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Abstract Poverty eradication is the first goal on the United Nations’ list of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, the relationships between poverty eradication and the other SDGs remain unclear, and thus current knowledge is insufficient to support the synergized achievement of the SDGs. China eliminated extreme poverty in 2021, and thus in this study, we analyzed the variations in sustainability and equality related to the environment and the provision of public services in China during the poverty eradication program from 2010 to 2020. We combined statistical data, point of interest data, and environmental monitoring and remote sensing data to evaluate progress in China’s 832 poverty-stricken counties. The results showed that the mean values of environmental and public service sustainability indicators improved from 2010 to 2020. In addition, the mean Theil index value decreased from 0.46 to 0.35 during this period, implying a reduction in inequality. Inequality between poverty-stricken and non-poverty-stricken areas accounted for 9.3% of overall inequality among the counties in 2010, and this had decreased to 7.7% in 2020. However, unbalanced regional investment resulted in increased gaps between poverty-stricken and non-poverty-stricken counties in relation to education and health care. Overall, 15% of the population and 54.8% of the land area in poverty-stricken counties experienced both a loss of their advantage in terms of environmental quality compared with non-poverty-stricken counties and greater lags in the provision of public services. Linear estimation showed that investment in poverty-stricken counties should be increased by 226.2 and 72.0% in relation to education and health care, respectively, to eliminate these inequalities.

Abstract Iron accumulation causes cell death and disrupts tissue functions, which necessitates chelation therapy to reduce iron overload. However, clinical utilization of deferoxamine (DFO), an iron chelator, has been documented to give rise to systemic adverse effects, including ocular toxicity. This study provided the pathogenic and molecular basis for DFO‐related retinopathy and identified retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) as the target tissue in DFO‐related retinopathy. Our modeling demonstrated the susceptibility of RPE to DFO compared with the neuroretina. Intriguingly, we established upregulation of hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) 2α and mitochondrial deficit as the most prominent pathogenesis underlying the RPE atrophy. Moreover, suppressing hyperactivity of HIF2α and preserving mitochondrial dysfunction by α‐ketoglutarate (AKG) protects the RPE against lesions both in vitro and in vivo. This supported our observation that AKG supplementation alleviates visual impairment in a patient undergoing DFO‐chelation therapy. Overall, our study established a significant role of iron deficiency in initiating DFO‐related RPE atrophy. Inhibiting HIF2α and rescuing mitochondrial function by AKG protect RPE cells and can potentially ameliorate patients' visual function.

The current study aimed to explore the role and underpinning molecular mechanisms of metformin in renal cellular injury induced by high glucose levels. Male C57BL/KsJ (db/db) and (db/m +) mice were utilized in this study. The experimental group was administered 1 mg/mL of metformin through drinking water. Renal tissues were harvested for hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity detection, biochemical indices analysis, Western blotting, and qRT-PCR. HK-2 cells were utilized for Nrf2 siRNA transfection and to establish a high level of glucose-induced cell models. Metformin was administered at a concentration of 1 mmol/L in the experimental group. Cellular viability was assessed using CCK-8, whereas acridine orange (AO) staining and LC3-mitotracker co-localization staining were employed to evaluate autophagy. The expression of Nrf2, P21, LC3, PTEN-induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1), translocase of outer mitochondrial membrane 20 (TOMM20), and Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1) were determined through Western blotting and qRT-PCR. Metformin mitigated renal tissue inflammatory damage in diabetic mice, as indicated by upregulated expression of Nrf2, PINK1, LC3, and TOMM20, and downregulated expression of Keap1 and P21. High level of glucose treatment in HK-2 cells resulted in decreased autophagy, and reduced expression of Nrf2, PINK1, LC3, and TOMM20 alongside elevated the expression of Keap1 and P21. Notably, metformin treatment partially counteracted these effects. Nrf2 knockdown intensified these phenomena in the high level of glucose-induced model. Protein–protein interaction network analysis indicated that Nrf2 could regulate the majority autophagy-related proteins via Keap1. Metformin modulates mitochondrial autophagy in high glucose-induced renal tubular epithelial senescence via the Keap1/Nrf2 pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to solve the problem of the low efficiency of lactose hydrolysis using traditional metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) nanozymes, Brønsted acid active sites (-COOH) were firstly introduced into Fe-MIL-101 nanozymes to enhance the lactose hydrolysis activity of MOFs bearing Lewis acid sites in this study. When compared to Fe-MIL-101, Fe-MIL-101-COOH exhibited improved catalytic performance, showing a lactose conversion rate of up to 78%. Our experiments suggested that this enhancement could be attributed to the synergistic effect between the Brønsted acidic COOH groups and Lewis acidic Fe clusters. Furthermore, Fe-MIL-101-COOH displayed good stability and reusability with no significant loss in catalytic activity observed after at least five consecutive cycles. Our results showed that the activity of Fe-MIL-101-COOH with Brønsted acid active sites was better than that of Fe-MIL-101. Fe-MIL-101-COOH could be applied to the hydrolysis of lactose in milk powder and the conversion rate of lactose was higher than 48%. This study provided support for the application of MOFs nanozymes in lactose catalytic conversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Masked face inpainting, aiming to restore realistic facial details and complete textures, remains a challenging task. In this paper, an unsupervised masked face inpainting method based on contrastive learning and attention mechanism is proposed. First, to overcome the constraint of a paired training dataset, a contrastive learning network framework is constructed by comparing features extracted from inpainted face image patches with those from input masked face image patches. Subsequently, to extract more effective facial features, a feature attention module is designed, which can focus on the significant feature information and establish long-range dependency relationships. In addition, a PatchGAN-based discriminator is refined with spectral normalization to enhance the stability of training the proposed network and guide the generator in producing more realistic face images. Numerous experiment results indicate that our approach can obtain better masked face inpainting results than the comparison approaches overall in terms of both subjective and objective evaluations, as well as face recognition accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamic functional connectivity (DFC) analysis using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology has attracted increasing attention in revealing brain dynamics in recent years. Although the nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) method was applied to dynamic subgraph analysis to reveal brain dynamics, its application in DFC analysis was largely limited due to its nonnegative constraint on the input data. This study proposed the extended NMF (eNMF) method that allowed the input matrix and decomposed basis matrix to have negative values without altering the NMF algorithm. The eNMF method was applied to DFC analysis of both simulated and real resting fMRI data. The simulated data demonstrated that eNMF successfully decomposed the mixed-sign matrix into one positive matrix and one mixed-sign matrix. In contrast to K-means, eNMF extracted more accurate brain state patterns in all cases and estimated better DFC temporal properties for uneven brain