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Plants may compensate for herbivory damage by reallocating resources and altering growth patterns, which may be further influenced by environmental variables like nutrient availability. We compared the impacts of fertilizer applications on the growth attributes of Brazilian peppertree before and after releasing Pseudophilothrips ichini (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae), an approved biological control agent. A garden plot containing 96–103 saplings was established at two research sites in Florida: one site with high background soil nitrogen and one with 1/4 the background soil nitrogen. Each plant was randomly assigned a permanent fertilizer supplement (24N-8P-16K) administered bimonthly: no fertilizer n = 69 (0 g/L), medium fertilizer n = 66 (0.8 g/L), or high fertilizer n = 66 (3.6 g/L). Thrips were released after 22 months and releases continued every 1–3 months. Plant growth attributes were collected approximately monthly from October 2017 to April 2021. Crown volume and height steadily increased at both plots, but greater rates of increase were observed for plants with higher supplemental fertilizer at the lower nitrogen site. Thrips had negligible impact on plant attributes at the high nitrogen site. In contrast, the density of stem tips at the low nitrogen site increased dramatically following thrips release and was greatest for plants with high supplemental fertilizer. Additionally, the percentage of dead tips quadrupled during the second year of thrips releases, but tip mortality was greatest for plants with medium supplemental fertilizer. Fertilized plants produced more unseasonal axillary vegetative buds after thrips attack at the low nitrogen site, providing new resources to sustain thrips numbers. Soil nitrogen levels at natural field sites may therefore impact thrips performance.

Background: Pneumonia accounts for over half a million older adult emergency department (ED) visits annually, but ED pneumonia diagnosis is inaccurate. Geriatric‐specific pneumonia diagnostic criteria exist for other settings; no prospective data exist to determine if application in the older adult ED population is feasible. The objective was to prospectively evaluate the utility of four current diagnostic criteria (Loeb; Modified McGeer; Infectious Disease Society of America/American Thoracic Society; American College of Emergency Physicians) in older adult ED patients. Methods: This was a prospective, observational cohort study of older adult ED patients ≥65 years of age in two U.S. EDs with suspected pneumonia defined as having chest radiography ordered and treating physician suspicion. The standard we used for defining the presence, absence, or inability to determine a diagnosis of pneumonia diagnosis was expert physician chart adjudication. We report the summary statistics for demographic characteristics and symptoms/exam findings and sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratios with 95% confidence intervals of the existing diagnostic criteria. Pre‐specified cutoff values of a positive LR >10 and a negative LR <0.3 were considered clinically significant. Results: Of 135 patients enrolled, 27 had pneumonia by adjudicator review. Typical patient‐reported pneumonia symptoms, such as fever (18.5%) and new/worse cough (51.9%), were not consistently present in pneumonia. The IDSA/ATS and ACEP criteria had positive LR >10 and negative LR <0.3; however, all confidence intervals included pre‐specified cutoffs. Conclusions: Older adults presented to the ED with low frequency of typical pneumonia symptoms. Although existing diagnostic definitions had promising test characteristics, they may not perform well enough for clinical application without refinement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite mixed evidence for the relationship between demographic diversity and creativity, we propose that observers hold a lay belief that demographic diversity increases creativity and apply this lay belief in judgments about teams and their creative work. Across eight preregistered studies (n = 5,530), we find that observers judge teams diverse in terms of race and gender to be more creative than teams homogeneous in terms of race and gender, including in incentive-compatible predictions made about real teams competing in a creativity challenge. We also find that products attributed to demographically diverse teams are evaluated as more creative compared with identical products attributed to demographically homogenous teams. Mediation analyses provide evidence consistent with the notion that people perceive demographic diversity (i.e., social category differences) to be correlated with cognitive diversity (i.e., difference of perspectives), and this belief contributes to attributions of greater creativity to diverse teams and the ideas they generate. We can also turn off the perceived association between demographic diversity and creativity by directly manipulating people's perceptions of team cognitive diversity. Furthermore, we find evidence of a curvilinear relationship between the proportion of racial minorities or women in a group and judgments of the group's creativity. Together, our results suggest that the popular uptake of the belief that diversity boosts creativity may impact how creativity is identified in organizational contexts. This paper was accepted by Yuval Rottenstreich, behavioral economics and decision analysis. Funding: This research was supported by funds from the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University, and Harvard Business School, Harvard University, including a grant from the Cornell Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies. Supplemental Material: The data files and online appendix are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.4862. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years anatomical pathology has been revolutionised by the incorporation of molecular findings into routine diagnostic practice, and in some diseases the presence of specific molecular alterations are now essential for diagnosis. Spatial transcriptomics describes a group of technologies that provide up to transcriptome‐wide expression profiling while preserving the spatial origin of the data, with many of these technologies able to provide these data using a single tissue section. Spatial transcriptomics allows expression profiling of highly specific areas within a tissue section potentially to subcellular resolution, and allows correlation of expression data with morphology, tissue type and location relative to other structures. While largely still research laboratory‐based, several spatial transcriptomics methods have now achieved compatibility with formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded tissue (FFPE), allowing their use in diagnostic tissue samples, and with further development potentially leading to their incorporation in routine anatomical pathology practice. This mini review provides an overview of spatial transcriptomics methods, with an emphasis on platforms compatible with FFPE tissue, approaches to assess the data and potential applications in anatomical pathology practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Fish, being highly sensitive to changes in the physico-chemical parameters of water, are good indicators of contamination. Teesta, a prominent northern West Bengal River system, is increasingly contaminated due to anthropogenic activities. This study aims to determine agricultural pesticide contamination and its genotoxic impact on the resident fish, Pethia conchonius, as an experimental organism. Sample water analysis from three riverine sites I, II & III, showed the presence of the insecticides imidacloprid (IMI), chlorpyrifos (CPF), bifenethrin (BF), cypermethrin (CP), difenthiuron, acetamiprid (AC) in the sites II and III only with adjoining agricultural lands. Comet assay revealed a significantly lower % Head DNA (~ 1.2 times), higher %Tail DNA (~ 16 times), and %Tail length (~ 3.1 times) in the gills of Pethia conchonius from sites II and III. About 4 and 10 times increase of micronuclei and other nuclear abnormalities were also noted in the erythrocytes of the fish from sites II and III than I, which was not contaminated. The antioxidant enzymes SOD, CAT, and GST activity and MDA levels were significantly higher (p

