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Abstract Background Primary Sjogren’s syndrome (pSS) and autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) share overlapping genetic and immunological profiles. This retrospective study evaluates the efficacy of machine learning algorithms, with a focus on the Random Forest Classifier, to predict the presence of thyroid-specific autoantibodies (TPOAb and TgAb) in pSS patients. Methods A total of 96 patients with pSS were included in the retrospective study. All participants underwent a complete clinical and laboratory evaluation. All participants underwent thyroid function tests, including TPOAb and TgAb, and were accordingly divided into positive and negative thyroid autoantibody groups. Four machine learning algorithms were then used to analyze the risk factors affecting patients with pSS with positive and negative for thyroid autoantibodies. Results The results indicated that the Random Forest Classifier algorithm (AUC = 0.755) outperformed the other three machine learning algorithms. The random forest classifier indicated Age, IgG, C4 and dry mouth were the main factors influencing the prediction of positive thyroid autoantibodies in pSS patients. It is feasible to predict AIT in pSS using machine learning algorithms. Conclusions Analyzing clinical and laboratory data from 96 pSS patients, the Random Forest model demonstrated superior performance (AUC = 0.755), identifying age, IgG levels, complement component 4 (C4), and absence of dry mouth as primary predictors. This approach offers a promising tool for early identification and management of AIT in pSS patients. Trial registration This retrospective study was approved and monitored by the Ethics Committee of The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University (No.II2023-254-02).

Abstract Spatiotemporally controlled cargo release is a key advantage of nanocarriers in anti-tumor therapy. Various external or internal stimuli-responsive nanomedicines have been reported for their ability to increase drug levels at the diseased site and enhance therapeutic efficacy through a triggered release mechanism. Redox-manipulating nanocarriers, by exploiting the redox imbalances in tumor tissues, can achieve precise drug release, enhancing therapeutic efficacy while minimizing damage to healthy cells. As a typical redox-sensitive bond, the disulfide bond is considered a promising tool for designing tumor-specific, stimulus-responsive drug delivery systems (DDS). The intracellular redox imbalance caused by tumor microenvironment (TME) regulation has emerged as an appealing therapeutic target for cancer treatment. Sustained glutathione (GSH) depletion in the TME by redox-manipulating nanocarriers can exacerbate oxidative stress through the exchange of disulfide-thiol bonds, thereby enhancing the efficacy of ROS-based cancer therapy. Intriguingly, GSH depletion is simultaneously associated with glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) inhibition and dihydrolipoamide S-acetyltransferase (DLAT) oligomerization, triggering mechanisms such as ferroptosis and cuproptosis, which increase the sensitivity of tumor cells. Hence, in this review, we present a comprehensive summary of the advances in disulfide based redox-manipulating nanocarriers for anticancer drug delivery and provide an overview of some representative achievements for combinational therapy and theragnostic. The high concentration of GSH in the TME enables the engineering of redox-responsive nanocarriers for GSH-triggered on-demand drug delivery, which relies on the thiol-disulfide exchange reaction between GSH and disulfide-containing vehicles. Conversely, redox-manipulating nanocarriers can deplete GSH, thereby enhancing the efficacy of ROS-based treatment nanoplatforms. In brief, we summarize the up-to-date developments of the redox-manipulating nanocarriers for cancer therapy based on DDS and provide viewpoints for the establishment of more stringent anti-tumor nanoplatform. Graphical abstract

Gas-filled bubbles present significant challenges in materials as they make materials porous and weaken the strength of materials. Here, argon bubbles that are formed during the fabrication of oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) steels are investigated. The Ar bubbles are attached to nano-oxides which are dispersed in the matrix. MA956 ODS specimen was irradiated with 362 MeV 129Xe26+ at room temperature to about 7 dpa at peak damage. The behavior of Ar bubbles in different irradiation depths was investigated by using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) via cross-section specimens. The results show that Ar-bubbles in the peak damage and ions deposition region experience an apparent dissolution. Further, we simulate the behavior of isolated Ar bubble and attached Ar bubble to oxide under primary knock-on atoms (PKA) with different energy and numbers by using molecular dynamics (MD). The results show that high energy PKA (exceeding 30 keV) and multiple cascades can contribute to the effective ejection of Ar atoms from bubbles. Meanwhile, the interface between oxide and bubble contributes less to the bubble dissolution. Besides that, the effects of thermal ejection and excess self-interstitial atoms generated from the implantation of foreign atoms on the dissolution of Ar bubbles are discussed.

