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Background & Aims: Approximately one-third of colorectal cancers develop from serrated lesions (SLs), including hyperplastic polyp (HP), sessile serrated lesion (SSL), traditional serrated adenoma (TSA), and SSL with dysplasia (SSLD) through the serrated neoplasia pathway, which progresses faster than the conventional adenoma-carcinoma pathway. We sought to depict the currently unclarified molecular and immune alterations by the single-cell landscape in SLs. Methods: We performed single-cell RNA sequencing of 16 SLs (including 4 proximal HPs, 5 SSLs, 2 SSLDs, and 5 TSAs) vs 3 normal colonic tissues. Results: A total of 60,568 high-quality cells were obtained. Two distinct epithelial clusters with redox imbalance in SLs were observed, along with upregulation of tumor-promoting SerpinB6 that regulated ROS level. Epithelial clusters of SSL and TSA showed distinct molecular features: SSL-specific epithelium manifested overexpressed proliferative markers with Notch pathway activation, whereas TSA-specific epithelium showed Paneth cell metaplasia with aberrant lysozyme expression. As for immune contexture, enhanced cytotoxic activity of CD8+ T cells was observed in SLs; it was mainly attributable to increased proportion of CD103+CD8+ tissue-resident memory T cells, which might be regulated by retinoic acid metabolism. Microenvironment of SLs was generally immune-activated, whereas some immunosuppressive cells (regulatory T cells, anti-inflammatory macrophages, MDK+IgA+ plasma cells, MMP11-secreting PDGFRA+ fibroblasts) also emerged at early stage and further accumulated in SSLD. Conclusion: Epithelial, immune, and stromal components in the serrated pathway undergo fundamental alterations. Future molecular subtypes of SLs and potential immune therapy might be developed.

Abstract. Background:. Colorectal cancer (CRC) still ranks the top in morbidity and mortality of cancers worldwide, posing a huge threat and burden to the society. We aimed to determine the age-standardized incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) of CRC and explore potential changes in the temporal trends of the CRC burden in Shanghai during 2002 to 2016. Methods:. The cancer statistics and demographics were obtained from the Cancer Registry and the Statistics Bureau of Pudong New Area, respectively. Data from 2002 to 2016 were included and analyzed retrospectively. DALYs were calculated using DisMod and the age-standardized rates (ASRs) were obtained according to Segi world standard population. Joinpoint regression was used to measure the trends in CRC incidence and to estimate the annual percent change. Results:. The increasing trend of CRC ASR incidence halted after 2014, coinciding with the introduction of the Shanghai CRC screening program. The ASRs of mortality and DALYs increased, at 0.42% (P 74 years. The benefits of the screening program have been partially proven by the ASRs of CRC incidence, providing important insights into better and wider application of screening programs.

Abstract Gut microbiota plays a critical role in the maintenance of host health. As a low-cost and genetically tractable vertebrate model, zebrafish have been widely used for biological research. Zebrafish and humans share some similarities in intestinal physiology and function, and this allows zebrafish to be a surrogate model for investigating the crosstalk between the gut microbiota and host. Especially, zebrafish have features such as high fecundity, external fertilization, and early optical transparency. These enable the researchers to employ the fish to address questions not easily addressed in other animal models. In this review, we described the intestine structure of zebrafish. Also, we summarized the methods of generating a gnotobiotic zebrafish model, the factors affecting its intestinal flora, and the study progress of gut microbiota functions in zebrafish. Finally, we discussed the limitations and challenges of the zebrafish model for gut microbiota studies. In summary, this review established that zebrafish is an attractive research tool to understand mechanistic insights into host-microbe interaction.

Abstract Circular RNAs (circRNAs) can regulate autophagy and ovarian cancer (OC) progression. However, autophagy-associated circRNAs involved in OC progression are largely unknown. Bioinformatics, RNA sequencing, and qRT-PCR were conducted to detect circRNF144B expression in OC as well as its relationship with patient prognosis. Functional experiments were used to determine the effects of circRNF144B on the proliferation, mobility and autophagy of OC. Double luciferase reporter assays, immunoprecipitation, and ubiquitination detection were performed to determine the molecular mechanisms of circRNF144B in autophagy and OC progression. CircRNF144B was elevated in OC tissues with low autophagy levels, and associated with poor prognosis. CircRNF144B promoted the malignant biological properties of OC cells, and inhibited the autophagy. Mechanistically, circRNF144B acts as a sponge for miR-342-3p and inhibits miR-342-3p-induced degradation of lysine demethylase 2 A (FBXL11) mRNA, leading to elevated FBXL11 protein levels. Elevated FBXL11 promoted the ubiquitination and degradation of Beclin-1, thus inhibiting autophagy. In conclusion, CircRNF144B increased FBXL11 level by sponging miR-342-3p, whereas elevated FBXL11 promoted the ubiquitination and protein degradation of Beclin-1, thus suppressing autophagy flux and promoting OC progression. Thus, circRNF144B may be an effective target for OC therapy.

Citrobacter sp. produces 3-hexenyl acetate in fruits, which attracts gravid B. dorsalis to lay eggs through ovipositor recognition. This provides a mechanism underlying the effective spread of Citrobacter sp. in the population of B. dorsalis.

Bisphenol A (BPA) has a number of adverse effects on the reproductive development of females. In particular, the mechanism of disruption of ovarian development in adolescent mice is still unclear. Based on transcriptome sequencing results, a differentially expressed lncRNA, Fhad1os2, was detected in the ovaries of BPA-exposed pubertal mice. In our study, the lncRNA Fhad1os2, localized in the ovarian granulosa cell cytoplasm, could regulate the proliferation of mouse ovarian granulosa cells. Mechanistically, the results of RNA pull-down experiments as well as mass spectrometry analysis showed that ERα, an interfering signaling molecule of BPA, could directly bind lncRNA Fhad1os2 and decrease the transcription of lncRNA Fhad1os2 in response to the estrogen-like effect of BPA. BPA exposure also caused abnormal lncRNA Fhad1os2 pulldown protein-related signaling pathways in the ovaries of adolescent mice. Furthermore, lncRNA Fhad1os2 interacted with RUNX3, a transcription factor related to follicle development and hormone synthesis. As a negative regulator, lncRNA Fhad1os2 transactivated the expression of Runx3, which in turn induced RUNX3 to positively regulate aromatase (Cyp19a1) expression in mouse ovarian granulosa cells and promote estrogen synthesis. In conclusion, our study indicates that BPA exposure interferes with ERα-regulated lncRNA Fhad1os2 interactions with RUNX3 in pubertal mice, affecting estrogen synthesis in mouse granulosa cells and contributing to premature ovarian maturation in pubertal mice.

ObjectiveThis study seeks to systematically evaluate and test the effects of yoga exercise intervention programs on sleep quality in breast cancer patients in order to suggest more optimized exercise programs.MethodComputer searches of the PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science and CINAHL databases are conducted from the date of their inception to June 8th, 2022 to collect randomized controlled trials on the effects of yoga exercise intervention on sleep quality in breast cancer patients. Two investigators independently carry out the inclusion and exclusion criteria literature screening, data extraction and methodological quality assessment of the included literature by applying the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Subgroup analysis is performed using RevMan 5.4.1 software, and the six moderating variables of intervention format, intervention type, weekly intervention frequency, total intervention duration, single intervention duration and intervention evaluation at different time points are set for the 782 subjects of the 12 included publications.ResultsTwelve randomized controlled trials with a total sample size of 782 subjects are included, including 393 subjects in the experimental group and 389 subjects in the control group. The meta-analysis shows that yoga exercise intervention is effective in improving sleep quality in breast cancer patients [SMD = -0.40, 95% CI: (-0.71, -0.09), P = 0.01]; yoga exercise intervention focusing on positive meditation [SMD = -0.55, 95% CI: (-1.08, -0.03), P = 0.04] is effective in improving sleep; yoga exercise intervention two or three times a week is effective in improving sleep quality [SMD = -0.69, 95% CI: (-1.19, -0.19), P = 0.007]; yoga exercise intervention for 6–8 weeks significantly improves sleep quality [SMD = -0.86, 95% CI: (-1.65, -0.08), P =0.03]; and evaluation immediately after the end of intervention improves sleep outcomes [SMD = -0.17, 95% CI: (-0.33, 0.00), P = 0.05], while differences in sleep quality improvement are not statistically significant for the remaining subgroup outcomes (P > 0.05).ConclusionThe available evidence suggests that yoga exercise intervention has good effects on improving sleep quality in breast cancer patients. Positive meditation intervention type, intervention frequency of two or three times per week, total intervention duration of 6–8 weeks and evaluation immediately after the end of intervention are shown to be effective in improving sleep quality.