state distribution. The real resting-fMRI data demonstrated that eNMF can provide more temporal measures of DFC and was more sensitive to detect intergroup differences of DFC than K-means. Results of eNMF revealed that the female group possibly showed worse relaxation and produced stronger spontaneous cognitive processes although they tended to spend more time in relaxation state and less time in states relevant to cognitive processes in contrast to the male group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High hyperdiploid karyotype with ≥ 49 chromosomes (which will be referred to as HHK) is rare in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The European leukemia network (ELN) excluded those harboring only numerical changes (with ≥ 3 chromosome gains) from CK and listed them in the intermediate risk group, while the UK National Cancer Research Institute Adult Leukaemia Working Group classification defined ≥ 4 unrelated chromosome abnormalities as the cutoff for a poorer prognosis. Controversies occurred among studies on the clinical outcome of HHK AML, and their molecular characteristics remained unstudied. We identified 1.31% (133/10,131) HHK cases within our center, among which 48 cases only had numerical changes (NUM), 42 had ELN defined adverse abnormalities (ADV) and 43 had other structural abnormalities (STR). Our study demonstrated that: (1) No statistical significance for overall survival (OS) was observed among three cytogenetic subgroups (NUM, STR and ADV) and HHK AML should be assigned to the adverse cytogenetic risk group. (2) The OS was significantly worse in HHK AML with ≥ 51 chromosomes compared with those with 49–50 chromosomes. (3) The clinical characteristics were similar between NUM and STR group compared to ADV group. The former two groups had higher white blood cell counts and blasts, lower platelet counts, and mutations associated with signaling, while the ADV group exhibited older age, higher chromosome counts, higher percentage of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) history, and a dominant TP53 mutation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The engineering of a home-made portable double-layer filtration and concentration device with the common syringe for rapid analysis of water samples is reported. The core elements of the device were two installed filtration membranes with different pore sizes for respective functions. The upper filtration membrane was used for preliminary intercepting large interfering impurities (interception membrane), while the lower filtration membrane was used for collecting multiple target pathogens (enrichment membrane) for determination. This combination can make the contaminated environmental water, exemplified by surface water, filtrated quickly through the device and just retained the target bacteria of Escherichia coli O157:H7, Staphylococcus aureus, and Listeria monocytogenes on the lower enrichment membrane. Integrating with surface-enhanced Raman spectra (SERS) platform to decode the SERS-Tags (SERS-TagCVa, SERS-TagR6G, and SERS-TagMB) already labeled on each of the enriched bacteria based the antibody-mediated immuno-recognition effect, fast separation, concentration, and detection of multiple pathogenic bacteria from the bulk of contaminated environmental water were realized. Results show that within 30 min, all target bacteria in the lake water can be simultaneously and accurately measured in the range from 101 to 106 CFU mL−1 with detection limit of 10.0 CFU mL−1 without any pre-culture procedures. This work highlights the simplicity, rapidness, cheapness, selectivity, and the robustness of the constructed method for simultaneous detecting multiple pathogens in aqueous samples. This protocol opens a new avenue for facilitating the development of versatile analytical tools for drinking water and food safety monitoring in underdeveloped or developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stability of seven isomers of pentanol was studied by relative energy analysis. The harmonic and anharmonic rates of H2O elimination reactions for the seven pentanol isomers have been computed with the transition states (TS), Rice–Ramsperger–Kassel–Marcus (RRKM) theory and Yao–Lin (YL) method. The investigation results revealed that the anharmonic effect of reaction channels R2, R5, R6, R7, R9, R10 was more pronounced, and this effect was too obvious to be ignored for the pentanol isomers of the H2O elimination reaction system. In addition, the thermodynamic and kinetic parameters for these reaction processes were also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Palmitic acid (PA), a saturated fatty acid enriched in high-fat diet, has been implicated in the development of skeletal muscle regeneration dysfunction. This study aimed to examine the effects and mechanisms of lactate (Lac) treatment on PA-induced impairment of C2C12 cell differentiation capacity. Furthermore, the involvement of voltage-gated calcium channels in this context was examined. In this study, Lac could improve the PA-induced impairment of differentiative capacity in C2C12 cells by affecting Myf5, MyoD and MyoG. In addition, Lac increases the inward flow of Ca2+, and promotes the depolarization of the cell membrane potential, thereby activating voltage-gated calcium channels during C2C12 cell differentiation. The enchancement of Lac on myoblast differentiative capacity was abolished after the addition of efonidipine (voltage-gated calcium channel inhibitors). Therefore, voltage-gated calcium channels play an important role in improving PA-induced skeletal muscle regeneration disorders by exercising blood Lac. Our study showed that Lac could rescue the PA-induced impairment of differentiative capacity in C2C12 cells by affecting Myf5, MyoD and MyoG through the activation of voltage-gated calcium channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subthreshold depression can effectively and timely carry out early identification, prevention of major depressive disorder(MDD). Social comparison affects emotion, yet the neural mechanisms in subthreshold depression is unclear. We employed event-related potentials (ERPs) technique to investigate the effect of facial emotion recognition under social comparison in subthreshold depression. The results indicated that there was an interaction between social comparison and emotional processing of P300, LPC in the two groups, both positive and negative emotions were affected by the worse off than some, better off than many. The amplitude of N1 was smaller under positive emotion condition in the subthreshold depression group, suggesting that the subthreshold depression group did not allocate more attentional resources to visual stimuli in the early stage. These results advance our understanding of the effect of social comparison on emotion processing and contribute to understanding the cognitive mechanisms that underlie and maintain subthreshold depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of next-generation sequencing (NGS) in minimal-residual-disease (MRD) monitoring in Chinese patients with multiple myeloma (MM). Methods: This study analyzed 60 Chinese MM patients. During MRD monitoring in these patients' post-therapy, clonal immunoglobulin heavy chain (IGH) rearrangements were detected via NGS using LymphoTrack assays. MRD monitoring was performed using NGS or next-generation flow cytometry (NGF), and the results were compared. Additionally, the sensitivity and reproducibility of the NGS method were assessed. Results: The MRD detection range of the NGS method was 10–6–10–1, which suggested good linearity, with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.985 and a limit of detection of 10–6. Intra- and inter-assay reproducibility analyses showed that NGS exhibited 100% reproducibility with low variability in clonal cells. At diagnosis, unique clones were found in 42 patients (70.0%) with clonal IGH rearrangements, which were used as clonality markers for MRD monitoring post-therapy. Comparison of NGS and NGF for MRD monitoring showed 79.1% concordance. No samples that tested MRD-positive via NGF were found negative via NGS, indicating the higher sensitivity of NGS. MRD could be detected using NGS in 6 of 7 samples before autologous hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation, and 5 of them tested negative post-transplantation. In contrast, the NGF method