Background: Hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN) is a common condition that can have a severe impact on the health of newborns due to the hemolytic reactions it triggers. Although numerous studies have focused on understanding the pathogenesis of HDN, there are still many unanswered questions.Methods: In this retrospective study, serum samples were collected from 15 healthy newborns and 8 infants diagnosed with hemolytic disease. The relationship between different metabolites and various IgG subtypes in Healthy, HDN and BLI groups was studied by biochemical technique and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Metabolomics analysis was conducted to identify the differential metabolites associated with HDN. Subsequently, Pearson's correlation analysis was used to determine the relation of these differential metabolites with IgG isoforms. The relationship between the metabolites and IgG subtypes was observed after treatment.Results: The study results revealed that infants with hemolytic disease exhibited abnormal elevations in TBA, IgG1, IgG2a, IgG2b, IgG3, and IgG4 levels when compared to healthy newborns. Additionally, differences in metabolite contents were also observed. N, N-DIMETHYLARGININE showed negative correlations with TBA, IgG1, IgG2a, IgG2b, IgG3, and IgG4, while 2-HYDROXYBUTYRATE, AMINOISOBUTANOATE, Inosine, and ALLYL ISOTHIOCYANATE exhibited positive correlations with TBA, IgG1, IgG2a, IgG2b, IgG3, and IgG4. Through metabolomics-based research, we have discovered associations between differential metabolites and different IgG isoforms during the onset of HDN.Conclusion: These findings suggest that changes in metabolite and IgG isoform levels are linked to HDN. Understanding the involvement of IgG isoforms and metabolites can provide valuable guidance for the diagnosis and treatment of HDN.

Abstract Background This study aimed to report a case of neurotrophic keratitis caused by lightning. Case presentation A 38-year-old man was hit by lightning and suffered eye injury. He eventually developed neurotrophic keratitis. Results The patient’s injury history and burn site were analyzed, and it was judged that lightning directly damaged his cornea, eventually resulting in neurotrophic keratitis. Fortunately, the patient’s vision improved after treatment. Conclusion Lightning can cause eye damage, and the clinical manifestations are diverse. Lightning currents cause corneal nerve loss, resulting in neurotrophic keratitis. To maintain corneal integrity and prevent disease progression, early assessment and appropriate treatment are necessary.

Abstract Objectives To construct a combined model based on bi-regional quantitative dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI), as well as clinical-radiological (CR) features for predicting microvascular invasion (MVI) in solitary Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage A hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and to assess its ability for stratifying the risk of recurrence after hepatectomy. Methods Patients with solitary BCLC stage A HCC were prospective collected and randomly divided into training and validation sets. DCE perfusion parameters were obtained both in intra-tumoral region (ITR) and peritumoral region (PTR). Combined DCE perfusion parameters (C DCE) were constructed to predict MVI. The combined model incorporating C DCE and CR features was developed and evaluated. Kaplan–Meier method was used to investigate the prognostic significance of the model and the survival benefits of different hepatectomy approaches. Results A total of 133 patients were included. Total blood flow in ITR and arterial fraction in PTR exhibited the best predictive performance for MVI with areas under the curve (AUCs) of 0.790 and 0.792, respectively. C DCE achieved AUCs of 0.868 (training set) and 0.857 (validation set). A combined model integrated with the α-fetoprotein, corona enhancement, two-trait predictor of venous invasion, and C DCE could improve the discrimination ability to AUCs of 0.966 (training set) and 0.937 (validation set). The combined model could stratify the prognosis of HCC patients. Anatomical resection was associated with a better prognosis in the high-risk group (p

