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Purpose of review: This review sought to define the emerging roles of urinary tumor DNA (utDNA) for diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of bladder cancer. Building from early landmark studies the focus is on recent studies, highlighting how utDNA could aid personalized care. Recent findings: Recent research underscores the potential for utDNA to be the premiere biomarker in bladder cancer due to the constant interface between urine and tumor. Many studies find utDNA to be more informative than other biomarkers in bladder cancer, especially in early stages of disease. Points of emphasis include superior sensitivity over traditional urine cytology, broad genomic and epigenetic insights, and the potential for non-invasive, real-time analysis of tumor biology. Summary: utDNA shows promise for improving all phases of bladder cancer care, paving the way for personalized treatment strategies. Building from current research, future comprehensive clinical trials will validate utDNA's clinical utility, potentially revolutionizing bladder cancer management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification of host mRNA during bacterial infection is unclear. Here, we show that Helicobacter pylori infection upregulates host m6A methylases and increases m6A levels in gastric epithelial cells. Reducing m6A methylase activity via hemizygotic deletion of methylase-encoding gene Mettl3 in mice, or via small interfering RNAs targeting m6A methylases, enhances H. pylori colonization. We identify LOX-1 mRNA as a key m6A-regulated target during H. pylori infection. m6A modification destabilizes LOX-1 mRNA and reduces LOX-1 protein levels. LOX-1 acts as a membrane receptor for H. pylori catalase and contributes to bacterial adhesion. Pharmacological inhibition of LOX-1, or genetic ablation of Lox-1, reduces H. pylori colonization. Moreover, deletion of the bacterial catalase gene decreases adhesion of H. pylori to human gastric sections. Our results indicate that m6A modification of host LOX-1 mRNA contributes to protection against H. pylori infection by downregulating LOX-1 and thus reducing H. pylori adhesion.N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification of mRNA regulates gene expression in eukaryotes. Here, Zeng et al. show that m6A modification of mRNAs contributes to protection against the pathogen Helicobacter pylori by downregulating a host protein that acts as receptor for the pathogen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum memory-assisted entropic uncertainty relation (QMA-EUR) addresses that the entropic uncertainty of measured particle can be reduced by the aid of another particle acting as quantum memory. Especially, the measurement precision for two incompatible observables can be improved. In this paper, we have studied QMA-EUR in the qubit–qubit and qubit–qubit-spin chain models and examined quantum-memory-assisted entropic uncertainties (QMA-EUs) and their lower bounds (LBs) of the spin-qubit measured subsystem in the case of spin-qutrit and spin-qubit acting as the quantum memories, respectively. The numerical results show that spin-qutrit memory subsystems can effectively suppress the amounts of QMA-EUs and LBs of the spin-qubit measurement subsystem, which indicates that it can broke the limits of entropic uncertainty relationship without quantum memory subsystem. But, the suppression effects are very different in both antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic spin coupling cases. In general, one can get lower values of QMA-EUs and LBs by adjusting the thermal equilibrium temperature and relevant coupling parameters in the case of antiferromagnetic spin coupling case. Furthermore, we compared the regulation effects of reducing the values of QMA-EUs and LBs when the quantum memory subsystem is severed by spin-qutrit and spin-qubit, respectively, in the same model parameters condition. It is found that effects of spin-qutrit memory subsystem on reducing QMA-EUs and LBs are inferior to that of spin-qubit memory one. This comparative analysis result indicates that the dimensions of quantum measurement subsystem and quantum memory subsystem have a significant effect on the reducing the QMA-EUs and LBs in the entropic uncertainty game. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through filling CS 2 into the core, a liquid-core photonic crystal fiber(LCPCF) with a fully circular air hole structure was designed. The finite element method(FEM) and numerical analysis are combined to simulate the structure and optimize the parameters of the fiber. When λ = 1550 nm ,the geometric optimal parameters are Λ = 0.75 μ m, d 1 / Λ = 0.86 , d 2 / Λ = 0.96 , and d 3 / Λ = 0.20 . Meanwhile, the LCPCF can achieve a large negative dispersion of - 2697.06 ps/nm/km and a high nonlinearity of 50677.77 W - 1 km - 1 . The numerical aperture and light acceptance are 0.674 and 65.37%, respectively. By comparison, we believe that this LCPCF has obvious advantages in optical communication compensation and supercontinuum generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum-memory-assisted entropic uncertainty relation is an upgrade version of the original entropic uncertainty relation with help of the quantum correlations between the measured subsystem and memory one. In this work, we analyze quantum-memory-assisted entropic uncertainty (QMA-EU) and steered quantum coherence (SQC) for an arbitrary two-qubit X-state, and then we get analytically an explicit relation between the QMA-EU and SQC. As an example, we consider the two interacting two-level atomic systems coupled to independent dissipative environments and investigate dynamics of QMA-EU and SQC of atomic systems in terms of the various values of atomic coupling parameters, environmental factors and frequency detune between the two-level atoms and environmental modes. The results show that the QMA-EU for Pauli observable set is anti-correlated to the SQC in an arbitrary two-qubit X-state, strictly. As well, the sum of QMA-EU and SQC is merely related with the reduced quantum entropies of the subsystem. In the dissipative environment, the QMA-EU and SQC of two-qubit atomic system still exhibit strict anti-correlation relationship in all the evolution time, which is quite different from the connections between QMA-EU and quantum correlation measured by concurrence. Furthermore, the QMA-EU can be suppressed and SQC can be improved with increasing of coupling parameters and detuning amount in non-Markovian environments, effectively. The optimal atomic state can be denoted by the values of the trough of wave during the oscillation of QMA-EU and SQC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A D-shaped open-ring microgroove photonic crystal fiber (PCF) sensor based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is proposed for the simultaneous measurement of methane gas concentration and temperature. The sensitive coatings are polysiloxane-doped cryptane E and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and the designed microgroove structure with out-of-hole coating is expected to improve the sensitivity. The finite element method (FEM) is employed to analyze the data numerically, and the results demonstrated that the average sensitivities could reach − 96.57 nm/% for methane concentration in the range of 0.5 ~ 3.0% and − 6.86 nm/°C for methane temperature in the range of 0 ~ 50 °C. Both measurement channels exhibited excellent linearity, making them highly valuable for environmental monitoring and other applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a correction to an article titled "A Highly Sensitive Dual-Core D-Shape Photonic Crystal Fiber Based on Surface Plasmon Resonance for Methane Sensing" published in the journal Plasmonics. The correction addresses an oversight in the original article's affiliation, stating that the correct affiliation should be the College of Electrical Engineering and Control Science at Nanjing Tech University in Nanjing, JiangSu, China. The correction has been made to the original article, and the publisher, Springer Nature, remains neutral regarding jurisdictional claims and institutional affiliations. The contact information for the authors is also provided. [Extracted from the article]

In this study, we introduce a cutting-edge gas sensor exploiting surface plasmon resonance (SPR) in a novel D-shaped photonic crystal fiber (PCF) configuration, tailored for methane detection. The sensor’s innovative design incorporates dual-core polished gas access microstructures, optimizing methane-gas interaction surfaces. A gold nanofilm was strategically selected to induce SPR, augmented by a polysiloxane-doped cryptane E overlay for heightened methane sensitivity. To meticulously evaluate sensor performance, we employed a combination of finite element analysis (FEA) and rigorous numerical modeling. These analyses revealed the profound impact of structural parameters on sensor attributes. Our findings highlight a remarkable methane sensing capability, evidenced by a sensitivity of 11.52 nm/% and a figure of merit (FOM) reaching 0.409 within the tested 0–3.5% concentration range, accompanied by a linear response profile—underscoring the system’s precision and reliability. This pioneering sensor technology, distinguished by its affordability, simplicity, and real-time monitoring capabilities, charts a new course in the realm of gas leak detection systems, poised to make significant contributions to future safety and environmental monitoring