Objectives: We investigated the effect of local vibration intensity on the vascular response to the microcirculation of the finger.Materials and methods: We performed hand-transmitted vibration experiments combined with laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) to measure the blood perfusion signals of fingertips in the vibrated hand and the contralateral middle finger under the same frequency and different amplitude vibration, and to analyze the changes of microcirculatory blood perfusion levels in the fingers, and to investigate the effects of vibration stimulation on the endothelial, neural and myogenic regulatory frequency ranges of fingertips based on wavelet analysis. Furthermore, the transparent silicone films were fabricated and cultured with vascular endothelial cell (EC), which will undergo the local vibration with varied amplitude. And the expression of inflammatory factors was detected in the ECs.Results: Low-frequency vibration leads to a decreased blood flow in fingertip, and the degree of reduction in fingertip blood flow increases as the amplitude gradually increases, and the period required for blood flow to return to normal level after hand-transmitted vibration gradually increases. The decrease in blood flow is more pronounced in the vibrating hand than in the contralateral hand. In addition, nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) expression increased significantly with the increase of vibration amplitude.Conclusion: High amplitude vibrations caused the inflammatory reaction of ECs which will lead to the altered endothelial regulatory activity. The endothelial regulatory activity is closely related to the blood perfusion in the microcirculation.

Soil microbes are the primary drivers of the material cycling of the forest ecosystem, and understanding how microbial structure and composition change across succession assists in clarifying the mechanisms behind succession dynamics. However, the response of soil microbial communities and assembly processes to succession is poorly understood in subtropical forests. Thus, through the “space instead of time” and high throughput sequencing method, the dynamics of the soil bacterial and fungal communities and assembly process along the succession were studied, where five succession stages, including Abandoned lands (AL), Deciduous broad-leaved forests (DB), Coniferous forests (CF), Coniferous broad-leaved mixed forests (CB), and Evergreen broad-leaved forests (EB), were selected in a subtropical forest on the western slope of Wuyi Mountain, southern China. The results demonstrated that succession significantly decreased soil bacterial α-diversity but had little effect on fungal α-diversity. The composition of soil bacterial and fungal communities shifted along with the succession stages. LEfSe analysis showed the transition from initial succession microbial communities dominated by Firmicutes, Bacteroidota, Ascomycota, and Chytridiomycota to terminal succession communities dominated by Actinobacteriota and Basidiomycota. Distance-based redundancy analysis (db-RDA) revealed that soil total organic carbon (TOC) was the main factor explaining variability in the structure of soil bacterial communities, and multiple soil environmental factors such as the TOC, soil total nitrogen (TN), C:N ratio, and pH co-regulated the structure of fungi. The null models illustrated that deterministic processes were dominant in the soil bacterial communities, while the stochastic processes contributed significantly to the soil fungal communities during succession. Collectively, our results suggest that different patterns are displayed by the soil bacterial and fungal communities during the succession. These findings enhance our comprehension of the processes that drive the formation and maintenance of soil microbial diversity throughout forest succession.

A general acoustic force field can be decomposed into a conservative gradient force (GF) and a non-conservative scattering force (SF), which have very different physical and mathematical properties. However, the profiles of such forces for Mie particles are unknown, let alone their underlying physics. Here, by using a fast Fourier transform approach, we calculated the GF and SF for spherical particle of various sizes and various incident waves. For the same focused incident waves, the normalized GF and SF are similar for different particle sizes, while the total force can be quite different owing to the varying relative strength between the GF and SF. GF and SF possess symmetries that are not found in the incident waves, indicating that these physically and mathematically distinct forces have symmetries that are hidden from the beam profile. For a vortex beam carrying a well-defined topological charge, acoustic forces alone cannot trap particles.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is characterized by recurrent episodes of complete or partial obstruction of the upper airway that lead to intermittent hypoxemia, negative intrathoracic pressure, hypercapnia, and sleep disturbances. While OSA is recognized as a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease, it’s relationship with hypertensive heart disease (HHD) remains underappreciated. HHD is a condition characterized by the pathological hypertrophy of the left ventricle, a consequence of elevated arterial hypertension. Interestingly, both OSA and HHD share similar underlying mechanisms including hypertension, left ventricular hypertrophy, myocardial fibrosis, oxidative stress, and inflammation, which ultimately contribute to the progression of HHD. This review aims to shed light on the potential role of OSA in HHD pathogenesis, summarizing current OSA treatment options. It is hoped that this review will encourage a renewed clinical focus on HHD and underscore the need for further OSA research, particularly in the context of screening and treating HHD patients.

Motivated by observing real-world instances of multi-aisle automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RSs) with shared storage, we introduced a new optimization problem called the parallel crane scheduling (PCS) problem. Unlike the single crane scheduling (SCS) problem, the decisions of the PCS problem include not only the request sequencing and storage/retrieval location selection, but also assigning requests to cranes. The PCS problem better reflects the real-life situation, but it is more complex, since these three decisions are interrelated and interact with one another. In this study, since the empty location vacated by any retrieval operation is instantly available, we introduced a new dynamic programming model combined with a mixed-integer linear programming model to describe this complex problem. Considering the feature of location-dependent processing time, we transformed the PCS problem into a variant of the unrelated parallel machine scheduling problem. We developed an apparent tardiness cost-based construction heuristic and an ant colony system algorithm with a problem-specific local optimization. Our experiments demonstrated that the proposed algorithms provide excellent performance, along with the insight that globally scheduling multiple aisles could be considered to reduce the total tardiness when designing an operation scheme for multi-aisle AS/RSs.

Abstract Endothelial dysfunction is common in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), but the mechanism is unknown. In this study, we found that the circulating ANRIL level was increased and correlated with vascular endothelial dysfunction in patients with CKD, also negatively correlated with plasma brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) concentration. We constructed the ANRIL knockout mice model, and found that ANRIL deficiency reversed the abnormal expression of BDNF, along with endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), vascular adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1) and Von Willebrand factor (vWF). Meanwhile, mitochondrial dynamics-related proteins, Dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) and mitofusins (Mfn2) level were also recovered. In addition, in vitro, serum derived from CKD patients and uremia toxins induced abnormal expression of ANRIL. By making use of the gain- and loss-of-function approaches, we observed that ANRIL mediated endothelial dysfunction through BDNF downregulation. To explore the specific mechanism, RNA pull-down and RNA-binding protein immunoprecipitation (RIP) were used to explore the binding of ANRIL to histone methyltransferase Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2). Further experiments found increased EZH2 and histone H3 lysine 27 trimethylation (H3K27me3) levels at the BDNF promoter region. Collectively, we demonstrated that ANRIL mediate BDNF transcriptional suppression through recruitment of EZH2 to the BDNF promoter region, then regulated the proteins expression related to endothelial function and mitochondrial dynamics. This study provides new insights for the study of endothelial dysfunction in CKD.

