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The primary pathological feature of Membranous Nephropathy (MN) is the presence of tiny spike-like projections on the glomerular basement membrane. Early detection and efficient treatment of spike-like projections are essential in halting disease progression. Renal pathology biopsy stands as the gold standard for diagnosing MN, and the accurate identification of glomerular spike-like projections plays a vital role in aiding diagnosis. Nevertheless, the tiny spike-like projection lesions and constraints in data quantity pose considerable challenges for supervised learning-based glomerular classification and quantification. We develop a Multi-Scale Annotation-based Multiple Instance Learning (MSA-MIL) model to address the issues. MSA-MIL utilizes image labels and box-level labels to jointly enhance the classification performance of the MIL model. Specifically, we first employ U-Net for glomerular image edge segmentation and subsequently train the MIL model on the dataset with image-level labels. Then, to overcome the limitations arising from the scarcity of positive instances and the relatively small size of spike-like projection features, we manually augment the number of instances with spike-like projections via using box-level annotation to further enhance the MIL model's classification performance. The designed MSA-MIL model enables the classification, visualization, and quantitative analysis of glomeruli with spike-like projections in renal pathology images. We validated and evaluated the designed MSA-MIL model. The model performed exceptionally well, achieving a high accuracy of 0.9847 and demonstrating a high recall rate, effectively preventing misdiagnosis. Additionally, we utilized heatmaps to visualize the locations of spike-like projections within glomeruli, enhancing the model's interpretability. Furthermore, through an analysis of the correlation between the stages of membranous nephropathy and the proportion of spike-like projections, we observed that as the disease advances, the proportion of spike-like projections increases. This finding serves to further validate the results obtained by the model. The MSA-MIL model is the first one specifically designed for classifying glomerular spike-like projections. It not only enhances classification performance but also proves to be more suitable for categorizing minute lesions compared to conventional Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) models. The visualization of glomerular lesions and the proportion of spike-like projections provide doctors with insights into the model's inference process, offering intuitive assistance for accurate diagnoses. This model brings significant hope for advancing research and diagnosis in the field of kidney diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The practice of Chinese herbal medicines for the treatment of COVID-19 in China played an essential role for the control of mortality rate and reduction of recovery time. The iridoids is one of the main constituents of many heat-clearing and detoxifying Chinese medicines that were largely planted and frequently used in clinical practice. Twenty-three representative high content iridoids from several staple Chinese medicines were obtained and tested by a SARS-CoV-2 pseudo-virus entry-inhibition assay on HEK-293 T/ACE2 cells, a live HCoV-OC43 virus infection assay on HRT-18 cells, and a SARS-CoV-2 3CL protease inhibitory FRET assay followed by molecular docking simulation. The anti-pulmonary inflammation activities were further evaluated on a TNF-α induced inflammation model in A549 cells and preliminary SARs were concluded. The results showed that specnuezhenide (7), cornuside (12), neonuezhenide (15), and picroside III (21) exhibited promising antiviral activities, and neonuezhenide (15) could inhibit 3CL protease with an IC50 of 14.3 μM. Docking computation showed that compound 15 could bind to 3CL protease through a variety of hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions. In the anti-pulmonary inflammation test, cornuside (12), aucubin (16), monotropein (17), and shanzhiside methyl ester (18) could strongly decrease the content of IL-1β and IL-8 at 10 μM. Compound 17 could also upregulate the expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 significantly. The iridoids exhibited both anti-coronavirus and anti-pulmonary inflammation activities for their significance of existence in Chinese herbal medicines, which also provided a theoretical basis for their potential utilization in the pharmaceutical and food industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Variations at the event horizon structure of a black hole will emit the signals of the gravitational wave echoes associated with the ringdown of the binary black hole merger. In this work, combining mass model of M87 and Einasto profile for dark matter halo, we construct one formal solution of black holes in dark matter halo, and this solution includes the regular black hole for geometric parameter a < 2 M and the wormhole for a ≥ 2 M . Then, we test this solution under axial gravitational perturbation and calculate their quasinormal modes (QNM). Our results show that when geometric parameter a > 2 M , a series of gravitational wave echoes appear after the QNM, and one distinctive feature of gravitational wave echoes is the double barrier. Besides, we also study the impacts of shape parameters α of Einasto profile both on the QNM and gravitational wave echoes, and extract their frequencies using WKB method and Prony method. In principle, with the increasing of shape parameter α , the frequencies of the QNM and gravitational wave echoes between the different shape parameters must be different. But now there is zero difference of the frequencies between shape parameter α = 0.18 and α = 0.20 . Zero difference is not allowed, so we give an upper limit for shape parameter α , which is approximately α < 0.18 . These signals of gravitational wave echoes in a dark matter halo may be detected in the near future, and these characteristics of gravitational wave echoes may serve as local measurements of dark matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dark matter density can be significantly enhanced by the supermassive black hole at the galactic center, leading to a structure called dark matter spike. Dark matter spike may change the spacetime properties of black holes that constitute deviations from GR black holes. Based on these interesting background, we construct a set of solutions of black holes in a dark matter spike under the Newtonian approximation and full relativity. Combining the mass model of M87, we study the quasinormal modes of black holes in the scalar field and axial gravitational perturbation, then compared them with Schwarzschild black hole. Besides, the impacts of dark matter on the quasinormal mode of black holes have been studied in depth. In particular, in the axial gravitational perturbation, our results show that the impacts of dark matter spike on the quasinormal mode of black holes can reach up to 10 - 4 . These new features from quasinormal mode of black holes under the Newtonian approximation and full relativity may provide some help for the establishment of the final dark matter model, and provide a new thought for the indirect detection of dark matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) could serve as a potential biomarker for tumor immunotherapy, however, it is not yet known whether MHC could distinguish potential beneficiaries. Single‐cell RNA sequencing datasets derived from patients with immunotherapy were collected to elucidate the association between MHC and immunotherapy response. A novel MHCsig was developed and validated using large‐scale pan‐cancer data, including The Cancer Genome Atlas and immunotherapy cohorts. The therapeutic value of MHCsig was further explored using 17 CRISPR/Cas9 datasets. MHC-related genes were associated with drug resistance and MHCsig was significantly and positively associated with immunotherapy response and total mutational burden. Remarkably, MHCsig significantly enriched 6% top‐ranked genes, which were potential therapeutic targets. Moreover, we generated Hub-MHCsig, which was associated with survival and disease-special survival of pan-cancer, especially low-grade glioma. This result was also confirmed in cell lines and in our own clinical cohort. Later low-grade glioma-related Hub-MHCsig was established and the regulatory network was constructed. We provided conclusive clinical evidence regarding the association between MHCsig and immunotherapy response. We developed MHCsig, which could effectively predict the benefits of immunotherapy for multiple tumors. Further exploration of MHCsig revealed some potential therapeutic targets and regulatory networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ionosphere can