could detect MRD in only 1 sample pre-transplantation. Conclusion: Compared with NGF, NGS exhibits higher sensitivity and reproducibility in MRD detection and can be an effective strategy for MRD monitoring in Chinese MM patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Anemia of chronic kidney disease (CKD) has a high incidence and is associated with many disease conditions. Iron dysmetabolism is an important contributor to anemia in CKD patients. Methods: ALTAI, a randomized, active-controlled, phase 4 trial, investigated the efficacy of roxadustat versus recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) on gastrointestinal iron absorption in patients with anemia of CKD (stage 4/5). The primary endpoint was change from baseline to day 15 in gastrointestinal iron absorption (serum iron area under the concentration-time curve; AUC0–3h) following single-dose oral iron. Results: Twenty-five patients with a mean age of 55.1 years were randomized 1:1 to roxadustat (n = 13) or rHuEPO (n = 12). Baseline iron profiles were similar between treatment groups. Change from baseline to day 15 in serum iron AUC0–3h was not statistically significantly different between the roxadustat and rHuEPO groups. Mean (SD) change from baseline in serum iron AUC0–3h was 11.3 (28.2) g × 3 h/dl in the roxadustat group and − 0.3 (9.7) g × 3 h/dl in the rHuEPO group. Roxadustat treatment was associated with decreased hepcidin and also increased transferrin, soluble transferrin receptor, and total iron-binding capacity (TIBC), with nominal significance. The proportion of patients experiencing one or more adverse events was 38.5% when treated with roxadustat and 16.7% with rHuEPO. Conclusions: The study showed no significant difference between roxadustat and rHuEPO in iron absorption but was underpowered because of recruitment challenges. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT04655027. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pressure-carrying properties of traditional flexible dies can hardly be controlled during the forming process of shell components. In this work, a forming method based on the subregional and dynamic pressure response of flexible die was proposed, aiming at achieving the flexible control of shell deformation in different forming regions and stages. Elastic composites with iron particles selectively dispersed in pre-designed location, i.e., heterogeneous magneto-rheological elastomers (MREs), were fabricated and employed as the flexible dies in the bulge tests of Al1060 sheet in the presence of external magnetic field. Shell deformation were dynamically measured, pressure field and stress state were numerically studied. The results showed that local shell deformation could be controlled in a nearly monotonic way by adjusting the distribution pattern and content (φ) of iron particles. In the case that heterogeneous MRE with φ = 0/30% was employed and magnetic field with flux density (B) of 1950 Gs was applied, difference of bulge height and strain on both sides of the deformed shell increased by 6.5% and 16%, respectively. The maximum difference of bulge height on both sides of the sheet metal appeared in the case that B = 1240 Gs, which showed an increase of 9% compared with the condition that no magnetic field is applied. But, the influence of magnetic field is not monotonous. Changed stress paths of sheet metal, which was induced by non-uniformly distributed and dynamically controllable pressure field of heterogeneous MREs, was used to clarify the forming mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN) is the most frequent global cause of nephrotic syndrome in non-diabetic people. In clinical practice, An effective and mild treatment for IMN patients with subnephrotic proteinuria has been adopted. Colquhounia root tablet (CRT) is a traditional Chinese medicine that is widely used in China to treat glomerulopathies. In this study, the effectiveness and safety of CRT in the treatment of IMN with subnephrotic proteinuria have been determined by reviewing the clinical records of 44 patients with IMN. Methods: Retrospective analysis of IMN patients with subnephrotic proteinuria treated with CRT in combination with ACEI/ARB or ACEI/ARB alone. The remission rate (complete or partial remission) was the main outcome observed, and proteinuria, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), serum albumin levels, and adverse effects were the secondary outcomes. Results: This clinical trial included 44 patients, and the overall remission rates at months 6, 9, and 12 after treatment were 68.2% versus 27.3% (p = 0.016), 72.7% versus 36.4% (p = 0.015), and 77.3% versus 36.4% (p = 0.006) in the treatment and control groups, respectively. The application of CRT treatment was an independent predictor of proteinuria remission (p = 0.024). In addition, in patients who were positive for phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R) antibodies, the overall remission rate was higher in the treatment group than in the control group after 9 months of treatment (75% versus 23.08%, p = 0.017). Conclusion: This retrospective study illustrates that, based on supportive therapy, CRT could be effective in the treatment of IMN with subnephrotic proteinuria with a good safety profile at the same time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the face of escalating environmental challenges, manufacturing industries encounter significant hurdles in transitioning to green and low-carbon practices. This study addresses these challenges by examining the measurement of green total factor productivity (GTFP) through the super-efficiency SBM model and GML index. Key factors such as innovation, technology, and environmental legislation serve as intermediaries, with green taxation identified as a pivotal element, and GTFP as the primary variable. Industrial structure and economic openness function as control variables. The research findings reveal that green taxation, acting both directly and indirectly, positively impacts the green manufacturing sector. By elevating costs and inadvertently fostering innovation and environmental compliance, it reshapes industry dynamics, propelling a paradigm shift toward green intensification. While the industrial structure significantly contributes to this transformation, economic openness emerges as a hindrance, necessitating a reconsideration of foreign investment regulations for China's sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: PABPN1 acts as a modulator of poly(A) tail length and alternative polyadenylation. This research was aimed to explore the role of PABPN1 in colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods: Public databases were performed to analyze expression, location, roles of prognosis and tumor immunity and interaction with RNAs and proteins of PABPN1. To investigate PABPN1 expression in tissues, 78 CRC specimens were collected to conduct IHC, and 30 pairs of frozen CRC and corresponding adjacent normal tissues were used to conduct qRT-PCR and WB. In addition, in vitro experiments were then carried out to identify the role of PABPN1 in CRC. Results: Compared with normal tissues, PABPN1 expression was significant higher in CRC. Its high level predicted poor outcome of CRC. Th1 and Treg had significant negative relationships not only with PABPN1 expression, but also with six molecules interacting with PABPN1, including IFT172, KIAA0895L, RECQL4, WDR6, PABPC1 and NCBP1. In addition, PABPN1 had negative relationships with quite a few immune markers, such as CSF1R, IL-10, CCL2 and so on. In cellular experiments, silencing PABPN1 inhibited proliferation and promoted apoptosis in HCT-116 CRC cells. Conclusion: In summary, PABPN1 might become a novel biomarker and correlate with tumor immunity in CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To develop and validate a low-cost homemade bench-top training model to facilitate retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS) training. Methods: The RIRS training model (G-Model) was developed using a surgical glove and a recycled ureter access sheath. Fifteen participants including 10 residents and 5 urologists were enrolled. Designed training curriculum for residents was carried out. Face validity, content validity, construct validity and criterion validity evaluation of the G-Model were carried out. Results: The global score of face and content validity was 4.15 ± 0.53 and 4.65 ± 0.29, respectively. For construct validity, the overall modified global rating scale (mGRS) score was significantly improved [12.5 (5.25) vs. 24.0 (5.25), p = 0.004], and the total task time was significantly shortened (39.5 ± 4.48 min vs. 24.1 ± 3.81 min, p < 0.001) within residents after G-Model training. The baseline mGRS score and total task time of residents were poorer than those of urologists [12.5 (5.25) vs. 32.0 (1.00), p < 0.001; 39.5 ± 4.48 min vs. 16.0 ± 1.58 min, p < 0.001]. Spearman correlation analysis revealed strong correlations between residents’ G-Model and real patient performance. Conclusion: The current study presented a valid low-cost easily accessible RIRS bench-top training model which could facilitate skill acquisition and translate to real-life scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: PABPN1 acts as a modulator of poly(A) tail length and alternative polyadenylation. This research was aimed to explore the role of PABPN1 in colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods: Public databases were performed to analyze expression, location, roles of prognosis and tumor immunity and interaction with RNAs and proteins of PABPN1. To investigate PABPN1 expression in tissues, 78 CRC specimens were collected to conduct IHC, and 30 pairs of frozen CRC and corresponding adjacent normal tissues were used to conduct qRT-PCR and WB. In addition, in vitro experiments were then carried out to identify the role of PABPN1 in CRC. Results: Compared with normal tissues, PABPN1 expression was significant higher in CRC. Its high level predicted poor outcome of CRC. Th1 and Treg had significant negative relationships not only with PABPN1 expression, but also with six molecules interacting with PABPN1, including IFT172, KIAA0895L, RECQL4, WDR6, PABPC1 and NCBP1. In addition, PABPN1 had negative relationships with quite a few immune markers, such as CSF1R, IL-10, CCL2 and so on. In cellular experiments, silencing PABPN1 inhibited proliferation and promoted apoptosis in HCT-116 CRC cells. Conclusion: In summary, PABPN1 might become a novel biomarker and correlate with tumor immunity in CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Early detection and intervention could significantly improve the prognosis of patients with peritoneal metastasis (PM). Our main purpose was to develop a model to predict the risk of PM in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods: Patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database with CRC classified according to the AJCC 8th TNM staging system were selected for the study. After data pre-processing, the dataset was divided into a training set and a validation set. In the training set, univariate logistic analysis and stepwise multivariate logistic regression analysis were utilized to screen clinical features and construct a risk prediction model. Then, we validated the model using the confusion matrix, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, decision curve analysis (DCA), and calibration curves to examine its performance. Results: The model constructed using stepwise multivariate logistic regression analysis incorporated the following eight clinical features: age, tumor location, histological type, T stage, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level, tumor deposits (TDs), log odds (LODDS) of metastatic lymph nodes, and extraperitoneal metastasis (EM). The areas under the curve (AUCs) of the model in the training and validation sets were 0.924 and 0.912, respectively. The accuracy and the recall ratio were higher than 0.8 in both cohorts. DCA and the calibration curves also confirmed its excellent predictive power. Conclusions: Our model can effectively predict the risk of PM in CRC patients, which is of great significance for the timely identification of patients at high risk of PM and further clinical decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surgery plays a crucial role in the treatment of patients with chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA). However, there is currently limited information available regarding the use of uniportal thoracoscopy (Uni-VATS) in CPA patients. To address this gap, we conducted a retrospective analysis of surgical procedures performed at a single center, aiming to demonstrate the feasibility and safety of Uni-VATS for patients with CPA. We collected basic information and surgical data from patients who underwent surgery for CPA at our hospital between January 2018 and June 2022. All patients received voriconazole antifungal medication for 3–6 months post-surgery and were monitored for a minimum of 6 months. A total of 110 patients, comprising 59 cases in the traditional open chest incision group and 51 cases in the Uni-VATS group, met the inclusion criteria. Among those who underwent surgery, 70% were male (77/110). The median age (IQR) of all enrolled patients was 55 (46–62) years. There were no statistically significant differences in general information, such as age, sex, comorbidities, BMI, FEV1, FVC, clinical symptoms, location of the disease, and duration of voriconazole antifungal medication, between the OS group and the Uni-VATS group (p > 0.05). The postoperative complication rates were 40.7% (24/59) for the traditional open chest incision group and 17.6% (9/51) for the Uni-VATS group. Through univariate analysis, we identified sex and operative approach as risk factors for postoperative complications. Multivariate logistic analysis confirmed that male and OS procedures were the independent risk factors for postoperative complications. There were statistically significant differences in operative time, intraoperative blood loss volume, postoperative drainage volume, pain scores, postoperative drainage tube removal time, postoperative hospital stay time between the OS group and the Uni-VATS group (p < 0.05). Uni-VATS is a feasible and safe surgical procedure for patients with CPA, and we recommend it as a preferred option for selected patients with CPA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ontological reasoning has great prospects in applications based on domain-specific knowledge graphs (KG). However, it is difficult for existing logic reasoners to quickly perform inference over large-scale assertional boxes (ABoxes) in domain-specific KGs with complex ontologies. To address this challenge, a novel method named the "neural-symbolic ontological reasoner" is proposed. By incorporating neural-symbolic learning into ABox reasoning, a reasoner named the TimGangReasoner (TGR) is built. The TGR synthesizes graph data using an ontology, trains an ABox reasoning network (ABRN) model, and then approximately compiles the logic reasoning process of the ontology (represented by OWL+SWRL) into neural networks (NNs). The ABRN model encodes instances into vectors and then executes parallel vector computations to accelerate ABox reasoning. Experiments conducted on three open-source complex ontologies show that the TGR can achieve high-quality approximate deductive reasoning on ABoxes. The reasoning time consumption of the TGR increases linearly with the increase in the number of assertions, providing better scalability for large-scale ABoxes. Therefore, the TGR is able to reason quickly and accurately on domain-specific KGs that have complex underlying ontologies and contain large-scale ABoxes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SWR1 chromatin remodeling complex (SWR1-C) plays a crucial role in gene regulation during growth and development of eukaryotes. ACTIN-RELATED PROTEIN 6 (ARP6), an essential subunit of SWR1-C, is implicated in flowering and stress response. However, the functions of pineapple ARP6 have not been investigated, which limits its potential use in molecular breeding. Here, pineapple ARP6 is functionally characterized and its role in flowering, salt stress, drought, nutrient deficiency and immunity is verified. Phylogenetic analysis showed that AcARP6 is homologous to ARP6 of rice and Arabidopsis. Expression analysis revealed that AcARP6 gets induced by salt, osmotic and nutrient deficiency. Additionally, ectopic expression of AcARP6 in Arabidopsis delayed flowering and increased tolerance to salinity, drought and nutrient deficiency, but displayed sensitivity against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum infection. Furthermore, AcARP6 complemented the phenotypic