Abstract Electrical conductivity is a pivotal biophysical factor for neural interfaces, though optimal values remain controversial due to challenges isolating this cue. To address this issue, conductive substrates made of carbon nanotubes and graphene oxide nanoribbons, exhibiting a spectrum of conductivities from 0.02 to 3.2 S m−1, while controlling other surface properties is designed. The focus is to ascertain whether varying conductivity in isolation has any discernable impact on neural lineage specification. Remarkably, neural‐tissue‐like low conductivity (0.02–0.1 S m−1) prompted neural stem/progenitor cells to exhibit a greater propensity toward neuronal lineage specification (neurons and oligodendrocytes, not astrocytes) compared to high supraphysiological conductivity (3.2 S m−1). High conductivity instigated the apoptotic process, characterized by increased apoptotic fraction and decreased neurogenic morphological features, primarily due to calcium overload. Conversely, cells exposed to physiological conductivity displayed epigenetic changes, specifically increased chromatin openness with H3acetylation (H3ac) and neurogenic‐transcription‐factor activation, along with a more balanced intracellular calcium response. The pharmacological inhibition of H3ac further supported the idea that such epigenetic changes might play a key role in driving neuronal specification in response to neural‐tissue‐like, not supraphysiological, conductive cues. These findings underscore the necessity of optimal conductivity when designing neural interfaces and scaffolds to stimulate neuronal differentiation and facilitate the repair process.

Due to the presence of brush and slip ring in the excitation method of electrically excited synchronous motors, this article proposes a new excitation method - non-contact excitation system. This method transfers electrical energy from the stator to the rotor through magnetic coupling, replacing slip ring and brush. However, the magnetic coupling coils at the primary and secondary ends of the system will deviate, which will affect motor operation quality. In order to effectively reduce the changes caused by mutual inductance, this article proposes an improved particle swarm optimization algorithm for mutual inductance identification. This improved algorithm can effectively reduce the shortcomings of low accuracy and easy to fall into local optima in particle swarm optimization. Simulation and experimental results show that the improved particle swarm optimization algorithm can improve search accuracy.

ObjectiveTo determine the efficacy of mechanical thrombectomy combined with prolonged mild hypothermia compared with conventional treatment in managing acute middle cerebral artery occlusion, and to explore whether extending the duration of hypothermia can improve neurological function.MethodFrom 2018 to June 2023, a retrospective analysis was conducted on 45 patients with acute middle cerebral artery occlusion treated at the NICU of Suzhou Kowloon Hospital, affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. After thrombectomy, patients were admitted to the neurological intensive care unit (NICU) for targeted temperature management. Patients were divided into two groups: the mild hypothermia group (34.5–35.9°C) receiving 5–7 days of treatment, and the normothermia group (control group) whose body temperature was kept between 36 and 37.5°C using pharmacological and physical cooling methods. Baseline characteristics and temperature changes were compared between the two groups of patients. The primary outcome was the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score at 3 month after surgery, and the secondary outcomes were related complications and mortality rate. Prognostic risk factors were investigated using both univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses.ResultsAmong 45 patients, 21 underwent prolonged mild hypothermia, and 24 received normothermia, with no significant differences in baseline characteristics between the two groups. The duration of mild hypothermia ranged from 5 to 7 days. The incidence of chills (33.3% vs. 8.3%, p = 0.031) and constipation (57.1% vs. 20.8%, p = 0.028) was significantly higher in the mild hypothermia group compared with the control group. There was no significant difference in mortality rates between the mild hypothermia and the control group (4.76% vs. 8.33%, p = 1.000, OR = 1.75, 95% CI, 0.171–17.949). At 3 month, there was no significant difference in the modified mRS (0–3) score between the mild hypothermia and control groups (52.4% vs. 25%, p = 0.114, OR = 0.477, 95% CI, 0.214–1.066). Infarct core volume was an independent risk factor for adverse neurological outcomes.ConclusionProlonged mild hypothermia following mechanical thrombectomy had no severe complications and shows a trend to improve the prognosis of neurological function. The Infarct core volume on CTP was an independent risk factor for predicting neurological function.

