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BackgroundThe evidence supporting a connection between elevated serum uric acid (SUA) levels and diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is controversial. The present study performed a comprehensive evaluation of this correlation by conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis of relevant research.MethodPubMed, Web of Science (WOS), Embase, and the Cochrane Library were searched for published literature from the establishment of each database to January 8, 2024. In total, 5 cohort studies and 15 cross-sectional studies were included, and 2 researchers independently screened and extracted relevant data. R 4.3.0 was used to evaluate the included literature. The present meta-analysis evaluated the relationship between SUA levels and the risk of DPN in type 2 diabetes (T2DM) by calculating the ratio of means (RoM) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using the method reported by JO Friedrich, and it also analyzed continuous outcome measures using standardized mean differences (SMDs) and 95% CIs to compare SUA levels between DPN and non-DPN groups. Funnel plot and Egger’s test were used to assess publication bias. Sensitivity analysis was conducted by sequentially removing each study one-by-one.ResultsThe meta-analysis included 20 studies, with 12,952 T2DM patients with DPN and 16,246 T2DM patients without DPN. There was a significant correlation between SUA levels and the risk of developing DPN [odds ratio (OR) = 1.23; 95% CI: 1.07-1.41; p = 0.001]. Additionally, individuals with DPN had higher levels of SUA compared to those without DPN (SMD = 0.4; 95% CI: -0.11-0.91; p < 0.01).ConclusionT2DM patients with DPN have significantly elevated SUA levels, which correlate with a heightened risk of peripheral neuropathy. Hyperuricemia (HUA) may be a risk indicator for assessing the risk of developing DPN in T2DM patients.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO, identifier CRD42024500373.

Finding reliable photocatalysts capable of driving reactions using only sunlight is more needed than ever. A variety of strategies to harvest sunlight and convert it into chemical energy have been successfully utilized such as synthesizing nanostructures, using metal nanoparticles, doping, and others. In this work, we discover a facile way to anchor CuS nanoplatelets on 2D MoS2 by the solvothermal method using ethylene glycol (EG) as both a reduction agent and an exfoliating agent of bulk MoS2. Using CuS as a co-catalysis on MoS2 with their huge surface areas, led to improved photocatalytic activity for three different applications including H2 evolution, CO2 reduction, and endosulfan degradation. Specifically, Cu–S@MoS2 3% nanocomposite produced 9.86 μmol g−1 h−1 of H2, 0.48 μmol g−1 h−1 of CO and full decomposition of endosulfan within 6 h. The Cu-loaded MoS2 nanocomposites were thoroughly characterized by spectroscopic (including synchrotron-based spectroscopy) and microscopic methods to understand the formation of Cu–S during the solvothermal process. Moreover, the role of the EG during the synthetic procedure was revealed experimentally and studied theoretically via DFT simulations.

Strong light absorption capacity and effective separation of photogenerated charge are the keys to photocatalytic water decomposition, which is usually solved by constructing heterojunction methods. In this work, a novel n-n interwoven Ni2P/CdIn2S4 S-type heterojunction photocatalyst was prepared by hydrothermal method for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. After a series of characterization and performance tests, under simulated sunlight irradiation at 6 °C (λ > 420 nm), the hydrogen production of Ni2P/CdIn2S4 composite with the best performance can reach 6 mmol/g/h, which is not only 48 times that of pure CdIn2S4, but also 17.2 times that of the expensive metal Pt (CIS–1Pt). By changing the temperature, the hydrogen production of Ni2P/CdIn2S4 reached 8.7 mmol/g/h at 27.5 °C, while its AQY reached 7.7 % and 6.6 % at 420 nm and 475 nm, respectively. In addition, the possible photocatalytic mechanism was analyzed by band structure and XPS diagram, and it was confirmed that the internal electric field of the S-type heterojunction accelerated the photogenerated charge transition and enhanced the hydrogen evolution ability. This effectively compensated for the limitations of severe carrier recombination and low active sites in CdIn2S4 photocatalysts. Therefore, this work provides some help for the construction of non-precious metal S-type heterojunctions for photocatalytic hydrogen production.

BackgroundUnbalanced inflammatory response is a critical feature of sepsis, a life-threatening condition with significant global health burdens. Immune dysfunction, particularly that involving different immune cells in peripheral blood, plays a crucial pathophysiological role and shows early warning signs in sepsis. The objective is to explore the relationship between sepsis and immune subpopulations in peripheral blood, and to identify patients with a higher risk of 28-day mortality based on immunological subtypes with machine-learning (ML) model.MethodsPatients were enrolled according to the sepsis-3 criteria in this retrospective observational study, along with age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs). Data on clinical characteristics, laboratory tests, and lymphocyte immunophenotyping were collected. XGBoost and k-means clustering as ML approaches, were employed to analyze the immune profiles and stratify septic patients based on their immunological subtypes. Cox regression survival analysis was used to identify potential biomarkers and to assess their association with 28-day mortality. The accuracy of biomarkers for mortality was determined by the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) analysis.ResultsThe study enrolled 100 septic patients and 89 HCs, revealing distinct lymphocyte profiles between the two groups. The XGBoost model discriminated sepsis from HCs with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 1.0 and 0.99 in the training and testing set, respectively. Within the model, the top three highest important contributions were the percentage of CD38+CD8+T cells, PD-1+NK cells, HLA-DR+CD8+T cells. Two clusters of peripheral immunophenotyping of septic patients by k-means clustering were conducted. Cluster 1 featured higher proportions of PD1+ NK cells, while cluster 2 featured higher proportions of naïve CD4+T cells. Furthermore, the level of PD-1+NK cells was significantly higher in the non-survivors than the survivors (15.1% vs 8.6%, P

Type I interferons (IFN-I) represent a group of pleiotropic cytokines renowned for their antiviral activity and immune regulatory functions. A multitude of studies have unveiled a critical role of IFN-I in the brain, influencing various neurological processes and diseases. In this mini-review, I highlight recent findings on IFN-I’s effects on brain aging, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) progression, and central nervous system (CNS) homeostasis. The multifaceted influence of IFN-I on brain health and disease sheds light on the complex interplay between immune responses and neurological processes. Of particular interest is the cGAS-STING-IFN-I axis, which extensively participates in brain aging and various forms of neurodegeneration. Understanding the intricate role of IFN-I and its associated pathways in the CNS not only advances our comprehension of brain health and disease but also presents opportunities for developing interventions to modify the process of neurodegeneration and prevent age-related cognitive decline.