defects of the arp6 mutation in Arabidopsis. These results provide evidence for the involvement of AcARP6 in multiple stress responses and advocate that AcARP6 could be used as a potential candidate gene for improving tolerance against abiotic stresses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To construct and evaluate a gated high-resolution convolutional neural network for detecting and segmenting brain metastasis (BM). Methods: This retrospective study included craniocerebral MRI scans of 1392 patients with 14,542 BMs and 200 patients with no BM between January 2012 and April 2022. A primary dataset including 1000 cases with 11,686 BMs was employed to construct the model, while an independent dataset including 100 cases with 1069 BMs from other hospitals was used to examine the generalizability. The potential of the model for clinical use was also evaluated by comparing its performance in BM detection and segmentation to that of radiologists, and comparing radiologists' lesion detecting performances with and without model assistance. Results: Our model yielded a recall of 0.88, a dice similarity coefficient (DSC) of 0.90, a positive predictive value (PPV) of 0.93 and a false positives per patient (FP) of 1.01 in the test set, and a recall of 0.85, a DSC of 0.89, a PPV of 0.93, and a FP of 1.07 in dataset from other hospitals. With the model's assistance, the BM detection rates of 4 radiologists improved significantly, ranging from 5.2 to 15.1% (all p < 0.001), and also for detecting small BMs with diameter ≤ 5 mm (ranging from 7.2 to 27.0%, all p < 0.001). Conclusions: The proposed model enables accurate BM detection and segmentation with higher sensitivity and less time consumption, showing the potential to augment radiologists' performance in detecting BM. Clinical relevance statement: This study offers a promising computer-aided tool to assist the brain metastasis detection and segmentation in routine clinical practice for cancer patients. Key Points: • The GHR-CNN could accurately detect and segment BM on contrast-enhanced 3D-T1W images. • The GHR-CNN improved the BM detection rate of radiologists, including the detection of small lesions. • The GHR-CNN enabled automated segmentation of BM in a very short time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamic functional connectivity (DFC) analysis has been widely applied to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data to reveal the time-varying functional interactions between brain regions. Although the sliding window (SW) method is popular for DFC analysis, the selection of window length is hard, and the temporal resolution is limited by the window length. The hidden Markov model (HMM) without the limitation of window length has been proven to be able to estimate time-varying brain states from fMRI data. However, HMM tends to be overfitted in DFC analysis of fMRI data because of the high spatial dimension and the limited sample size of fMRI data. In this study, we proposed an alternating HMM (aHMM) method that used the functional connectivity estimation of SW to initialize the covariance matrix of HMM and adopted an alternating HMM procedure to reduce the number of parameters during each optimization. The simulated and real fMRI resting data from the Human Connectome Projects showed that aHMM produced better robustness to noise, parameter number and sample size in DFC estimation than SW and HMM. For the real fMRI resting data of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD), results of aHMM revealed that amnesia and mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) caused the CSVD with aMCI (CSVD-aMCI) group tended to spend more time on the brain state with overall weak connections and less time on the state with overall strong connections than the CSVD-controls. Moreover, CSVD-aMCI showed significantly lower connectivity amplitude and higher connectivity fluctuation than CSVD-control. In contrast, HMM did not detect intergroup differences of the connectivity amplitude and fluctuations and SW did not detect intergroup differences of connectivity fluctuations and fraction of time. The results further indicated that aHMM outperformed HMM and SW in detecting inter-group differences of temporal properties of DFC and connectivity fluctuations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patents are valuable intellectual property only when granted by the governments, and failing to receive an official grant means disclosing valuable technologies and information, which otherwise would be kept as commercial secrets. Yet, a typical patent application process takes years to complete and the outcome is uncertain. This study implements machine learning models to predict patent examination outcomes based on early information disclosed at patent publication and interpret the mechanism of how these models make predictions, highlighting the key determinants to patent grant and delineating the relationships between the patent features and the examination outcome. The predictive models that integrate patent-level variables with textual information accomplish the best prediction performances with a 0.854 ROC-AUC score and 77% accuracy rate. A number of interpretable machine learning methods are applied. The permutation-based feature importance metric identifies key determinants such as applicants' prior experience, page length, backward citation, claim counts, number of patent family, etc. SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations), a local interpretability method, describes the marginal contributions to the model prediction of key predictors using two actual patent examples. Our study provides several valuable findings with important theoretical insights and practical applications. Specifically, we show that patent-level information can serve as a predictor of examination outcomes and the relationships between the predictors and outcome variables are complex. Knowledge accumulation and technology complexity positively affect the likelihood of patent grants, albeit with a curvilinear relationship. At lower levels, both factors significantly increase the chance of a grant, but beyond a certain threshold, the marginal effect becomes less pronounced. Additionally, prior experience, patent family size, and engagement with the patent agency have a monotonic and positive relationship with the grant likelihood, whereas the impact of patent scope on patent grants remains uncertain. While a narrower and more specific patent claim is associated with a higher grant rate, the number of claims increases it. Moreover, technology range, inventor team size, and examination duration have little effect on the patent grant results. From a practical standpoint, the accurate prediction of patent grants has significant potential applications. For instance, it could help firms better prioritize resources on the patent applications of high grant potentials to secure the final grant, as failure means a waste of R &D effort and disclosure of technology without IP protection. Additionally, patent examiners could utilize our predictive results as prior knowledge to enhance their judgment and accelerate the examination process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To verify the effect of Buyang Huanwu Decoction (BHD) in ameliorating erectile dysfunction (ED) after radical prostatectomy (RP). Methods: The composition of BHD was verified by ultra-performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS) analysis. Bilateral cavernous nerve crush injury (BCNI) in rats was used to mimic the neurovascular injury occurring after RP. By the envelope method, forty rats were randomly divided into 4 groups as follows: sham (cavernous nerves exposed only), model (BCNI), low-dosage BHD [LBHD, 12.8 g/(kg·d)], and high-dosage BHD [HBHD, 51.2 g/(kg·d)] groups, 10 rats in each group, feeding for 3 weeks respectively. Erectile function was evaluated by measuring intracavernosal pressure (ICP). Changes in the histopathology of corpus cavernosum (CC) were examined by hematoxylin-eosin staining. Meanwhile, the fibrosis of CC was measured by Masson's trichrome staining and Western blot was used to detect the expressions of collagen I, transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF- β 1) and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA). Apoptosis index was detected by terminal-deoxynucleoitidyl transferase mediated