We use a sample of Chinese firms from 2006 to 2020 to investigate the effect of information infrastructure on the quality of green innovation. Findings show that information infrastructure significantly improves corporate green innovation quality, and information infrastructure improves the pricing efficiency, improves valuation levels, accelerates the flow of innovation resources, and induces the growth effect of corporate innovation resources. Furthermore, we find that executive salary incentives, internal control quality, and market-oriented environmental regulation have adaptive incentives for information infrastructure to improve the quality of green innovation. Our findings provide justification to promote the construction of an information infrastructure and adopt market-oriented environmental regulations to improve corporate green innovation quality.

Abstract Smart sensors with excellent performance are accelerating the development of biomedicine and the Internet of Energy. Nanodielectrics exhibit unique electrical and mechanical properties. As the predominant materials in optical magnetic field sensor (MFS), they can not only exert the anti‐interference of optical sensing, but improve the measuring characteristics of optical sensors. For instance, the optical fibre quantum probe for the magnetic field can obtain a higher sensitivity of 0.57 nT/Hz1/2, while the measurement range of the sensor that uses Co‐doped ZnO nanorods as cladding is 17–180 mT. Here, these exciting recent achievements in the realm of optical sensing methods for magnetic field detection are reviewed, with a focus on nanodielectrics, which provide an emerging opportunity to achieve higher sensitivity and a wider measurement range of MFS.

Abstract Cholesterol plays a significant role in stabilizing lipid or membrane rafts, which are specific cellular membrane structures. Cholesterol is involved in numerous cellular processes, including regulating virus entry into the host cell. Multiple viruses have been shown to rely on cholesterol for virus entry and/or morphogenesis. Research indicates that reprogramming of the host’s lipid metabolism is associated with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections in the progression to severe liver disease for viruses that cause chronic hepatitis. Moreover, knowing the precise mode of viral interaction with target cells sheds light on viral pathogenesis and aids in the development of vaccines and therapeutic targets. As a result, the area of cholesterol-lowering therapy is quickly evolving and has many novel antiviral targets and medications. It has been shown that microRNAs (miRNAs) either directly or indirectly target the viral genome, preventing viral replication. Moreover, miRNAs have recently been shown to be strong post-transcriptional regulators of the genes involved in lipid metabolism, particularly those involved in cholesterol homeostasis. As important regulators of lipid homeostasis in several viral infections, miRNAs have recently come to light. In addition, multiple studies demonstrated that during viral infection, miRNAs modulate several enzymes in the mevalonate/cholesterol pathway. As cholesterol metabolism is essential to the life cycle of viral hepatitis and other viruses, a sophisticated understanding of miRNA regulation may contribute to the development of a novel anti-HCV treatment. The mechanisms underlying the effectiveness of miRNAs as cholesterol regulators against viral hepatitis are explored in this review. Video Abstract Graphical Abstract

Accurate and reliable mathematical modeling is essential for the optimal control and performance analysis of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) systems, which are mainly implemented based on accurate parameter estimation. In this paper, a multi-strategy tuna swarm optimization (MS-TSO) is proposed to estimate the parameters of PEMFC voltage models and compare them with other optimizers such as differential evolution, the whale optimization approach, the salp swarm algorithm, particle swarm optimization, Harris hawk optimization and the slime mould algorithm. In the optimizing routine, the unidentified factors of the PEMFCs are used as the decision variables, which are optimized to minimize the sum of square errors between the estimated and measured data. The optimizers are examined based on three PEMFC datasets including BCS500W, NedStackPS6 and harizon500W as well as a set of experimental data which are measured using the Greenlight G20 platform with a 25 cm2 single cell at 353 K. It is confirmed that MS-TSO gives better performance in terms of convergence speed and accuracy than the competing algorithms. Furthermore, the results achieved by MS-TSO are compared with other reported approaches in the literature. The advantages of MS-TSO in ascertaining the optimum factors of various PEMFCs have been comprehensively demonstrated.

