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Background: Due to heterogeneity of molecular biology and microenvironment, therapeutic efficacy varies among hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients treated with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). We examined combined models using clinicoradiological characteristics, mutational burden of signaling pathways, and radiomics features to predict survival prognosis. Methods: Two cohorts comprising 111 patients with HCC were used to build prognostic models. The training and test cohorts included 78 and 33 individuals, respectively. Mutational burden was calculated based on 17 cancer-associated signaling pathways. Radiomic features were extracted and selected from computed tomography images using a pyradiomics system. Models based on clinicoradiological indicators, mutational burden, and radiomics score (rad-score) were built to predict overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Results: Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, Child–Pugh class, peritumoral enhancement, PI3K_AKT and hypoxia mutational burden, and rad-score were used to create a combined model predicting OS. C-indices were 0.805 (training cohort) and 0.768 (test cohort). The areas under the curve (AUCs) were 0.889, 0.900, and 0.917 for 1-year, 2-year, and 3-year OS, respectively. To predict PFS, alpha-fetoprotein level, tumor enhancement pattern, hypoxia and receptor tyrosine kinase mutational burden, and rad-score were used. C-indices were 0.782 (training cohort) and 0.766 (test cohort). AUCs were 0.885 and 0.925 for 6-month and 12-month PFS, respectively. Calibration and decision curve analyses supported the model's accuracy and clinical potential. Conclusions: The nomogram models are hopeful to predict OS and PFS in patients with intermediate-advanced HCC treated with TACE plus TKIs, offering a promising tool for treatment decisions and monitoring patient progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional villages hold a vital place in Chinese vernacular built heritage continuation with their colors being a significant constituent of the built environment. While digital technology has advanced our understanding of built environment, current research pays little attention on how color influences the environment, often overlooking temporal changes and regional differences, especially neglects color protection measures. This study establishes an diachronic image dataset using national traditional villages in Macheng City, Hubei Province. By using of K-Means and CIEDE2000 algorithms, we analyze color characteristics differences among 4 regions in Macheng City in 2022. And, we select five year' s diachronic image data of Dongyuan Village (2017–2022) to elucidate the color changes mechanisms. The results show that: (1) Elements influenced by the government, construction techniques dissemination, and environmental factors exhibit regional similarity, while the color of wall differs significantly. Specifically, K-Means values for northern and eastern wall elements indicate light brown tones [RGB: (159, 151, 136), (163, 159, 147)], whereas southwestern and central wall elements exhibit distinct colors, including grayish brown [RGB: (132, 127, 119)] and light yellow [RGB: (190, 182, 161)], respectively. (2) Dongyuan Village underwent color corrections in accordance with government policies, resulting in a shift from blue [RGB: (138, 154, 213)] to yellow [RGB: (223, 206, 196)] for the walls and a gradual unification of road colors into light gray [RGB: (239, 238, 243)]. This initiative led to increased consistency with government guidelines, and the color data stabilized with minimal changes in the surrounding environment. This study enhances our comprehension of traditional village color and regional characteristics changes, contributing to effective measures for the preservation of these culturally significant built heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: In the present study, we aimed to identify potential predictors of intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using whole-exome sequencing (WES) in patients undergoing transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). Materials and methods: In A total of 51 patients, newly diagnosed with intermediate-stage HCC between January 2013 and December 2020, were enrolled. Prior to treatment, histological samples were collected for western blotting and immunohistochemistry. The predictive roles of clinical indicators and genes in patient prognosis were analyzed using univariate and multivariate analyses. Finally, the correlation between imaging features and gene signatures was examined. Results: Using WES, we identified that