Abstract. Background:. Gastroparesis is a debilitating medical condition with limited treatment options. Gastric per-oral pyloromyotomy (G-POEM) has emerged as a promising treatment option with remarkable short-term clinical success shown in multiple studies. While the post-procedure protocol is not standardized across many centers, the majority of the centers observes these patients in the hospital after the procedure for monitoring. In this single-center prospective study, we evaluated the safety and feasibility of same day discharge after the G-POEM procedure. Methods:. All the patients with refractory gastroparesis undergoing G-POEM from October 2019 to March 2020 were enrolled. A total of 25 patients were enrolled in the procedure. Based on the pre-defined criteria, patients were either discharged on the same day after the procedure or admitted to the hospital for further observation. The patient and procedure-related data were extracted from the chart review. Univariate analysis was performed (chi-squared test) on categorical variables after organizing categorical variables as numeric counts or percentages. The student t test was performed on continuous variables after reporting as mean and standard deviation. For analysis with a smaller sample size, Fisher exact and Mann–Whitney tests were used. Results:. A total of 25 patients were enrolled. The technical success of G-POEM was 100% and clinical success was 80% (20/25) at 1-month follow-up. Of the 25 patients, 9 patients (36%) were discharged on the same day according to the procedure from the recovery unit. Of the remaining 16 patients who were admitted to the hospital post-procedure, 10 (40%) were admitted due to procedure-related causes while other admissions were either pre-planned or due to social reasons. The average Charlson comorbidity index was lower in the same day discharge group (P 50% of patients with close periprocedural monitoring.

Abstract Background Osteoarthritis (OA) is a worldwide public health concern, mainly afflicting older adults. Although the etiology of OA remains unclear, environmental factors are increasingly considered as non-negligible risk factors. This study aims to evaluate the associations of urinary metals with OA risk and the mediated effect of biological aging. Methods Nine urinary metal concentrations were detected among 12,584 U.S. adults based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), including barium (Ba), cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), cesium (Cs), molybdenum (Mo), lead (Pb), antimony (Sb), thallium (Tl), and uranium (Tu). Multivariable logistic regression and weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression were used to explore the associations of single metal and mixed metals with OA risk, respectively. Furthermore, biological aging was measured from different perspectives, including cell senescence (telomere length) and whole-body aging (phenotypic age and biological age). Mediation analyses were conducted to investigate the mediated effects of aging on the associations of metals with OA risk. Results In the single-exposure model, Cd, Co, and Cs were identified to be positively associated with OA risk, with odds ratios (OR) ranging from 1.48 to 1.64 (all P

ObjectiveChronic stress leads to a high circulating level of glucocorticoids, which disrupts lipid metabolism and causes non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in mice and humans. Meanwhile, bile acid (BA), a class of metabolites initially synthesized in the liver and further metabolized by gut microbiota, plays a vital role in lipid metabolism. This study aimed to investigate the effects of glucocorticoids on BA metabolism and gut microbiota in chickens.MethodsIn this study, 35-day-old chickens were injected with 4 mg/kg/day corticosterone (Cort) for 14 days to simulate chronic stress.ResultsCort treatment significantly increased the triglyceride contents in the plasma and the liver. HE and oil-red staining showed that Cort treatment induced fatty liver in chickens. Meanwhile, Cort exposure downregulated total bile acid (TBA) content in the liver while increasing the TBA in feces. UPLC-HRMS results showed that Cort exposure significantly decreased the hepatic levels of CDCA, T-alpha-MCA, and T-beta-MCA. Moreover, Cort exposure significantly reduced the expression of genes related to BA synthesis (CYP8B1 and CYP27A1), conjugation (BACS), and regulation (KLβ and FGFR4). 16s sequencing results showed that Cort treatment significantly decreased the amount of Lachnospiraceae, Eisenbergiella, Blautia, and Eubacterium and increased the abundance of Barnesiella, Lactobacillus, and Helicobacter. Spearman correlation analysis showed a significant positive correlation between fecal TBA and the abundance of Lactobacillales, Lactobacillus, and Barnesiella. In comparison, TBA in the liver was positively correlated with Eubacterium, and negatively correlated with Helicobacter.ConclusionIn summary, chronic Cort exposure disrupts hepatic and intestinal bile acid metabolism inducing gut microbiome dysbiosis, which might associate with the development of fatty liver in chickens.

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and their CRISPR-associated proteins (Cas) are an adaptive immune system involved in specific defenses against the invasion of foreign mobile genetic elements, such as plasmids and phages. This study aims to analyze the gene structure and to explore the function of the CRISPR system in the Enterococcus genome, especially with regard to drug resistance. The whole genome information of 110 enterococci was downloaded from the NCBI database to analyze the distribution and the structure of the CRISPR-Cas system including the Cas gene, repeat sequences, and spacer sequence of the CRISPR-Cas system by bioinformatics methods, and to find drug resistance-related genes and analyze the relationship between them and the CRISPR-Cas system. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) of enterococci was performed against the reference MLST database. Information on the drug resistance of Enterococcus was retrieved from the CARD database, and its relationship to the presence or absence of CRISPR was statistically analyzed. Among the 110 Enterococcus strains, 39 strains (35.45%) contained a complete CRISPR-Cas system, 87 CRISPR arrays were identified, and 62 strains contained Cas gene clusters. The CRISPR system in the Enterococcus genome was mainly type II-A (59.68%), followed by type II-C (33.87%). The phylogenetic analysis of the cas1 gene sequence was basically consistent with the typing of the CRISPR-Cas system. Of the 74 strains included in the study for MLST typing, only 19 (25.68%) were related to CRISPR-Cas typing, while the majority of the strains (74.32%) of MLST typing were associated with the untyped CRISPR system. Additionally, the CRISPR-Cas system may only be related to the carrying rate of some drug-resistant genes and the drug-resistant phenotype. In conclusion, the distribution of the enterococcus CRISPR-Cas system varies greatly among different species and the presence of CRISPR loci reduces the horizontal transfer of some drug resistance genes.

To investigate the risk factors for aortic dissection tearing, we fabricated a simplified patient-specific aortic silicone phantom using the brush-spin-coating method. The aortic phantom only includes the aorta from the ascending aorta to the descending aorta, without other branches. We designed two experiments to investigate the alteration of aortic morphology and intravascular hemodynamics using the particle image velocimetry method. The results revealed dilation and elongation of the aortic phantom, especially the ascending aorta, after the phantom’s terminal resistance was increased. Additionally, the particle image velocimetry results demonstrated an increased vortex region, which caused the inner side of the aortic wall to become scoured by blood. This study suggests that the deformation of the inner side aortic wall and the change in hemodynamics in response to the increased terminal resistance may be a risk factor for aortic tearing and should be monitored.

Abstract Background Controversial evidence regarding the applicability of the IOM’s gestational weight gain (GWG) targets for women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) has been reported. However, little is known about the weight gain rate (WGR) during the second and third trimesters. Moreover, previous studies failed to assess the effect modification of pre-pregnancy BMI because of the limited sample size. Therefore, we aimed to assess the applicability of the IOM recommendation for the WGR in women with GDM in different pre-pregnancy BMI categories. Methods We conducted this retrospective cohort study of 5275 women with GDM who delivered at Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center (GWCMC) between January 2017 and January 2021. Demographic and clinical information was collected from the electronic medical record system. The primary exposure was the WGR in the late second and third trimesters; they were classified as below, within, and above the IOM standard. The outcomes were fetal growth indicators, including large-for-gestational-age (LGA), macrosomia, small-for-gestational-age (SGA), and low birth weight (LBW). The associations between the WGR and such outcomes were assessed using multiple logistic regression. Results A WGR below the IOM standard was associated with the decreased odds of LGA (adjusted OR 0.74; 95% CI 0.49–1.13) and macrosomia (adjusted OR 0.54, 95% CI 0.32–0.92) for women with GDM in the normal weight BMI class. Such decreases were observed greater for women with GDM in the overweight/obese class, with adjusted ORs of 0.34 (95% CI 0.09–0.88) for LGA and 0.31 (95% CI 0.01–0.84) for macrosomia, respectively. No significant difference was observed in the odds ratios of SGA and LBW across the different WGR groups. Conclusion LGA and macrosomia are the main outcomes associated with the WGR in the late second and third trimesters, and a WGR below the IOM standard was associated with a decreased odds of such outcomes compared with a WGR within the IOM standard in women with GDM in the normal weight and overweight/obese classes. Our findings suggest that a stricter WGR target than that of the current IOM standard may be more beneficial for women with GDM.