Ji Sang Min,1 Byung Moo Min2 1Department of Ophthalmology, The Institute of Vision Research, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, 03722, Republic of Korea; 2Woori Eye Clinic, Affiliated Clinical Professor to Department of Ophthalmology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Daejon, 35229, Republic of KoreaCorrespondence: Byung Moo Min, Woori Eye Clinic, Affiliated Clinical Professor to Department of Ophthalmology, Yonsei University School of Medicine, Daeduk Daero 219 (Dunsan-dong), Seo-gu, Daejon, 35229, Republic of Korea, Tel +82-42-476-1675, Fax +82-42-476-1670, Email bmin8275@naver.comPurpose: This retrospective case control study report includes 4 eyes of 4 patients (aged from 37 to 44 years) with keratoconus suspect (KCS) who underwent laser epithelial keratomileusis linked laser asymmetric keratectomy (L-LAK) as corneal remodeling technique in order to avoid postoperative corneal ectasia.Patients and Methods: Four eyes of 4 patients showed corneal topography findings with abnormal localized steep keratometric curvature greater than 47.0 D and peripheral corneal thickness asymmetry (Total corneal central thickness deviations in four directions on Orbscan map (SUM)≥ 80 μm). L-LAK could be performed both the original ablation of refractive errors (SE from − 1.25 to − 5.50 D) and the customized ablation (selective ablation of the thicker peripheral cornea averaging:64 μm selectively and the central cornea of the myopic shift due to LAK averaging-1.50D. The main outcome measures between preoperative and postoperative 2 year were refraction, visual acuity (UDVA), keratometry, corneal symmetry evaluating SUM.Results: After 2 years, SEs (D, average) were − 0.34, UDVA (LogMAR) was 0.00. keratometry including Kmax was markedly decreased, SUM had diminished markedly. There were no case of postoperative adverse effects.Conclusion: L-LAK resulted in a decreased SUM, increased corneal symmetry, and no postoperative corneal ectasia with good visual outcomes in myopic patients with KCS.Keywords: keratoconus suspect, corneal remodeling, L-LAK, KCS, linked laser asymmetric keratectomy

Non-Hermitian systems can be tuned to exhibit exceptional points, where both eigenvalues and eigenstates coalesce concurrently. The inherent adaptability of photonic non-Hermitian systems in configuring gain and loss has allowed us to observe a plethora of counterintuitive phenomena, largely as a consequence of the eigenspace reduction at these exceptional points. In this work, we propose a non-Hermitian metasurface that, through the incorporation of gain, enables complete asymmetric polarization conversion at an exceptional point with a zero eigenvalue. Specifically, we provide numerical evidence for this concept by designing a non-Hermitian metasurface that facilitates polarization conversion from right to left circular polarization, while preventing conversion in the reverse direction and co-polarized transmission. Furthermore, our investigation reveals that this specific form of complete asymmetric polarization conversion results in maximum circular dichroism in transmission, thereby eliminating the need for external chirality or three-dimensional helical structures. This non-Hermitian technique offers an intriguing approach to designing polarization-sensitive optical devices and systems, further expanding their functionalities and capabilities.

Abstract Background The therapeutic strategies for acute ischemic stroke were faced with substantial constraints, emphasizing the necessity to safeguard neuronal cells during cerebral ischemia to reduce neurological impairments and enhance recovery outcomes. Despite its potential as a neuroprotective agent in stroke treatment, Chikusetsu saponin IVa encounters numerous challenges in clinical application. Result Brain-targeted liposomes modified with THRre peptides showed substantial uptake by bEnd. 3 and PC-12 cells and demonstrated the ability to cross an in vitro blood-brain barrier model, subsequently accumulating in PC-12 cells. In vivo, they could significantly accumulate in rat brain. Treatment with C-IVa-LPs-THRre notably reduced the expression of proteins in the P2RX7/NLRP3/Caspase-1 pathway and inflammatory factors. This was evidenced by decreased cerebral infarct size and improved neurological function in MCAO rats. Conclusion The findings indicate that C-IVa-LPs-THRre could serve as a promising strategy for targeting cerebral ischemia. This approach enhances drug concentration in the brain, mitigates pyroptosis, and improves the neuroinflammatory response associated with stroke.

Abstract Environmental parameters along elevational gradients affect the number of butterflies and the variety of species. However, which variables play significant roles and how they operate can be difficult to untangle. Here, we examine the relationships between observed butterfly richness (overall and subgroups) at different elevation gradients and remotely sensed environmental variables (vegetation productivity, surface temperature, landscape heterogeneity, and moisture stress) using generalized linear models. We surveyed butterflies with a fixed‐point count method in 19 elevation bands within 1600–5200 m above sea level in Manang district, trans‐Himalayan region, north‐central Nepal. The number of butterflies in each elevation band was studied and estimated, then interpolated across the lowest and highest elevation to estimate butterfly species richness. Then, the selection of models was performed on butterfly richness and elevations to test the best model support based on the lowest value of the Akaike information criterion and a multimodel averaging for other environmental variables. Altogether, 94 butterfly species, representing 20 subfamilies and six families, were recorded throughout the study periods. We obtained cubic model support for overall species richness, Papilionidae, and Hesperiidae, quadratic to Nymphalidae and Pieridae, and the linear model to Lycaenidae. In our study, vegetation productivity was found to have a significant positive impact on butterfly communities. Our study further suggests species richness of Papilionidae and Hesperiidae has a strong positive correlation with surface temperature and landscape heterogeneity and negative associations with moisture stress but other subgroups of butterfly communities including overall species richness showed insignificant relationships with these variables. This study provides significant information related to the responses of montane butterflies to environmental variables along elevational gradients from the Himalayas Nepal. However, further detailed studies on the functional behaviors of butterflies potentially offer more insights into their distribution patterns and ecological relationship in the montane environment.

Abstract Background With the aging population, the number of individuals with dementia in China is increasing rapidly. This community-based study aimed to investigate the prevalence and risk factors for dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) among older adults in China. Methods In this study, 20,070 individuals aged ≥ 65 were recruited between January 1, 2022, and February 1, 2023, from ten communities in Xiamen City, China. We collected data on age, sex, level of education, and medical history, as well as global cognition and functional status. The prevalence of dementia and MCI was examined, and the risk factors for different groups were assessed. Results The overall prevalence of dementia and MCI was approximately 5.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.1–5.7) and 7.7% (95% CI, 7.4–8.1), respectively. The results also indicated that dementia and MCI share similar risk factors, including older age, female sex, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus. Compared with individuals with no formal education, those with > 6 years of education had an odds ratio for MCI of 1.83 (95% CI, 1.49–2.25). We also found that only 5.5% of the positive participants chose to be referred to the hospital for further diagnosis and treatment during follow-up visits. Conclusions This study estimated the prevalence and risk factors for dementia and MCI among individuals aged ≥ 65 years in Southeast China. These findings are crucial for preventing and managing dementia and MCI in China.