bromodomain-containing protein 7 (BRD7) was significantly mutated in patients with different TACE responses. No significant difference in BRD7 expression was observed between patients with and without BRD7 mutations. HCC tumors exhibited higher BRD7 than normal liver tissues. Multivariate analysis revealed that alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), BRD7 expression, and BRD7 mutations were independent risk factors for progression-free survival (PFS). In addition, Child–Pugh class, BRD7 expression, and BRD7 mutations were independent risk factors for overall survival (OS). Patients with wild-type BRD7 and high BRD7 expression had worse PFS and OS, whereas those with mutated BRD7 and low BRD7 expression exhibited the best PFS and OS. The Kruskal–Wallis test revealed that wash-in enhancement on computed tomography might be an independent risk factor for high BRD7 expression. Conclusion: BRD7 expression may be an independent risk factor for prognosis in patients with HCC undergoing TACE. Imaging features such as wash-in enhancement are closely related to BRD7 expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to the depletion of global uranium reserves and the radioactive contamination of wastewater, there is an urgent need to develop efficient, sustainable, and cost-effective uranium biosorbents. Herein, a green macroalga Rhizoclonium riparium was prepared for uranium (U(VI)) removal. The results showed that the maximum adsorption capacity of U(VI) was 80.96 mg g−1 (pH = 5, 298 K and 0.1 M NaNO3). The kinetics, isotherms and thermodynamics analysis revealed that the adsorption process was chemisorption, homogeneous monolayer adsorption, endothermic and spontaneous. Through the mechanism characterization, it was proved the adsorbed of uranium on R. riparium was mainly controlled by the complexation between U(VI) and –OH, –COOH, –NH2. Besides, the R. riparium possess high selectivity towards uranium and good recycling performance. This work highlights new opportunities for biosorbents to be obtained directly from nature and used to remove radioactive contamination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the effectiveness and safety of the combination of sorafenib and drug-eluting bead transarterial chemoembolization (DEB-TACE) in the treatment of early intrahepatic stage-progressed advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (ISPA-HCC). Methods: This study was approved by the ethics committees of six tertiary medical centers in China. Between October 2017 and October 2020, 213 patients with advanced HCC received either sorafenib combined with on-demand DEB-TACE (DTS group, n = 103) or sorafenib monotherapy (S group, n = 110). Overall survival (OS), time to progression (TTP), local tumor response, and adverse events (AEs) were compared between the two groups. Results: The incidences of nause/vomiting, abdonimal pain, hyperbilirubinemia, fever and ALT/AST increasing were higher in the DTS group. The post-treatment partial response, objective response, and disease control rates were significantly higher in the DTS group than in the S group (51.5% vs. 23.6%; 56.3% vs. 25.5%; 77.7% vs. 56.4%, respectively). The median OS was significantly longer in the DTS group than in the S group [16.3 vs. 10.0 months; hazard ratio (HR) = 0.43; P < 0.001], as was the TTP (6.7 vs. 4.3 months; HR = 0.60; P = 0.001). In the DTS group, patients who received ≥ 2 sessions of DEB-TACE benefited more than those who received two sessions of DEB-TACE. Multivariate analysis revealed that the α-fetoprotein level and treatment allocation were independent predictors of OS and TTP. Conclusion: The combination of sorafenib and DEB-TACE is safe and effective for the treatment of early ISPA-HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is a common chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease that affects about 0.33–0.77% population in China. The positive for antinuclear antibodies (ANA) is one of the key features of SS, which shows a nuclear fine speckled (AC-4) pattern in an indirect immunofluorescent antibody test (IIFT). About 70% of ANA-positive SS patients have detectable anti-SS-A and/or SS-B antibodies, which indicates that other autoantibodies may present in SS patients. The anti-HMGB1 antibodies in 93 SS patients and 96 healthy controls were investigated with in-house developed ELISA and immunoblotting, and the locations of HMGB1 and fluorescent pattern of anti-HMGB1 antibody were investigated with IIFT. The contribution of anti-HMGB1 antibody in ANA-IF was evaluated with Cas9-induce HMGB1 knockout B16 cells. The anti-HMGB1 antibody level is higher in SS patients (9.96 ± 5.55 RU/ml) than in healthy controls (4.9 ± 1.4 RU/ml). With ROC curve analysis, when taking 8 RU/ml as