endeavors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we present the Database of Word-Level Statistics for Mandarin Chinese (DoWLS-MAN). The database addresses the lack of agreement in phonological syllable segmentation specific to Mandarin by offering phonological features for each lexical item according to 16 schematic representations of the syllable (8 with tone and 8 without tone). Those lexical statistics that differ per phonological word and nonword due to changes in syllable segmentation are of the variant category and include subtitle lexical frequency, phonological neighborhood density measures, homophone density, and network science measures. The invariant characteristics consist of each items' lexical tone, phonological transcription, and syllable structure among others. The goal of DoWLS-MAN is to provide researchers both the ability to choose stimuli that are derived from a segmentation schema that supports an existing model of Mandarin speech processing, and the ability to choose stimuli that allow for the testing of hypotheses on phonological segmentation according to multiple schemas. In an exploratory analysis we illustrate how multiple schematic representations of the phonological mental lexicon can aid in hypothesis generation, specifically in terms of phonological processing when reading Chinese orthography. Users of the database can search among over 92,000 words, over 1600 out-of-vocabulary Chinese characters, and 4300 phonological nonwords according to either Chinese orthography, pinyin, or ASCII phonetic script. Users can also generate a list of phonological words and nonwords according to user-defined ranges and categories of lexical characteristics. DoWLS-MAN is available to the public for search or download at https://dowls.site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual dysfunction (SD) is one of the late complications in survivors after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), and the gonadal hormones might be involved in the pathogenesis of this pathological process. This study aimed to investigate the incidence of SD by questionnaire, to explore the relationship between SD and the comprehensive gonadal hormones in patients post HSCT. We identified 72 survivors of hematological diseases who underwent HSCT. The sociodemographic characteristics and medical histories of participants were ascertained by a modified version of a questionnaire named "PPSAS-HSCT" in our study. Blood samples were regularly assayed for the global gonadal hormones. Forty-four percent of the females and 51% of the males reported a loss of interest in sexual activities. Ninety-two percent (23/25) of females exhibited decreased serum anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) levels, and 74% (35/47) of males had elevated follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels. The males with a higher level of oestradiol/testosterone (E2/T) had more symptoms of SD after HSCT. Patients with GVHD who received glucocorticoid (GC) therapy exhibited a lower level of testosterone and more serious SD, especially in the female population. SD and abnormal gonadal hormone homeostasis were present in more than half of the survivors after HSCT. Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and glucocorticoid treatment were confirmed to have a significant impact on the levels of testosterone among females. A multimodal intervention for the survivors after HSCT and a better consciousness of the medical staff are necessary for improving the quality of life of the recipients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a brain-based neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by behavioral abnormalities. Accumulating studies show that the gut microbiota plays a vital role in the pathogenesis of ASD, and gut microbiota transplantation (GMT) is a promising technique for the treatment of ASD. In clinical applications of GMT, it is challenging to obtain effective transplants because of the high costs of donor selection and heterogeneity of donors' gut microbiota, which can cause different clinical responses. In vitro batch culture is a fast, easy-to-operate, and repeatable method to culture gut microbiota. Thus, the present study investigates the feasibility of treating ASD with in vitro cultured gut microbiota as transplants. We cultured gut microbiota via the in vitro batch culture method and performed GMT in the maternal immune activation (MIA)–induced ASD mouse model with original donor microbiota and in vitro cultured microbiota. Open field, three-chamber social, marble burying, and self-grooming tests were used for behavioral improvement assessment. Serum levels of chemokines were detected. Microbial total DNA was extracted from mouse fecal samples, and 16S rDNA