Background: The triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index has been recommended as a practical surrogate of insulin resistance (IR). However, the association between the TyG index and hyperuricemia among adults with hypertension remains to be elucidated. Methods: We included and analyzed 3134 HTN patients and 4233 non-HTN participants from the cross-sectional 2013–2018 U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES). Multivariable logistic regression and restricted cubic splines (RCS) were used to explore the association between the TyG index and hyperuricemia. Stratifed analyses were performed to assess the association in populations with different subgroups of hypertension. Results: The prevalence of hyperuricemia was higher in HTN patients (28.00 %) than in non-HTN participants (12.47 %). The multivariable logistic regression showed that the TyG index was significantly associated with hyperuricemia. After multivariable adjustment, higher TyG index levels were found to be associated with a higher prevalence of hyperuricemia in HTN patients (OR: 2.39, 95 % CI: 1.37–4.17, Ptrend 0.05). In the subgroup analysis suggested that the positive association seemed to be strong among male, alcohol use, and diabetes group (P for interaction

Abstract Cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO2 NPs, NM-212) are well-known for their catalytic properties and antioxidant potential, and have many applications in various industries, drug delivery, and cosmetic formulations. CeO2 NPs exhibit strong antimicrobial activity and can be used to efficiently remove pathogens from different environments. However, knowledge of the toxicological evaluation of CeO2 NPs is too limited to support their safe use. In this study, CeO2 NPs were orally administered to Sprague Dawley rats for 13 weeks at the doses of 0, 10, 100, and 1000 mg/kg bw/day, followed by a four week recovery period. The hematology values for the absolute and relative reticulocyte counts in male rats treated with 1000 mg/kg bw/day CeO2 NPs were lower than those in control rats. The clinical chemistry values for sodium and chloride in the treated male rat groups (100 and 1000 mg/kg/day) and total protein and calcium in the treated female rat groups (100 mg/kg/day) were higher than those in the control groups. However, these changes were not consistent in both sexes, and no abnormalities were found in the corresponding pathological findings. The results showed no adverse effects on any of the parameters assessed. CeO2 NPs accumulated in the jejunum, colon, and stomach wall of rats administered 1000 mg/kg CeO2 NPs for 90 days. However, these changes were not abnormal in the corresponding histopathological and immunohistochemical examinations. Therefore, 1000 mg/kg bw/day may be considered the “no observed adverse effect level” of CeO2 NPs (NM-212) in male and female SD rats under the present experimental conditions.

The low light, strong light disturbance, high dust and other environmental conditions underground in coal mines, as well as the similarity of clothing and coal falling on the face of underground personnel, make it difficult to re identify underground personnel with weak features. The existing personnel re identification methods only extract global features and do not fully consider local features, resulting in low accuracy of underground personnel re identification. In order to solve the above problems, a local feature guided label smoothing and optimization method for re-identification of underground personnel with weak features is proposed. This method first extracts global and local features of underground personnel images through convolutional neural networks. Secondly, the k-nearest neighbor similarity is used to calculate the complementarity score between global and local features, in order to measure the degree of similarity between global and local features. Finally, based on the score of feature complementarity, label smoothing is performed on local features and label optimization is performed on global features. The weight of each local feature is dynamically adjusted to improve the label of each local feature. The prediction results of local features are summarized. The more reliable information is used to improve the label as a global feature label, thereby reducing image noise and enhancing feature identification capability. The experimental results show that the method outperforms mainstream personnel re identification methods in terms of mean average precision (mAP), rank-1 accuracy (Rank-1), and mean inverse negative penalty (mINP) on both publicly available datasets and self built datasets containing images of underground personnel. It has good generalization and robustness, and can effectively achieve underground weak feature personnel re identification.

Radar forward-looking super-resolution imaging is a hot spot in the field of radar imaging research. Restricted by Doppler bandwidth and platform size, traditional high-resolution synthetic aperture imaging and real aperture imaging are not suitable for forward-looking imaging, so a deconvolution-based radar forward-looking super-resolution imaging technology is proposed. The traditional methods currently used in the field of forward-looking deconvolution super-resolution imaging of scanning radar have poor ability to recover the texture details of the target image direction, but simply describe the errors of all measurement data uniformly, which leads to an increase in the result error and have poor ability to adapt to different scenarios. So, this article proposes an improved Tikhonov regularization direction total variation (DTV) deconvolution super-resolution algorithm based on Rayleigh entropy. The algorithm introduces the DTV operator to more accurately restore the edge texture details of the image, and adds a weight matrix to the loss function to more accurately reflect the error degree of each measurement value in the loss function. The entropy enhances the applicability of the algorithm in different scenarios, and significantly improves the radar's ability to recover targets in a low signal-to-noise ratio environment. Finally, the simulation data and measured data processing results show that compared with the traditional method in the field of scanning radar forward looking deconvolution super-resolution imaging, the algorithm proposed in this article is better.

The UNESCO Agenda 2030 emphasizes the preservation of cultural heritage sites, focusing on coastal heritage preservation, which still poses substantial difficulties. While earlier studies have addressed the overall consequences of natural hazards along the Alexandria coastline, there is a gap in how they specifically affect coastal heritage sites, e.g., the Qaitbay citadel (our case study). This work seeks to bridge this gap by assessing the critical hazards faced by the Qaitbay citadel, including crustal deformation due to tectonic events, earthquakes, and Sea Level Rise (SLR) resulting from climate change. To comprehensively assess these challenges, a stack of Sentinel-1 SAR datasets (2017-2021) was processed using the Persistent Scatterer InSAR (PS-InSAR) technique to conduct spatial and temporal deformation variations of the citadel's site and its buildings. GPS measurements of Alexandria's (e.g., ALX2) station were correlated with InSAR results within the same period. Furthermore, satellite altimetry data from 1993–2021 covering the citadel and surroundings were processed to highlight long-term SLR trends. The findings indicate 1) A subsidence rate of $-$1 $\pm$ 0.2 mm/yr, associated with the citadel's foundational structures and identified through the PS-InSAR analysis, was caused by load-bearing effects and sand migration beneath the citadel, 2) a vertical displacement of $-$1.3$\pm$0.6 mm/yr obtained from ALX2-GPS station, consistent with the LOS velocity rate of PS-InSAR time series analysis at that specific location, 3) a SLR trend of +3.96 mm/yr, with notable peaks potentially related to episodes of Northern Ionian Gyre reversal, that could result in changes in water mass redistribution in the surrounding region.