Abstract Spontaneous electric polarization is recently observed in multilayered van der Waals stacked materials, arising from a symmetry breaking in a unit cell with two or more constituent species, or non‐centrosymmetric intra‐layer atom displacement in single‐atom‐species materials. Here, it is shown that even elemental crystals, consisting of one type of atom and composed of non‐polar and centrosymmetric layers, exhibit electric polarization if arranged in an appropriate three‐dimensional architecture. This concept is demonstrated here for mixed‐stacking tetra‐layer polytypes of non‐polar graphene sheets. Surprisingly, it is find that the room temperature out‐of‐plane electric polarization increases with external electrostatic hole doping, rather than decreases with it owing to screening. Using first‐principles calculations, as well as a self‐consistent tight‐binding model, the emergence of polarization is explain in terms of inter‐layer charge rearrangement and the doping dependence in terms of gating‐induced inter‐layer charge transfer. This newly discovered intrinsic polarization may therefore offer new venues for designing the electronic response of graphene‐based polytypes to external fields.

Objective A high number of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) patients with brain metastasis who have not had surgery often have a negative outlook. Radiotherapy remains a most common and effective method. Nomograms were developed to forecast the cancer-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS) in NSCLC individuals with nonoperative brain metastases who underwent radiotherapy. Methods Information was gathered from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database about patients diagnosed with NSCLC who had brain metastases not suitable for surgery. Nomograms were created and tested using multivariate Cox regression models to forecast CSS and OS at intervals of 1, 2, and 3 years. Results The research involved 3413 individuals diagnosed with NSCLC brain metastases who had undergone radiotherapy but had not experienced surgery. These participants were randomly divided into two categories. The analysis revealed that gender, age, ethnicity, marital status, tumor location, tumor laterality, tumor grade, histology, T stage, N stage, chemotherapy, tumor size, lung metastasis, bone metastasis, and liver metastasis were significant independent predictors for OS and CSS. The C-index for the training set for predicting OS was .709 (95% CI, .697-.721), and for the validation set, it was .705 (95% CI, .686-.723), respectively. The C-index for predicting CSS was .710 (95% CI, .697-.722) in the training set and .703 (95% CI, .684-.722) in the validation set, respectively. The nomograms model, as suggested by the impressive C-index, exhibits outstanding differentiation ability. Moreover, the ROC and calibration curves reveal its commendable precision and distinguishing potential. Conclusions For the first time, highly accurate and reliable nomograms were developed to predict OS and CSS in NSCLC patients with non-surgical brain metastases, who have undergone radiotherapy treatment. The nomograms may assist in tailoring counseling strategies and choosing the most effective treatment method.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, forecasting COVID-19 trends to support planning and response was a priority for scientists and decision makers alike. In the United States, COVID-19 forecasting was coordinated by a large group of universities, companies, and government entities led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US COVID-19 Forecast Hub (https://covid19forecasthub.org). We evaluated approximately 9.7 million forecasts of weekly state-level COVID-19 cases for predictions 1-4 weeks into the future submitted by 24 teams from August 2020 to December 2021. We assessed coverage of central prediction intervals and weighted interval scores (WIS), adjusting for missing forecasts relative to a baseline forecast, and used a Gaussian generalized estimating equation (GEE) model to evaluate differences in skill across epidemic phases that were defined by the effective reproduction number. Overall, we found high variation in skill across individual models, with ensemble-based forecasts outperforming other approaches. Forecast skill relative to the baseline was generally higher for larger jurisdictions (e.g., states compared to counties). Over time, forecasts generally performed worst in periods of rapid changes in reported cases (either in increasing or decreasing epidemic phases) with 95% prediction interval coverage dropping below 50% during the growth phases of the winter 2020, Delta, and Omicron waves. Ideally, case forecasts could serve as a leading indicator of changes in transmission dynamics. However, while most COVID-19 case forecasts outperformed a naïve baseline model, even the most accurate case forecasts were unreliable in key phases. Further research could improve forecasts of leading indicators, like COVID-19 cases, by leveraging additional real-time data, addressing performance across phases, improving the characterization of forecast confidence, and ensuring that forecasts were coherent across spatial scales. In the meantime, it is critical for forecast users to appreciate current limitations and use a broad set of indicators to inform pandemic-related decision making.

Abstract Background Tumor immunotherapy can not only eliminate the primary lesion, but also produce long-term immune memory, effectively inhibiting tumor metastasis and recurrence. However, immunotherapy also showed plenty of limitations in clinical practice. In recent years, the combination of nanomaterials and immunotherapy has brought new light for completely eliminating tumors with its fabulous anti-tumor effects and negligible side effects. Methods The Core Collection of Web of Science (WOSCC) was used to retrieve and obtain relevant literatures on antitumor nano-immunotherapy since the establishment of the WOSCC. Bibliometrix, VOSviewer, CiteSpace, GraphPad Prism, and Excel were adopted to perform statistical analysis and visualization. The annual output, active institutions, core journals, main authors, keywords, major countries, key documents, and impact factor of the included journals were evaluated. Results A total of 443 related studies were enrolled from 2004 to 2022, and the annual growth rate of articles reached an astonishing 16.85%. The leading countries in terms of number of publications were China and the United States. Journal of Controlled Release, Biomaterials, Acta Biomaterialia, Theranostics, Advanced Materials, and ACS Nano were core journals publishing high-quality literature on the latest advances in the field. Articles focused on dendritic cells and drug delivery accounted for a large percentage in this field. Key words such as regulatory T cells, tumor microenvironment, immune checkpoint blockade, drug delivery, photodynamic therapy, photothermal therapy, tumor-associated macrophages were among the hottest themes with high maturity. Dendritic cells, vaccine, and T cells tend to become the popular and emerging research topics in the future. Conclusions The combined treatment of nanomaterials and antitumor immunotherapy, namely antitumor nano-immunotherapy has been paid increasing attention. Antitumor nano-immunotherapy is undergoing a transition from simple to complex, from phenotype to mechanism. Graphical abstract

Abstract The gas therapy is drawing increasing attention in the treatment of many diseases including cancer. As one of gas signaling molecules, carbon monoxide (CO) has been proved to exert anti-cancer effects via triggering multiple cell death types, such as autophagy, apoptosis and necrosis. Here, we showed that low concentration CO delivered from CO-releasing molecule 3 (CORM-3) effectively induced ferroptosis, known as a novel proinflammatory programmed cell death, in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, we found that CO triggered ferroptosis by modulating the ROS/GSK3β/GPX4 signaling pathway, resulting in the accumulation of lipid hydroperoxides and the occurrence of ferroptosis. We think our findings provide novel insights into the anti-cancer mechanisms of CO, and suggest that CO could potentially be exploited as a novel ferroptosis inducer for cancer treatment in the future.