be artificially modified by employing ground-based high-power high-frequency electromagnetic waves to irradiate the ionosphere. This modification is achieved through the nonlinear interaction between the electromagnetic waves and the ionospheric plasma, leading to changes in the physical properties and structure of the ionosphere. The degree of artificial modification of the ionosphere is closely related to the heating energy density of high-frequency pump waves. Due to the high density of neutral constituents in the lower ionosphere and the high frequency of electron-neutral collisions, the energy of heating pump waves will be absorbed and attenuated during the penetration of the low ionosphere, seriously affecting the heating effect. This paper proposes a method to reduce the absorption of ionospheric heating pump waves by releasing electron attachment chemicals into low ionosphere to form a large-scale electron density hole. A model for mitigating pump waves absorption based on SF6 release is established, and the absorption at different frequencies is quantitatively calculated. The propagation characteristics of high-frequency signals in ionospheric holes are studied using a three-dimensional ray tracing method, and the results demonstrate that the chemical release method not only reduces the absorption attenuation of heating pump waves but also forms spherical electron density holes, which exhibit a focusing effect on the heating beam and enhance the heating effect. The results are of great significance for understanding the nonlinear interaction between electromagnetic wave and ionospheric plasma and improving the ionospheric heating efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly(lactide acid) (PLA) foams have shown considerable promise as eco-friendly alternatives to nondegradable plastic foams, such as polystyrene (PS) foams. Nevertheless, PLA foam typically suffers from low heat-resistance and poor cellular structure stemming from its inherent slow crystallization rate and low melt strength. In this study, a high-performance PLA foam with well-defined cell morphology, exceptional strength and enhanced heat-resistance was successfully fabricated via a core-back microcellular injection molding (MIM) process. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results revealed that the added hydrazine-based nucleating agent (HNA) significantly increased the crystallization temperature and accelerated the crystallization process of PLA. Remarkably, the addition of a 1.5 wt% of HNA led to a significant reduction in PLA's cell size, from 43.5 µm to 2.87 µm, and a remarkable increase in cell density, from 1.08×107 cells/cm3 to 2.15×1010 cells/cm3. This enhancement resulted in a final crystallinity of approximately 55.7% for the PLA blend foam, a marked improvement compared to the pure PLA foam. Furthermore, at 1.5 wt% HNA concentration, the tensile strength and tensile toughness of PLA blend foams demonstrated remarkable improvements of 136% and 463%, respectively. Additionally, the Vicat softening temperature of PLA blend foam increased significantly to 134.8 °C, whereas the pure PLA foam exhibited only about 59.7 °C. These findings underscore the potential for the preparation of lightweight injection-molded PLA foam with enhanced toughness and heat-resistance, which offers a viable approach for the production of high-performance PLA foams suitable for large-scale applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few studies have assessed sex differences in the management of suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS). We aimed to compare the evaluation, treatment, and outcomes between males and females with suspected ACS in the emergency department. Data were obtained from a prospective registry of acute chest pain involving 21 emergency departments in Shandong Province, China. The primary endpoint was 30-day major adverse cardiac events (MACEs). Overlap propensity score weighting was used to address potential confounding. A total of 8046 patients were analysed (42.8% female). Overlap-weighted analysis showed no significant association of female sex with 30-day MACEs (odds ratio, 0.91; 95% CI 0.75 to 1.11; P = 0.363). Secondary analyses found that women were less likely to be identified as high risk at first presentation (odds ratio, 0.86; 95% CI 0.78 to 0.94; P < 0.001). In the emergency department, women were less likely to undergo antiplatelet therapy (odds ratio, 0.87; 95% CI 0.79 to 0.96; P = 0.004) or coronary angiography (odds ratio, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.69 to 0.88; P < 0.001). Women had a longer length of stay in the emergency department and were less likely to be admitted to a ward at disposition. These sex differences existed only in the non-ST-elevation subgroup and were independent of risk stratification. Women with non-ST-elevation chest pain in China received suboptimal treatment in the emergency department. However, their clinical outcomes were not significantly different from those of men. Further studies are needed to determine the causes and impacts of these sex differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iron and phosphorus are essential nutrients that exist at low concentrations in surface waters and may be co-limiting resources for phytoplankton growth. Here, we show that phosphorus deficiency increases the growth of iron-limited cyanobacteria (Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803) through a PhoB-mediated regulatory network. We find that PhoB, in addition to its well-recognized role in controlling phosphate homeostasis, also regulates key metabolic processes crucial for iron-limited cyanobacteria, including ROS detoxification and iron uptake. Transcript abundances of PhoB-targeted genes are enriched in samples from phosphorus-depleted seawater, and a conserved PhoB-binding site is widely present in the promoters of the target genes, suggesting that the PhoB-mediated regulation may be highly conserved. Our findings provide molecular insights into the responses of cyanobacteria to simultaneous iron/phosphorus nutrient limitation. Iron and phosphorus exist at low concentrations in surface waters and may be co-limiting resources for phytoplankton growth. Here, the authors show that phosphorus deficiency increases the growth of iron-limited cyanobacteria through a PhoB-mediated regulatory network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: To gain a deeper understanding of zinc-doped boron clusters, theoretical calculations were performed to investigate the size effects and electronic properties of zinc-doped boron clusters. The study of the electronic properties, spectral characteristics, and geometric structures of Zn B n (n = 1–15) is of great significance in the fields of semiconductor materials science, material detection, and improving catalytic efficiency. The results indicate that Zn B n (n = 1–15) clusters predominantly exhibit planar or quasi-planar structures, with the Zn atom positioned in the outer regions of the B n framework. The second stable structure of Zn B 3 is a three-dimensional configuration, indicating that the structures of zinc-doped boron clusters begin to convert from the planar or quasi-planar structures to the 3D configurations. The second low-energy structure of Zn B 15 is a novel configuration. Relative stability analyses show that the Zn B 12 has better chemical stability than other clusters with a HOMO-LUMO gap of 2.79 eV. Electric charge analysis shows that part electrons on zinc atoms are transferred to boron atoms, and electrons prefer to cluster near the B n framework. According to the electron localization function, it gets harder to localize electrons as the equivalent face value drops, and it's challenging to see covalent bond formation between zinc and boron atoms. The spectrograms of Zn B n (n = 1–15) exhibit distinct properties and notable spectral features, which can be used as a theoretical basis for the identification and confirmation of boron clusters doped with single-atom transition metals. Methods: The calculations were performed using the ABCluster global search technique combined with density functional theory (DFT) methods. The selected low-energy structures were subjected to geometric optimization and frequency calculations at the PBE0/6-311 + G(d) level to ensure structural stability and eliminate any imaginary frequencies. To acquire more precise relative energies, we performed single-point energies calculations for the low-lying isomers of Zn B n (n = 1–15) at the CCSD(T)/6-311 + G(d)//PBE0/6-311 + G(d) level of theory. All calculations were performed using Gaussian 09 software. To facilitate analysis, we utilized software tools such as Multiwfn, and VMD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ferroptosis, an iron-dependent form of programmed cell death, is a promising strategy for cancer