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells have attracted widespread attention due to their cleanliness and high energy density, but the performance degradation during operation greatly limits their commercialization. Therefore, the reliable degradation prediction of fuel cell performance is of great significance. The recovery phenomenon of the reversible voltage loss that occurs during the operation of fuel cells has posed great difficulties for model training and prediction. Moreover, the models may easily and erroneously learn the combined trends in the recovery of reversible voltage loss and performance degradation. To address this issue, this paper employs the Transformer model to predict the performance degradation of fuel cells. By utilizing the unique self-attention structure and masking mechanism of the Transformer model, the signal for the recovery of the reversible voltage loss is adopted as the input for the model to avoid interference from information before voltage recovery on subsequent predictions. Experimental results show that the model has the highest prediction accuracy at various prediction starting points. Meanwhile, it can predict the accelerated performance degradation of fuel cells, which has positive implications for health management.

As the essential equipment in ultra-high voltage direct current transmission systems, converter transformers provide an important role in the stable operation of the power grid. During the long-term operation of converter transformers, the aging and decomposition of the oil-paper insulation cause a great quantity of metal and non-metal solid particles in the transformer oil, which is one of the important reasons for the equipment failure. The solid particles are affected by various forces in transformer oil, among which the Coulomb force dominates their motion characteristics. The charging process of solid particles contacting the electrode is very important. There are many discussions on the charge carried by metal particles after colliding with the electrode, but less research on the Coulomb force of non-metallic particles in the oil. A simulation model is established to calculate the Coulomb force of metal and non-metal particles in the oil, and the moving process of spherical solid particles of different diameters under different voltages is observed. The research shows that for spherical solid particles with the same material, the Coulomb force increases non-linearly with the increase of particle size. For particles with different materials of the same particle size, the Coulomb force experienced by metal particles is relatively large. Therefore, the charge carried by non-metal particles after colliding with the electrode cannot be calculated by the charge calculation method of metal particles. The research is helpful to analyze the force and movement process of particles in oil and provides support for transformer fault diagnosis and insulation structure design.

Abstract The presence of lightning impulses (LIs) on the DC waveform can seriously influence the insulation performance of a GIL system. The waveshape can be a superposition of the DC and impulse waveform. In this study, the behaviour of partial discharge (PD) on an epoxy surface is investigated under DC and LI superimposed voltage in SF6. The lightning impulses with different polarities are superimposed on the epoxy surface under both positive and negative DC voltages, respectively. Positive lightning impulses are superimposed on a negative DC voltage with a 90% of the partial discharge inception voltage (PDIV) magnitude. The number and amplitude of the PDs are used to evaluate the insulation performance. The experimental results show that the LI with a different polarity applied to DC can excite the PDs on the epoxy surface. The excitation effect of positive LI superimposed on negative DC is more significant. According to the impulse amplitude and PD characteristics, the influence of superimposed LI on PD excitation can be divided into three stages. As the superimposed LI increases, the amplitude of the excited PD increases gradually, while the PD number first increases and then decreases. This study is expected to provide reference for manufacture and protection of power equipment.

Abstract Background Although uveal melanoma (UM) at the early stage is controllable to some extent, it inevitably ultimately leads to death due to its metastasis. At present, the difficulty is that there is no way to effectively tackle the metastasis. It is hypothesized that these will be treated by target molecules, but the recognized target molecule has not yet been found. In this study, the target molecule was explored through proteomics. Methods Transgenic enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) inbred nude mice, which spontaneously display a tumor microenvironment (TME), were used as model animal carriers. The UM cell line 92.1 was inoculated into the brain ventricle stimulating metastatic growth of UM, and a graft re-cultured Next, the UM cell line 92.1-A was obtained through monoclonal amplification, and a differential proteomics database, between 92.1 and ectopic 92.1-A, was established. Finally, bioinformatics methodologies were adopted to optimize key regulatory proteins, and in vivo and in vitro functional verification and targeted drug screening were performed. Results Cells and tissues displaying green fluorescence in animal models were determined as TME characteristics provided by hosts. The data of various biological phenotypes detected proved that 92.1-A were more malignant than 92.1. Besides this malignancy, the key protein p62 (SQSTM1), selected from 5267 quantifiable differential proteomics databases, was a multifunctional autophagy linker protein, and its expression could be suppressed by chloroquine and dacarbazine. Inhibition of p62 could reduce the malignancy degree of 92.1-A. Conclusions As the carriers of human UM orthotopic and ectopic xenotransplantation, transgenic EGFP inbred nude mice clearly display the characteristics of TME. In addition, the p62 protein optimized by the proteomics is the key protein that increases the malignancy of 92.1 cells, which therefore provides a basis for further exploration of target molecule therapy for refractory metastatic UM.