Purpose Fracture-related infections (FRIs) encompass a broad range of infections associated with bone fractures; they remain a significant clinical challenge. Here, we aimed to investigate the viability of focusing on soft-tissue management in patients suspected of chronic FRI, who exhibit no significant bony uptake on bone single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/computed tomography (CT) scans. Methods Between January 2016 and January 2022, we managed 25 patients with chronic FRI or post-traumatic osteomyelitis using technetium 99m-methyl diphosphonate bone SPECT/CT to assess infection depth. Among them, 13 patients showing negligible bony uptake were included and categorized into two groups based on wound discharge reaching the bone/implant (Criteria 1, n = 6) or not (Criteria 2, n = 7). Results Patients in the Criteria 1 group were treated with antibiotics and soft tissue debridement without bony procedure. The average duration of antibiotic therapy was 6.7 weeks. Treatments were individualized, including implant changes, local flaps, skin grafts, and negative pressure wound therapy. No recurrence was reported in the mean follow-up of 21.3 months. Patients in the Criteria 2 group were treated with oral antibiotics (mean duration: 5.9 weeks) and daily wound dressings. No recurrence was reported in the mean follow-up of 26.0 months, and no surgical interventions were required. Conclusion This study demonstrates the feasibility of focusing on soft-tissue management in patients with chronic FRI showing minimal bony uptake on bone SPECT/CT. Our treatment protocol avoided unnecessary surgical bone procedures, resulting in successful clinical outcomes with no recurrences.

Background: Primary liver cancer (PLC) is a prevalent malignancy of the digestive system characterized by insidious symptom onset and a generally poor prognosis. Recent studies have highlighted a significant correlation between the initiation and prognosis of liver cancer and the immune function of PLC patients. Purpose: Revealing the expression of PLC-related immune genes and the characteristics of immune cell infiltration provides assistance for the analysis of clinical pathological parameters and prognosis of PLC patients. Methods: PLC-related differentially expressed genes (DEGs) with a median absolute deviation (MAD > 0.5) were identified from TCGA and GEO databases. These DEGs were intersected with immune-related genes (IRGs) from the ImmPort database to obtain PLC-related IRGs. The method of constructing a prognostic model through immune-related gene pairs (IRGPs) is used to obtain IRGPs and conduct the selection of central immune genes. The central immune genes obtained from the selection of IRGPs are validated in PLC. Subsequently, the relative proportions of 22 types of immune cells in different immune risk groups are evaluated, and the differential characteristics of PLC-related immune cells are verified through animal experiments. Results: Through database screening and the construction of an IRGP prognosis model, 84 pairs of IRGPs (P

ABSTRACT: Considering Salmonella transmission occurs through several routes in integrated broiler operations, control of nontyphoidal Salmonella in commercial farms is essential. This study aimed to compare the distribution of persistent Salmonella serovars in environments and dead chickens between 5 major integrated broiler operations in Korea. The prevalence of Salmonella-positive farms in dust prior to placement by operations was 0 to 25%, but the prevalence in dust and feces at the time of depletion was increased to 16.7 to 41.7% and 16.7 to 66.7%, respectively. Moreover, the prevalence of farms with Salmonella in chickens that died within 1 week old and at 4 to 5 weeks old ranged from 8.3 to 58.3% and 16.7 to 41.7%, respectively. The prevalence of Salmonella enterica serovar Infantis-positive farms in dust prior to placement and in chickens that died within 1 week old was 5.2 and 3.4%, respectively, but the prevalence in dust and feces at the time of depletion and in chickens that died at 4 to 5 weeks old was significantly increased to 27.6, 41.4, and 20.7%, respectively (P < 0.05). Interestingly, the plasmid of emerging S. Infantis (pESI) was only identified in S. Infantis, and the prevalence of multidrug-resistance was significantly higher in pESI-positive S. Infantis (99.2%) than in pESI-negative S. Infantis (6.7%) (P < 0.05). The distribution of pulsotypes between pESI-positive and pESI-negative S. Infantis were varied, but a majority of S. Infantis were clustered only 2 pulsotypes. Moreover, pESI-positive S. Infantis harbored more virulence factors than pESI-negative S. Infantis. This study is the first report on characteristics of S. Infantis carrying the pESI plasmid in commercial broiler farms in Korea.

Previous research has found that prolonged eye-based attention can bias ocular dominance. If one eye long-termly views a regular movie meanwhile the opposite eye views a backward movie of the same episode, perceptual ocular dominance will shift towards the eye previously viewing the backward movie. Yet it remains unclear whether the role of eye-based attention in this phenomenon is causal or not. To address this issue, the present study relied on both the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) techniques. We found robust activation of the frontal eye field (FEF) and intraparietal sulcus (IPS) when participants were watching the dichoptic movie while focusing their attention on the regular movie. Interestingly, we found a robust effect of attention-induced ocular dominance shift when the cortical function of vertex or IPS was transiently inhibited by continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS), yet the effect was significantly attenuated to a negligible extent when cTBS was delivered to FEF. A control experiment verified that the attenuation of ocular dominance shift after inhibitory stimulation of FEF was not due to any impact of the cTBS on the binocular rivalry measurement of ocular dominance. These findings suggest that the fronto-parietal attentional network is involved in controlling eye-based attention in the ‘dichoptic-backward-movie’ adaptation paradigm, and in this network, FEF plays a crucial causal role in generating the attention-induced ocular dominance shift.

A high-precision three-dimensional hydrodynamic model based on the Semi-implicit Cross-scale Hydroscience Integrated System Model (SCHISM) was constructed to investigate the characteristics of residual currents in the Qiongzhou Strait during spring and summer. Results reveal an overall westward transport in the strait during spring and summer. However, the results also support the potential occurrence of transient eastward Eulerian residual currents, which should be evident predominantly at the surface in the central and eastern sections of the strait and mainly characterised by subtidal oscillations. The direction and intensity of these residual currents indicate a pronounced influence of pressure gradient forces on both sides of the strait. The eastward flow observed in spring may represent a compensatory mechanism resulting from the relaxation period of long-term easterly winds, whereas the generation of eastward residual currents in summer is influenced by wind stress curl differences in both the western and eastern areas of the strait. The direct impact of the summer monsoon on the flow field in the strait is relatively weak. Additionally, the direction and intensity of the residual currents in the strait exhibit potential interannual variations that are directly associated with interannual wind variations. This study provides valuable insights in relation to the ongoing discourse on the dynamics of residual currents in the Qiongzhou Strait.