In the field of object detection in large-scale remote sensing images, achieving a good tradeoff between model accuracy and speed has been a long-standing challenge. The majority of inference time is spent on background regions without objects, making real-time detection difficult in practical applications. Common approaches involve partitioning large-scale remote sensing images into smaller patches, followed by using additional classification networks or detectors on the final layer of the backbone's feature map to identify and filter out patches devoid of objects, ultimately enhancing detection efficiency. This article proposes a novel model, called OPD-Swin-Transformer, for ship detection in large-scale remote sensing images. This model integrates a simple and lightweight object presence detector (OPD) at each stage of the Swin-transformer and uses a step-by-step, progressively challenging strategy to filter out background image patches, achieving an overall improvement in detection speed. The model optimizes the entire network end-to-end using a multitask loss function, leading to simultaneous improvements in detection accuracy. By employing an optimal threshold generation strategy based on the weighted Youden index, the model effectively maintains a higher recall rate for ships while filtering out background images, achieving an optimal balance between speed and accuracy. Our OPD-Swin-Transformer is integrated into two mainstream detectors and evaluated on two popular benchmarks for ship detection. The experiments demonstrate that, when compared to other state-of-the-art methods, this approach increases inference speed by more than 40% while also improving detection accuracy.

The canonical transient receptor potential channel (TRPC) proteins form Ca2+-permeable cation channels that are involved in various heart diseases. However, the roles of specific TRPC proteins in myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury remain poorly understood. We observed that TRPC1 and TRPC6 were highly expressed in the area at risk (AAR) in a coronary artery ligation induced I/R model. Trpc1−/− mice exhibited improved cardiac function, lower serum Troponin T and serum creatine kinase level, smaller infarct volume, less fibrotic scars, and fewer apoptotic cells after myocardial-I/R than wild-type or Trpc6−/− mice. Cardiomyocyte-specific knockdown of Trpc1 using adeno-associated virus 9 mitigated myocardial I/R injury. Furthermore, Trpc1 deficiency protected adult mouse ventricular myocytes (AMVMs) and HL-1 cells from death during hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) injury. RNA-sequencing-based transcriptome analysis revealed differential expression of genes related to reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in Trpc1−/− cardiomyocytes. Among these genes, oxoglutarate dehydrogenase-like (Ogdhl) was markedly downregulated. Moreover, Trpc1 deficiency impaired the calcineurin (CaN)/nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway in AMVMs. Suppression of this pathway inhibited Ogdhl upregulation and ROS generation in HL-1 cells under H/R conditions. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays confirmed NF-κB binding to the Ogdhl promoter. The cardioprotective effect of Trpc1 deficiency was canceled out by overexpression of NF-κB and Ogdhl in cardiomyocytes. In conclusion, our findings reveal that TRPC1 is upregulated in the AAR following myocardial I/R, leading to increased Ca2+ influx into associated cardiomyocytes. Subsequently, this upregulates Ogdhl expression through the CaN/NF-κB signaling pathway, ultimately exacerbating ROS production and aggravating myocardial I/R injury.

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted global healthcare systems. The impacts of SARS-CoV-2 infection on urticaria and its management are unknown. This study aimed to collect information about patients with urticaria infected with SARS-CoV-2 and to investigate the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on urticaria severity, course, and treatment to better support recovery. This was a questionnaire-based study of patients with urticaria infected with SARS-CoV-2. Changes in urticaria severity (measured with the urticaria activity score (UAS)), course, and treatment were assessed before, during, and after SARS-CoV-2 infection. The mean (±SD) UAS scores were 5.17 ± 1.67, 4.23 ± 1.98, and 4.37 ± 1.93 before, during, and after SARS-CoV-2 infection, respectively (F = 8.839, p < 0.01). The median (IQR) wheal score was 0.464 (0.464, 0.763), 0.464 (0.138, 0.763), and 0.464 (0.138, 0.763) before, during, and after infection, respectively (Kruskal–Wallis H-test, H = 12.230, p = 0.02). The median (IQR) pruritus score was 0.695 (0.395, 0.695), 0.394 (0.123, 0.695), and 0.394 (0.123, 0.695) before, during, and after infection, respectively (Kruskal–Wallis H-test, H = 21.001, p < 0.01). Within the limitations of a questionnaire study, urticaria appears to improve during SARS-CoV-2 infection and worsens slightly after recovery, and the frequency of Western medicine use increases.

Abstract Because of the limited effectiveness of prevailing phylogenetic methods when applied to highly divergent protein sequences, the phylogenetic analysis problem remains challenging. Here, we propose a sequence-based evolutionary distance algorithm termed sequence distance (SD), which innovatively incorporates site-to-site correlation within protein sequences into the distance estimation. In protein superfamilies, SD can effectively distinguish evolutionary relationships both within and between protein families, producing phylogenetic trees that closely align with those based on structural information, even with sequence identity less than 20%. SD is highly correlated with the similarity of the protein structure, and can calculate evolutionary distances for thousands of protein pairs within seconds using a single CPU, which is significantly faster than most protein structure prediction methods that demand high computational resources and long run times. The development of SD will significantly advance phylogenetics, providing researchers with a more accurate and reliable tool for exploring evolutionary relationships.