Abstract Infection with Brucella is characterized by the inhibition of host immune responses. MicroRNA-155 (miR-155) has been implicated in the immune response to many diseases. In this study, its expression during Brucella 16M infection of macrophages and mice was analyzed. Expression of miR-155 was significantly induced in macrophages at 24 h post infection. Further, an analysis of infected mice showed that miR-155 was inhibited at 7 and 14 days but induced at 28 days. Interestingly, this trend in induction or inhibition was reversed at 7 and 14 days in 16M△virB-infected mice. This suggested that decreased expression of miR-155 at an early stage of infection was dependent on intracellular replication. In humans with brucellosis, serum levels of miR-155 were significantly decreased compared to those in individuals without brucellosis and healthy volunteers. Significant correlations were observed between serum level of miR-155 and serum anti-Brucella antibody titers and the sweating symptom. This effect suggests that Brucella interferes with miR-155-regulated immune responses via a unique mechanism. Taken together, data from this study indicate that Brucella infection affects miR-155 expression and that human brucellosis patients show decreased serum levels of miR-155.

The utilization of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) could reduce the cost of pavements containing epoxy polymer (EP) materials. This study was aimed at improving the homogeneity of an EP-reclaimed asphalt mixtures (ERAMs) at both the micro- and meso-scale to provide a reference for an ERAM production process. At the microscale, nanoindentation tests were conducted to characterize the diffusion between the EP and aged asphalt mastic. At the mesoscale, computerized tomography (CT) X-ray scanning and MATLAB analysis were employed to investigate the distribution of the aggregate within the ERAM. The results revealed that mixing temperature played a significant role in the diffusion and distribution between the EP and the aged asphalt mastic, thus impacting the mechanical properties of the material. Heating at 180 °C (the recommended mixing temperature of EP) resulted in a wider blending zone between the EP and the aged asphalt mastic compared to heating at 160 °C (the usual mixing temperature of ordinary reclaimed asphalt mixtures). The overall dispersion of the aggregate in the ERAM exhibited greater homogeneity in the vertical direction than in the horizontal direction. Adjusting the gradation of the RAP was found to be effective in reducing horizontal variability in the distribution of the coarse aggregate, fine aggregate, and air voids in the ERAM. Adjusting the RAP gradation further enhanced the vertical homogeneity in the distribution of the fine aggregate, while its impact on the vertical distribution of the coarse aggregate was minimal. Short-term aging led to increased variability in the distribution of the coarse aggregate, fine aggregate, and air voids within the ERAM. However, adjusting the gradation was effective in mitigating the adverse effects of short-term aging on both horizontal and vertical homogeneity in the aggregate distribution.

In land battlefield environments, aerosol particles can cause laser beams to undergo attenuation, thus deteriorating the operational performance of military laser devices. The particle size distribution (PSD) and extinction coefficient are key optical properties for assessing the attenuation characteristics of laser beams caused by aerosol particles. In this study, we employed the laser diffraction method to measure the PSDs of graphite smoke screen, copper powder smoke screen, iron powder smoke screen, ground dust, and soil explosion dust. We evaluated the goodness of fit of six common unimodal PSD functions and a bimodal lognormal PSD function employed for fitting these aerosol particles using the root mean square error (RMSE) and adjusted R2, and selected the optimal PSD function to evaluate their extinction coefficients in the laser wavelength range of 0.249~12 μm. The results showed that smoke screens, ground dust, and soil explosion dust exhibited particle size ranges of 0.7~50 µm, 1~400 µm, and 1.7~800 μm, respectively. The lognormal distribution had the best goodness of fit for fitting the PSDs of these aerosol particles in the six unimodal PSD functions, followed by the gamma and Rosin–Rammler distributions. For the bimodal aerosol particles with a lower span, the bimodal lognormal PSD functions exhibited the best goodness of fit. The graphite smoke screen exhibited the highest extinction coefficient, followed by the copper and iron powder smoke screens. In contrast, the ground dust and soil explosion dust exhibited the lowest extinction coefficients, reaching their minimum values at a wavelength of approximately 8.2 μm. This study provides a basis for analyzing and improving the detection and recognition performance of lasers in land battlefield environments.

The poor water solubility, bioavailability and stability of bioactive compounds have become the bottleneck restricting their wide application, thus developing a functional carrier to realize the efficient encapsulation and activity improvement of active hydrophobic substances has become a research hotspot. In this work, a functional glycosylated fish gelatin (called FG-COS conjugates) carrier based on fish gelatin (FG) and chitooligosaccharide (COS) via Maillard reaction was developed. The functional carrier exhibited good antioxidant activity and high encapsulation of curcumin (Cur). Enhanced antioxidant effect of Cur loaded in FG-COS conjugates (called FG–COS–Cur nanoparticles) was achieved, showing remarkable UV protection on Cur and enhanced intracellular antioxidant activity of FG–COS–Cur nanoparticles. Remarkably, FG–COS–Cur nanoparticles increased the cell viability of H2O2-induced oxidative damage Caco-2 cells, drastically reduced the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and significantly increased intracellular antioxidant enzyme activities, which all exhibited a dose-response relationship. These findings suggested that the FG-COS conjugates with intrinsic antioxidant activity could effectively encapsulate Cur and improved bioavailability for hydrophobic active molecules in functional food field.

Abstract Background In recent years, the application of functional genetic immuno-oncology screens has showcased the striking ability to identify potential regulators engaged in tumor-immune interactions. Although these screens have yielded substantial data, few studies have attempted to systematically aggregate and analyze them. Methods In this study, a comprehensive data collection of tumor immunity-associated functional screens was performed. Large-scale genomic data sets were exploited to conduct integrative analyses. Results We identified 105 regulator genes that could mediate resistance or sensitivity to immune cell-induced tumor elimination. Further analysis identified MON2 as a novel immune-oncology target with considerable therapeutic potential. In addition, based on the 105 genes, a signature named CTIS (CRISPR screening-based tumor-intrinsic immune score) for predicting response to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) and several immunomodulatory agents with the potential to augment the efficacy of ICB were also determined. Conclusion Overall, our findings provide insights into immune oncology and open up novel opportunities for improving the efficacy of current immunotherapy agents.

Since dust particles in the air scatter and absorb light, images captured in sand-dust weather mostly show low contrast, color deviation and blurriness, seriously affecting the reliability of visual tasks. Currently, pixel-level enhancement and prior-based methods are used to restore sand-dust images. However, these methods cannot accurately extract semantic information from the images due to the loss of information and the complexity of the scene depth, which may lead to color distortion and blurred textures of the restored image. We thus presents a two-stage restoration method based on style transformation and unsupervised sand-dust image restoration network (USDR-Net). In the first stage, the grayscale distribution compensation (GDC) method is used to transform the style of the sand-dust image. After transformation, color shift is eliminated and potential information is restored in the balanced image. In the second stage, USDR-Net firstly employs the dark channel prior and the transmission map enhancement network (TME-Network) to generate and refine the transmission map of the balanced image to improve the accuracy of scene depth. Then, it reconstructs a clear image with actual color and high contrast via adversarial learning with unpaired sand-dust and clear images. Extensive experimental results show that our method outperforms state-of-the-art algorithms based on both qualitative and quantitative evaluations. The mean average precision for the target inspection datasets has increased from 16.79% to 68.82%.