Objective: Follicular lymphoma (FL) is an indolent B-cell lymphoproliferative disorder, characterized by a lymphoid follicular pattern of growth. PFI-1 or CPI-203 has been known to effectively promote the inhibition of primary effusion lymphoma progression. This study aimed at investigating the anti-tumor properties of PFI-1 and CPI-203 on FL cells and uncover the underlying mechanism of action. Methods: FL cells were treated with PFI-1 and CPI-203, and the treated cells were evaluated for their cell viability, cell cycle and apoptosis using CCK8, flow cytometry, and Western blot assays. A xenograft mouse model was used for assessing the in vivo effects of CPI-203 on tumorigenesis. Results: PFI-1 or CPI-203 showed potential inhibitory effects on the cell viability of DOHH2 and RL cells in a dose-response-dependent manner. Furthermore, PFI-1 and CPI-203 inhibited cell growth, induced apoptosis of FL cells in vitro, and facilitated the translocation of β-catenin into cytoplasm both in vitro and in vivo. After engrafted with FL cells, CPI-203-treated mice got a longer duration of survival and a smaller tumor size than control mice. Mechanistically, PFI-1 and CPI-203 impede the activity of β-catenin and its downstream molecules by regulating the DVL2/GSK3β axis. Conclusion: In conclusion, PFI-1 and CPI-203 may serve as potential anti-tumor inhibitors for the therapy of FL.

Internal migrants with chronic diseases (IMCDs) are a specific subgroup of the internal migrants, but few studies have focused on health service utilization among this group. Social integration is an essential element in the maintenance of health and well-being in migrants. However, the measurement of social integration remains inconsistent. This study aimed to measure social integration more comprehensively and evaluate the association between social integration and National Basic Public Health Services (NBPHS) utilization among IMCDs in China, thereby providing theoretical support for health promotion among IMCDs. The data of this study were obtained from the China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS) in 2017. A total of 9272 internal migrants who self-reported hypertension and/or type 2 diabetes were included in the analysis. Four factors were extracted through exploratory factor analysis to measure the social integration of IMCDs: psychological identity, community involvement, social security, and sociocultural adaptation. The results show the IMCDs underutilized NBPHS, with 26.80 % stating that they have not used any of the services in the NBPHS. We confirmed the positive association between social integration and NBPHS use among IMCDs. The social integration of IMCDs in developed regions was relatively worse than in developing regions, further exacerbating the underutilization of NBPHS in developed regions. Therefore, targeted government measures and supportive policies are necessary, especially in developed regions, to encourage IMCDs to participate in social organizations and community activities and stimulate their active participation in the NBPHS.

IntroductionModeling work on binocular rivalry has described how ocular opponency neurons represent interocular conflict. These neurons have recently been considered to mediate an ocular dominance shift to the eye that has viewed a backward movie for long during which time the other eye is presented with a regular movie. Unlike typical short-term monocular deprivation, the visual inputs are comparable across eyes in that “dichoptic-backward-movie” paradigm. Therefore, it remains unclear whether the ocular opponency neurons are also responsible for the short-term monocular deprivation effect which is prevalently explained by the homeostatic compensation theory. We designed two experiments from distinct perspectives to investigate this question.MethodsIn Experiment 1, we mitigated the imbalance in the activity of opponency neurons between the two eyes during monocular deprivation by presenting video stimuli alternately. In Experiment 2, we directly evaluated the response of opponency neurons before and after monocular deprivation using SSVEP techniques.ResultsConsistent with each other, both experiments failed to provide reliable evidence supporting the involvement of ocular opponency neurons in the short-term monocular deprivation effect.DiscussionOur results suggest that ocular opponency neurons may not play an essential role in the short-term monocular deprivation effect, potentially due to interference from the homeostatic plasticity mechanism.

Spray forming is a manufacturing process that enables the production of high-performance metallic materials with exceptional properties. Due to its rapid solidification nature, spray forming can produce materials that exhibit fine, uniform, and equiaxed microstructures, with low micro-segregation, high solubility, and excellent workability. Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys have been widely used in the aerospace field due to their excellent properties, i.e., high strength, low density, and outstanding machinability. The alloy manufactured by spray forming has a combination of better impact properties and higher specific strength, due to its higher cooling rate, higher solute concentration, and lower segregation. In this manuscript, the recent development of spray-formed Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys is briefly reviewed. The influence of hot working, i.e., hot extrusion, hot forging, and hot rolling, as well as different heat treatments on the property and microstructure of spray-formed Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys is introduced. The second phases and their influence on the microstructure and mechanical properties are summarized. Finally, the potential in high-temperature applications and future prospects of spray-formed aluminum alloys are discussed.

Using integral field spectroscopic data from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory survey, we investigate the spatially resolved properties and empirical relations of a star-forming galaxy and a non-star-forming galaxy hosting counterrotating stellar disks (CRDs). The DESI g , r , z color images reveal no evidence of merger remnants in either galaxy, suggesting that gas accretion fuels the formation of CRDs. Based on the visible counterrotation in the stellar velocity field, we can fit a spatial boundary to distinguish the inner and outer regions dominated by two stellar disks in each galaxy. In the inner region of the star-forming CRDs, stars are corotating with ionized gas, and the stellar population is younger. Comparison of the star-forming main-sequence relations between the inner and outer regions reveals enhanced star formation in the inner region. Given the abundant preexisting gas in the star-forming galaxy, collisions between preexisting and external gas efficiently consume angular momentum, triggering star formation in the inner region. Conversely, in the outer region of the non-star-forming CRDs, stars are corotating with ionized gas, and the stellar population is younger. Comparison of the stellar mass–metallicity relations between the inner and outer regions indicates enriched gas-phase metallicity in the outer region. Considering the less abundant preexisting gas in the non-star-forming galaxy, external gas could preserve angular momentum, fueling star formation in the outer region. Overall, gas accretion exhibits different influences on the evolution of star-forming and non-star-forming galaxies.

This study investigated the applicability of the area of spheroids and hypoxic regions for efficient evaluation of drug efficacy using machine learning (ML). We initially developed a high-throughput detection method to obtain the area of spheroids and hypoxic regions that can handle over 10 000 images per hour with an error rate of 2%–3%. The ML models were trained using cell growth of six cell lines ( i.e. HepG2, A549, Hep3B, BEAS-2B, HT-29, and HCT116) and hypoxic region variations of two cell lines ( i.e. HepG2 and BEAS-2B); our model can predict the area of spheroids and hypoxic region of certain growth date with high precision. To demonstrate the applicability, HepG2 spheroids were treated with sorafenib, and the efficacy of the drug was evaluated through a comparison of differences in areas of cell size and hypoxic regions with the predicted results. Furthermore, our ML approach has been shown to be applicable to provide the model-driven evaluative criterion for toxicity and drug efficacy using spheroids.