treatment. Bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4) is an epigenetic reader and a promising target for cancer therapeutics. However, the role of BRD4 in ferroptosis is controversial and the value of the interaction between BRD4 inhibitors and ferroptosis inducers remains to be explored. Here, we found that BRD4 inhibition greatly enhanced erastin-induced ferroptosis in different types of cells, including HEK293T, HeLa, HepG2, RKO, and PC3 cell lines. Knocking down BRD4 in HEK293T and HeLa cells also promoted erastin-induced cell death. BRD4 inhibition by JQ-1 and I-BET-762 or BRD4 knockdown resulted in substantial accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in both HEK293T and HeLa cells. The effect of BRD4 inhibition on ferroptosis-associated genes varied in different cells. After using BRD4 inhibitors, the expression of FTH1, Nrf2, and GPX4 increased in HEK293T cells, while the levels of VDAC2, VDAC3, and FSP1 decreased. In HeLa cells, the expression of FTH1, VDAC2, VDAC3, Nrf2, GPX4, and FSP1 was reduced upon treatment with JQ-1 and I-BET-762. Consistently, the level of FSP1 was greatly reduced in HEK293T and HeLa cells with stable BRD4 knockdown compared to control cells. Furthermore, ChIP-sequencing data showed that BRD4 bound to the promoter of FSP1, but the BRD4 binding was greatly reduced upon JQ-1 treatment. Our results suggest that ROS accumulation and FSP1 downregulation are common mechanisms underlying increased ferroptosis with BRD4 inhibitors. Thus, BRD4 inhibitors might be more effective in combination with ferroptosis inducers, especially in FSP1-dependent cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the structure of a dark matter halo can be well described by the mass model of M87 and the Einasto profile for the cold dark matter model, i.e., ρ eina (r) = ρ e exp (- 2 α - 1 ((r / r e) α - 1)) (Wang et al. in Nature 585:39–42, 2020). Under these conditions, we construct a solution of a static spherically symmetric black hole in a dark matter halo. Then, using the Newman–Janis algorithm, we extend this static solution to the case of rotation, and obtain a solution for the Kerr-like black hole. We prove that this solution of the Kerr-like black hole is indeed a solution to the Einstein field equations. Finally, taking M87 as an example, we study and analyze some physical properties of this Kerr-like black hole, and then compare them with the Kerr black hole. Particularly, from the perspective of the black hole shadow and the fact that the Kerr-like black hole and the Kerr black hole is distinguishable, we give the upper limit of the shape parameter of the Einasto density profile, that is approximately α < 0.22 , which may provide a new method to further improve and perfect the density profile of dark matter model. These research results for the black hole in a dark matter halo may indirectly provide an effective method for detecting the existence of dark matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To realize the low-resistance shape optimization design of amphibious robots, an efficient optimization design framework is proposed to improve the geometric deformation flexibility and optimization efficiency. In the proposed framework, the free-form deformation parametric model of the flat slender body is established and an analytical calculation method for the height constraints is derived. CFD method is introduced to carry out the high-precision resistance calculation and a constrained Kriging-based optimization method is built to improve the optimization efficiency by circularly infilling the new sample points which satisfying the constraints. Finally, the shape of an amphibious robot example is optimized to get the low-resistance shape and the results demonstrate that the presented optimization design framework has the advantages of simplicity, flexibility and high efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Toxoplasma gondii is an opportunistic protozoan parasite that is highly prevalent in the human population and can lead to adverse health consequences in immunocompromised patients and pregnant women. Noncoding RNAs, such as microRNAs (miRNAs) and circular RNAs (circRNAs), play important regulatory roles in the pathogenesis of many infections. However, the differentially expressed (DE) miRNAs and circRNAs implicated in the host cell response during the lytic cycle of T. gondii are unknown. In this study, we profiled the expression of miRNAs and circRNAs in human foreskin fibroblasts (HFFs) at different time points after T. gondii infection using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). We identified a total of 7, 7, 27, 45, 70, 148, 203, and 217 DEmiRNAs and 276, 355, 782, 1863, 1738, 6336, 1229, and 1680 DEcircRNAs at 1.5, 3, 6, 9, 12, 24, 36, and 48 h post infection (hpi), respectively. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analyses revealed that the DE transcripts were enriched in immune response, apoptosis, signal transduction, and metabolism-related pathways. These findings provide new insight into the involvement of miRNAs and circRNAs in the host response to T. gondii infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we obtain a new spherically symmetric black hole surrounded by the pseudo-isothermal dark matter halo. Furthermore, to explore the effects of the pseudo-isothermal halo profile on a rotating black hole at the M87 galactic center, we derive a rotating black hole solution encompassed by the pseudo-isothermal halo by using the Newman-Janis method. Our investigation focuses on the impact of the pseudo-isothermal halo on the black hole event horizon, time-like and null orbits, as well as the black hole shadow. We find that as the spin parameter a increases, the interval between the inner event horizon and the outer event horizon of the rotating black hole surrounded by the pseudo-isothermal halo in M87 diminishes. This leads to the formation of an extreme black hole. The presence of dark matter, however, has minimal effect on the event horizon. Moreover, in the M87 as the spin parameter a increases, the black hole shadow deviates increasingly from a standard circle, with larger spin parameters causing more pronounced distortion relative to the standard circle. Surprisingly, we observe that the dark matter density has very little influence on the shadow of the black hole surrounded by the pseudo-isothermal halo in the M87. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of black hole structures and the role of dark matter in the universe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fully-connected tensor network (FCTN) decomposition is an emerging method for processing and analyzing higher-order tensors. For an Nth-order tensor, the standard deterministic algorithms, such as alternating least squares (FCTN-ALS) algorithm, need to store large coefficient matrices formed by contracting N - 1 FCTN factor tensors. The memory cost of coefficient matrices grows exponentially with the size of the original tensor, which makes the algorithms memory-prohibitive for handling large-scale tensors. To enable FCTN decomposition to handle large-scale tensors effectively, we propose a stochastic gradient descent (FCTN-SGD) algorithm without sacrificing accuracy. The memory cost of FCTN-SGD algorithm grows linearly with the size of the original tensor and is significantly lower than that of the FCTN-ALS algorithm. The success of the FCTN-SGD algorithm lies in the suggested factor sampling operator, which cleverly avoids storing large coefficient matrices in the algorithm. By using the suggested operator, sampling on small factor tensors is equal to sampling on large coefficient matrices with a theoretical guarantee. Furthermore, we present an FCTN-VRSGD algorithm by introducing variance reduction into the FCTN-SGD algorithm, and theoretically prove the convergence of the FCTN-VRSGD algorithm under a mild assumption. Numerical experiments demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed FCTN-SGD and FCTN-VRSGD algorithms, especially for real-world large-scale tensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SiO2 aerogels are widely utilized in the heat insulation industry due to their low density and thermal conductivity. To achieve large-scale preparation and reduce the cost, hydrophobic modification of SiO2 and solvent replacement assisted ambient pressure drying strategies are commonly employed. However, the resultant aerogels have been found to have high density, while the organic solvents used in their preparation are environmentally harmful. This study introduces a novel approach for aerogel-like materials preparation that utilizes a non-organic solvent and ambient pressure drying strategy. Methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) is used as the silicon source, with Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) serving as a surfactant to assist in the