Ferroptosis and immune infiltration play an important role in the pathogenesis of intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD). However, there is still a lack of comprehensive analysis on the interaction between ferroptosis-related genes (FRGs) and immune microenvironment in IDD patients. Therefore, this study aims to explore the correlation between FRGs characteristics and immune infiltration in the progression of IDD. The expression profiles (GSE56081 and GSE70362) and FRGs were downloaded from the comprehensive gene expression omnibus (GEO) and FerrDb database, respectively, and the differences were analyzed using R. The intersection of IDD related differential genes (DEGs) and FRGs was taken as differentially expressed FRGs (DE-FRGs) and GO and KEGG enrichment analysis was conducted. Then, we used least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression algorithm and support vector machine (SVM) algorithm to screen feature genes and draw ROC curve judge the diagnostic value of key DE-FRGs. Then CIBERSORT algorithm is used to evaluate the infiltration of immune cells and analyze the correlation between key DE-FRGs and immune infiltration. Based on the analysis results, we conducted single gene GSEA analysis on key DE-FRGs. RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry further verified the clinical value of the results of biochemical analysis and screening. Seven key DE-FRGs were screened, including the upregulated genes NOX4 and PIR, and the downregulated genes TIMM9, ATF3, ENPP2, FADS2 and TFAP2A. Single gene GSEA analysis further elucidates the role of DE-FRGs in IDD associated with ferroptosis. Correlation analysis showed that seven key DE-FRGs were closely related to immune infiltration in the development of IDD. Finally, RT-PCR and immunohistochemical staining showed that NOX4, ENPP2, FADS2 and TFAP2A were statistically significant differences. In this study, we explored the connection between ferroptosis related characteristics and immune infiltration in IDD, and confirmed that NOX4, ENPP2, FADS2, and TFAP2A may become biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets for IDD.

ObjectiveAccording to the WHO, compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic, young people showed a significant increase in depressive symptoms. In light of the recent coronavirus pneumonia pandemic, this study was conducted to determine how social support, coping style, parent-child relationships, and depression are associated. We investigated how these factors interacted and affected the prevalence of depression during this challenging and unheard-of time. Our research may help both individuals and healthcare professionals better comprehend and assist those who are coping with the pandemic’s psychological effects.Design and main outcome measures3,763 students from a medical college in Anhui Province were investigated with Social Support Rate Scale, Trait Coping Style Questionnaire, and Self-rating Depression Scale.ResultsWhen the pandemic situation was normalizing, social support was associated with depression and the coping style of college students (p

BackgroundBletilla striata is one of the commonly used traditional Chinese medicine. B. striata polysaccharides (BP) and oligosaccharides (BO) are one of the main components of B. striata, which have been proved to have a variety of biological activities. However, the digestion and fermentation characteristics of BP and BO are still unclear.MethodsThe study evaluated different prebiotic effects of BP and BO by in vitro simulating digestion and gut microbiota fermentation.ResultsThe results show that the simulating saliva partly degraded BP, but had no effect on BO. The molecular weights of BP and BO remained basically unchanged in gastric and intestinal digestion. In addition, BP and BO could be rapidly degraded and utilized by gut microbiota. During in vitro fermentation, the growth rates of the BP and BO groups were higher than that of the Control group and the pH value and total carbohydrate content in BP group and BO group decreased significantly. Although the reducing sugar level in the BO group decreased rapidly, it remained at a low level in the BP group. Both BP and BO improved the composition and structure of gut microbiota, indicative of the upregulated abundances of Streptococcus and Veillonella, and the downregulated populations of Escherichia and Bacteroides. There were differences in the SCFA production by gut microbiota and antioxidant activities between the BP and BO groups. The fermentation broth of the BP group displayed a stronger suppression of O2-, but a higher scavenging effect on DPPH for the BO group.ConclusionsBP and BO displayed different digestion and fermentation characteristics in vitro due to their distinct polymerization degrees. The study point towards the potential of BP and BO as prebiotics in the application to human diseases by selectively regulating gut microbiota in the future.

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), with the strong toxicity and carcinogenicity, has been reported to great toxicity to the liver and other organs of animals. It cause huge economic losses to breeding industry, including the aquaculture industry. Chinese mitten crabs (Eriocheir sinensis), as one of important species of freshwater aquaculture in China, are deeply disturbed by it. However, the molecular and metabolic mechanisms of hepatopancreas and ovary in crabs underlying coping ability are still unclear. Hence, we conducted targeted injection experiment with or without AFB1, and comprehensively analyzed transcriptome and metabolomics of hepatopancreas and ovary. As a result, 210 and 250 DEGs were identified in the L-C vs. L-30 m and L-C vs. L-60 m comparison, among which 14 common DEGs were related to six major functional categories, including antibacterial and detoxification, ATP energy reaction, redox reaction, nerve reaction, liver injury repair and immune reaction. A total of 228 and 401 DAMs in the ML-C vs. ML-30 m and ML-C vs. ML-60 m comparison both enriched 12 pathways, with clear functions of cutin, suberine and wax biosynthesis, tyrosine metabolism, purine metabolism, nucleotide metabolism, glycine, serine and threonine metabolism, ABC transporters and tryptophan metabolism. Integrated analysis of metabolomics and transcriptome in hepatopancreas discovered three Co-enriched pathways, including steroid biosynthesis, glycine, serine and threonine metabolism, and sphingolipid metabolism. In summary, the expression levels and functions of related genes and metabolites reveal the regulatory mechanism of Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) adaptability to the Aflatoxin B1, and the findings contribute to a new perspective for understanding Aflatoxin B1 and provide some ideas for dealing with it.

Background. Hypertension is a major global health concern, and lifestyle modifications have been recommended as first-line treatment for hypertension in many guidelines. However, different guidelines may recommend different types of lifestyle adjustment, and it is unclear which ones are most effective. In this review, we compared hypertension guidelines to identify any differences and/or consensus in content, efficacy, and timing of initiation of lifestyle modifications. Methods. We conducted a search of databases to identify hypertension guidelines available in English. We extracted and compared information about lifestyle modifications recommended by the guidelines. Results. Five hypertension guidelines from America, Europe, the UK, Canada, and the International Society of Hypertension are included. They all recommend diet adaptation, sodium reduction, alcohol restriction, physical exercise, and weight reduction. Other lifestyle interventions emphasized by some guidelines, such as potassium supplementation, smoking cessation, and stress management, are not recommended by all the five guidelines. Among lifestyle changes, the dietary approaches to stop hypertension (DASH) diet may be considered the most effective treatment for reducing blood pressure. These guidelines recommend that for patients with high-normal blood pressure or grade 1 hypertension without high risk factors, lifestyle medicine should be used first for 3–6 months, if blood pressure is still not controlled, then start medication. For those patients who need drug treatment, lifestyle changes can also enhance the effects of antihypertensive therapy. Conclusion. Lifestyle modifications are crucial in the treatment of hypertension and should be recommended to most hypertensive patients. Among these lifestyle interventions, diet adaptation containing low sodium and alcohol restriction may be the most effective in reducing blood pressure. Physical exercise and weight reduction are also recommended. In some cases, lifestyle modifications should be tried first. They may also enhance the effects of antihypertensive drugs in other patients.