Background: Relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (R/R ALL) continues to be a major cause of mortality in children worldwide, with around 15% of ALL patients experiencing relapse and approximately 10% eventually dying from the disease. Early identification of R/R ALL in children has posed a longstanding clinical challenge., Method: Genetic analysis of survival outcomes in pediatric patients with ALL from the TARGET-ALL dataset revealed five risk score factors identified through the intersection of differential genes (relapse/non-relapse) from the GSE17703 and GSE6092 databases. A risk score equation was formulated using these factors and validated against prognostic data from 46 ALL cases at our institution. Patients from multiple datasets were stratified into high and low-score groups based on this equation. Protein-protein interaction networks (PPI) were then constructed using the intersecting differential genes from all three datasets to identify hub nodes and predict interacting transcription factors. Additionally, genes related to cell pyroptosis with varying expression across these datasets were screened, and a multifactorial ROC curve (incorporating risk score and differential expression of pyroptosis-related genes) was generated. Furthermore, relationships among variables in the predictive model were depicted using a nomogram, and model efficacy was assessed through decision curve analysis (DCA)., Results: By analyzing the TARGET-ALL, GSE17703, and GSE6092 databases, we developed a prognostic risk assessment model for pediatric ALL incorporating BAG2, EPHA4, FBXO9, SNX10, and WNK1. Validation of this model was conducted using data from 46 pediatric ALL cases obtained from our institution. Following the identification of 27 differentially expressed genes, we constructed a PPI and identified the top 10 hub genes (PTPRC, BTK, LCK, PRKCQ, CD3D, CD27, CD3G, BLNK, RASGRP1, VPREB1). Using this network, we predicted the top 5 transcription factors (HOXB4, MYC, SOX2, E2F1, NANOG). ROC and DCA were conducted on pyroptosis-related genes exhibiting differential expression and risk scores. Subsequently, a nomogram was generated, demonstrating the effectiveness of the risk score in predicting prognosis for pediatric ALL patients., Conclusions: We have developed a risk prediction model for pediatric R/R ALL utilizing the genes BAG2, EPHA4, FBXO9, SNX10, and WNK1. This model provides a scientific foundation for early identification of R/R ALL in children.

In this study, a phytochemical investigation on the methanol extract of Potentilla chinensis led to the isolation of eleven triterpenoids including ursolic acid (1), pomolic acid (2), tormentic acid (3), 2-epi-corosolic acid (4), 3-epi-corosolic acid (ECA, 5), 3β-hydroxyurs-11-en-13β(28)-olide (6), euscaphic acid (7), 2-epi-tormentic acid (8), corosolic acid (9), uvaol (10), and 3-O-acetylpomolic acid (11). Among them, ECA (5) showed potential anti-osteoclastogenic activity. To the best of our knowledge, this represents the first isolation of ECA (5) from P. chinensis as well as the first investigation of its effects on osteoclast formation. Further study revealed that ECA inhibited RANKL-induced mature osteoclast formation in vitro without compromising cell viability. Mechanistically, ECA attenuated RANKL-induced mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activation, leading to the inhibition of c-Fos and nuclear factor of activated T cells cytoplasmic 1 (NFATc1) activation. Moreover, ECA protected against LPS-induced inflammatory bone loss and osteoclast formation in a mouse model. However, ECA did not inhibit LPS-induced inflammatory responses in macrophages. Our findings suggest that ECA mitigates LPS-induced inflammatory bone loss in mice by inhibiting RANKL-induced activation of key osteoclastogenic transcription factors, including c-Fos and NFATc1, and may be a potential natural triterpenoid for preventing or treating osteolytic diseases., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Lymphocyte activation gene 3 (Lag3) is an inhibitory co-receptor expressed on activated T cells and has been proposed to regulate regulatory T (Treg) cell function. However, its precise modality and mechanisms remain elusive. We generated Treg cell-specific Lag3-mutant mouse models and found that Lag3 was essential for Treg cell control of autoimmunity. RNA sequencing analysis revealed that Lag3 mutation altered genes associated with metabolic processes, especially Myc target genes. Myc expression in Lag3-mutant Treg cells was increased to the level seen in conventional T helper (Th)1-type effector cells and directly correlated with their metabolic profiles and in vivo suppressive functions. The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)-Akt-Rictor pathway was activated in Lag3-mutant Treg cells, and inhibiting PI3K, Rictor, or lactate dehydrogenase A (Ldha), a key Myc target enzyme converting pyruvate to lactate, was sufficient to restore normal metabolism and suppressive function in Lag3-mutant Treg cells. These findings indicate that Lag3 supports Treg cell suppression partly by tuning Myc-dependent metabolic programming., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests J.C. is a founder and shareholder in Moonlight Bio., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

To memorize a sequence, one must serially bind each item to its rank order. How the brain controls a given input to bind its associated order in sequence working memory (SWM) remains unexplored. Here, we investigated the neural representations underlying SWM control using electrophysiological recordings in the frontal cortex of macaque monkeys performing forward and backward SWM tasks. Separate and generalizable low-dimensional subspaces for sensory and memory information were found within the same frontal circuitry, and SWM control was reflected in these neural subspaces' organized dynamics. Each item at each rank was sequentially entered into a common sensory subspace and, depending on forward or backward task requirement, flexibly and timely sent into rank-selective SWM subspaces. Neural activity in these SWM subspaces faithfully predicted the recalled item and order information in single error trials. Thus, compositional neural population codes with well-orchestrated dynamics in frontal cortex support the flexible control of SWM., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Neuropathic pain results from damage to nerves or the brain, and is characterized by symptoms such as allodynia, spontaneous pain, and hyperalgesia. The causes of this type of pain are intricate, which can make it difficult to treat. Sodium aescinate (SA), a natural extract from horse chestnut tree seeds, has been shown to act as a neuroprotector by inhibiting microglia activation. This study aims to explore the therapeutic potential of SA for neuropathic pain and the molecular mechanisms regulated by SA treatment. Through in vivo animal models and experiments, we found that SA treatment significantly reduced mechanical allodynia and heat hyperalgesia in neuropathic pain models. Additionally, SA inhibited O-GlcNAc-transferase (OGT)-induced O-GlcNAcylation (O-GlcNAc) modification in neuropathic pain mice. OGT overexpression could impede the therapeutic effects of SA on neuropathic pain. Further investigation revealed that Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3), stabilized by OGT-induced O-GlcNAc modification, could activate the Mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway. Further in vivo experiments demonstrated that TLR3-mediated p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38MAPK) activation is involved in SA-mediated relief of neuropathic pain. In conclusion, this study uncovers a novel molecular pathway deactivated by SA treatment in neuropathic pain., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The physical and chemical treatment processes of leachate are not only costly but can also possibly produce harmful by products. Constructed wetlands (CW) has been considered a promising alternative technology for leachate treatment due to less demand for energy, economic, ecological benefits, and simplicity of operations. Various trends and approaches for the application of CW for leachate treatment have been discussed in this review along with offering an informatics peek of the recent innovative developments in CW technology and its perspectives. In addition, coupling CW with microbial fuel cells (MFCs) has proven to produce renewable energy (electricity) while treating contaminants in leachate wastewaters (CW-MFC). The combination of CW-MFC is a promising bio electrochemical that plays symbiotic among plant microorganisms in the rhizosphere of an aquatic plant that convert sun electricity is transformed into bioelectricity with the aid of using the formation of radical secretions, as endogenous substrates, and microbial activity. Several researchers study and try to find out the application of CW-MFC for leachate treatment, along with this system and performance. Several key elements for the advancement of CW-MFC technology such as bioelectricity, reactor configurations, plant species, and electrode materials, has been comprehensively discussed and future research directions were suggested for further improving the performance. Overall, CW-MFC may offer an eco-friendly approach to protecting the aquatic environment and come with built-in advantages for visual appeal and animal habitats using natural materials such as gravel, soil, electroactive bacteria, and plants under controlled condition., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