gelation of the silica sol. Additionally, Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) emulsion, which shares the same charge attribute as the SiO2 sol, is added to prevent sedimentation during the gelation process. The resulting SiO2/PTFE aerogel-like materials exhibits a density of 0.0874 g/cm3, the lower reported value for aerogel-like materials prepared using ambient pressure drying. Furthermore, this aerogel-like materials demonstrates excellent hydrophobic properties and corrosion resistance. Even after high-temperature treatment, it retains its hydrophobicity and excellent thermal insulation performance. The water contact angle remains at 140° even after 1 week of exposure to HCl treatment, and its thermal conductivity is measured at 64.43 mW/m K. Overall, this materials holds great potential for application in the field of thermal insulation. Highlights: The prepared SiO2/PTFE aerogel-like materials can be dried at atmospheric pressure without surface modification and solvent replacement. Through electrostatic repulsion between PTFE emulsion and SiO2 sol, the sedimentation of SiO2 sol during gelation process was avoided. The SiO2/PTFE aerogel-like materials still has excellent hydrophobic properties after high-temperature treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Named entity recognition (NER) is a word-level sequence tagging task. The key of Chinese cybersecurity NER is to obtain meaningful word representations and to delicately model the inter-word relations. However, Chinese is a language of compound words and lacks morphological inflections. Moreover, the role and meaning of a word depends on the context in a complicated way. In this paper, we present an NER model named Star-HGCN, short for Star-Transformer with Hybrid embeddings and Graph Convolutional Network. To make full use of the intra-word information, we set a hybrid embedding layer at the very beginning, which enriches word representations with character-level information and part-of-speech features. More importantly, we further enhance the hybrid embeddings by modeling inter-word implicit local and long-range semantic associations using the efficient Star-Transformer architecture, and modeling the explicit syntactic dependencies between words in the dependency tree using the graph convolutional network. Experiments on the Chinese cybersecurity dataset show that our model is superior to other neural network methods for NER, and achieves a significant relative improvement of 36.59% for the class of software entities. Experiments on other public datasets also validate the effectiveness of the model on other general and specific domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To determine the risk factors for dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and construct a risk model for predicting HF in patients with DCM, We enrolled a total of 2122 patients, excluding those who did not meet the requirements. A total of 913 patients were included in the analysis (611 males and 302 females) from October 2012 to May 2020, and data on demographic characteristics, blood biochemical markers, and cardiac ultrasound results were collected. Patients were strictly screened for DCM based on the diagnostic criteria. First, these patients were evaluated using propensity score matching (PSM). Next, unconditional logistic regression was used to assess HF risk. Furthermore, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was conducted to determine diagnostic efficiency, and a nomogram was developed to predict HF. Finally, the Kaplan‒Meier survival curve was plotted. Of the initial 2122 patients, the ejection fraction (EF) in males was worse. We included 913 patients after the final DCM diagnosis. The results showed that the levels of NT-proBNP, WBC, PLT, neutrophils, lymphocytes, eosinophils, and IL-6, C-reactive protein (CRP) and the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and CRP/lymphocyte ratio (CLR) were higher in males than in females (P < 0.001–0.009). The nomogram showed that factors such as sex, WBC, neutrophils, PLR, and CLR could predict the risk of worsening cardiac function in patients with DCM before and after PSM (P < 0.05). The ROC curve showed that CLR with an 85.6% area demonstrated higher diagnostic efficacy than the NLR (77.0%) and PLR (76.6%, P < 0.05). Survival analysis showed a higher mortality risk in females with higher CLR levels (P < 0.001–0.009). However, high CLR levels indicated a higher mortality risk (P < 0.001) compared to sex. Male EF is lower in DCM patients. CLR could predict the risk of declined cardiac function in patients with DCM. The mortality in females with higher CLR levels was highest; however, the exact mechanism should be investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immunosenescence has been demonstrated to play an important role in tumor progression. However, there is lacking comprehensive analyses of immunosenescence-related pathways. Meanwhile, the sex disparities of immunosenescence in cancer are still poorly understood. In this study, we analyzed the multi-omics data of 12,836 tumor samples, including genomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics, proteomics, and metabolomics. We systematically identified immunosenescence pathways that were disordered across cancer types. The mutations and copy number variations of immunosenescence pathways were found to be more active in pan-cancer. We reconstructed the immunosenescence core pathways (ISC-pathways) to improve the ability of prognostic stratification in 33 cancer types. We also found the head and neck squamous carcinoma (HNSC) contained abundant sex-specific immunosenescence features and showed sex differences in survival. We found that OSI-027 was a potential sex-specific drug in HNSC tumors, which tended to be more effective in male HNSC by targeting the MTOR gene in the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. In conclusion, our study provided a systematic understanding of immunosenescence pathways and revealed the global characteristics of immunosenescence in pan-cancer. We highlighted MTOR gene could be a powerful immunosenescence biomarker of HNSC that helps to develop sex-specific immunosenescence drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complex hydrocultural conditions in the estuary affect the migration and transformation of mercury. Using two voyages in July and October 2018, Dissolved Gaseous Mercury (DGM) and Reactive Mercury (RHg) were determined to explore the source, transformation and influence of DGM content in the adjacent waters of Yangtze River Estuary in summer and autumn. The results showed the contents of DGM and RHg in summer were higher than those in autumn, and both of them were higher than those in open sea. In summer and autumn, the Yangtze River brought a higher concentration of DGM, and different flow direction and runoff resulted in differences in the high value region of the surface. The emergence of low-oxygen zones in summer was conducive to the production of DGM. In autumn, windy weather allowed seawater disturbances to promote the release of mercury from the underlying sediments, especially in shallow sea in northwest. RHg showed a higher concentration in the offshore than in the open sea in summer, but there was no such trend in autumn, reflecting the influence of less runoff input. DGM is the main product of RHg reduction, and there was a significant positive correlation between DGM and RHg in summer (r = 0.356, P <0.05), while the correlation between DGM and RHg was not significant in autumn due to the influence of light intensity, wind speed and nutrients. The exchange flux of mercury in the adjacent waters of the Yangtze River Estuary was higher than that in the open sea. There was no significant difference of the release flux of mercury in summer and autumn. This article highlighted that the input of mercury from the Yangtze River runoff promotes the release of mercury in seawater, and the hypoxic zone caused by eutrophication is conducive to the production of DGM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) could modulate expression of immune checkpoints (ICPs) in tumor-immune. However, precise functions in immunity and potential for predicting ICP inhibitors (ICI) response have been described for only a few lncRNAs. Here, a multiple-step pipeline was developed to identify cancer- and immune-context ICP and lncRNA cooperative regulation pairs (ICPaLncCRPs) across cancers. Immune-related ICPs and lncRNAs were extracted follow immune cell lines and immunologic constant of rejection groups. ICPaLncCRP networks were constructed, which likely to modulate tumor-immune by specific patterns. Common and specific hub ICPaLncs such as MIR155HG, TRG-AS1 and PCED1B-AS1 maybe play central roles in prognosis and circulating. Moreover, these hub ICPaLncs were significantly correlated with immune cell