Native animals are facing long-term coexistence with invasive plants worldwide, the impacts of which on animal behavior remain poorly known. Potential ecological traps could threaten native birds breeding in invasive plant habitats, but behavioral strategies for birds to avoid such risks are few concerned. The invasion of Smooth Cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) has seriously varied the vegetation landscape in the coastal wetlands of eastern China, and affected the habitat selection of native birds. Here, we investigated the nesting and breeding characteristics of a common native passerine, the Vinous-throated Parrotbill (Sinosuthora webbiana), in habitats dominated by native Common Reed (Phragmites australis) and exotic cordgrass. We found that parrotbills could complete their breeding cycle in cordgrass habitat. Most nest failure was attributed to predation in native habitat but tide inundation in cordgrass habitat. However, the nest success rate and daily survival rate (DSR) in cordgrass habitat were higher. Moreover, nest height was markedly higher in cordgrass habitat and was the most important influencing variable (positively correlated with the DSR). These results suggest that cordgrass habitat is a potential ecological trap due to the tide inundation, but some parrotbills seem to effectively avoid this risk by increasing nest height. Our study reveals that a native passerine changes its nesting behavior to accommodate invasive plant habitat and highlights that habitat changes caused by invasive plants may drive the adaptive evolution of native animal behavior. The limitation of these results must be acknowledged for the small sample size, and there is a need for a larger sample and long-term data for further verification.

Abstract A two‐step process, including the premetallization of the SiC ceramic by Ag‐26.7Cu‐4Ti+B4C and the followed brazing with the Al‐based filler alloy, was developed to join 2219 aluminum alloy and the metallized SiC. The influence of metallization temperature and the B4C addition on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the joint was analyzed. The reaction products of Ti and B4C were detected in the brazing seam, such as Ti2B, TiC and graphite. With increasing of metallization temperature and B4C addition content, the shear strength of joint first increased and then decreased. The joint shear strength reached 14.0 MPa when SiC metallized with Ag‐26.7Cu‐4Ti+1%B4C at 930°C for 10 min, which showed that appropriate addition of B4C in Ag‐26.7Cu‐4Ti metallization layer could regulate the coefficient of thermal expansion difference between 2219 aluminum alloy and SiC to relieve the residual stress and improve the shear strength of their brazed joint.

A comprehensive understanding of the spatial-temporal evolution and driving forces on ecosystem services (ES) is essential for the agro-pastoral ecotone’s ecological security in northern China. However, the land-use pattern (LULC) agglomeration with spatial differentiation in the pastoral and agricultural areas has been rarely concerned. Taking distinct LULC (1980–2018) in Chifeng as an example, we compared four crucial categories of ESs with InVEST. Using SEM, we further contrasted the effects of several variables on regional ES variations in pastoral-dominated (North) and agriculture-dominated (South) regions, respectively. Results revealed the conversion between forest and grassland oriented the LULC transformation in the North. In contrast, human-activitiy-oriented land tended to occupy environmentally sensitive places in the South. Similar ES variations were supplied with the North outperforming the South when soil conservation was omitted. As for the impacts of regional ES variations, the natural and LULC policies both showed positive effects, whereas the anthropogenic factors showed positive in the North, which was negative in the South. Therefore, the ecologically-maintained-dominant and ecologically-restored-dominant strategies should be separately adopted in the North and South. Our study provided appropriate regional ecological management suggestions for balancing the LULC-driven conflicts between ecological protection and regional development.

To ensure water quality at the control cross-section of main streams (CCMS) in a rainstorm period, an inverse design method was proposed to determine the optimal discharge flow of tributary rivers. The design variables are tributary discharges and the target variables are the required concentrations of chemical oxygen demand (COD), dissolved oxygen (DO) and ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) at CCMS. The relationship between target variables and design variables was identified using an artificial neural network (ANN). The database was obtained by Environmental Fluid Dynamics Code (EFDC) and the optimal tributary discharges were obtained by a genetic algorithm (GA) coupled with well trained ANN. The results showed the following results: (a) The relative prediction errors of ANN are mostly less than 5%. (b) When the inlet flow rate is 0 m3/s, 30 m3/s, 50 m3/s, 100 m3/s and 200 m3/s, the optimization total discharges of tributaries are 5.7 m3/s, 12.5 m3/s, 18.6 m3/s, 33.4 m3/s and 61.8 m3/s, respectively. (c) Most of optimization plans entirely satisfy the water quality requirements at CCMS except a few plans, in which the relative errors between optimized results and required values of COD and DO are less than 0.4% and 0.1%, respectively. The study showed that the inverse design method is efficient for determining the optimal discharges of multiple tributaries. HIGHLIGHTS An inverse design method of Environmental Fluid Dynamics Code, artificial neural network and genetic algorithm is proposed.; The optimal discharge of multiple tributaries into mainstream is obtained.; The optimal discharge schemes satisfy the water quality requirement of a main stream.; The inverse design method is proved to be highly efficient.;

ObjectiveThis study is undertaken to explore the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) and osteoporosis, including the relationship between OSAHS and osteoporosis incidence, lumbar spine bone mineral density (BMD), and lumbar spine T-score.MethodCochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and other databases are searched from their establishment to April 2022. Literature published in 4 databases on the correlation between OSAHS and osteoporosis,lumbar spine BMD,lumbar spine T-score is collected. Review Manager 5.4 software is used for meta-analysis.ResultsA total of 15 articles are selected, including 113082 subjects. Compared with the control group, the OSAHS group has a higher incidence of osteoporosis (OR = 2.03, 95% CI: 1.26~3.27, Z = 2.90, P = 0.004), the lumbar spine BMD is significantly lower (MD = -0.05, 95% CI: -0.08~-0.02, Z = 3.07, P = 0.002), and the lumbar spine T-score is significantly decreased (MD = -0.47, 95% CI: -0.79~-0.14, Z = 2.83, P = 0. 005).ConclusionCompared with the control group, the OSAHS group has a higher incidence of osteoporosis and decreased lumbar spine BMD and T-score. In order to reduce the risk of osteoporosis, attention should be paid to the treatment and management of adult OSAHS, and active sleep intervention should be carried out.

ObjectiveThis study seeks to investigate the relationship between Obstructive Sleep Apnea-Hypopnea Syndrome (OSAHS) and hearing impairment by meta-analysis.MethodsCochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and other databases are searched from their establishment to July 1st, 2022. Literature on the relationship between OSAHS and hearing loss is collected, and two researchers independently perform screening, data extraction and quality evaluation on the included literature. Meta-analysis is performed using RevMan 5.4.1 software. According to the heterogeneity between studies, a random-effects model or fixed-effects model is used for meta-analysis.ResultsA total of 10 articles are included, with 7,867 subjects, 1,832 in the OSAHS group and 6,035 in the control group. The meta-analysis shows that the incidence of hearing impairment in the OSAHS group is higher than in the control group (OR = 1.38; 95% CI 1.18–1.62, Z = 4.09, P < 0.001), and the average hearing threshold of OSAHS patients is higher than that of the control group (MD = 5.89; 95% CI 1.87–9.91, Z = 2.87, P = 0.004). After stratifying the included studies according to hearing frequency, the meta-analysis shows that the OSAHS group has a higher threshold of 0.25, and the response amplitudes at frequencies 2, 4, 6, and 8 kHz are all higher than those of the control group.ConclusionCompared with the control group, the OSAHS group has a higher incidence of hearing loss, mainly high-frequency hearing loss. Thus, OSAHS is closely associated with and a risk factor for hearing loss.

