors, health knowledge, and oral nutritional supplements within 12 months. Multivariate logistic regression models were established to analyze associated factors that affect the intake of nutrient supplements. Results: The weighted prevalence of supplements use was 13.1% among 12 696 subjects within the past 12 months. The proportions of multivitamins (4.7%), B vitamins (4.5%), and folic acid (3.2%) were higher. The prevalence of supplement use of young people (18-39 years old) and the elderly (60-79 years old) was higher than middle-aged people (40-59 years old) ( χ 2 =54.09, P <0.001). Except for the age group of 70-79 years old, the consumption rate of women was significantly higher than that of men ( P <0.05). After adjusting age and sex, among patients with hypertension, diabetes, or dyslipidemia, the control rates of blood pressure, glucose and lipids of patients who take nutrient supplements were higher than those who do not ( P <0.05). And participants who took nutrient supplements had a more heightened awareness rate of health knowledge, such as the hazards of smoking and second-hand smoke, and recommended amount of salt per day ( P <0.001). The multi-factor logistic analysis found that nutrient supplement-related factors include women, old age, higher education level, living in urban, insufficient physical activity, sleeping problems, active physical examination, blood pressure control among patients, and health knowledge ( P <0.05). Conclusions: The factors of nutrient supplements use were related to sex, age, education level, health status, and health literacy. We should pay attention to key populations and guide them to establish the correct concept of taking nutrient supplements.

The important role of a dynamic model is to study the response characteristics of a system under different parameters or fault states. These response characteristics can be used in many aspects, such as condition monitoring and fault diagnosis. Usually, the response characteristics can be obtained through numerical analysis, but we do not know why such characteristics appear, which hinders our understanding and utilization of vibration. The innovation of this paper is to reasonably explain why such response characteristics appear. First, a simplified dynamic model of a typical blade disk rotor system is constructed by using the classical continuous parameter modeling method. Based on the dynamic model, for two structural forms of moving and stationary blades, the typical characteristics of the vibration response under the actions of aerodynamic force and blade cracks are analyzed by means of numerical solution. Then, from the perspective of kinematics and dynamics, the internal mechanism between the vibration responses and the excitations is revealed. Finally, based on Number Theory, the response characteristics and mechanisms of typical structures are summarized, and the general laws of responses with general structural forms are established., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

The lunar nearside has been investigated by many uncrewed and crewed missions, but the farside of the Moon remains poorly known. Lunar farside exploration is challenging because maneuvering rovers with efficient locomotion in harsh extraterrestrial environment is necessary to explore geological characteristics of scientific interest. Chang’E-4 mission successfully targeted the Moon’s farside and deployed a teleoperated rover (Yutu-2) to explore inside the Von Kármán crater, conveying rich information regarding regolith, craters, and rocks. Here, we report mobile exploration on the lunar farside with Yutu-2 over the initial 2 years. During its journey, Yutu-2 has experienced varying degrees of mild slip and skid, indicating that the terrain is relatively flat at large scales but scattered with local gentle slopes. Cloddy soil sticking on its wheels implies a greater cohesion of the lunar soil than encountered at other lunar landing sites. Further identification results indicate that the regolith resembles dry sand and sandy loam on Earth in bearing properties, demonstrating greater bearing strength than that identified during the Apollo missions. In sharp contrast to the sparsity of rocks along the traverse route, small fresh craters with unilateral moldable ejecta are abundant, and some of them contain high-reflectance materials at the bottom, suggestive of secondary impact events. These findings hint at notable differences in the surface geology between the lunar farside and nearside. Experience gained with Yutu-2 improves the understanding of the farside of the Moon, which, in return, may lead to locomotion with improved efficiency and larger range.

Objective: To investigate the effect of exosomes from mild-inflammation- stimulated human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSC) combined with stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) on dental pulp regeneration in rats. Methods: Primary hDPSCs were isolated, cultured and then stimulated by using lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The exosomes from the hDPSCs with (L-EXO) or without (N-EXO) LPS were extracted by overspeed differential centrifugation and were identified by transmission electron microscopy and Western blotting. Forty SD rats, aged 6-8 weeks, were equally divided into S group (SDF-1 alone), L+S group (L-EXO combined with SDF-1), N+S group (N-EXO combined with SDF-1) and blank control group (no substance implanted into the root canal) by random number table method. Bilateral mandibular first molars were used as the experimental teeth to establish pulpless root canal models and different contents were implanted into the root canals according to the groups. All rats were over-anesthetized and sacrificed at the 30th day after content implantation. Bilateral mandibular tissues were taken for histological evaluation by means of HE, Masson and immunohistochemical stainings. Results: The HE staining showed new pulp-like tissue in the root canals of all three experimental groups. The amount of new tissues and the number of cells in the tissues were greatest in L+S group and least in S group. Masson staining showed that the mineralized tissue in L+S group was arranged longitudinally along the root canal wall and the collagen fibers were arranged in an orderly fashion, while those in N+S group showed an irregular and disordered distribution. Quantitative analysis of the area of neovascularization in each group showed that the density of vessels in the L+S group [(2.03±0.65)%] was significantly higher than that in the S group [(0.65±0.05)%] and the N+S group [(1.06±0.38)%] respectively ( F =5.879, P <0.05). Immunohistochemical staining showed that the expression of CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) was significantly lower in S and L+S groups than in N+S group, with a statistically significant difference ( F =8.633, P <0.01). Conclusions: Exosomes secreted by hDPSCs combined with SDF-1 might increase the amount of new tissue in the root canal and the density of blood vessels in the tissue. L-EXO showed a stronger effect than N-EXO did. The combination of L-EXO with SDF-1 might result in more regular arrangement of mineralized tissue and collagen fibers in the regenerative tissues.

Osteogenesis is an important process of bone metabolism, and abnormal osteogenesis leads to various skeletal system diseases. Osteoblasts, the main cells involved in bone formation, are central elements in the study of bone metabolic diseases. Single-cell RNA sequencing is an important tool for studying the transcriptome of cells and can help to elucidate various cellular and molecular functions at the single-cell level, providing new avenues for life science research. Here we explore the heterogeneity of osteoblasts and try to reveal the developmental trajectory of osteoblasts, thereby contributing to efforts to describe the mechanism of osteogenesis. In this study, single-cell sequencing data of murine bone marrow cells were used to identify osteoblasts. Finally, osteoblasts were divided into four groups, each differing in characteristic genes and signal pathways. We also identify clues of the changes of some genes in the process of osteoclast formation, providing directions for further study. Collectively, our findings suggest that bone marrow osteoblasts can be divided into several subgroups, which represent different stages of cells, and that the specific genes of each subgroup respond to the molecular mechanisms of cell development. This data will likely be of great help in resolving diseases of the skeletal system.