was sequenced using Illumina. Our results showed that GMT treatment with original and cultured donor gut microbiota significantly ameliorated anxiety-like and repetitive behaviors and improved serum levels of chemokines including GRO-α (CXCL1), MIP-1α (CCL3), MCP-3 (CCL7), RANTES (CCL5), and Eotaxin (CCL11) in ASD mice. Meanwhile, the gut microbial communities of the two groups that received GMT treatment were changed compared with the ASD mice groups. In the group treated with in vitro cultured donor gut microbiota, there was a significant decrease in the relative abundance of key differential taxa, including S24-7, Clostridiaceae, Prevotella_other, and Candidatus Arthromitus. The relative abundance of these taxa reached close to the level of healthy mice. Prevotella_other also decreased in the group treated with original donor gut microbiota, with a significant increase in Ruminococcaceae and Oscillospira. The present study demonstrated that GMT with in vitro cultured microbiota also improved behavioral abnormalities and chemokine disorders in an ASD mouse model compared with GMT with original donor gut microbiota. In addition, it significantly modified several key differential taxa in gut microbial composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have studied the quantum-memory-assisted entropic uncertainty relation (QMA-EUR) in two-qubit Heisenberg XX spin chain model with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interaction and external magnetic field. It shows that the DM interaction |Dz| and the spin interaction |J| can efficiently suppress the entropic uncertainty of Pauli observables (σx and σz), even make the entropic uncertainty close to zero. The external magnetic field that acts on the two spin sites along z-direction leads to two different effects on entropic uncertainty under the different thermal equilibrium temperature. Furthermore, the dynamic features of entropic uncertainty with DM interactions and spin interactions under intrinsic decoherence condition are investigated. We find that when the Werner state acts as initial state, the larger purity parameter can yield smaller value of entropic uncertainty at the initial evolution time. And the entropic uncertainty of the XX model with DM interaction in z-direction is independent of external magnetic field B . We also verified the entropic uncertainty is anti-correlated with the quantum discord of the spin chain system in full evolution time. Meanwhile, DM interactions and the spin interactions can make the evolutions of entropic uncertainty and its lower bound oscillate with evolution time, and the increasing of strengthen of DM interactions and spin interactions can lead to an increasing of oscillation frequency, and the variations of amplitudes are different for these two kinds of interactions. Especially, when the strength of spin interaction is larger, the trends of entropic uncertainty and its lower bound can be changed from oscillation to smoothness, which can be regarded as there is no DM interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to investigate the association of the polymorphisms in tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and granulin (GRN) with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in a Chinese Han population. Five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) covering TNF and six SNPs covering GRN were investigated in 861 Chinese Han AS patients and 864 healthy controls. For rs1799964, the C allele was linked to reduced risk of AS (p < 0.0001, OR = 0.60, 95% CI = 0.50–0.71). The carriers of the C/C homozygote showed a significantly lower risk of AS compared with the TT homozygote and the C/T heterozygote under the recessive model (p < 0.0001, OR = 0.23, 95% CI = 0.12–0.45). For rs1800629, the A allele was also linked to reduced risk of AS (p < 0.0001, OR = 0.54, 95% CI = 0.39–0.74). For rs1800630, the A allele was also linked to reduced risk of AS (p < 0.0001, OR = 0.59, 95% CI = 0.48–0.72). The carriers of the A/A homozygote showed a significantly lower risk of AS compared with the C/C homozygote and the A/C heterozygote under the recessive model (p < 0.0001, OR = 0.18, 95% CI = 0.07–0.47). For rs769178, the T allele was linked to increased risk of AS (p < 0.0001, OR = 2.59, 95% CI = 2.18–3.09). The carriers of the T/T homozygote showed a significantly higher risk of AS compared with the GG homozygote and the G/T heterozygote under the recessive model (p < 0.0001, OR = 3.34, 95 %CI = 1.95–5.72). There was no significant difference between the AS patients and the controls in the genotype or allele frequencies of rs361525. For GRN, there was no significant difference between the AS patients and the controls in the genotype or allele frequencies of rs25646, rs3760365, rs3785817, rs4792939, rs5848, rs850713 (p > 0.05). This study indicates that polymorphisms in TNF are related to AS, but polymorphisms in GRN are not related to AS susceptibility in a Chinese Han population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To compare the mRNA level of angiogenic factor vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-2, and MMP-9 in cultured human brain arteriovenous malformation (AVM) endothelial cells (ECs) and normal brain endothelial cells (BECs). Tissue explants both from deformed vessels of AVM and normal microvessel were put into culture for endothelial cells. After the monolayer adherent ECs reached confluence, they were tested with endothelial specific marker CD34 and von Willebrand factor (vWF) by immunochemical assay. mRNA levels of VEGF-A, MMP-2, and MMP-9 in AVM endothelial cells (AVMECs) and BECs were measured by PCR. Immunostaining confirmed that more than 95 % of the cultured cells were CD34 (Fig. 1b) and/or vWF positive. Expression levels of VEGF-A and MMP-2 mRNAs were significantly higher in AVMECs than in BECs. The MMP-9 level was also increased in AVMECs, but the difference was not statistically significant. Vascular tissue explants adherent method is a better approach for isolation and culture of AVMECs. Cultured AVMECs expressed higher angiogenic factors (VEGF, MMP-2) than the controlled BECs, implicating angiogenesis plays an important role in the pathogenesis of AVM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The aims of the present study are to investigate the effects of Ce on the growth and some antioxidant metabolisms in rice seedlings ( Oryza sativa L. cv Shengdao 16). Materials and methods: The rice was treated with 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 mM Ce, respectively. The growth index of rice was measured. The chlorophyll content; catalase, superoxide dismutase, and peroxidase activities; and the level of hydrogen peroxide (HO), superoxide anion (O), and malondialdehyde were assayed. The accumulation of Ce and the uptake of mineral nutrition elements were analyzed with ICP-SF-MS. Results and discussion: Hormetic effects of Ce on the growth and some antioxidant metabolisms were found in the roots and shoots of rice. The roots can accumulate a much higher content of Ce than shoots and Ce mainly located in the cell wall of roots. Moreover, the uptake of K, Mg, Ca, Na, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, and Mo in the roots and shoots was affected with the exposure of different Ce treatments, which indicated that Ce affected the nutritional status of roots and shoots and further affected the growth of rice. Conclusion: The appropriate amount of Ce improved the defense system and growth of rice. The roots can accumulate a much higher content of Ce than shoots. Moreover, the uptake of K, Mg, Ca, Na, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, and Mo in the roots and shoots was affected with the exposure of different Ce treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To study the expression of human intestinal trefoil factor (hITF) mRNA in Crohn's disease and to screen the cellular proteins that can interact with the hITF protein by a yeast two-hybrid system in order to explore the mechanism of hITF in protecting intestinal mucosa from injury.Methods: Seventy-eight patients underwent double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE). Expression of hITF mRNA was detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis (qRT-PCR). The hITF gene was amplified by PCR and cloned into vector pDEST32. The yeast cells cotransformed with pDEST32-hITF and the human jejunal cDNA library were plated in a selective SC-Leu-Trp-His-Ura medium. The subsequent screen was performed with χ-gal detection, and true-positive clones were sequenced and analyzed with bioinformatics. Co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) was performed to confirm the binding of putative proteins to the hITF protein.Results: Thirty-nine patients were diagnosed with Crohn's disease. We found that the expression of hITF mRNA is significantly increased in Crohn's disease compared to normal controls. A total of ten colonies were selected and sequenced. Among these, six colonies were Homo sapiens zinc finger protein 193 (ZNF193), three colonies were Homo sapiens Aldo-keto reductase family 1C 1 (AKR1C1), and one colony was of an unknown gene. A reverse two-hybrid experiment and Co-IP indicated that ZNF193 and AKR1C1 might interact with hITF.Conclusions: The expression of hITF mRNA is increased in Crohn's disease. ZNF193 and AKR1C1 are proteins that can interact with the hITF protein by a yeast two-hybrid system and Co-IP, hITF may contribute to the mucosal repair through this interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]