Amino acid metabolism is closely related to the occurrence and development of colon adenocarcinoma (COAD). Studies on the relationship between COAD and the expression of amino acid metabolism are still rare. Based on in silico analysis, we used 358 amino acid metabolism-related genes (AAMRGs) to determine the amino acid metabolism characteristics and then classified COAD into two distinct subtypes, namely AA1 and AA2. Then we analyzed the clinical characteristics, somatic mutation landscape, transcriptome profile, metabolism signatures, immune infiltration, and therapy sensitivity of these two subtypes. The AA1 subtype had inferior overall survival and was characterized by lower amino acid metabolic activity, higher tumor mutation burden, and higher immune cell infiltration, while AA2 displayed higher metabolic activity and relatively better survival. Furthermore, the AA1 subtype was likely to benefit from irinotecan in chemotherapy and immune checkpoint blockade therapy including programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein-4 (CTLA-4) immune checkpoint inhibitor but was resistant to targeted therapy cetuximab. The AA2 subtype showed higher sensitivity to 5-fluorouracil and oxaliplatin. To provide perspectives on cell-specific metabolism for further investigation, we explored metabolic activity in different cell types including lymphocytes, mast cells, myeloid cells stromal cells, and epithelial cells via colorectal cancer single-cell data. Additionally, to assist in clinical decision-making and prognosis prediction, a 60-AAMRG-based classifier was generated and validated in an independent cohort.

ObjectiveThe purpose of this meta-analysis is to systematically assess the effects of psychological intervention on empathy fatigue among nursing staff.MethodFive electronic databases are searched separately from their establishment to April 8th, 2022. The research team independently performs paper selection, quality assessment, data extraction and analysis for all included studies. PRISMA guidelines are used to report this meta-analysis.ResultsA total of seven randomized controlled trials (RCTs) covering 513 nursing staff are included. The meta-analysis results show that the empathy fatigue score (SMD = −0.22, 95% CI: −0.42~−0.02, P = 0.03) and burnout (SMD = −0.37, 95% CI: −0.56~−0.19, P < 0.001) are lower than the control group. The empathy satisfaction score of the psychological intervention group is higher than that of the control group (SMD = 0.45, 95% CI: 0.27–0.63, P < 0.001). The differences are statistically significant (P < 0.05). Subgroup analysis finds significant heterogeneity in the impact of different departments on psychological intervention at ≥6 weeks (I2 = 71%, P = 0.01) and

ObjectiveThis study seeks to evaluate the diagnostic value of computed tomography (CT) in pulmonary hypertension.MethodPubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science databases were searched to obtain the relevant English literature, and the retrieval time until June 2022. The quality of the included studies is evaluated using the QUADAS-2 tool. The quality of the included studies was assessed, followed by a meta-analysis, analyze heterogeneity, summarize sensitivity and specificity, draw the comprehensive subject working characteristics (sROC) curve, calculate the area under the curve and conduct subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis to find the source of the heterogeneity.ResultsA total of 12 articles were included, all with pulmonary artery diameter/liter aortic diameter >1 or 1 as the diagnostic criteria for pulmonary hypertension, and a total of 1,959 patients were included. Deek’s funnel plot analysis suggests that there is no significant publication bias (P = 0.102). The combined sensitivity was 0.652 (95% CI: 0.579, 0.719), combined specificity was 0.830 (95% CI: 0.796, 0.880), positive likelihood ratio was 3.837 (95% CI: 3.215, 4.579), negative likelihood ratio was 0.419 (95% CI: 0.346, 0.507), diagnostic odds ratio was 9.157 (95% CI: 6.748, 12.427) and area under the summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve was 0.84 (95% CI: 0.81, 0.87).ConclusionThe CT examination of pulmonary artery diameter/aortic artery hypertension is worthy of clinical application.

Objective: A meta-analysis is used to explore the relationship between polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and the risk of Sleep disturbances.Method: Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases are searched by computer from their establishment to 1 May 2022. Review Manager 5.4 software is used for the meta-analysis.Results: A total of nine articles are included, with 1,107 subjects. The results show that PCOS is positively associated with the risk of Sleep disturbances. Comparing with the “PCOS group” (experimental group) with the “NON-PCOS group” (control group), the incidence of Sleep disturbances is higher (OR = 11.24, 95% CI: 2.00–63.10, Z = 2.75, p = 0.006); the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scores of the PCOS group is higher than that of the NON-PCOS group (MD = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.32–1.25, Z = 3.30, p = 0.001); the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) scores of the PCOS group is higher than that of the NON-PCOS group (MD = 2.49, 95% CI: 0.80–4.18, Z = 2.88, p = 0.004); Apnea hypopnea index (AHIs) in the PCOS group are higher than those in the NON-PCOS group (MD = 2.68, 95% CI: 1.07–4.28, Z = 3.27, p = 0.001); the sleep efficiency of the PCOS group is lower than that of the NON-PCOS group (MD = -5.16, 95% CI: 9.39–-0.93, Z = 2.39, p = 0.02); the sleep onset latency of the PCOS group is higher than that of the NON-PCOS group (MD = 2.45, 95% CI: 1.40–3.50, Z = 4.57, p < 0.001); and the Rapid Eyes Movement (REM) sleep in the PCOS group is higher than that in the NON-PCOS group (MD = 17.19, 95% CI: 11.62–55.76, Z = 6.05, p < 0.001). The studies included in each analysis have publication biases of different sizes. After subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis, the heterogeneity of each study in the meta-analysis is reduced, the bias is reduced accordingly, and the stability of the results can be maintained.Conclusion: PCOS is positively associated with the risk of Sleep disturbances. In order to reduce such risk, attention should be paid to the role of PCOS management, and PCOS prevention and treatment should be actively carried out.

Astaxanthin (AST), a red pigment of the carotenoids, has various advantageous biological activities. Nevertheless, the wide application of AST is restricted due to its poor water solubility and highly unsaturated structure. To overcome these limitations, carrier-free astaxanthin nanoparticles (AST-NPs) were fabricated through the anti-solvent precipitation method. The AST-NPs had a small particle size, negative zeta potential and high loading capacity. Analysis of DSC and XRD demonstrated that amorphous AST existed in AST-NPs. In comparison with free AST, AST-NPs displayed enhanced stability during storage. Besides, it also showed outstanding stability when exposed to UV light. Furthermore, the antioxidant capacity of AST-NPs was significantly increased. In vitro release study showed that AST-NPs significantly delayed the release of AST in the releasing medium. These findings indicated that AST-NPs would be an ideal formulation for AST, which could contribute to the development of novel functional foods.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) causes environmental contamination via respiratory droplets and persists on contaminants and environmental surfaces for anywhere from a few hours to 6 days. Therefore, it is particularly important to understand the transmission and containment of SARS-CoV-2 on the surface of objects within isolated environments. In this study, 356 environmental surface samples were collected and 79 tested positive, with the highest contamination rate (56.96%) in the wood category (bedside tables, wood floors, and walls). This study revealed differences in the detection rates of environmental surfaces in hospitalized and discharged rooms of patients with confirmed COVID-19 in 2 isolated settings (A: p = 0.001; B: p = 0.505) and suggested that environmental contamination may be an important route of virus transmission, providing a reference to guide the enhancement of ventilation, the use of hotel isolation model, the advocacy of cotton masks, and the effective suppression of virus transmission.

Heat stress (HS) can inhibit the growth performance of broilers and cause substantial economic losses. Alterations in bile acid (BA) pools have been reported to be correlated with chronic HS, yet the specific mechanism and whether it is related to gut microbiota remains unclear. In this study, 40 Rugao Yellow chickens were randomly selected and distributed into two groups (20 broilers in each group) when reaching 56-day age: a chronic heat stress group (HS, 36 ± 1 °C for 8 h per day in the first 7 days and 36 ± 1 °C for 24 h in the last 7 days) and a control group (CN, 24 ± 1 °C for 24 h within 14 days). Compared with the CN group, total BAs’ serum content decreased, while cholic acid (CA), chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA), and taurolithocholic acid (TLCA) increased significantly in HS broilers. Moreover, 12α-hydroxylase (CYP8B1) and bile salt export protein (BSEP) were upregulated in the liver, and the expression of fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19) decreased in the ileum of HS broilers. There were also significant changes in gut microbial composition, and the enrichment of Peptoniphilus was positively correlated with the increased serum level of TLCA. These results indicate that chronic HS disrupts the homeostasis of BA metabolism in broilers, which is associated with alterations in gut microbiota.