the cutoff value, the sensitivity, specificity, and the area under the curve were 64.5%, 96.9%, and 0.83, respectively. A total of 18 patients (20.7%) with nuclear fine speckled (AC-4) pattern in ANA-IF test were anti-HMGB1 antibody positive only. With commercial antibody, anti-HMGB1 antibody showed the same nuclear fine speckled (AC-4) pattern. The serum from ANA-IF (+), SS-A (−), and SS-B (−) SS patients showed nuclear fine speckled (AC-4) pattern in wildtype B16 cells, but no fluorescence in HMGB1 knockout B16 cells. Anti-HMGB1 antibody may be one of the characteristic autoantibodies of SS in addition to anti-SS-A and SS-B. The detection of anti-HMGB1 antibody can provide more laboratory evidence for clinical diagnosis of SS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study aims to compare the safety and effectiveness between transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) with drug-eluting beads (DEB-TACE) and conventional TACE (cTACE) using lipiodol-based regimens in HCC patients with a transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS). Methods: This retrospective study included patients with patent TIPS who underwent TACE from January 2013 to January 2019 that received either DEB-TACE (DEB-TACE group, n = 57) or cTACE (cTACE group, n = 62). The complications, liver toxicity, overall survival (OS), time to progression (TTP), and objective response rate (ORR) were compared between the groups. Results: Altogether, 119 patients (50 ± 11 years, 107 men) were evaluated. The incidence of adverse events, including abdominal pain within 7 days (45.6% vs 79.0%, p < 0.001) and hepatic failure within 30 days (5.3% vs 19.4%, p = 0.027), were significantly lower in the DEB-TACE group than in the cTACE group. Compared to the cTACE group, the DEB-TACE group also showed mild liver toxicities in terms of increased total bilirubin (8.8% vs 22.6%), alanine aminotransferase (5.3% vs 21.0%), and aspartate aminotransferase (10.5% vs 29.0%) levels. The DEB-TACE group had better ORR than the cTACE group (70.2% vs 50.0%). The median OS and TTP were longer in the DEB-TACE group (11.4 vs 9.1 months, hazard ratio [HR] = 2.46, p < 0.001; 6.9 vs 5.2 months, HR = 1.47, p = 0.045). Multivariable analysis showed that α-fetoprotein levels, Barcelona clinic liver cancer stage, and treatment allocation were independent predictors of OS. Conclusion: DEB-TACE is safe and effective in HCC patients with a TIPS and is potentially superior to cTACE in terms of complications, liver toxicities, OS, TTP, and ORR. Key Points: • DEB-TACE is safe and effective in HCC patients after a TIPS procedure. • DEB-TACE improves overall survival, objective response rate, and liver toxicities and is non-inferior to cTACE in terms of time to progression. • DEB-TACE might be a potential new therapeutic option for HCC patients with TIPS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate the feasibility of serum HMGB1, anti-HMGB1 antibodies, and HMGB1/anti-HMGB1 ratio as a diagnosis indicator of initial clinical classification in patients with fever of unknown origin (FUO). Ninety-four patients with classical FUO and ninety healthy controls were enrolled in this study. The subjects' clinical data and serum were collected. The serum concentration of HMGB1 was detected by a commercial HMGB1 ELISA kit, while the serum concentration of anti-HMGB1 antibodies were detected by an in-house built anti-HMGB1 antibodies ELISA kit and further confirmed by immunoblotting. According to the hospital diagnosis on discharge, ninety-four FUO patients were divided into four groups, Infectious disease subgroup, autoimmune disease subgroup, malignant tumor subgroup, and undetermined subgroup. The concentrations of HMGB1 in the infectious disease subgroup and autoimmune disease subgroup were higher than those in the malignant tumor subgroup, undetermined subgroup, and healthy control group. The concentration of anti-HMGB1 antibodies in autoimmune disease subtype group was higher than those in other subgroups as well as healthy control group. According to the distribution of HMGB1 and anti-HMGB1 in scatter plots of the patients with FUO, we found that the ratio of serum HMGB1/anti-HMGB1 is an ideal clinical indicator for differential diagnosis of different subtypes of FUO. The best cut-off was 0.75, and the sensitivity, specificity, and AUC were 66.67%, 87.32%, and 0.8, respectively. Correlation analysis showed that serum concentration of HMGB1 was moderately correlated with CRP in infectious diseases subgroup, and the serum concentration of anti-HMGB1 antibodies was strongly correlated with erythrocyte sedimentation rate in autoimmune disease subgroup. Our study had showed that serum HMGB1/anti-HMGB1 antibodies ratio can help clinicians