infiltration based on bulk and single-cell RNA sequencing data. Some ICPaLncCRPs such as IDO1-MIR155HG could predict three- and five-year prognosis of melanoma in two independent datasets. We also validated that some ICPaLncCRPs could effectively predict ICI-response follow six independent datasets. Collectively, this study will enhance our understanding of lncRNA functions and accelerate discovery of lncRNA-based biomarkers in ICI treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The classification of critical points of charged topological black holes (TBHs) in anti-de Sitter spacetime (AdS) under the Power Maxwell Invariant (PMI)-massive gravity is accomplished within the framework of black hole chemistry (BHC). Considering the grand canonical ensemble (GCE), we show that d = 4 black hole have only one topological class, whereas d ≥ 5 black holes belong to two different topology classes. Furthermore, the conventional critical point characterized by negative topological charge coincides with the maximum extreme point of temperature; and the novel critical point featuring opposite topological charge corresponds to the minimum extreme point of temperature. With increasing pressure, new phases emerge at the novel critical point while disappear from the conventional one. Moreover, a atypical van der Waals (vdW) behavior is found in d ≥ 6 dimensions, and the anomaly disappears at the traditional critical point. In the limit of nonlinearity parameter s → 1 , different topology classes are only obtained in the GCE and they may not exist within the canonical ensemble. With the absence of electric potential Φ , the neutral TBHs share the same topological classification results as the charged TBHs in the GCE of Maxwell-massive gravity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Standard modifiable risk factors (SMuRFs) increase the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and are also strongly associated with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in a bidirectional relationship. However, the association of OSA with recurrent cardiovascular events in ACS patients based on the number of SMuRFs remains unclear. Hence, we aimed to elucidate the prognostic implication of OSA in ACS patients stratified by the number of SMuRFs. Methods: This was a post hoc analysis of the OSA-ACS study (NCT03362385), including 1927 patients admitted for ACS and undergoing portable sleep monitoring. OSA was defined as an apnea hypopnea index ≥ 15 events/h. The primary endpoint was major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular event (MACCE) including cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, stroke, hospitalization for unstable angina or heart failure, and ischemia-driven revascularization. Cox proportional hazards model and Kaplan-Meier analysis were used to investigated the relationship between OSA and subsequent cardiovascular events after patients were stratified by the number of SMuRFs. Results: Among 1927 patients enrolled, 130 (6.7%) had no SMuRF, 1264 (65.6%) exhibited 1–2 SMuRFs and 533 (27.7%) presented 3–4 SMuRFs. With the increase of the number of SMuRFs, the proportion of OSA in ACS patients tended to increase (47.7% vs. 51.5% vs. 56.6%), but there was no significant difference between them (P = 0.08). After the stratification of ACS patients via SMuRF numbers and adjustment for confounding factors, fully adjusted Cox regression indicated that OSA increased the risk of MACCE (adjusted HR, 1.65; 95%CI, 1.06–2.57; P = 0.026) and ischemia-driven revascularization (adjusted HR, 2.18; 95%CI, 1.03–4.65; P = 0.042) in ACS patients with 3–4 SMuRFs. Conclusions: In hospitalized ACS patients, OSA is associated with an increased risk of MACCE and ischemia-driven revascularization among patients with 3–4 SMuRFs. Therefore, screening for OSA should be emphasized in ACS patients with 3–4 SMuRFs, and intervention trials should be prioritized in these high-risk patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supermassive black holes from the center of galaxy may be immersed in a dark matter halo. This dark matter halo may form a "cusp" structure around the black hole and disappear at a certain distance from the black hole. Based on this interesting physical background, we use the continued fraction method to study gravitational ringring of the Kerr-like black holes immersed in a dark matter halo, i.e., quasinormal modes (QNM) and quasibound states (QBS). We consider these gravitational ringring of black holes both in cold dark matter (CDM) model and scalar field dark matter (SFDM) model at the LSB galaxy, and compare them with Kerr black hole. By testing the states of QNM/QBS frequencies with different parameters l, m, a, we confirm the existence of the superradiant instabilities when the black holes both in CDM model and SFDM model. Besides, we also study the impacts of dark matter parameters on the QNM/QBS of black holes at the specific circumstances. In the future, these results may be used for gravitational wave detection of supermassive black holes, and may provide an effective method for detecting the existence of dark matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Young patients account for about half of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients and display a unique risk profile compared with old patients. Whether these differences are related to disparities in ventricular remodeling remains unknown. This study aimed to evaluate age-related differences in ventricular remodeling after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) for STEMI. Methods: In this observational study, consecutive STEMI patients between October 2019 and March 2021 who underwent serial cardiovascular magnetic resonance at index admission (3 to 7 days) and 3 months after PPCI were enrolled. Adverse remodeling was defined as ≥ 10% enlargement in left ventricular end-diastolic volume index (LVEDVi), while reverse remodeling was defined as a decrease in left ventricular end-systolic volume index (LVESVi) of more than 10%. Results: A total of 123 patients were included and grouped into young (< 60 years, n = 71) and old (≥ 60 years, n = 52) patients. Despite generally similar baseline structural and infarct characteristics, LVESVi significantly decreased only in old patients during follow-up (p = 0.034). The incidence of adverse remodeling was higher (49.3% vs 30.8%, p = 0.039), while the incidence of reverse remodeling was lower (31.0% vs 53.8%, p = 0.011) in young compared with old patients. Younger age (< 60 years) was associated with a significantly higher risk of adverse remodeling (adjusted OR 3.51, 95% CI 1.41–8.74, p = 0.007) and lower incidence of reverse remodeling (adjusted OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.18–0.97, p = 0.046). Conclusions: In STEMI patients undergoing PPCI, young patients are at a higher risk of adverse remodeling and less probably develop reverse remodeling than old patients. Equal or more attention should be paid to young patients with STEMI compared with their older counterparts. Key Points: • In STEMI patients undergoing PPCI, young patients displayed unfavorable remodeling compared with old patients. • Young patients are at a higher risk of adverse remodeling and less probably develop reverse remodeling than old patients. • Equal or more attention should be paid to young patients compared with their older counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gut microbiota is a crucial regulator of anti-tumour immunity during immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy. Several bacteria that promote an anti-tumour response to immune checkpoint inhibitors have been identified in mice1–6. Moreover, transplantation of faecal specimens from responders can improve the efficacy of anti-PD-1 therapy in patients with melanoma7,8. However, the increased efficacy from faecal transplants is variable and how gut bacteria promote anti-tumour immunity remains unclear. Here we show that the gut microbiome downregulates PD-L2 expression and its binding partner repulsive guidance molecule b (RGMb) to promote anti-tumour immunity and identify bacterial species that mediate this effect. PD-L1 and PD-L2 share PD-1 as a binding partner, but PD-L2 can also bind RGMb. We demonstrate that blockade of PD-L2–RGMb interactions can overcome microbiome-dependent resistance to PD-1 pathway inhibitors. Antibody-mediated blockade of the PD-L2–RGMb pathway or conditional deletion of RGMb in T cells combined with an anti-PD-1 or anti-PD-L1 antibody promotes anti-tumour responses in multiple mouse tumour models that do not respond to anti-PD-1 or anti-PD-L1 alone (germ-free mice, antibiotic-treated mice and even mice colonized with stool samples from a patient who did not respond to treatment). These studies identify downregulation of the PD-L2–RGMb pathway as a specific mechanism by which the gut microbiota can promote