Japanese flounder is usually gonochoristic, with gonads that are either testes or ovaries. Here, we report an unusual case of hermaphroditism in Japanese flounder captured from the Bohai Sea. In the intersex flounder, the membrane of the upper ovary was closely connected to the abdominal muscles and internal organs, and the eggs filled the entire abdomen. The lower ovary was small and closely connected to the testes. The testes contained few fully mature sperm. Both eggs and sperm were capable of fertilization. The levels of several reproduction-related hormones (17β-estradiol, 11-ketotestosterone, 17α, 20β-dihydroxyprogesterone, luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, and testosterone) in the intersex flounder were intermediate, between those in females and males. The results showed that the heterozygosity of the intersex flounder was 0.632, and there were 28 single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the cyp21a gene. Compared with that of wild flounder, the activity of 21-hydroxylase was reduced by approximately 20.0%, and expressions of cyp19a, amh, and dmrt1 differed. We present the first report of its kind, detailing the anatomy, hormonal endocrinology, molecular biology, and physiology of the intersex Japanese flounder.

The adoption of multiprocessor platforms is growing commonplace in Internet of Things (IoT) applications to handle large volumes of sensor data while maintaining real-time performance at a reasonable cost and with low power consumption. Partitioned scheduling is a competitive approach to ensure the temporal constraints of real-time sensor data processing tasks on multiprocessor platforms. However, the problem of partitioning real-time sensor data processing tasks to individual processors is strongly NP-hard, making it crucial to develop efficient partitioning heuristics to achieve high real-time performance. This paper presents an enhanced harmonic partitioned multiprocessor scheduling method for periodic real-time sensor data processing tasks to improve system utilization over the state of the art. Specifically, we introduce a general harmonic index to effectively quantify the harmonicity of a periodic real-time task set. This index is derived by analyzing the variance between the worst-case slack time and the best-case slack time for the lowest-priority task in the task set. Leveraging this harmonic index, we propose two efficient partitioned scheduling methods to optimize the system utilization via strategically allocating the workload among processors by leveraging the task harmonic relationship. Experiments with randomly synthesized task sets demonstrate that our methods significantly surpass existing approaches in terms of schedulability.

Abstract. Background:. The effect of arteriosclerotic intracranial arterial vessel wall enhancement (IAVWE) on downstream collateral flow found in vessel wall imaging (VWI) is not clear. Regardless of the mechanism underlying IAVWE on VWI, damage to the patient's nervous system caused by IAVWE is likely achieved by affecting downstream cerebral blood flow. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of arteriosclerotic IAVWE on downstream collateral flow. Methods:. The present study recruited 63 consecutive patients at the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University from January 2021 to November 2021 with underlying atherosclerotic diseases and unilateral middle cerebral artery (MCA) M1-segment stenosis who underwent an magnetic resonance scan within 3 days of symptom onset. The patients were divided into 4 groups according to IAVWE and the stenosis ratio (Group 1, n = 17; Group 2, n = 19; Group 3, n = 13; Group 4, n = 14), and downstream collateral flow was analyzed using three-dimensional pseudocontinuous arterial spin labeling (3D-pCASL) and RAPID software. The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores of the patients were also recorded. Two-factor multivariate analysis of variance using Pillai's trace was used as the main statistical method. Results:. No statistically significant difference was found in baseline demographic characteristics among the groups. IAVWE, but not the stenosis ratio, had a statistically significant significance on the late-arriving retrograde flow proportion (LARFP), hypoperfusion intensity ratio (HIR), and NIHSS scores (F = 20.941, P

Y2O3–ZrO2 ceramic powder has emerged as a vital structural and functional material in ceramic applications owing to its remarkable performance including wear resistance, temperature resistance, and corrosion resistance. Agglomeration during the drying process is the other key issue that needs to be resolved, which improving the quality of zirconia powder becomes crucial in reducing industrial expenses. This study focuses on investigating the influence of modern microwave heating technology on the drying kinetics of Y2O3–ZrO2 ceramic powder. The experimental results revealed that the average drying rate of Y2O3–ZrO2 ceramic powder increased with sample water content, microwave heating power, and sample mass. Four kinetic fitting models, namely Page, Wang and Singh, Quadratic Model, and Modified Page, were employed to analyze the experimental data for Y2O3–ZrO2 ceramic powder with a mass of 20 g, initial water content of 7.5%, and the microwave heating power is 480 W. Among these models, the Modified Page model demonstrated the best fit and effectively described the drying kinetics of Y2O3–ZrO2 ceramic powder. The Modified Page model successfully captured the kinetics across varying masses, microwave heating powers, and initial water content. FT-IR spectroscopy was employed to describe the material before and after microwave drying. The results exhibited a significant reduction in water molecule content in the Y2O3–ZrO2 ceramic powder after microwave drying, thus confirming the high efficiency and rapidity of the microwave drying procedure. This research provides comprehensive experimental data and offers a theoretical foundation for the industrial application of microwave-enhanced drying of Y2O3–ZrO2 ceramic powder.

Abstract Background Antiretroviral therapy (ART) improved the prognosis of people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (PLWH). Life-long treatment is required in PLWH and is accompanied by various metabolic abnormalities in the disease course. Data about the epidemiology and the dynamic changes of dyslipidemia in PLWH receiving antiretroviral therapy were scarce in Asian countries. This study aimed to explore the risk factors of dyslipidemia and analyze the longitudinal changes of dyslipidemia among Chinese PLWH receiving HAART. Methods We conducted a longitudinal analysis of PLWH enrolled in two large multicenter clinical trials across China, and outpatients followed at the clinic of Peking Union Medical College Hospital. Demographic data and clinical parameters were collected. The risk factors and longitudinal changes in lipid profiles associated with HIV-1 infection were analyzed. The definition of dyslipidemia was made based on the National Cholesterol Education Program, Adult Treatment Panel (NCEP-ATP) III guidelines. Results A total of 1542 PLWH were included. The median follow-up was 6 years. At baseline, the concentrations of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were 4.1 ± 0.91 mmol/L, 1.2 (interquartile ranges [IQR] 0.85–1.75) mmol/L, 1.1 ± 0.37 and 2.4 ± 0.76 mmol/L, respectively. The rate of hypercholesterolemia, hyperglyceridemia, high LDL-C, and low HDL-C were 10.18%, 26.39%, 9.08%, and 44.94%, respectively. The overall prevalence of dyslipidemia was 69.3%, which raised to 84.3% after antiretroviral therapy, substantially higher. CD4/CD8 ratio 105 copies/mL were risk factors associated with any subtype of dyslipidemia. A negative correlation between CD8+CD38+ percentage and HDL-C concentration was found. The regimens including efavirenz (EFV) and tenofovir (TDF) showed better lipid profiles. Longitudinal analysis revealed that both the level and the percentage of abnormal TG and HDL-C occurred drastic change in the first 6 months after ART initiation (from 4.07 to 4.41, from 1.11 to 1.28mmol/L, from 26.39 to 31.1% and from 44.94 to 29.5%, respectively). Conclusions The prevalence of dyslipidemia is high in PLWH and increases after ART, mainly represented as high TG and low HDL-C and associated with advanced stage of HIV-1 infection. The greatest changes in lipids occurred in the early stage after initiating ART therapy. The results suggest that dyslipidemia should be monitored and managed when starting ART.