nick end labeling (TUNEL) and Western blot for determining the expressions of B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) and Bcl-2-associated X (Bax). The oxidative stress in the CC were assessed by the superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. The proteins expression of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and c-Jun were detected by Western blot. In addition, the expression of α-SMA and p-c-Jun in the CC was observed by double immunofluorescence staining. Results: The UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS analysis showed that BHD contained calycosin-7-O- β -D-glucoside, ononin, calycosin and formononetin. Compared with the model group, LBHD and HBHD treatment improved the ICP and the circumference, area, and weight of CC (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Furthermore, LBHD and HBHD treatments increased CC smooth muscle content and decreased apoptosis index (P<0.05 or P<0.01). LBHD and HBHD also elevated SOD and expression level of α -SMA and Bcl-2, and reduced MDA and ROS levels, as well as expression of TGF- β 1, collagen I, Bax, p-c-JNK, p-JNK in the CC compared with the model group (P<0.05 or P<0.01). The double immunofluorescence staining showed that the fluorescence degree of p-c-Jun in both LBHD and HBHD treatment groups was significantly reduced, whereas the α -SMA expression increased (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Conclusions: BHD can improve ED of rats with BCNI, which is related to inhibiting fibrosis, apoptosis, and oxidative stress of CC. The ROS/JNK/c-Jun signaling pathway may play an important role in the process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of endoscopic resection and various suturing methods to treat non-ampullary duodenal submucosal tumors (NAD-SMTs). Design: We performed a retrospective observational study of patients with NAD-SMTs who underwent endoscopic resection at Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, China, between June 2017 and December 2020. Data on patient characteristics, treatments and follow-up results were collected. The association between clinicopathologic characteristics and different suturing methods or adverse events were analyzed. Results: Of 128 patients analyzed, 26 underwent endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR), 64 underwent endoscopic submucosal excavation (ESE), and 38 underwent endoscopic full-thickness resection (EFTR). EMR and ESR are both appropriate for non-full-thickness lesions, whereas ESE is more appropriate for tumors located in the bulb or descending duodenum. Gastric tube drainage is more strongly recommended after ESE. Satisfactory suturing is also vital endoscopic resection of NAD-SMTs. Metallic clips are often used in EMR or ESE of non-full-thickness lesions. The pathological findings revealed that the full-thickness lesions were predominantly gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), Brunner's tumor or lipoma, and the surgeons usually used purse-string sutures to close the wounds. The operation time was longer for purse-string suture closure than metallic clip closure. Eleven patients had complications. Risk factors for adverse events included large-diameter tumor (≥ 2 cm), location in the descending part of the duodenum, involvement of the fourth layer of the duodenal wall, EFTR, and GIST. Conclusions: Endoscopic resection of NAD-SMTs is effective but is associated with a high incidence of complications due to their anatomical peculiarities. Preoperative diagnosis is quite important. Careful selection of treatment and suturing methods are necessary to reduce the risk of adverse effects. Given the increased frequency of severe complications during or following duodenal endoscopic resection, this procedure should be performed by experienced endoscopists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: It has been proven that fibrinogen deposition exists in IgA nephropathy (IgAN), but its clinical significance has not been identified. We aim to investigate the clinical implication of fibrinogen deposition in evaluating the activity and prognosis of IgA nephropathy. Methods: In this cohort, 935 adult IgAN patients were divided into 3 groups according to the intensity of glomerular fibrinogen deposition. Primary outcome refers to a composite event of either a ≥ 50% reduction in eGFR or ESRD (eGFR < 15 ml/min/1.73m2, dialysis, or renal transplantation). Factors associated with fibrinogen deposition and prognosis were identified. Results: The results showed that the intensity of fibrinogen deposition was positively correlated with eGFR (P < 0.001), serum albumin (P = 0.041), and hemoglobin levels (P < 0.05), but negatively correlated with age (P = 0.04), serum fibrinogen levels (P < 0.001), serum C4 (P = 0.023), the proportion of patients with hypertension (P = 0.003), and the percentage of glomeruli sclerosis (P < 0.001). The prognostic analyses identified that fibrinogen deposition was an independent predictor for the progression of IgAN (P = 0.033). Conclusion: Our study indicated that the deposition of renal fibrinogen can predict the prognosis of IgAN with high reliability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Passing ability is an important property of self-compacting concrete (SCC). Blockage due to poor passing ability leads to the formation of voids, thereby creating weak areas in concrete structure. Moreover, the aggregate morphology greatly influences the passing ability of fresh SCC. In this study, the 3D laser scanning technology and the digital image processing technology were used to quantitatively characterize the aggregate morphology. The aggregate Clump model with natural morphology was generated using the Bubble Pack algorithm. Also, a virtual aggregate database was built, and a 3D discrete element modeling framework for J-Ring test based on the adhesive rolling resistance linear model was proposed. On this basis, the effects of sphericity from 0.5 to 0.9, angularity index from 250 to 650, and rebar spacing from 37.7 to 79.5 mm on the passing ability of SCC were quantitatively analyzed, and the blockage mechanism of SCC was discussed from the meso-scale level. The results show that blockage in SCC is a probabilistic event. The existence of flaky, elongated and multi-angular aggregates increases the possibility of forming granular arches, and the closer the aggregate is to a sphere or the smoother the surface contour, the better the passing ability of fresh SCC. However, when the sphericity index is greater than 0.8, the angularity index is greater than 550, and the rebar spacing is greater than three times the maximum aggregate size, the effect of aggregate morphology or rebar spacing on the passing ability of SCC is not significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Risk assessment and categorization of terrorist attacks can assist enhance awareness of terrorism and give crucial information support for anti-terrorism efforts. This study utilizes quantitative approaches for the risk assessment and categorization of terrorist attacks. A total of 210,454 terrorist attacks that occurred worldwide from 1970 through 2020 were collected in the Global Terrorism Database, and 22 indicators related to the risk of terrorist attacks were selected. Then, the moment estimation theory and four comprehensive evaluation models were utilized to identify the top 10 riskiest terrorist attacks in the world. Furthermore, the five clustering analysis methods and three evaluation criteria were performed for the risk categorization of terrorist attacks, and the visual analysis was carried out using the kernel density estimation method. The research results have identified the top 10 riskiest global terrorist attacks, which were led by the September 11 terrorist attack event, along with their downward counterfactual events. The spatial distribution of global terrorist attack risk is primarily composed of four “turbulent cores” in the region of Central Asia, Middle East & North Africa, South Asia, and Central America & Caribbean. This study also provided insights and recommendations for anti-terrorism efforts. It has realized the risk assessment and categorization of terrorist attacks, aiding in the swift identification of its risk levels, and holds immense significance for safeguarding global national security and societal stability under new circumstances.

