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ObjectiveThe burden of both general and drug-resistant tuberculosis in rural areas is higher than that in urban areas in China. To characterize the genetic structure and transmission risk of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in rural China, we used whole genome sequencing to analyze clinical strains collected from patients in two counties of Yichang for three consecutive years.MethodsFrom 2018 to 2020, sputum samples were collected for cultures from patients with suspected tuberculosis in Yidu and Zigui county, and DNA was extracted from the positive strains for genome sequencing. The online SAM-TB platform was used to identify the genotypes and drug resistance-related mutations of each strain, establish a phylogenetic tree, and calculated the genetic distances between pairwise strains. Twelve single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were used as thresholds to identify transmission clusters. The risk of related factors was estimated by univariable and multivariable logistic regression.ResultsA total of 161 out of the collected 231 positive strains were enrolled for analysis, excluding non-tuberculous mycobacterium and duplicate strains from the same patient. These strains belonged to Lineage 2 (92, 57.1%) and Lineage 4 (69, 42.9%), respectively. A total of 49 (30.4%) strains were detected with known drug resistance-related mutations, including 6 (3.7%) multidrug-resistant-TB (MDR-TB) strains and 11 (6.8%) RIF-resistant INH-susceptible TB (Rr-TB) strains. Six of the MDR/Rr-TB (35.3%) were also resistant to fluoroquinolones, which made them pre-extensively drug-resistant TB (pre-XDR-TB). There were another seven strains with mono-resistance to fluoroquinolones and one strain with resistance to both INH and fluoroquinolones, making the overall rate of fluoroquinolones resistance 8.7% (14/161). A total of 50 strains (31.1%) were identified as transmission clusters. Patients under 45 years old (adjusted odds ratio 3.46 [95% confidential intervals 1.28–9.35]), treatment-naive patients (6.14 [1.39–27.07]) and patients infected by lineage 4 strains (2.22 [1.00–4.91]) had a higher risk of transmission.ConclusionThe drug resistance of tuberculosis in rural China, especially to the second-line drug fluoroquinolones, is relatively serious. The standardized treatment for patients and the clinical use of fluoroquinolones warrant attention. At the same time, the recent transmission risk of tuberculosis is high, and rapid diagnosis and treatment management at the primary care needs to be strengthened.

We report both experimentally and numerically that near-perfect absorption of low-frequency sound is realized in an open tunnel embedded with two deep sub-wavelength (0.085 λ) Mie resonators. The resonators are composed of a multiple-cavity structure and an outer frame on three sides. In the eigenmode analysis, we obtain two types of monopolar Mie resonance modes (MMR I&II) in a single resonator around 250 Hz. The eigenfrequency of MMR I is mainly determined by the Helmholtz resonance of each cavity in the multiple-cavity structure, while that of MMR II is closely related to the coupling between the multiple-cavity structure and its outer frame, showing high performances of coupling and sound absorption. Based on the thermal viscous loss of sound energy in the channels created by the mutual coupling of MMR II of both Mie resonators with different diameters, the near-perfect sound absorption through the open tunnel is realized around 283 Hz. More interestingly, by increasing the number of Mie resonators in the tunnel, a broadband near-perfect sound absorption is observed, and the fractional bandwidth can reach about 0.25 and 0.46 for the tunnels with 6 and 13 resonators, The proposed deep sub-wavelength Mie resonator and its associated near-perfect sound absorptions have great potential applications in architectural acoustics and mechanical engineering.

We report the numerical and experimental realization of a type of ultrathin planar wall with low-frequency dual-band sound absorption. The proposed planar wall is constructed by a periodic subwavelength unit cell (with a thickness of λ/19) which consists of two different multiple-cavity resonators embedded into a plate structure with a groove. The sound absorption of the wall exists in two working bands (IandII) below 600 Hz which are created by two different mechanisms. In addition to the band I created by a conventional resonance coupling of the two multiple-cavity resonators, it is worth noting that the band II is realized by a mutual resonance coupling between the resonators and groove structure. The fractional bandwidths of the bands I and II can reach about 34.1 and 10.4%, respectively. Furthermore, the application of the proposed ultrathin planar wall in the design of a barrier-free anechoic room with omnidirectional low-frequency dual-band sound absorption is further discussed in detail. The proposed planar wall has the advantages of ultrathin planar structure and omnidirectional low-frequency dual-band sound absorption, which provides diverse routes to design advanced sound-absorption structures in noise control and architectural acoustics.