Abstract Background Although there is a robust relationship among social trauma, optimism, and depression, the inner mechanism of this correlation remains unclear and need to be further explored. The mainly purpose of the current study was to investigate the relationship between social trauma, optimism, and depression among college students in China. More specifically, examined the moderating role of the optimism between social trauma and depression in Chinese college students. Methods A sample of 464 Chinese college students (54.7% female, Mage=19.29) from three universities were selected by the convenient sampling, and the Social Trauma Questionnaire (STQ), the Optimism Questionnaire (OPQ), and the Self-Rating Depression (SDS) were completed by these Chinese undergraduates. The descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, and hierarchical regression analysis were used to examine the results. Results (1) The social trauma was positively associated with depression, whereas the optimism was negatively associated with social trauma, and depression; (2) The social trauma had a significant correlation with depression, and the optimism could moderate the relationship between social trauma and depression. More specifically, the further study showed that there was a significant positive relation between social trauma and depression under the low optimism level, however, there was a non-significant relation between social trauma and depression under the high optimism level. Conclusion The optimism is the protective mechanism of college students’ mental health (e.g., depression), it could weaken the trauma that associated with social trauma among college students.

Effective industrial policies need to be implemented, particularly aligning with environmental protection goals to drive the high-quality growth of China’s economy in the new era. Setting up national high-tech zones falls under the purview of both regional and industrial policies. Using panel data from 163 prefecture-level cities in China from 2007 to 2019, this paper empirically analyzes the impact of national high-tech zones on the level of urban green innovation and its underlying mechanisms. It utilizes the national high-tech zones as a quasi-natural experiment and employs a double machine learning model. The study findings reveal that the policy for national high-tech zones greatly enhances urban green innovation. This conclusion remains consistent even after adjusting the measurement method, empirical samples, and controlling for other policy interferences. The findings from the heterogeneity analysis reveal that the impact of the national high-tech zone policy on green innovation exhibits significant regional heterogeneity, with a particularly significant effect in the central and western regions. Among cities, there is a notable push for green innovation levels in second-tier, third-tier, and fourth-tier cities. The moderating effect results indicate that, at the current stage of development, transportation infrastructure primarily exerts a negative moderating effect on how the national high-tech zone policy impacts the level of urban green innovation. This research provides robust empirical evidence for informing the optimization of the industrial policy of China and the establishment of a future ecological civilization system.

Abstract Hereditary deafness is a common neurosensory disorder, and 148 non‐syndromic deafness genes have been identified to date. Gene therapy has been used to treat a variety of genetic diseases, but no gene therapy drug for hereditary deafness has been approved for clinical use. At present, several clinical trials of gene therapy for hereditary deafness are underway. However, few normative documents have been issued to guide the standardization of gene therapy for hearing loss, and this document is the first global gene therapy guideline for hereditary hearing loss. The guidelines were jointly developed and drafted by experienced audiologists, virologists and biologists who are vigorously involved in inner ear gene therapy research in the Hearing, Speech and Communication Subsociety of Biophysical Society of China, Audiology Development Foundation Of China and Audiology Subsociety of Jiangsu Medical Association. These guidelines cover preclinical research and clinical practice of gene therapy for hereditary deafness, including indications, key points of pre‐clinical research, patient selection criteria, pre‐clinical preparation, drug efficacy, drug safety evaluation criteria, ethical review, etc. We hope that the guidelines will promote the standardization of clinical practice related to gene therapy for hereditary deafness in China and around the world.

RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) technology has become one of the standard tools for studying biological mechanisms at the transcriptome level. Advances in RNA-seq technology have led to the development of numerous publicly available tools for RNA-seq data analysis. Most of these tools target linear genome sequences despite the necessity of studying organisms with circular genome sequences. For example, studying the infection mechanisms of viroids which comprise 246–401 nucleotides circular RNAs and target plants may prevent tremendous economic and agricultural damage. Unfortunately, using the available tools to construct workflows for the analysis of circular genome sequences is difficult, especially for non-bioinformaticians. To overcome this limitation, we present CircSeqAlignTk, an easy-to-use and richly documented R package. CircSeqAlignTk offers both command line and graphical user interfaces for end-to-end RNA-seq data analysis, spanning alignment to the visualisation of circular genome sequences, via a series of functions. Moreover, it includes a feature to generate synthetic sequencing data that mirrors real RNA-seq data from biological experiments. CircSeqAlignTk not only provides an easy-to-use analysis interface for novice users but also allows developers to evaluate the performance of alignment tools and new workflows.

Abstract As one of the most widespread components in marine sediments, calcium carbonate (CaCO3) plays a crucial role in the global carbon cycle and climate changes. To efficiently semi‐quantify the CaCO3 concentration, a more effective, non‐destructive, economic, and accurate technique is required. Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) has been widely used for the detection and quantification of minerals but has been less studied for CaCO3. This study synthesized a series of samples with well‐determined content of CaCO3 to analyze the visible and near‐infrared DRS characteristics. Results show that the intensity of the second derivative of Kubelka‐Munk (K‐M) remission functions of the DRS spectra at 2,340 nm (I2340) is linearly correlated with the CaCO3 content. Then, the new proxy I2340 was applied for marine sediments from the Pacific Ocean with known CaCO3 concentrations determined previously by chemical methods, and the robustness of the I2340 as the proxy for CaCO3 concentration was attested.