The main factors affecting the performance of solid acid catalyzed liquid-phase condensation of aniline to diphenylamine are acidity and pore structure. Fluorine has strong electron affinity due to its special electronic structure, which can adjust the acidity and pore structure of zeolite. β zeolite was modified with different concentrations of NH4F solution. The aluminum in the framework of aluminosilicate zeolite was removed to a certain extent, and the acidity and pore size of β zeolite were controlled. Combined with XRD, Py-IR, Al MAS NMR and DRIFTS the active center and reaction mechanism of the catalytic reaction were discussed.

Abstract The conventional manufacturing process of fiber-reinforced metal matrix composites via liquid infiltration processes, preform manufacturing using inorganic binders is essential. However, the procedure involves binder sintering, which requires high energy and long operating times. A new fabrication process without preform manufacturing is proposed to fabricate short carbon fiber (SCF)-reinforced aluminum matrix composites using a low-pressure infiltration method. To improve the wettability between fiber and matrix, fibers were plated copper using an electroless plating process. The low-pressure infiltration method with preformless succeeded in manufacturing a composite with a volume fraction of about 30% of carbon fibers.The fiber orientation of the composite material manufactured without preform and the fiber orientation of the composite material manufactured using an inorganic binder was almost the same. The manufactured composites with preformless have high hardness and high thermal conductivity.

Abstract Single‐component emitters with stable and bright warm white‐light emission are highly desirable for high‐efficacy warm white light‐emitting diodes (warm‐WLEDs), however, materials with such luminescence properties are extremely rare. Low­dimensional lead (Pb) halide perovskites can achieve warm white photoluminescence (PL), yet they suffer from low stability and PL quantum yield (PLQY). While Pb‐free air‐stable perovskites such as Cs2AgInCl6 emit desirable warm white light, sophisticated doping strategies are typically required to increase their PL intensity. Moreover, the use of rare metal‐bearing compounds along with the typically required vacuum‐based thin‐film processing may greatly increase their production cost. Herein, organic–inorganic hybrid cuprous (Cu+)‐based metal halide MA2CuCl3 (MA = CH3NH3+) that meets the requirements of i) nontoxicity, ii) high PLQY, and iii) dopant‐free is presented. Both single crystals and thin films of MA2CuCl3 can be facilely prepared by a low‐cost solution method, which demonstrate bright warm white‐light emission with intrinsically high PLQYs of 90–97%. Prototype electroluminescence devices and down‐conversion LEDs are fabricated with MA2CuCl3 thin films and single crystals, respectively, which show bright luminescence with decent efficiencies and operational stability. These findings suggest that MA2CuCl3 has a great potential for the single‐component indoor lighting and display applications.

Scorpiothyrsus erythrotrichus belongs to Melastomataceae. Here, we present its complete plastome. To our knowledge, this is the first reported complete chloroplast genome of S. erythrotrichus. The complete plastome of S. erythrotrichus is 160,731 bp in length with a typical quadripartite structure, consisting of four regions: large single-copy (LSC) region (85,483 bp), small single-copy (SSC) region (17,007 bp), and two inverted repeat regions (IRs, 26,780 bp). It contains 128 genes (79 coding genes, four rRNAs, and 30 tRNAs). The overall GC content is 36.9% and in the LSC, SSC, and IR regions are 34.70%, 30.40%, and 42.50%, respectively. Our study contributes to the molecular phylogenetic studies of Scorpiothyrsus and Melastomataceae.