BackgroundAcute lung injury (ALI) is a common complication after cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). No precise way, however, is currently available to predict its occurrence. We and others have demonstrated that microparticles (MPs) can induce ALI and were increased in patients with ALI. However, whether MPs can be used to predict ALI after cardiac surgery with CPB remains unknown.MethodsIn this prospective study, 103 patients undergoing cardiac surgery with CPB and 53 healthy subjects were enrolled. MPs were isolated from the plasma before, 12 h after, and 3 d after surgery. The size distributions of MPs were measured by the LitesizerTM 500 Particle Analyzer. The patients were divided into two subgroups (ALI and non-ALI) according to the diagnosis of ALI. Descriptive and correlational analyzes were conducted between the size distribution of MPs and clinical data.ResultsCompared to the non-ALI group, the size at peak and interquartile range (IQR) of MPs in patients with ALI were smaller, but the peak intensity of MPs is higher. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that the size at peak of MPs at postoperative 12 h was an independent risk factor for ALI. The area under the curve (AUC) of peak diameter at postoperative 12 h was 0.803. The best cutoff value of peak diameter to diagnose ALI was 223.05 nm with a sensitivity of 88.0% and a negative predictive value of 94.5%. The AUC of IQR at postoperative 12 h was 0.717. The best cutoff value of IQR to diagnose ALI was 132.65 nm with a sensitivity of 88.0% and a negative predictive value of 92.5%. Combining these two parameters, the sensitivity reached 92% and the negative predictive value was 96%.ConclusionsOur findings suggested that the size distribution of MPs could be a novel biomarker to predict and exclude ALI after cardiac surgery with CPB.

The technique of sound insulation has a wide range of potential applications in environment noise control and architectural acoustics. The rapid development of acoustic artificial materials has provided alternative solutions to design sound insulation structures. However, the realization of single-layer planar structures with bidirectional acoustic insulation (BAI) and unidirectional acoustic insulation (UAI) still poses a challenge. Here, we report the theoretical and experimental realization of two types of single-layer phased array lenses which presents the characteristics of broadband BAI and multi-channel UAI. Both types of lenses consist of 12 mode-conversion phased units which are composed of two types of unit cells (I and II) with an opposite phase and a step waveguide. Based on the phase regulation, the designed phased unit can realize the mode conversion between the zero-order and first-order waves and asymmetric sound manipulation, which enables multi-functional sound insulations. Based on the desired theoretical phase profiles, two types of lenses with BAI and UAI are realized for the incidence of the zero-order wave, and their fractional bandwidths can reach about 0.28 and 0.37, respectively. More interestingly, the UAI effect can be reversed for the incidence of the first-order wave. The proposed lenses based on the mode-conversion phased units have the advantages of single-layer planar structure, multi-functional sound insulation, and broad bandwidth, which have wide application prospect.

We report, both theoretically and experimentally, a type of ultra-thin metasurface-based low-frequency sound absorber with bandwidth optimization. Such a metasurface unit consists of an ultrathin resonator (thickness∼1/90 wavelength) with a circular hole on the upper panel and four narrow slits inside a multiple-cavity structure. Eigenmode simulations of the unit show rich artificial Mie resonances, in which a type of monopolar Mie resonance mode can be obtained at 238.4 Hz. Based on the excitation of the monopolar mode, we can realize the near-perfect low-frequency sound absorption with the maximum absorption coefficient and fractional bandwidth of 0.97 and 12.9%, respectively, which mainly arises from the high thermal-viscous loss around the circular hole and four narrow slits of the unit. More interestingly, by combining 4 units with different diameters of the circular hole, we further enhance the fractional bandwidth of the compound unit to 18.7%. Our work provides a route to design ultra-thin broadband sound absorbers by artificial Mie resonances, showing great potential in practical applications of low-frequency noise control and architectural acoustics.

Background: Diffuse lower-grade gliomas (LGGs) are infiltrative and heterogeneous neoplasms. Gene signature including multiple protein-coding genes (PCGs) is widely used as a tumor marker. This study aimed to construct a multi-PCG signature to predict survival for LGG patients.Methods: LGG data including PCG expression profiles and clinical information were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA). Survival analysis, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, and random survival forest algorithm (RSFVH) were used to identify the prognostic PCG signature.Results: From the training (n = 524) and test (n = 431) datasets, a five-PCG signature which can classify LGG patients into low- or high-risk group with a significantly different overall survival (log rank P < 0.001) was screened out and validated. In terms of prognosis predictive performance, the five-PCG signature is stronger than other clinical variables and IDH mutation status. Moreover, the five-PCG signature could further divide radiotherapy patients into two different risk groups. GO and KEGG analysis found that PCGs in the prognostic five-PCG signature were mainly enriched in cell cycle, apoptosis, DNA replication pathways.Conclusions: The new five-PCG signature is a reliable prognostic marker for LGG patients and has a good prospect in clinical application.