To explore the feature of cancer cells and tumor subclones, we analyzed 101,065 single-cell transcriptomes from 12 colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and 92 single cell genomes from one of these patients. We found cancer cells, endothelial cells and stromal cells in tumor tissue expressed much more genes and had stronger cell-cell interactions than their counterparts in normal tissue. We identified copy number variations (CNVs) in each cancer cell and found correlation between gene copy number and expression level in cancer cells at single cell resolution. Analysis of tumor subclones inferred by CNVs showed accumulation of mutations in each tumor subclone along lineage trajectories. We found differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between tumor subclones had two populations: DEGCNV and DEGreg. DEGCNV, showing high CNV-expression correlation and whose expression differences depend on the differences of CNV level, enriched in housekeeping genes and cell adhesion associated genes. DEGreg, showing low CNV-expression correlation and mainly in low CNV variation regions and regions without CNVs, enriched in cytokine signaling genes. Furthermore, cell-cell communication analyses showed that DEGCNV tends to involve in cell-cell contact while DEGreg tends to involve in secreted signaling, which further support that DEGCNV and DEGreg are two regulatorily and functionally distinct categories.

Platinum is known as the best catalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) but the scarcity and high cost of Pt limit its widespread applicability. Herein, the role of the underlying substrate on the HER activity of dispersed Pt atoms is uncovered. A direct current magnetron sputtering technique is utilized to deposit transition metal (TM) thin films of W, Ti, and Ta as underlying substrates for extremely low loading of Pt (

Abstract Background Pneumonia is the leading cause of death among children under five, and kill almost two million children each year. Quercetin, a flavonoid polyphenolic compound, exerts many beneficial biological activities, including anti‐inflammatory functions. Our study aimed to investigate the possibility of quercetin as a therapeutic agent for pneumonia and its role in the inflammatory response induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Methods LPS induced human alveolar epithelial cell A549 as a lung inflammation model in vitro. The effects of quercetin on the production of cytokines and the expression of related‐proteins were detected by Enzyme‐Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay and Western Blot, respectively. Cell Counting Kit‐8 assay was used to detect cell viability. flow cytometry was used to measure cell apoptosis. NO levels were also analyzed through NO kit. Results Our results found that quercetin attenuated the release of IL‐1β, IL‐6, PGE2, and nitrite in LPS‐induced A549 cells. In addition, quercetin inhibits cell apoptosis and relieves ROS generation in LPS‐induced A549 cells. Quercetin also inhibits LPS‐induced NF‐κB activation. They have upregulated the expression of nuclear factor erythroid 2 (Nrf2) and HO‐1. Conclusion In conclusion, these results suggested that quercetin attenuates LPS‐induced inflammation in A549 by activating the Nrf2 signaling pathway.

Emerging evidence has indicated that the alterations in gut microbiota and metabolites are associated with cognitive performance. However, whether these associations imply a causal relationship remains to be definitively established. Here, we conducted two-sample mendelian randomization (MR) studies to explore the causal effects of gut microbiota and metabolites on cognitive performance, using large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWASs). We identified seven positive causalities between host genetic-driven gut microbiota and cognitive performance, including Class Clostridia (p = 0.0002), Order Clostridiales (p = 8.12E-05), Family Rhodospirillaceae (p = 0.042) and Ruminococcustorquesgroup (p = 0.030), Dialister (p = 0.027), Paraprevotella (p = 0.037) and RuminococcaceaeUCG003 (p = 0.007) at the genus level. Additionally, a total of four higher abundance of gut microbiota traits were identified to be negatively related to cognitive performance, including genus Blautia (p = 0.013), LachnospiraceaeFCS020group (p = 0.035), LachnospiraceaeNK4A136group (p = 0.034) and Roseburia (p = 0.00016). In terms of plasma metabolites, we discovered eight positive and six negative relationships between genetic liability in metabolites and cognitive performance (all p

Abstract Current progress in two-dimensional (2D) materials explorations leads to constant specie enrichments of possible advanced materials down to two dimensions. The metal chalcogenide-based 2D materials are promising grounds where many adjacent territories are waiting to be explored. Here, a stable monolayer Ni3TeO6 (NTO) structure was computationally predicted and its stacked 2D nanosheets experimentally synthesized. Theoretical design undergoes featuring coordination of metalloid chalcogen, slicing the bulk structure, geometrical optimizations and stability study. The predicted layered NTO structure is realized in nanometer-thick nanosheets via a one-pot shape-controlled hydrothermal synthesis. Compared to the bulk, the 2D NTO own a lowered bandgap energy, more sensitive wavelength selectivity and an emerging photocatalytic hydrogen evolution ability under visible light. Beside a new 2D NTO with the optoelectrical and photocatalytic merits, its existing polar space group, structural specification, and design route are hoped to benefit 2D semiconductor innovations both in species enrichment and future applications.

Abstract Background The ability of lung cancer screening to manage pulmonary nodules was limited because of the high false‐positive rate in the current mainstream screening method, low‐dose computed tomography (LDCT). We aimed to reduce overdiagnosis in Chinese population. Methods Lung cancer risk prediction models were constructed using data from a population‐based cohort in China. Independent clinical data from two programs performed in Beijing and Shandong, respectively, were used as the external validation set. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate the probability of lung cancer incidence in the whole population and in smokers and nonsmokers. Results In our cohort, 1,016,740 participants were enrolled between 2013 and 2018. Of 79,581 who received LDCT screening, 5165 participants with suspected pulmonary nodules were allocated into the training set, of which, 149 lung cancer cases were diagnosed. In the validation set, 1815 patients were included, and 800 developed lung cancer. The ages of patients and radiologic factors of nodules (calcification, density, mean diameter, edge, and pleural involvement) were included in our model. The area under the curve (AUC) values of the model were 0.868 (95% CI: 0.839–0.894) in the training set and 0.751 (95% CI: 0.727–0.774) in the validation set. The sensitivity and specificity were 70.5% and 70.9%, respectively, which could reduce the 68.8% false‐positive rate in simulated LDCT screening. There was no substantial difference between smokers' and nonsmokers' prediction models. Conclusion Our models could facilitate the diagnosis of suspected pulmonary nodules, effectively reducing the false‐positive rate of LDCT for lung cancer screening.