The segmentation accuracy of the lung images is affected by the occlusion of the front background objects. To address this problem, we propose a full-scale lung image segmentation algorithm based on hybrid skip connection and attention mechanism (HAFS). The algorithm uses yolov8 as the underlying network and enhancement of multi-layer feature fusion by incorporating dense and sparse skip connections into the network structure, and increased weighting of important features through attention gates. Finally the proposed algorithm was applied to the lung datasets Montgomery County chest X-ray and Shenzhen chest X-ray. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm improves the precision, recall, pixel accuracy, Dice, mIoU, mAP and GFLOPs metrics compared to the comparison algorithms, which proves the advancement and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Cognitive diagnosis is a crucial element of intelligent education that aims to assess the proficiency of specific skills or traits in students at a refined level and provide insights into their strengths and weaknesses for personalized learning. Researchers have developed numerous cognitive diagnostic models. However, previous studies indicate that diagnostic accuracy can be significantly influenced by the appropriateness of the model and the sample size. Thus, designing a general model that can adapt to different assumptions and sample sizes remains a considerable challenge. Artificial neural networks have been proposed as a promising approach in some studies. In this paper, we propose a cognitive diagnosis model of a neural network constrained by a Q-matrix and named QNN. Specifically, we employ the Q-matrix to determine the connections between neurons and the width and depth of the neural network. Moreover, to reduce the human effort in the training algorithm, we designed a self-organizing map-based cognitive diagnosis training framework called SOM-NN, which enables the QNN to be trained unsupervised. Extensive experimental results on simulated and real datasets demonstrate that our approaches are effective in both accuracy and interpretability. Notably, under unsupervised conditions, our approach has significant advantages on small sample datasets with high levels of guessing and slipping, especially on the pattern-wise agreement rates. This work bridges the gap between psychometrics and machine learning and provides a realistic and implementable reference solution for classroom instructional assessment and the cold start of personalized and adaptive assessment systems., (© 2024. The Psychonomic Society, Inc.)

How the brain mentally sorts a series of items in a specific order within working memory (WM) remains largely unknown. We investigated mental sorting using high-throughput electrophysiological recordings in the frontal cortex of macaque monkeys, who memorized and sorted spatial sequences in forward or backward orders according to visual cues. We discovered that items at each ordinal rank in WM were encoded in separate rank-WM subspaces and then, depending on cues, were maintained or reordered between the subspaces, accompanied by two extra temporary subspaces in two operation steps. Furthermore, the cue activity served as an indexical signal to trigger sorting processes. Thus, we propose a complete conceptual framework, where the neural landscape transitions in frontal neural states underlie the symbolic system for mental programming of sequence WM.

Woody breast (WB) is one of muscle myopathy found in chicken breast, characterized with enlarged size and extremely stiff texture. The WB condition is one of the most prevalent quality issues in the modern poultry industry. WB has been shown to be heritable, but no effective detection method of WB severity in live birds exists for the selection purpose. The objective of this study was to determine potential of a non-invasive, portable digital palpation device as WB detection method that can be used for the selection to estimate the heritability of WB. The physical and functional properties of WB was also investigated in comparison with normal breast (NB). Two hundred ten breast muscles were obtained from a local processing plant one day after harvest and sorted based on WB scoring (1 for NB and 2 and 3 for WB). The samples were subjected to physical and physicochemical analyses, determining biomechanical properties (muscle tone, stiffness, elasticity, relaxation, and creep), pH, color, cooking yield, and texture (firmness and compression energy were used for raw meat and shear force and energy for cooked meat). The least squares means of the following variables were significantly different between WB and NB ( p < 0.01): stiffness (603.4 vs 565.8; N/m), and elasticity (1.40 vs 1.55). However, relaxation and creep were not significantly different ( p > 0.05). These results collectively showed that biomechanical properties of WB differ from NB. The degree of muscle stiffness in WB can be considered as a trait to be selected. The WB score showed strong negative correlations with cooking yield (-0.77) and cooked L*(-0.74), which means that as the breast becomes harder, the cooking yield decreases, and the color becomes darker after cooking. The WB score showed high correlations with physical and functional characteristics and exhibited strong correlations with the biomechanical properties measured by the device. Therefore, the results indicated that the digital palpation device has potential to detect the WB severity (degree of stiffness) of breast muscle., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported., (© Copyright 2024 Korean Society of Animal Science and Technology.)