Recently, increasing evidence has displayed that lncRNAs can exhibit crucial function in cancer progression, including lung cancer. LncRNA bladder cancer-associated transcript 1 (BLACAT1) is reported to participate in various cancers. The aim of our current study was to investigate the function of BLACAT1 in non-small cell lung cancer progression and study the functional pathway. Here, we reported BLACAT1 was significantly up-regulated in lung cancer tissues in comparison to the adjacent normal tissues, which suggested BLACAT1 might act as an oncogene in lung cancer. Then, A549 and PC9 cells were infected with BLACAT1 overexpression plasmid and shRNA. As shown, we proved up-regulation of BLACAT1 greatly induced the growth of non-small cell lung cancer cells. Reversely, knockdown of BLACAT1 reduced A549 and PC9 cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Sonic hedgehog (shh) signaling is able to exert a significant role in carcinogenesis, including lung cancer. Currently, we proved that up-regulation of BLACAT1 activated shh signaling pathway, via inducing shh, Gli-1 and Smo expression. shh pathway inhibitor GANT-61 reversed the effect of overexpression of BLACAT1 on non-small cell lung cancer. Moreover, we manifested that loss of BLACAT1 remarkably reduced the in vivo growth and metastasis of A549 cells via enhancing infiltrating CD3+ T cells. In conclusion, our research revealed a critical role of BLACAT1 in the modulation of non-small cell lung cancer via modulating shh pathway.

Poultry meat quality is affected by many factors, among which intramuscular fat (IMF) is predominant. IMF content affects the tenderness, juiciness, and flavor of chicken. An increasing number of studies are focusing on the functions of lncRNAs in adipocyte differentiation. However, little is known about lncRNAs associated with intramuscular adipocyte differentiation. In the present study, we focused on an up-regulated lncRNA during intramuscular adipogenetic differentiation, which we named intramuscular fat-associated long non-coding RNA (IMFNCR). IMFNCR promotes intramuscular adipocyte differentiation. In-depth analyses showed that IMFNCR acts as a molecular sponge for miR-128-3p and miR-27b-3p and that PPARG is a direct target of miR-128-3p and miR-27b-3p in chicken. High-fat and high-protein diet inhibited chicken IMFNCR level in vivo. Moreover, IMFNCR level was positively correlated with PPARG mRNA level in chicken breast muscle tissues, a vital corollary to ceRNA function. Altogether, our research showed that IMFNCR acts as a ceRNA to sequester miR-128-3p and miR-27b-3p, leading to heightened PPARG expression, and thus promotes intramuscular adipocyte differentiation. Taken together, our findings may contribute to a more thorough understanding of chicken IMF deposition and the improvement of poultry meat quality.

Developing cost-efficient and high-performance non-noble metal electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction is of great significance for large-scale commercialization of fuel cells. Here, a novel cobalt phosphate-embedded nitrogen and phosphorus co-doped graphene aerogel [labeled as Co3(PO4)2/N,P-GA] is prepared via combination of a facile hydrothermal apporoach with a pyrolysis procedure. The obtained Co3(PO4)2/N,P-GA catalysts display excellent catalytic performance in base media, with optimal Co3(PO4)2/N,P-GA-900 (the material prepared at pyrolysis temperature of 900°C) showing better catalytic activity for ORR than other as-obtained contrast materials in terms of the onset potential, half-wave potential and diffusion-limiting current density, even superior to the commercial Pt/C catalyst. Furthermore, the Co3(PO4)2/N,P-GA also possesses good methanol tolerance and excellent durability. The superior performance of Co3(PO4)2/N,P-GA is attributed to the hierachical porous structure, large BET surface area, N,P-codoping, cobalt phosphate-based nanoparticles loaded on graphene nanosheets, and synergistic effects between the doped active species. Therefore, it is expected to replace Pt/C as a promising fuel cell catalyst in alkaline direct methanol fuel cells.