Fe–Mn–Al–C austenitic steels have promising prospects for lightweight applications, due to their low density, excellent strength, and ductility. But the specific strength ratio of these alloys are still low as compared to other alloys. Herein, an orthogonal rolling (OR) process was used to improve the mechanical strength of a Fe–28Mn–8Al–1C low-density steel. The effect of this deformation method on the microstructural evolution and mechanical properties was studied by means of microscopy techniques, e.g. optic, scanning and transmission electron microscope, electron backscattered diffraction, X-ray diffraction, micro hardness and tensile test measurements. Microstructural characterization results show that OR significantly promotes the activation of multiple slip systems within grains in the material. The development of more uniform deformation microstructure, compared with that that after unidirectional cold rolling to the same strain was mainly due the improvement of the uniformity of strain distribution by rolling deformation in multiple directions. It resulted in an average 84.5 nm sized ultrafine grain structures after 8-pass OR. The tensile and yield strengths were significantly increased to 1813 MPa and 1798 MPa, respectively. Despite of the still-exiting strength-ductility trade-off, a much higher elongation at tensile failure of 9.6% was achieved, compared to only 5.2% of unidirectional cold rolled material. This superior strength and ductility combination was likely promoted by the increased dislocation density and deformation substructures in forms of dislocation cells, and deformation twins induced by OR.

Abstract Introduction Since hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) is an important therapy for malignant and non-malignant pediatric diseases, improving transplant-related mortality remains a challenge. Currently, rituximab, a monoclonal antibody of anti-CD20, is widely used for several post-HSCT complications. However, few studies have focused on the application of rituximab before HSCT. Methods We conducted a retrospective case–control study from January 2019 to July 2021 to determine this effect in a single center. Forty-eight patients were included in the rituximab group, with a one-to-one ratio matched to the control group. Results Both the occurrence rate and cumulative incidence rate of Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) infection were significantly lower in the rituximab group than in the without-rituximab group (10.4% vs. 33.3%, p = 0.014 and 12.2% vs. 39.3% p = 0.0026, respectively). Furthermore, without the application of rituximab was identified as a risk factor for post-HSCT EBV infection via both univariate [hazard ratio (HR) = 4.17, 95%CI (1.52–11.43), p = 0.005] and multivariate analyses [HR = 4.65, 95%CI (1.66–13.0), p = 0.003]. Although the overall survival (OS) probability of the rituximab group was comparable to the without-rituximab group, a markedly improved OS of the rituximab group was found in the malignant disease subgroup (78.9% vs. 42.1%, p = 0.032). The outcomes of graft-versus-host disease, neutrophil and platelet engraftment, other viral infections, and the reconstitution of lymphocytes showed no significant differences between the two groups. Conclusions The administration of rituximab before HSCT may prevent EBV infection following HSCT.

Abstract The fuel cell system (FCS) is commonly combined with an energy storage system (ESS) for enhancing the performance of the ship. Consequently, the battery ESS size and power allocation strategy are critical for the hybrid energy system. This paper focuses on designing a method to solve these two problems. First, a battery degradation model is employed to assess the ESS lifetime. Subsequently, the sizing problem and the optimal power allocation are integrated into a cost‐minimization problem, which is solved by a double‐loop optimization approach. The inside loop utilizes the battery degradation model to calculate ESS lifetime. In the outside loop, a power allocation strategy based on the hybrid Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm and Gray Wolf Optimization algorithm is presented. Finally, the power allocation strategy is extended to real‐time implementation by the equivalent consumption minimization strategy (ECMS) and an improved ECMS is proposed to make the FCS operates near the maximal efficiency point. Compared with ECMS, the operating cost reduces by 0.26%. The result indicates that the proposed method can optimize the ESS size efficiently, and the power allocation strategy can assure the stable operation of the fuel cell ship.

Abstract This paper focuses on designing a power allocation strategy for a fuel cell ship. The performance of the fuel cell varies during operation, so a power allocation strategy considering fuel cell performance differences is proposed, which consists of two layers. In the first layer, the maximum power and maximum efficiency of each fuel cell system (FCS) are updated in real-time with an online parameter identification model, which is composed of the fuel cell semi-empirical model and adaptive Kalman filter. The second layer takes the state of charge of the battery energy storage system, the maximum power, and the maximum efficiency as inputs for power allocation. Compared with the equal allocation strategy and daisy chain strategy, the total hydrogen consumption reduces by 5.3% and 15.1% and the total output power of the FCS with poor performance reduces by 14.1% and 15.7%. The results show that the proposed method can improve the efficiency of the ship power system and reduce the operational burden of the FCS with poor performance.

Let $ q $ be an even prime power and let $ \mathbb{F}_{q} $ be the finite field of $ q $ elements. Let $ f $ be a nonzero polynomial over $ \mathbb{F}_{q^2} $ of the form $ f = a_{1}x_{1}^{m_{1}}+\dots+a_{s}x_{s}^{m_{s}}+y_{1}y_{2}+\dots+y_{n-1}y_{n}+y_{n-2t-1}^{2}+\dots +y_{n-3}^2+y_{n-1}^{2}$ $+b_{t}y_{n-2t}^{2}+ $ $ \dots +b_{1}y_{n-2}^{2}+b_{0}y_{n}^{2} $, where $ a_{i}, b_j\in \mathbb{F}_{q^{2}}^{*}, $ $ m_i\ne 1, $ $ (m_{i}, m_{k}) = 1, $ $ i\ne k, $ $ m_{i}|(q+1), $ $ m_{i}\in \mathbb{Z}^{+}, $ $ 2|n $, $ n > 2 $, $ 0\leq t\leq \frac{n}{2}-2 $, $ {\mathrm{Tr}}_{\mathbb{F}_{q^2}/\mathbb{F}_{2}}(b_{j}) = 1 $ for $ i, k = 1, \dots, s $ and $ j = 0, 1, \dots, t $. For each $ b \in \mathbb{F}_{q^2} $, let $ N_{q^2}(f = b) $ denote the number of $ \mathbb{F}_{q^2} $-rational points on the affine hypersurface $ f = b $. In this paper, we obtain the formula of $ N_{q^2}(f = b) $ by using the Jacobi sums, Gauss sums and the results of quadratic form in finite fields.