identify FUO subtypes, thereby avoiding many unnecessary examinations and tests, and improving the effectiveness of clinical diagnosis and treatment of FUO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whitmania pigra, called Mahuang (MH) in Chinese, has been used as a traditional Chinese medicine for many years and is susceptible to Pb exposure in aquaculture environments. To understand the impact of Pb in the culture environment on MHs, we carried out a 50-day culture of MHs in environments with different levels of Pb pollution. Then, tissue samples of MHs reared in the different Pb-polluted environments were collected and analysed by UPLC-Q/TOF-MS. The results showed that the Pb residue in MHs increased with increasing Pb in the culture environment. There was no significant difference in MH Pb content (P < 0.05) between the low-Pb residue group (PbL) and the blank control group (BC), and those of the middle-Pb residue group (PbM) and the high-Pb residue group (PbH) were significantly different from that of the BC group. Metabolomics results showed significant changes in 24 metabolites in the PbL, PbM and PbH groups, some of which were dose-dependent. These metabolites were mainly lipids, nucleotides, and dipeptides, which are involved in metabolic pathways such as glycerophospholipid metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism, and nucleotide metabolism. Overall, the results proved that metabolomics can be an effective tool to understand the effects of Pb on the metabolic responses of MHs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We previously found that autoantibodies against a panel of six tumor-associated antigens (p53, NY-ESO-1, MMP-7, Hsp70, PRDX6 and Bmi-1) may aid in early detection of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Here we aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of this autoantibody panel in esophagogastric junction adenocarcinoma (EJA) patients. Methods: Serum autoantibody levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in a training cohort and a validation cohort. We used receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) to calculate diagnostic accuracy. Results: We recruited 169 normal controls and 122 EJA patients to the training cohort, and 80 normal controls and 70 EJA patients to the validation cohort. Detection of the autoantibody panel demonstrated an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.818, sensitivity 59.0% and specificity 90.5% in training cohort, and AUC 0.815, sensitivity 61.4% and specificity 90.0% in validation cohort in the diagnosis of EJA. Measurement of the autoantibody panel could distinguish early stage EJA patients from normal controls (AUC 0.786 and 0.786, sensitivity 50.0% and 56.0%, and specificity 90.5% and 90.0%, for training and validation cohorts, respectively). Moreover, a restricted panel consisting of autoantibodies against p53, NY-ESO-1 and Bmi-1 exhibited similar diagnostic performance for EJA (AUC 0.814 and 0.823, sensitivity 53.5% and 60.0%, and specificity 90.5% and 93.7%, for training and validation cohorts, respectively) and early stage EJA (AUC 0.744 and 0.773, sensitivity 55.6% and 52.0%, and specificity 90.5% and 93.7%, for training and validation cohorts, respectively). Conclusions: Autoantibodies against an optimized TAA panel as serum biomarkers appear to help identify the present of early stage EJA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TNF inhibitors have been used in ankylosing spondylitis (AS). The efficacy of TNF inhibitors was already evaluated by meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). However, the safety of TNF inhibitors is still unclear. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate and update the safety data from RCTs of TNF inhibitors in patients treated for AS. A systematic literature search was conducted from 1990 through May 31, 2016. All studies included were randomized, double-blind, controlled trials of patients with ankylosing spondylitis that evaluated adalimumab, certolizumab pegol, etanercept, golimumab, or infliximab treatment. The overall serious adverse events, the risk of serious infection events, and the risk of malignancy and discontinuation rates were abstracted, and risk estimates were calculated by Peto odds ratios (ORs). Fourteen randomized controlled trials involving 2032 subjects receiving TNF inhibitors and 1030 subjects receiving placebo and/or traditional disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) were included. The overall serious adverse events (OR, 1.34; 95% CI, 0.87-2.05), the risk of serious infection events (OR, 1.59; 95% CI, 0.63-4.01), the risk of malignancy (OR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.25-3.85), and discontinuation due to