The formation of a stable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer is crucial for enhancing the safety and lifespan of Li metal batteries. Fundamentally, a homogeneous Li + behavior by controlling the chemical reaction at the anode/electrolyte interface is the key to establishing a stable SEI layer. However, due to the highly reactive nature of Li metal anodes (LMAs), controlling the movement of Li + at the anode/electrolyte interface remains challenging. Here, an advanced approach is proposed for coating a sacrificial layer called fluorinated self-assembled monolayer (FSL) on a boehmite-coated polyethylene (BPE) separator to form a stable SEI layer. By leveraging the strong affinity between the fluorine functional group and Li + , the rapid formation of a LiF-rich SEI layer in the cell production and early cycling stage is facilitated. This initial stable SEI formation promotes the subsequent homogeneous Li + flux, thereby improving the LMA stability and yielding an enhanced battery lifespan. Further, the mechanism behind the stable SEI layer generation by controlling the Li + dynamics through the FSL-treated BPE separator is comprehensively verified. Overall, this research offers significant contributions to the energy storage field by addressing challenges associated with LMAs, thus highlighting the importance of interfacial control in achieving a stable SEI layer., (© 2024 The Authors. Small published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Serological screening for TORCH(Toxoplasma gondii [TOX], Rubella virus [RV], Cytomegalovirus [CMV], and Herpes simplex virus [HSV]) infections is an effective method for preventing congenital infections caused by TORCH pathogens.In this study, we retrospectively analyzed the characteristics of TORCH infections in 17,807 infertile women of childbearing age in northwest China.We conducted serological detection of TORCH-pathogen-specific IgM and IgG antibodies. The seroprevalence of TORCH infections was statistically analyzed by applying χ2 and Fisher exact-probability tests to evaluate the differences among ages and across quarters of the year. The overall IgM/IgG seroprevalences of TOX, RV, CMV, HSV-1, and HSV-2 were 0.46/3.4%, 0.77/84.93%, 0.68/97.54%, 1.2/82.83%, and 0.62/10.04%, respectively. The positive rates for RV-IgM in women ≥ 40 years old were significantly higher than those for women 25-39 (P < 0.05) years of age. The seroprevalence of HSV1-IgM was higher in the third and fourth quarters of the year (seasons) (P < 0.001), and the seroprevalence of CMV-IgG was statistically significant between differences quarters (P = 0.017), and the seroprevalence of CMV-IgG in the first quarter was lower than that in the third and fourth quarters (Bonferroni correction, P = 0.009 > 0.0083), suggesting no statistically significant difference between the latter two groups. This study showed that in northwestern China the risk of acquiring primary infection by a TORCH pathogen among infertile women of childbearing age were still high, especially Toxoplasma gondii and Herpesvirus type 2 infection. Therefore, effective prevention strategies that include serological screening for TORCH should be implemented., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Society for Reproductive Investigation.)

This study evaluated the reflection of long-term anaerobic system exposed to sulfate and propionate. Fe@C was found to efficiently mitigate anaerobic sulfate inhibition and enhance propionate degradation. With influent propionate of 12000mgCOD/L and COD/SO 4 2- ratio of 3.0, methane productivity and sulfate removal were only 0.06 ± 0.02L/gCOD and 63 %, respectively. Fe@C helped recover methane productivity to 0.23 ± 0.03L/gCOD, and remove sulfate completely. After alleviating sulfate stress, less organic substrate was utilized to form extracellular polymeric substances for self-protection, which enhanced mass transfer in anaerobic sludge. Microbial community succession, especially for alteration of key sulfate-reducing bacteria and propionate-oxidizing bacteria, was driven by Fe@C, thus enhancing sulfate reduction and propionate degradation. Acetotrophic Methanothrix and hydrogenotrophic unclassified&#95;f&#95;Methanoregulaceae were enriched to promote methanogenesis. Regarding propionate metabolism, inhibited methylmalonyl-CoA degradation was a limiting step under sulfate stress, and was mitigated by Fe@C. Overall, this study provides perspective on Fe@C's future application on sulfate and propionate rich wastewater treatment., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Electroautotrophic microbes at biocathodes in microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) can catalyze the hydrogen evolution reaction with low energy demand, facilitating long-term stable performance through specific and renewable biocatalysts. However, MECs have not yet reached commercialization due to a lack of understanding of the optimal microbial strains and reactor configurations for achieving high performance. Here, we critically analyze the criteria for the inocula selection, with a focus on the effect of hydrogenase activity and microbe-electrode interactions. We also evaluate the impact of the reactor design and key parameters, such as membrane type, composition, and electrode surface area on internal resistance, mass transport, and pH imbalances within MECs. This analysis paves the way for advancements that could propel biocathode-assisted MECs toward scalable hydrogen gas production., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests None declared by authors., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), which is the most common type of lung cancer, remains poor. Little is known about the function and mechanism of whey acidic protein four-disulfide core domain 2 (WFDC2) in LUAD., Methods: In this study, we used online databases to compare WFDC2 expression between LUAD and normal tissues, to analyze the relationship between WFDC2 and overall survival, and to investigate the potential roles of WFDC2., Results: We found that WFDC2 protein and mRNA expression levels were significantly higher in LUAD tissue than in normal tissue, and high WFDC2 mRNA expression was associated with better overall survival. WFDC2 mRNA expression was correlated with the mutation status of TP53. The biological function of WFDC2 was associated with the cell cycle, and low WFDC2 mRNA expression was associated with an elevated tumor mutational burden and neoantigen levels. A negative relationship was observed between WFDC2 and immune gene expression, and high WFDC2 mRNA expression was found in patients with LUAD and low programed cell death 1 mRNA expression., Conclusions: We propose that WFDC2 is associated with clinical benefits of immune checkpoint inhibitors in LUAD., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestThe authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Background: Firefighters are an at-risk population for multiple psychiatric conditions, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, alcohol use disorders (AUDs), and insomnia. These disorders are likely to co-occur; however, patterns of comorbidity have scarcely been investigated in firefighters. We aimed to identify subgroups of comorbidity of PTSD, depression, AUDs, and insomnia in a nationwide population of firefighters in South Korea., Methods: A total of 54,054 firefighters responded to an online survey. Latent classes of comorbidity were categorized using latent profile analysis (LPA) based on the symptom scores of PTSD, depression, AUDs, and insomnia. Analysis of variance was performed to compare the characteristics of the identified classes, and multinomial logistic regression was conducted to examine whether anger reactions, resilience, and number of traumatic events predicted class membership., Results: The LPA identified four subgroups: minimal symptoms (n = 42,948, 79.5 %), predominant PTSD (n = 2858, 5.3 %), subthreshold symptoms and comorbidity (n = 7003, 13.0 %), and high symptoms and comorbidity (n = 1245, 2.3 %). Three comorbidity classes were defined based on severity and one class showed predominant PTSD symptoms. Number of traumatic exposures predicted predominant PTSD, while resilience and anger reactions predicted severity of comorbidities., Limitations: The cross-sectional design and usage of self-reported questionnaires are limitations of this study., Conclusions: The severity of PTSD, depression, AUDs and insomnia tend to correlate and co-occur in firefighters. Our findings highlight the need to assess comorbid symptoms in firefighters and need to reduce anger reactions and enhance resilience in those with multiple comorbidities., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)