responses to PD-1 checkpoint blockade. The results also define a potentially effective immunological strategy for treating patients who do not respond to PD-1 cancer immunotherapy.Interactions between programmed death ligand 2 (PD-L2) and its binding partner RGMb are downregulated by the gut microbiota, a mechanism that may be exploited to enhance the efficacy of PD-1-based cancer immunotherapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Deficiency of adenosine deaminase 2 (DADA2), an autosomal recessive autoinflammatory disorder caused by biallelic loss-of-function variants in adenosine deaminase 2 (ADA2), has not been systemically investigated in Chinese population yet. We aim to further characterize DADA2 cases in China. Methods: A retrospective analysis of patients with DADA2 identified through whole exome sequencing (WES) at seventeen rheumatology centers across China was conducted. Clinical characteristics, laboratory findings, genotype, and treatment response were analyzed. Results: Thirty patients with DADA2 were enrolled between January 2015 and December 2021. Adenosine deaminase 2 enzymatic activity was low in all tested cases to confirm pathogenicity. Median age of disease presentation was 4.3 years and the median age at diagnosis was 7.8 years. All but one patient presented during childhood and two subjects died from complications of their disease. The patients most commonly presented with systemic inflammation (92.9%), vasculitis (86.7%), and hypogammaglobinemia (73.3%) while one patient presented with bone marrow failure (BMF) with variable cytopenia. Twenty-three (76.7%) patients were treated with TNF inhibitors (TNFi), while two (6.7%) underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). They all achieved clinical remission. A total of thirty-nine ADA2 causative variants were identified, six of which were novel. Conclusion: To establish early diagnosis and improve clinical outcomes, genetic screening and/or testing of ADA2 enzymatic activity should be performed in patients with suspected clinical features. TNFi is considered as first line treatment for those with vascular phenotypes. HSCT may be beneficial for those with hematological disease or in those who are refractory to TNFi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the risk factors for postoperative lymphorrhea or/and lymphocele (PLL) in patients undergoing radical prostatectomy (RP). Materials and Methods: The clinical data of 606 patients were retrospectively collected. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was utilized to identify the optimal cutoff value. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to screen the independent predictors of PLL. Results: Univariate analysis showed that nine factors differed between the PLL and non-PLL group. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that low preoperative fibrinogen level, extraperitoneal surgery, robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALRP), and hypoalbuminemia were risk factors and the use of fibrin glue was a protective factor. Correlation analysis showed that the scope of LN dissection (LND) and number of lymph nodes (LNs) dissected were positively correlated with PLL in the extraperitoneal approach, but were not significantly correlated with PLL in the transperitoneal approach. The use of fibrin glue was negatively associated with PLL in the overall procedure and the extraperitoneal approach, but not significantly so in the transperitoneal approach. Comparison of LNs clearance between the two surgical approaches revealed that the extent of LND and number of LNs dissected in the extraperitoneal approach were less than in the transperitoneal approach. Conclusion: During RALRP, more attention should be paid to fully clotting the broken end of lymphatic vessels. The use of fibrin glue could reduce the probability of PLL. The extent of LND or number of LNs dissected were positively correlated with PLL in the extraperitoneal approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an adaptive multi-scale neural network with Resnet blocks (adaptive-MS-Resnet) architecture is constructed for solving the Poisson equation, Helmholtz equation, wave equation and Klein–Gordon equation, which exploits the idea of radial scaling in the frequency domain. The radial scaling achieves the conversion of high frequency to low one to capture the oscillatory part of the partial differential equations' (PDEs') solution. Moreover, a novel trigonometric activation function is proposed in the first hidden layer, such that the multi-scale residual neural network can be regarded as a channel for performing a Fourier transform-like on the input. In addition, an adaptive learning rate algorithm is introduced, which can automatically adjust the weights between different loss terms to alleviate the gradient imbalance. Finally, we conduct extensive experiments to demonstrate the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed adaptive-MS-Resnet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a serious health threat to human society worldwide. The use of machine learning methods to predict the risk of CVD is of great relevance to identify high-risk patients and take timely interventions. In this study, we propose the XGBH machine learning model, which is a CVD risk prediction model based on key contributing features. In this paper, the generalisation of the model was enhanced by adding retrospective data of 14,832 Chinese Shanxi CVD patients to the kaggle dataset. The XGBH risk prediction model proposed in this paper was validated to be highly accurate (AUC = 0.81) compared to the baseline risk score (AUC = 0.65), and the accuracy of the model for CVD risk prediction was improved with the inclusion of the conventional biometric BMI variable. To increase the clinical application of the model, a simpler diagnostic model was designed in this paper, which requires only three characteristics from the patient (age, value of systolic blood pressure and whether cholesterol is normal or not) to enable early intervention in the treatment of high-risk patients with a slight reduction in accuracy (AUC = 0.79). Ultimately, a CVD risk score model with few features and high accuracy will be established based on the main contributing features. Of course, further prospective studies, as well as studies with other populations, are needed to assess the actual clinical effectiveness of the XGBH risk prediction model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The roles and mechanisms of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) remain elusive. We obtained RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data of surgical PTC specimens from patients with thyroid cancer (THCA; n = 20) and identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between cancer and cancer-adjacent tissue samples. We identified 2309 DEGs (1372 significantly upregulated and 937 significantly downregulated). We performed Gene Ontology, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, gene set enrichment, and protein–protein interaction network analyses and screened for hub lncRNAs. Using the same methods, we analyzed the RNA-seq data from THCA dataset in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database to identify differentially expressed lncRNAs. We identified 15 key differentially expressed lncRNAs and pathways that were closely related to PTC. Subsequently, by intersecting the differentially expressed lncRNAs with hub lncRNAs, we identified LINC02407 as the key lncRNA. Assessment of the associated clinical characteristics and prognostic correlations revealed a close correlation between LINC02407 expression and N stage of patients. Furthermore, receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that LINC02407 could better distinguish between cancerous and cancer-adjacent tissues in THCA patients. In conclusion, our findings suggest that LINC02407 is a potential biomarker for PTC diagnosis and the prediction of lymph node metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the string theory, the fundamental blocks of nature are not particles but one-dimensional strings. Therefore, a generalization of this idea is to think of it as a cloud of strings. Rodrigues et al. embedded the black bounces spacetime into the string cloud, which demonstrates that the existence of the string cloud makes the Bardeen black hole singular, while the black bounces spacetime remains regular. On the other hand, the echoes are the correction to the late stage of the quasinormal ringing for a black hole, which is caused by the deviation of the spacetime relative to the initial black hole spacetime geometry in the near-horizon region. In this work, we study the gravitational wave echoes of black bounces spacetime surrounded by a cloud of strings under scalar field and electromagnetic field perturbation to explore the effects caused by a string cloud in the near-horizon region. The ringing of the regular black hole and traversable wormhole with string cloud are presented. Our results demonstrate that the black bounce spacetime with strings cloud is characterized by gravitational wave echoes as it transitions from regular black holes to wormholes, i.e. the echoes signal will facilitate us to distinguish between black holes and the wormholes in black bounces surrounded by the string cloud. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Primary Meige syndrome (PMS) is a rare form of dystonia, and comparative analysis of globus pallidus internal deep brain stimulation (GPi-DBS), subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS), and pallidotomy has been lacking. This study aims to compare the efficacy, safety, and psychiatric features of GPi-DBS, STN-DBS, and pallidotomy in patients with PMS.This prospective cohort study was divided into three groups: GPi-DBS, STN-DBS, and pallidotomy. Clinical assessments, including motor and non-motor domains, were evaluated at baseline and at 1 year and 3 years after neurostimulation/surgery.Ninety-eight patients were recruited: 46 patients received GPi-DBS, 34 received STN-DBS, and 18 underwent pallidotomy. In the GPi-DBS group, the movement score of the Burke-Fahn-Marsden Dystonia Rating Scale (BFMDRS) improved from a mean (SE) of 13.8 (1.0) before surgery to 5.0 (0.7) (95% CI, -10.5 to -7.1; P < 0.001) at 3 years. Similarly, in the STN-DBS group, the mean (SE) score improved from 13.2 (0.8) to 3.5 (0.5) (95% CI, -10.3 to -8.1; P < 0.001) at 3 years, and in the pallidotomy group, it improved from 14.9 (1.3) to 6.0 (1.1) (95% CI, -11.3 to -6.5; P < 0.001) at 3 years. They were comparable therapeutic approaches for PMS that can improve motor function and quality of life without non-motor side effects.DBS and pallidotomy are safe and effective treatments for PMS, and an in-depth exploration of non-motor symptoms may be a new entry point for gaining a comprehensive understanding of the pathophysiology.Methods: Primary Meige syndrome (PMS) is a rare form of dystonia, and comparative analysis of globus pallidus internal deep brain stimulation (GPi-DBS), subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS), and pallidotomy has been lacking. This study aims to compare the efficacy, safety, and psychiatric features of GPi-DBS, STN-DBS, and pallidotomy in patients with PMS.This prospective cohort study was divided into three groups: GPi-DBS, STN-DBS, and pallidotomy. Clinical assessments, including motor and non-motor domains, were evaluated at baseline and at 1 year and 3 years after neurostimulation/surgery.Ninety-eight patients were recruited: 46 patients received GPi-DBS, 34 received STN-DBS, and 18 underwent pallidotomy. In the GPi-DBS group, the movement score of the Burke-Fahn-Marsden Dystonia Rating Scale (BFMDRS) improved from a mean (SE) of 13.8 (1.0) before surgery to 5.0 (0.7) (95% CI, -10.5 to -7.1; P < 0.001) at 3 years. Similarly, in the STN-DBS group, the mean (SE) score improved from 13.2 (0.8) to 3.5 (0.5) (95% CI, -10.3 to -8.1; P < 0.001) at 3 years, and in the pallidotomy group, it improved from 14.9 (1.3) to 6.0 (1.1) (95% CI, -11.3 to -6.5; P < 0.001) at 3 years. They were comparable therapeutic approaches for PMS that can improve motor function and quality of life without non-motor side effects.DBS and pallidotomy are safe and effective treatments for PMS, and an in-depth exploration of non-motor symptoms may be a new entry point for gaining a comprehensive understanding of the pathophysiology.Results: Primary Meige syndrome (PMS) is a rare form of dystonia, and comparative analysis of globus pallidus internal deep brain stimulation (GPi-DBS), subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS), and pallidotomy has been lacking. This study aims to compare the efficacy, safety, and psychiatric features of GPi-DBS, STN-DBS, and pallidotomy in patients with PMS.This prospective cohort study was divided into three groups: GPi-DBS, STN-DBS, and pallidotomy. Clinical assessments, including motor and non-motor domains, were evaluated at baseline and at 1 year and 3 years after neurostimulation/surgery.Ninety-eight patients were recruited: 46 patients received GPi-DBS, 34 received STN-DBS, and 18 underwent pallidotomy. In the GPi-DBS group, the movement score of the Burke-Fahn-Marsden Dystonia Rating Scale (BFMDRS) improved from a mean (SE) of 13.8 (1.0) before surgery to 5.0 (0.7) (95% CI, -10.5 to -7.1; P < 0.001) at 3 years. Similarly, in the STN-DBS group, the mean (SE) score improved from 13.2 (0.8) to 3.5 (0.5) (95% CI, -10.3 to -8.1; P < 0.001) at 3 years, and in the pallidotomy group, it improved from 14.9 (1.3) to 6.0 (1.1) (95% CI, -11.3 to -6.5; P < 0.001) at 3 years. They were comparable therapeutic approaches for PMS that can improve motor function and quality of life without non-motor side effects.DBS and pallidotomy are safe and effective treatments for PMS, and an in-depth exploration of non-motor symptoms may be a new entry point for gaining a comprehensive understanding of the pathophysiology.Conclusions: Primary Meige syndrome (PMS) is a rare form of dystonia, and comparative analysis of globus pallidus internal deep brain stimulation (GPi-DBS), subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS), and pallidotomy has been lacking. This study aims to compare the efficacy, safety, and psychiatric features of GPi-DBS, STN-DBS, and pallidotomy in patients with PMS.This prospective cohort study was divided into three groups: GPi-DBS, STN-DBS, and pallidotomy. Clinical assessments, including motor and non-motor domains, were evaluated at baseline and at 1 year and 3 years after neurostimulation/surgery.Ninety-eight patients were recruited: 46 patients received GPi-DBS, 34 received STN-DBS, and 18 underwent pallidotomy. In the GPi-DBS group, the movement score of the Burke-Fahn-Marsden Dystonia Rating Scale (BFMDRS) improved from a mean (SE) of 13.8 (1.0) before surgery to 5.0 (0.7) (95% CI, -10.5 to -7.1; P < 0.001) at 3 years. Similarly, in the STN-DBS group, the mean (SE) score improved from 13.2 (0.8) to 3.5 (0.5) (95% CI, -10.3 to -8.1; P < 0.001) at 3 years, and in the pallidotomy group, it improved from 14.9 (1.3) to 6.0 (1.1) (95% CI, -11.3 to -6.5; P < 0.001) at 3 years. They were comparable therapeutic approaches for PMS that can improve motor function and quality of life without non-motor side effects.DBS and pallidotomy are safe and effective treatments for PMS, and an in-depth exploration of non-motor symptoms may be a new entry point for gaining a comprehensive understanding of the pathophysiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dual-specificity phosphatase 6 (DUSP6) serves a specific and conserved function on the dephosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2). We previously identified Dusp6 as a regenerative repressor during zebrafish heart regeneration, therefore we propose to investigate the role of this repressor in mammalian cardiac repair. Utilizing a rat strain harboring Dusp6 nonsense mutation, rat neutrophil-cardiomyocyte co-culture, bone marrow transplanted rats and neutrophil-specific Dusp6 knockout mice, we find that Dusp6 deficiency improves cardiac outcomes by predominantly attenuating neutrophil-mediated myocardial damage in acute inflammatory phase after myocardial infarction. Mechanistically, Dusp6 is transcriptionally activated by p38-C/EBPβ signaling and acts as an effector for maintaining p-p38 activity by down-regulating pERK and p38-targeting phosphatases DUSP1/DUSP16. Our findings provide robust animal models and novel insights for neutrophil-mediated cardiac damage and demonstrate the potential of DUSP6 as a therapeutic target for post-MI cardiac remodeling and other relevant inflammatory diseases. Dusp6, an ERK specific phosphatase, was identified as a regenerative repressor during zebrafish heart regeneration. Here, the authors show that Dusp6 deficiency improves post infarctional cardiac repair by predominantly attenuating neutrophil-mediated myocardial damage in mammalian hearts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the minimum measurable momentum concepts associated with the quantum gravity effects acting on the large-scale dynamics of the universe, we study the quantum effect of the EUP on the Hawking evaporation of the black hole. The results show the quantum corrections may shorten the lifetime of the massive black hole. To verify the new EUP on the black hole stability, the scalar field and electromagnetic field are derived and the time evolution of the black hole is analyzed in terms of the time domain integration method, the quantum effect alters the oscillation and decay time of black hole. Furthermore, we use the WKB numerical approximation method to calculate the quasinormal mode frequencies and analyze the influence of the EUP parameter α on the scattering