Abstract Star field affiliation is an important part of ancient Chinese gazetteers. The gazetteers of Taiwan in the Qing Dynasty presented many ‘different opinions’ about the star field affiliation of Taiwan. These different opinions illustrate the difficulty of self-consistency in traditional Chinese star field affiliation theory and reflect the influence of the concept of grand unification on traditional Chinese geographical knowledge. During the Qianlong period, with the introduction of Western surveying and mapping knowledge, the sundial began to replace star field affiliation and became a new geographical positioning theory. Taiwan, whose geographical positioning also completed the transformation from the star field affiliation to sundial theory at the end of the Qing Dynasty, witnessed the replacement of traditional Chinese place knowledge with cosmopolitan knowledge. Looking back at the writings regarding the star field affiliation in Taiwan gazetteers in the Qing Dynasty, there was both debate and consensus.

This study was to explore the effects of dopamine melanin nanoparticles (D–M nanoparticles) and collagen matrix combined with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) on arthritis chondrocytes and oxygen free radicals. 230–250 g rats were randomly divided into three groups, group A was treated with PRP, group B was treated with PRP combined with a collagen matrix, and group C was treated with PRP combined with collagen matrix and D–M nanoparticles. Each group was established an osteoarthritis model. The rats were sacrificed after the 10th week to detect and observe the proliferation of chondrocytes, changes in cell morphology, survival, changes in cartilage-specific genes, and the degree of cartilage in the model animals. compared with group A, both group B and group C had obvious cartilage differentiation and the effect of group C was better than group B; the cell proliferation in group C was much better in the other two groups; and the expression of cartilage-specific matrix proteoglycans in group C was better in contrast to group B and group A. Such results indicated that PRP could more effectively promote cartilage cell regeneration and prevent cartilage differentiation based on nanoparticle administration. In the D–M nanoparticle group, the level of free radicals in the synovial fluid of rats was greatly reduced (P < 0.05) and showed a quantitative dependence, indicating that the injection of D–M nanoparticles in the joint cavity could effectively lower the level of free radicals in joint tissues. PRP combined with collagen matrix can effectively improve chondrocyte activity, promote extracellular matrix secretion, and induce cartilage formation. The dopamine D–M nanoparticles could effectively reduce the level of oxygen free radicals in the joint cavity. The above drugs had potential values in the clinical treatment of osteoarthritis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: Taohong Siwu Decoction (TSD) is a classic traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) compound with pharmacological effects such as vasodilation and hypolipidemia. Paeoniflorin (PF) is one of the active ingredients of TSD. The aim of this study was to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of PF in herbal extracts and their purified forms in rats. Method: A sensitive and rapid high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC–MS-MS) method for the determination of PF in rat plasma was developed. Rats were divided into three groups, and given PF solution, water extract of white peony root (WPR), or TSD by gavage. At different predetermined timepoints after gavage, blood was collected from the orbital vein. The pharmacokinetic parameters of PF in the plasma of rats in the three groups was determined. Results: The pharmacokinetic studies showed that the time to reach maximum concentration (Tmax) of PF in the purified forms group was relatively high, while the half-lives (T½) of PF in the TSD and WPR groups were longer. Among the three groups, PF in the purified forms group had the maximum area under the concentration–time curve (AUC0-t = 732.997 µg/L·h) and the largest maximum concentration (Cmax = 313.460 µg/L), which showed a significant difference compared with the TSD group (P < 0.05). Compared with the purified group, the clearance (CLz/F = 86.004 L/h/kg) and the apparent volume of distribution (Vz/F = 254.787 L/kg) of PF in the TSD group increased significantly (P < 0.05). Conclusions: A highly specific, sensitive, and rapid HPLC–MS-MS method was developed and applied for the determination of PF in rat plasma. It was found that TSD and WPR can prolong the action time of paeoniflorin in the body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The previous illumination invariant measure performs unsatisfactorily under severe illumination variations, since severe illumination variations cause large differences of illumination intensities in the face local region, especially for the edge of cast shadows. In this paper, we conduct orthogonal triangular with column pivoting (QRCP) decomposition in the N × N local block which generates N QRCP coefficients. QRCP unit is defined as the quotient of the largest QRCP coefficient and the sum of all QRCP coefficients in the local block. To further control the illumination effect, we obtain corrected QRCP unit by calculating the γ power of QRCP coefficients. We define QRCP Image as the combination of corrected QRCP units. Finally, QRCP Image is employed as a preprocessing method of illumination invariant measures (LNN-face/BGIR-face/EGIR-face). The experimental results on the illumination-varying face databases (Extended Yale B and CMU PIE) indicate that the proposed method is efficient to tackle severe illumination variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Submucosal tunneling endoscopic resection (STER) has been widely applied for esophageal submucosal tumors. This large volume study aims to provide a standard landscape of STER-related AEs for reference. Methods: 1701 patients with esophageal SMTs undergoing STER were included at Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University. Data of clinical characteristics and adverse events were collected and analyzed in depth. Adverse events were recorded by ASGE lexicon and graded by ASGE grading/Clavien–Dindo system. Risk factors for major AEs were analyzed by univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Results: Three hundred and twenty (18.8%) patients with 962 cases of adverse events were observed. Accordingly, 84 (5.0%) were classified as major AEs (moderate and severe) by ASGE grading and 37 (2.2%) were classified as major AEs (grades III–V) by Clavien–Dindo grading. First 1 year operation, distance > 6 cm from incision to tumor, piecemeal resection, partially extraluminal location, mucosal injury, and operation time > 60 min were included in the risk score model for major AEs of STER, with 57.1% sensitivity and 87.5% specificity. Conclusions: STER was a safe procedure for diagnosis and treatment of esophageal SMTs with a total 18.8% incidence of AEs, among which only 5.0% were major AEs requiring therapeutic measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Aromatase inhibitor (AI)-induced joint pain is a common toxicity of AI treatment. Although many studies have been conducted to examine the occurrence and severity of AI-induced joint pain in breast cancer survivors, none of the studies focused on the Chinese population with breast cancer. Given that the differences in cultural background and the genetic structure between Asians and Caucasians may contribute to different phenotypes of joint pain, this cross-sectional study was therefore conducted to examine the prevalence of AI-induced joint pain among Chinese breast cancer survivors receiving AI treatment and the correlates of pain.