adverse events (OR, 1.55; 95% CI, 0.95-2.54) in patients treated with TNF inhibitors as a group were not significantly different from those treated with placebo in the control group. TNF inhibitors were generally safe for treatment of ankylosing spondylitis. These data may help guide clinical comparative decision making in the management of AS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Occurrence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in ambient air and personal inhaled air through biomass fuelled cooking activities were measured. Inhalation exposure risk was estimated using both personal and stationary samplers, and the relative contributions of inhalation and dietary exposures were investigated. Kitchen PAH concentrations increased significantly (about 5.5 times) during the cooking period. The cooker exposed much more PAHs, particularly gaseous ones in comparison with the non-cooker. In terms of total BaP equivalent (BaP eq) exposure, because of relatively high abundance of high-molecular-weight PAHs in cooked food, dietary exposure comprised over 90 % of total intake through food ingestion and inhalation. Personal inhalation exposure levels estimated directly from personal carried samplers were significantly higher than those calculated from stationary samplers. The latter may underestimate the BaP eq inhalation exposure by 31-65 %, indicating the preferable use of personal samplers in human exposure studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents an approach to model nonlinear dynamic behaviors of the Automatic Depth Control Electrohydraulic System (ADCES) of a certain minesweeping weapon with Radial Basis Function (RBF) neural networks trained by hierarchical genetic algorithm. In the proposed hierarchical genetic algorithm, the control genes are used to determine the number of hidden units, and the parameter genes are used to identify center parameters of hidden units. In order to speed up convergence of the proposed algorithm, width and weight parameters of RBF neural network are calculated by linear algebra methods. The proposed approach is applied to the modelling of the ADCES, and experimental results clearly indicate that the obtained RBF neural network can emulate complex dynamic characteristics of the ADCES satisfactorily. The comparison results also show that the proposed approach performs better than the traditional clustering-based method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explored a method to remove the contamination and impurities left on SiC surface after plasma-etched process. The stubborn contamination is resulting from fluorochemical caused by plasma-etched process, residue left after stripping Ni metal mask, Ni–O compounds formed by the metal mask with SiC Si surface oxide film and carbon-containing contamination introduced by the process environment. By adding a layer of SiO2 mask between SiC and the original metal mask together with ultrasonic cleaning and oxygen plasma cleaning process, the sample surface roughness was effectively reduced from 1.090 to 0.055 nm. Moreover, this method supplies a valuable reference for solving the problem of surface contamination caused by plasma etched. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phagocyte Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide Phosphate (NADPH) oxidase complex is a key enzyme that catalyzes the production of reactive oxygen species, which mediate oxygen-dependent killing of microorganisms, such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis. P22phox, encoded by CYBA, is the key regulatory subunit of NADPH oxidase. Our study aimed to investigate the association of CYBA polymorphisms with susceptibility to tuberculosis. Three SNPs (rs9932581, rs3794624 and rs4673) were genotyped in the discovery cohort composed of Chinese Han individuals. We found that the A allele of rs3794624 was a significant protective factor against tuberculosis (GA vs. GG: OR = 0.74, 95% CI 0.57-0.96; GA vs. GG+AA: OR = 0.73, 95% CI 0.56-0.95), which was then replicated in the Chinese Tibetan population (GA vs. GG: OR = 0.68, 95% CI 0.51-0.92; AA+GA vs. GG: OR = 0.70, 95% CI 0.52-0.93; GA vs. GG+AA: OR = 0.68, 95% CI 0.51-0.92). Meta-analysis including both cohorts identified overdominance as the best genetic model and provided robust evidence for the protective effect of the rs3794624 GA genotype against tuberculosis without any evidence of heterogeneity (GA vs. GG+AA: OR = 0.71, 95% CI 0.58-0.86). Our study found an association between the GA genotype of rs3794624 in CYBA with decreased tuberculosis susceptibility in two Chinese populations. Further analyses are needed to reveal the potential function of this SNP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]