problem. This shows that the EUP significantly increases the area of the total absorption cross-section of the black hole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is twofold: First, we generalize the non-relativistic Horava–Lifshitz four-dimensional black hole solution to include the electric charge to show a correspondence with the charged AdS solution in four-dimensional Einstein Gauss–Bonnet theory, and then we explore the phenomenological aspects of this black hole solution. Among other things, we point out a close connection with the GUP, explore various properties of this solution such as the entropy, Hawking temperature, free energy, pressure, critical pressure, critical temperature, critical entropy, and the horizon properties. Moreover by considering Jules Thompson's expansion of this black hole, we calculate the inversion temperature and, using Stefan–Boltzmann's law, we examine the changes in the black hole mass over time. To this end, we also study the shadow images and the electromagnetic intensity using infalling and static radiating gas. It is shown that although the optical appearance of the black hole does not change too much, the shadow radius increases by increasing the parameter ω ; on the other hand, the size of the shadow radius decreases by increasing the electric charge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the rational design of a dual stimulus-activated quaternary chiral emission nematic liquid crystals (Q-N*-LCs) containing light-driven chiral dopant R-S-R-1, a static chiral dopant S-2 and an achiral Nile Red (NR) in a nematic liquid crystal (SLC1717). The dopant R-S-R-1 acts as a dynamic chiral donor and an energy donor, and the achiral NR serves as a circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) emitter and energy acceptor. Interestingly, this kind of Q-N*-LCs appears reversal CPL emission direction (L-CPL) using 365 nm UV light irradiation compared with the initial state (R-CPL). Most importantly, the "On-Off" CPL switch behavior of Q-N*-LCs can be repeatedly driven by revoking or rearranging the applied direct current (DC) electric field. An OR chiral information logic gate demonstrates that this dual driven Q-N*-LCs can be potentially used for chiral information storage and coding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Poly(styrene-sodium p-styrene sulfonate) microspheres with porous morphology were prepared by dispersion polymerization and seed swelling selecting two monomers of sodium p-styrene sulfonate and styrene, which are denoted as P(St-NaSS). The method is simple and easy to effectively control the pore structure microspheres. The SEM results showed that the surface morphology of P(St-NaSS) microspheres is in porous, and the diameter of pores is about 0.5 μm. In this paper, the influence of swelling time on the pore size was investigated. The SEM results indicated that the longer the swelling time, the larger the pore size of microspheres. The absorbing hybrids of swelled multi-porous P(St-NaSS) @MWCNTs and non-swelled P(St-NaSS)@MWCNTs with three-dimensional conductive network were assembled by π bond stacking effect, and study the strength of its absorption of electromagnetic waves. Compared with P(St-NaSS)@MWCNTs hybrids, the multi-porous P(St-NaSS) hybrids exhibited better absorbing performance, the reflection loss is -35.24 dB at 7.15 GHz at 2 mm thick, while the reflection loss of P(St-NaSS)@MWCNTs is -24.63 dB. The experimental results show that the existence of porous in wave-transparent microspheres played an important role in improving the impedance matching, increasing the path of multiple reflection scattering, which is beneficial to improve the absorption of MWCNTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The long-term application of chemical fertilizers has caused to the farmland soil compaction, water pollution, and reduced the quality of vegetable to some extent. So, its become a trend in agriculture to find new bio-fertilizers. Chlorella extract is rich in amino acids, peptides, nucleic acids, growth hormones, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc ions, vitamin E, B1, B2, C, B6, folic acid, free biotin and chlorophyll. Chlorella extract can promote biological growth, mainly by stimulating the speed of cell division, thereby accelerating the proliferation rate of cells and playing a role in promoting plant growth. Whether Chlorella extract can be used to improve the growth of pepper (Capsicum annuum), needs to be verified. In current study, a pepper variety 'Chao Tian Jiao' was used as experiment material, by determining the changes of the related characteristics after spraying the seedlings with Chlorella extract, and its effect on growth of Capsicum annuum plants was investigated. The results showed that the Chlorella extract significantly increased plant height of pepper seedlings (treatment: 32.2 ± 0.3 cm; control: 24.2 ± 0.2 cm), stem diameter (treatment: 0.57 ± 0.02 cm; control: 0.41 ± 0.03 cm) and leaf area (treatment: 189.6 ± 3.2 cm2; control: 145.8 ± 2.5 cm2). Particularly, the pepper seedlings treated with Chlorella extract, developed the root system in better way, significantly increased the chlorophyll a, and the activities of SOD, POD and CAT enzymes were also improved significantly. Based on our results, we can speculate that it is possible to improve the growth of Capsicum annuum seedlings and reduce the application of chemical fertilizers in pepper production by using Chlorella extract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digestive tract cancers are the common cause of cancer deaths in both China and worldwide. This study aimed to describe the burden, recent trends and lifetime risks in the incidence and mortality of digestive tract cancers in an urban district of Shanghai, China. Our study extracted data on stomach, colon, rectum and liver cancers diagnosed in Changning District between 2010 and 2019 from the Shanghai Cancer Registry. We calculated age-standardized incidence and mortality rates, the risks of developing and dying from cancer, and the estimated annual percent changes. Between 2010 and 2019, 8619 new cases and 5775 deaths were registered with digestive tract cancers in the district. The age-standardized incidence rates (ASIRs) of liver cancer decreased steadily, whereas the ASIRs of stomach, colon and rectum cancers remained stable from 2010 to 2019. The age-standardized mortality rates (ASMRs) of stomach and liver cancers showed significant declining changes from 2010 to 2019 in both sexes, but that of colon and rectum cancers remained stable during the entire period. The risks of developing and dying from digestive tract cancers were substantially higher in men than women. The burden of digestive tract cancer and its disparities between sex and age group remain major public health challenges in urban Shanghai. To reduce the burden of digestive tract cancers, the government and researchers should develop and promote a healthy diet, organize a screening, and reduce the prevalence of smoking, alcohol drinking, and hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this work is to investigate the creep damage mechanism of granite from a nuclear power station. A series of multi-step loading and unloading cycles creep tests of granite were carried out under different confining pressures. For the creep test, the creep differential stresses (i.e., 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100% and even larger than 100% of σp) were applied according to the instantaneous peak deviatoric stress σp. To study the elastic-visco-plastic creep deformations of the granite specimens, the total strain was divided into instantaneous and creep strains, including the instantaneous elastic strain, plastic strain, visco-elastic strain, and visco-plastic strain. The results show that the short-term strength, crack damage threshold, and Young's modulus all increased with the increasing of confining pressure. Due to an existing critical stress, the creep strain stabilizes when the applied stress is less than the stress level. An exponential function is proposed, which can well describe the relationship between the visco-plastic strain and stress ratio. The long-term strength of the granite corresponds to the stress level at the stress ratio range from 0.86 to 0.95. Besides, the damage mechanism of the failed granite specimens is analyzed using an X-ray micro-CT scanning system. Finally, a time-dependent damage model is proposed to quantitatively characterize the creep damage and deformation behaviors of granite. Highlights: Investigate long-term creep mechanical behavior of granite under different confining pressure Explore the internal damage fracture behavior by X-ray micro-CT observation Propose a time-dependent damage model to describe the creep damage evolution of granite [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]