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary hospital in China. Breast cancer survivors undergoing AI treatment were recruited to complete the following questionnaires: a self-designed baseline data form, the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ), the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (FACT-B). Based on the assessment results of NMQ (if the participant indicated pain in specific body parts), participants were then invited to complete other questionnaires to specifically assess the joint symptoms, including the Oxford Knee Score (OKS), the Oxford Hip Score (OHS), the Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire (MHQ), and the Manchester Foot Pain Disability Questionnaire (MFPDQ). Descriptive analysis was used to analyse participants' baseline data and the prevalence of pain. Stepwise multiple regression was used to identify the correlates of pain.Results: Four hundred and ten participants were analysed. According to the NMQ, 71.7% of the participants experienced joint symptoms in at least one joint, and the most frequently mentioned joint was knee (39.0%). The diagram in BPI indicated that 28.0% of the participants had the worst pain around knees. In patients with knee pain, the mean OKS score was 40.46 ± 6.19. The sub-scores of BPI for pain intensity and pain interference were 1.30 ± 1.63 and 1.24 ± 1.79, respectively. Patients' poorer physical well-being/functioning, previous use of AI treatment, presence of osteoarthritis, and receiving of physiotherapy were identified as four common correlates of greater severity of pain and pain interference (p < 0.05).Conclusions: Chinese breast cancer survivors can experience joint pain at various locations, particularly knees. In addition to increasing the use of interventions for pain alleviation, a comprehensive assessment of survivors' conditions such as physical functioning, history of AI treatment, and presence of osteoarthritis should be emphasized to identify survivors who need more attention and tailored interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since multi-view subspace clustering combines the advantages of deep learning to capture the nonlinear nature of data, deep multi-view subspace clustering methods have demonstrated superior ability to shallow multi-view subspace clustering methods. Most existing methods assume that sample reconstruction errors incurred by noise conform to the prior distribution of the corresponding norm, allowing for simplification of the problem and focus on designing specific regularization on self-representation matrices to exploit consistent and diverse information among different views. However, the noise distributions in different views are always very complex, and in practice the noise distributions do not necessarily conform to this hypothesis. Furthermore, the commonly used diversity regularization based on value-awareness to enhance diversity among different view representations is not sufficiently accurate. To alleviate the above deficiencies, we propose novel robust deep multi-view subspace clustering networks with a correntropy-induced metric (RDMSCNet). (1) A correntropy-induced metric (CIM) is utilized to flexibly handle various complex noise distributions in a data-driven manner to improve the robustness of the model. (2) A position-aware diversity regularization based on the exclusivity definition is employed to enforce the diversity of the different view representations for modelling the consistency and diversity simultaneously. Extensive experiments show that RDMSCNet can deliver enhanced performance over state-of-the-art approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A biosensor for rapid and simultaneous visual identification of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes 16 and 18 in clinical samples based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) integrated lateral flow strip platform was developed. Using an one-step protocol to extract nucleic acid rapidly and the functionalized primer sets specific to HPV-16 and 18 were designed for the simultaneous amplification. In the presence of target HPV genotypes, the corresponding functionalized primer sets will participate in the PCR process and produce numerous duplex functionalized dsDNA amplicons. With the bridge effect of duplex functionalized dsDNA amplicons between gold nanoparticles-fluorescein isothiocyanate antibody conjugates (AuNP-FITC antibody conjugates) and other two antibodies on corresponding test line (T1 or T2), visualized color signals on test lines could be obtained directly visible with a naked eye. Combining the high amplification efficiency of PCR and the visualized sensing of LFS, as low as 700 copies of HPV-16 and 18 DNA were detected simultaneously within 75 min, which can promote application in the resource limited settings. High-risk genotypes of HPV-16 and HPV-18 were easily and simultaneously screened with the amplification-assisted molecular lateral flow strip by on-site observation in the resource-limited settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Used poly(lactic acid) (PLA) films as the research object, the degradation kinetics equation was established through the degradation experiments of samples in artificial seawater at 60, 70, 80 and 90 °C, and then the degradation performances of PLA films in artificial seawater at 90 °C were explored. The surface morphology, chemical structure and thermal properties of PLA films after degradation in artificial seawater at 90 °C were studied by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, gel permeation chromatography, differential scanning calorimetry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and the composition of degradation products was also analyzed. The results showed that the degradation of PLA films in artificial seawater conformed to the first-order reaction characteristics. The half-life period of degradation is 12 or 468 days under 90 or 60 °C. With the increase in degradation time, the surface of PLA films became roughness, the characteristic functional groups of the solid degradation products were basically unchanged, the crystallinity increased first and then decreased, while the relative molecular weight and Tm decreased gradually. The oxygen content of the surface of the material and lactic acid content in the degradation filtrate increased gradually. The degradation kinetics of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) films in artificial seawater was studied. The results showed that the degradation of PLA films in artificial seawater conformed to the first-order reaction characteristics, which provides theoretical guidance for the practical application of polylactic acid-based materials in the marine environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuropathic pain (NP) is a common disorder among individuals worldwide, but there is still no effective treatment for NP. The EGFR pathway promotes NP nociceptive sensitization and represents a potential therapeutic target. Geniposide is abundant in natural plants and has various pharmacological activities, such as analgesia and anti-inflammation properties, which can improve NP, but the specific mechanisms have not been elucidated. The present study first predicted and molecularly docked geniposide targets, suggesting that geniposide may play a role in improving NP by targeting EGFR. This study further clarified that geniposide alleviates NP and improves the inflammatory response using a chronic constriction injury (CCI) model, whereas the administration of an EGFR agonist weakens the above effects of geniposide. Analysis of transcriptome data further suggests that geniposide not only improves CCI symptoms by reducing EGFR/PI3K/AKT pathway activity but also may exert anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting the Ca2+ signaling pathway. The above results affirm the potential value of geniposide in the treatment of NP and lay the foundation for further clinical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mounting evidence supports the idea that transcriptional patterns serve as more specific identifiers of active enhancers than histone marks; however, the optimal strategy to identify active enhancers both experimentally and computationally has not been determined. Here, we compared 13 genome-wide RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) assays in K562 cells and show that nuclear run-on followed by cap-selection assay (GRO/PRO-cap) has advantages in enhancer RNA detection and active enhancer identification. We also introduce a tool, peak identifier for nascent transcript starts (PINTS), to identify active promoters and enhancers genome wide and pinpoint the precise location of 5′ transcription start sites. Finally, we compiled a comprehensive enhancer candidate compendium based on the detected enhancer RNA (eRNA) transcription start sites (TSSs) available in 120 cell and tissue types, which can be accessed at https://pints.yulab.org. With knowledge of the best available assays and pipelines, this large-scale annotation of candidate enhancers will pave the way for selection and characterization of their functions in a time- and labor-efficient manner. Experimental and computational methods to detect enhancer RNAs are benchmarked. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]