Soil dust generated by explosions can lead to the absorption and scattering of lasers, resulting in low detection and recognition accuracy for laser-based devices. Field tests to assess laser transmission characteristics in soil explosion dust are dangerous and involve uncontrollable environmental conditions. Instead, we propose using high-speed cameras and an indoor explosion chamber to assess the backscattering echo intensity characteristics of lasers in dust generated by small-scale explosive blasts in soil. We analyzed the influence of the mass of the explosive, depth of burial, and soil moisture content on crater features and temporal and spatial distributions of soil explosion dust. We also measured the backscattering echo intensity of a 905 nm laser at different heights. The results showed that the concentration of soil explosion dust was highest in the first 500 ms. The minimum normalized peak echo voltage ranged from 0.318 to 0.658. The backscattering echo intensity of the laser was found to be strongly correlated with the mean gray value of the monochrome image of soil explosion dust. This study provides experimental data and a theoretical basis for the accurate detection and recognition of lasers in soil explosion dust environments.

Computational Social Science (CSS), aiming at utilizing computational methods to address social science problems, is a recent emerging and fast-developing field. The study of CSS is data-driven and significantly benefits from the availability of online user-generated contents and social networks, which contain rich text and network data for investigation. However, these large-scale and multi-modal data also present researchers with a great challenge: how to represent data effectively to mine the meanings we want in CSS? To explore the answer, we give a thorough review of data representations in CSS for both text and network. Specifically, we summarize existing representations into two schemes, namely symbol-based and embedding-based representations, and introduce a series of typical methods for each scheme. Afterwards, we present the applications of the above representations based on the investigation of more than 400 research articles from 6 top venues involved with CSS. From the statistics of these applications, we unearth the strength of each kind of representations and discover the tendency that embedding-based representations are emerging and obtaining increasing attention over the last decade. Finally, we discuss several key challenges and open issues for future directions. This survey aims to provide a deeper understanding and more advisable applications of data representations for CSS researchers.

Abstract Background Extensive clinical evidence suggests that a preventive screening of coronary heart disease (CHD) at an earlier stage can greatly reduce the mortality rate. We use 64 two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2D-STE) features and seven clinical features to predict whether one has CHD. Methods We develop a machine learning approach that integrates a number of popular classification methods together by model stacking, and generalize the traditional stacking method to a two-step stacking method to improve the diagnostic performance. Results By borrowing strengths from multiple classification models through the proposed method, we improve the CHD classification accuracy from around 70–87.7% on the testing set. The sensitivity of the proposed method is 0.903 and the specificity is 0.843, with an AUC of 0.904, which is significantly higher than those of the individual classification models. Conclusion Our work lays a foundation for the deployment of speckle tracking echocardiography-based screening tools for coronary heart disease.

BackgroundFreezing of gait (FOG) is a common motor symptom in advanced Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, the pathophysiology mechanism of FOG is not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate microstructural abnormalities in subcortical gray matter and alterations in functional connectivity of the nuclei with microstructural changes. In addition, the correlations between these microstructural and functional changes and the severity of FOG were measured.Materials and methodsTwenty-four patients with FOG (PD-FOG), 22 PD patients without FOG (PD-nFOG), and 27 healthy controls (HC) were recruited. FOG Questionnaire (FOGQ) and Gait and Falling Questionnaire (GFQ) were assessed, and Timed Up and Go (TUG) tests were performed in PD-FOG patients. All subjects underwent diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and resting-state functional MRI scanning. The DTI measures, including fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), radial diffusivity (RD), and axial diffusivity (AD), were extracted and measured from basal ganglia, thalamus, and substantia nigra. The nuclei with microstructural alterations were selected as seed regions to perform the seed-based resting-state functional connectivity.ResultsThe MD and RD values of the right globus pallidus internus (GPi) were significantly higher in patients with PD-FOG compared with PD-nFOG patients and HC. In PD-FOG patients, the MD and RD values of the right GPi were significantly correlated with the time of the TUG test in both ON and OFF states. The MD values were also correlated with the GFQ scores in PD-FOG patients. Resting-state functional connectivity between the right GPi and left middle occipital gyri decreased significantly in PD-FOG patients compared to PD-nFOG patients, and was negatively correlated with GFQ scores as well as the time of ON state TUG in PD-FOG patients.ConclusionMicrostructural alterations in the right GPi and functional connectivity between the right GPi and visual cortex may be associated with the pathophysiological mechanisms of FOG in PD patients.

Background: The occurrence and development of solid tumors depend on the blood supply in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Blocking angiogenesis is a new therapeutic strategy to inhibit tumor growth. The anti-angiogenic drug bevacizumab has been approved for gynecological malignancies, especially for advanced recurring cervical cancers and recurring ovarian cancers (OC). Studies in OC have shown a limited effect of bevacizumab in the general population, with a slight improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) and no effect on overall survival (OS). This might be related to the bevacizumab’s role in aggravating the hypoxia in the TME, which helps maintain the stemness of ovarian cancer stem cells (CSCs) and promotes the invasion and metastasis of cancer cells. Drugs that target CSCs, such as metformin, may enhance the efficacy of anti-vascular therapies. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of metformin combined with bevacizumab on the proliferation of OC cells both in vitro and in vivo, as well as on tumor hypoxia and tumor stem cell markers of human ovarian cancer SKOV3 cells.Methods: The OC cell model SKOV3 was treated with metformin, bevacizumab, and cisplatin alone or in combinations. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) was used to measure the rate of cell proliferation. Metformin and bevacizumab were studied in vivo in nude mice. SKOV3 cells were transplanted subcutaneously in nude mice, and different drug interventions were performed after tumor formation, including blank control, bevacizumab alone, metformin alone, cisplatin alone, bevacizumab + metformin, bevacizumab + cisplatin, metformin + cisplatin, and bevacizumab + metformin + cisplatin treatments. The growth of transplanted tumors was routinely monitored and visualized by the tumor growth curve. We used flow cytometry to examine the proportion of CD44+/CD117+ CSCs in each group. The immunohistochemistry (IHC) method was applied to detect expressions of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α), and microvascular density-associated factor CD34 in tumor cells. The limit dilution method was used to re-inject tumor cells in nude mice to examine the tumor recurrence rate.Results: Combination therapy of metformin and bevacizumab significantly reduced the proliferation rate of SKOV3 cells and the growth rate of transplanted tumors in nude mice compared with the monotherapy effects. In vivo results showed that metformin significantly reduced the proportion of CD44+/CD117+ CSCs (p < 0.01). Although bevacizumab increased the proportion of CD44+/CD117+ CSCs, the addition of metformin did offset this fluctuating trend. The combination of bevacizumab, metformin, and cisplatin efficiently decreased the proportion of CSCs in the OC animal model. IHC results exhibited that expressions of VEGF, CD34, and HIF-1α in transplanted tumors were decreased by metformin alone compared with the control (p < 0.05). In the bevacizumab treatment, VEGF, and CD34 expressions were decreased, while that of HIF-1α was increased, suggesting that the degree of hypoxia was differentially aggravated after the bevacizumab treatment. The VEGF, CD34, and HIF-1α expressions in the bevacizumab + metformin + cisplatin group were the lowest among all other treatment groups (p < 0.05). Subcutaneous statistics of nude mice reseeded by the limit dilution method showed that the tumor recurrence rate in the bevacizumab + metformin + cisplatin group was relatively lower.Conclusion: Metformin, bevacizumab combined with platinum-based chemotherapy can significantly inhibit the growth of ovarian cancer cells and transplanted tumors, which is due to the reduction of the proportion of CD44+/CD117+ CSCs and the alleviation of hypoxia in the tumor microenvironment. Therefore, this may be a reasonable and promising treatment regimen.