ObjectiveThe aim of the present study is to summarize the experience of using a 2. 7 mm choledochoscope for laparoscopic cholecystectomy combined with an ultrathin choledochoscope for common bile duct exploration and choledocholithotomy in the treatment of cholecystolithiasis associated with choledocholithiasis after the implementation of strict inclusion and exclusion criteria.MethodsA retrospective analysis of 47 patients with cholecystolithiasis complicated with choledocholithiasis who were treated in the hepatopancreatobiliary surgery department of the Chinese People's Liberated Army General Hospital between January 2015 and December 2019 was performed in the present study. Clinical data of laparoscopic cholecystectomy combined with ultrathin choledochoscope transcystic duct exploration for common bile duct and choledocholithotomy.ResultsAll 47 patients completed the operation successfully. The gallbladder duct was closed using a surgical clamp. Only 2 patients were administered with an abdominal drainage tube. The operation time was 50–160 min, the intraoperative blood loss was 5–50 ml, and the postoperative hospital stay was 2–8 days. No patients had serious complications, such as bile leakage, postoperative bleeding, cholangitis, biliary pancreatitis, and wound infection. Minor complications, such as abdominal pain (Abdominal pain was defined as a patient felt tolerable or unbearable abdominal pain but improved or disappeared with medication) and diarrhea, were present in a few patients; these improved after conservative treatment. There was no recurrence of calculi during the 1–5 years of follow-up, and the patient quality of life was good.ConclusionLaparoscopic cholecystectomy combined with ultrathin choledochoscope common bile duct exploration and choledocholithotomy is a safe and effective method after adopting strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. This technology was started in the First Medical Center, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital in September 2009, and it has become extremely mature in the past 5 years.

Directed cell migration towards a softer environment is called negative durotaxis. The mechanism and pathological relevance of negative durotaxis in tumor progression still requires in-depth investigation. Here, we report that YAP promotes the negative durotaxis of melanoma. We uncovered that the RhoA-myosin II pathway may underlie the YAP enhanced negative durotaxis of melanoma cells. Acral melanoma is the most common subtype of melanoma in non-Caucasians and tends to develop in a stress-bearing area. We report that acral melanoma patients exhibit YAP amplification and increased YAP activity. We detected a decreasing stiffness gradient from the tumor to the surrounding area in the acral melanoma microenvironment. We further identified that this stiffness gradient could facilitate the negative durotaxis of melanoma cells. Our study advanced the understanding of mechanical force and YAP in acral melanoma and we proposed negative durotaxis as a new mechanism for melanoma dissemination.

Alternative splicing (AS) is significantly related to tumor development as well as a patient’s clinical characteristics. This study was designed to systematically analyze the survival-associated AS signatures in Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Among 30,735 AS events in 9,635 genes, we found that there were 1,429 AS in 1,125 genes which were conspicuously related to the overall survival of LUAD patients. Then, according to the seven types of AS events, we established AS signatures and constructed a new combined prognostic model. The Kaplan-Meier curve results showed that seven types of AS signatures and the combined prognostic model could divide patients into distinct prognoses. The ROC curve shows that all eight AS signatures had powerful predictive properties with different AUCs ranging from 0.708 to 0.849. Additionally, the elevated risk scores were positively related to higher TNM stage and metastasis. Interestingly, AS events and splicing factors (SFs) network shed light on a meaningful connection between prognostic AS genes and corresponding SFs. Moreover, we found that the combined prognostic model signature has a higher predictive ability than the mRNA signature. Furthermore, tumors at high risk might evade immune recognition by decreasing the expression of antigen presentation genes. Finally, we predicted the three most significant small molecule drugs to inhibit LUAD. Among them, NVP-AUY922 had the lowest IC50 value and might become a potential drug to prolong a patient’s survival. In conclusion, our study established a potential prognostic signature for LUAD patients, revealed a splicing network between AS and SFs and possible immune escape mechanism, and provided several small-molecule drugs to inhibit tumorigenesis.

Antimicrobial resistance is an increasingly serious threat to public health worldwide. The presence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in human airways and relevant environments has not received significant attention. In this study, abundances of ARGs and microbes from airborne particulate matter, dust, and human airways in a hospital were profiled using high-throughput qPCR and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. More diverse ARGs and microbes in indoor dust and higher levels of ARGs in particulate matter PM10 and PM2.5 were observed. Macrolides and aminoglycoside resistance genes were the most abundant ARGs in the airway and environmental samples, respectively. Moreover, the co-occurrences of priority pathogens, ARGs, and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) were shown by the Network analysis. Campylobacter spp. and Staphylococcus spp. positively correlated with fluoroquinolone (vatC-02, mexD) and β-lactams (blaZ, mecA) resistance genes, respectively. In this regard, based on SourceTracker analysis, inhalable particles contributed to 4.0% to 5.5% of ARGs in human airway samples, suggesting an important exchange between airborne inhalable particles and human commensals. This study may advance knowledge about ARGs in airborne particulate matter and dust associated environments, reveal their potential link between environments and humans, and provide a new sight and fundamental data for ARG risk assessment.

In this work, sulfated zirconia (SZ) was prepared by a solvent-free method, ammonium sulfate ((NH4)2SO4) and sulfamic acid (NH2SO3H) were as sulfur sources, respectively. The resulting catalysts were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry (TGA-DSC), N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms, inductively coupled plasma (ICP) and pyridine-FTIR. The characterization of the catalysts revealed that SZ prepared with (NH4)2SO4 as sulfur source contained more Lewis acid sites and less Brønsted acid sites. The effects of sulfur sources on the catalytic activity of catalysts were studied. Catalytic testing showed that SZ prepared with (NH4)2SO4 as sulfur source had a better catalytic performance for removing trace olefins from aromatics. Keywords: Aromatics, Olefins, Sulfur sources, Sulfated zirconia

In recent years, electric vehicles have developed rapidly. However, many electric cars are equipped with permanent magnet synchronous motors. Permanent magnet synchronous motors have several disadvantages: For example, permanent magnets tend to demagnetize at high temperatures. Electrically excited synchronous motors have several excellent properties. First, they are cheaper because the stator and rotor of the motor only need to be wound, which is more affordable than permanent magnets for speed regulation. When the armature current reaches the maximum value, the excitation current can also be adjusted for speed regulation, which makes the speed regulation more flexible. In the case of a short circuit, the corresponding direct-axis current is smaller than the quadrature-axis current, so the fault tolerance is better. Since the traditional electric excitation motor has brushes and slips rings, sparks will be generated during commutation. Therefore, a new excitation method is adopted to make non-contact motor excitation, and the motor operation is safer and more environmentally friendly. At the same time, to ensure that the output power of the non-contact electric excitation motor remains stable, a step-down circuit and power-type fast discrete terminal sliding mode control are added after the full-bridge rectifier circuit to make the excitation current and voltage output of the motor more stable. That is, the output power reaches a steady production. In this paper, an improved sliding mode control algorithm is used to stabilize the output voltage of the non-contact excitation motor, which can still ensure the stable output of the voltage when the equivalent load changes. It is confirmed that the non-contact excitation motor can be applied to various complex situations, and the proposed algorithm is simulated and experimentally verified to verify the accuracy of the proposed algorithm.

Upward flame spread characteristics over extruded polystyrene (XPS) foams with different porosities has been analyzed through experiments. In this paper, the average flame height and average maximum flame temperature first rise and then drop with increasing porosity, which is affected by the fuel and oxygen competition mechanisms. For P (the porosity of XPS samples) ≤ 35%, the positive effect of pores plays a dominant role; the average flame height and average maximum flame temperature increase with the increasing porosity. While the negative effect of pores plays a dominant role when P > 35%, causing the average flame height and average maximum flame temperature decrease with the increasing porosity. Modeling and experiments were conducted to study the heat flux from flame. The value of radiation is obviously higher than convection through formula derivation and the experimental results have high similarity with the theoretical results. Keywords: XPS, Porosity, Upward flame spread characteristics, Heat transfer

In the application of additive manufacturing, it is inevitable to use some formed parts with a smaller height. The analysis of various mechanical properties of these formed parts is the focus of research. In this paper, the fatigue performance of a titanium alloy specimen with a 10 mm height and electron beam selective melting is studied. By analyzing the structure and phase of the overall fatigue specimen, and then cutting the overall specimen parallel and perpendicular to the additive manufacturing direction, the tensile and fatigue tests in different directions are performed to detect the fatigue cracks at the fracture propagation the way to research. It is found that there are two ways of secondary crack propagation between fatigue bands, and three cracks are generated during the fatigue secondary crack propagation.