[Introduction] In order to improve the problem of traditional proportion integration differentiation (PID) controllers overly relying on the mathematical model of the controlled object in the temperature control in hydrogen production by water electrolysis, this paper studies the application of fuzzy internal model control in the temperature control in hydrogen production by water electrolysis, and provides the design process of the fuzzy internal model controller. [Method] Firstly, the importance of temperature in the process of hydrogen production by water electrolysis was analyzed, and some temperature control strategies commonly used in hydrogen production by water electrolysis and their advantages and disadvantages were listed. Then, internal model control theory and fuzzy theory were introduced, and a design method for a fuzzy internal model temperature controller, which was used to achieve precise temperature control in hydrogen production by water electrolysis, was proposed based on these two theories. Finally, simulation verification experiments were conducted. [Result] The results show that the fuzzy internal model control method used in this paper has better control quality in response speed, anti-interference, and robustness compared to the PID control method, solving the problem of traditional PID controller algorithms overly relying on the mathematical model of the controlled object. [Conclusion] The control algorithms used in this paper are correct and effective, and can be applied to the temperature control in hydrogen production by water electrolysis.

Abstract Chronic kidney disease (CKD) and heart failure (HF) are highly prevalent, aggravate each other, and account for substantial mortality. However, the mechanisms underlying cardiorenal interaction and the role of kidney afferent nerves and their precise central pathway remain limited. Here, we combined virus tracing techniques with optogenetic techniques to map a polysynaptic central pathway linking kidney afferent nerves to subfornical organ (SFO) and thereby to paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and rostral ventrolateral medulla that modulates sympathetic outflow. This kidney-brain neural circuit was overactivated in mouse models of CKD or HF and subsequently enhanced the sympathetic discharge to both the kidney and the heart in each model. Interruption of the pathway by kidney deafferentation, selective deletion of angiotensin II type 1a receptor (AT1a) in SFO, or optogenetic silence of the kidney-SFO or SFO-PVN projection decreased the sympathetic discharge and lessened structural damage and dysfunction of both kidney and heart in models of CKD and HF. Thus, kidney afferent nerves activate a kidney-brain neural circuit in CKD and HF that drives the sympathetic nervous system to accelerate disease progression in both organs. These results demonstrate the crucial role of kidney afferent nerves and their central connections in engaging cardiorenal interactions under both physiological and disease conditions. This suggests novel therapies for CKD or HF targeting this kidney-brain neural circuit.

Al2O3–ZrO2 composite ceramic is a significant structural material and functional material, and the preparation of high-quality Al2O3–ZrO2 powder is a key step to meeting practical application requirements. The major factor affecting the quality of Al2O3–ZrO2 powder is the drying effect. This paper uses modern microwave drying technology to dry Al2O3–ZrO2 powder. The result was indicative that the average drying rate increases with initial moisture content, initial mass, and microwave heating power. Four dynamic models were applied to fit the empirical data of Al2O3–ZrO2 powder under different pretreatment conditions, the Modified Page model can precisely delineate the Al2O3–ZrO2 microwave drying procedure. To evaluate the changes in samples before and post-drying, the specimens were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. These results demonstrate that microwaves can accelerate the drying of Al2O3–ZrO2 and improve its dispersion. Fick's second law calculates the effective diffusion coefficient. When the initial moisture content of Al2O3–ZrO2 was 5.6%, the microwave heating power is 560 W, and the initial quality is 15 g, the effective diffusion coefficient of Al2O3–ZrO2 is 0.006361 m2/s. Based on the relevance of the microwave power and activating energy, the activating energy of microwave drying Al2O3–ZrO2 was calculated, which is −34.80 g/W. This paper provides basic study data and theory instructions for microwave drying technology in drying Al2O3–ZrO2 even the drying process in green metallurgy.

The electron beam cold hearth melting (EBCHM) process is one of the key processes for titanium alloy production. However, EBCHM is prone to cause elemental volatilization and segregation during the melting of aluminum-containing titanium alloys such as Ti-6wt%Al-4wt%V. To gain deeper insights into the physical and chemical phenomena occurring during the EBCHM process, this paper establishes melting process models for the Ti-6wt%Al-4wt%V titanium alloy in a crystallizer with multiple overflow inlets. It examines the evolution of melt pool morphology, flow dynamics, heat transfer, and mass transfer during the casting process. The results indicate that the design of multi-overflow inlets can effectively suppress the longitudinal development of impact pits within the melt pool, thereby preventing the formation of solidification defects such as leaks in the melt. Concurrently, the diversion effect of multi-overflow inlets significantly enhances the elemental homogeneity within the melt pool. At a casting speed of 20 mm/min and a casting temperature of 2273 K, compared to a single overflow inlet, the design with three overflow inlets can reduce the depth of thermal impact pits within the crystallizer by 132 mm and decrease the maximum concentration difference in the Al element within the crystallizer by 0.933 wt.%. The aforementioned simulation results provide a theoretical basis for the control of metallurgical and solidification defects in large-scale titanium alloy ingots.

This paper investigates the role of chaotic analysis and deep learning models in combustion instability predictions. To detect the precursors of impending thermoacoustic instability (TAI) in a swirled combustor with various fuel injection strategies, a data-driven framework is proposed in this study. Based on chaotic analysis, a recurrence matrix derived from combustion system is used in deep learning models, which are able to detect precursors of TAI. More specifically, the ResNet-18 network model is trained to predict the proximity of unstable operation conditions when the combustion system is still stable. The proposed framework achieved state-of-the-art 91.06% accuracy in prediction performance. The framework has potential for practical applications to avoid an unstable operation domain in active combustion control systems and, thus, can offer on-line information on the margin of the combustion instability.

The ultra-low friction observed between water and carbon nanotubes has been extensively reported recently. In this study, we delve into the factors influencing the liquid–solid friction, including surface properties such as surface wettability and roughness of carbon nanotubes, as well as the driving forces involving temperature gradient and pressure drop. Utilizing non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations on carbon nanotube models with a diameter of ~1 nm, we observe a significant increase in water flux within a specific range of wettability, independent of roughness. This range is expected to shift to smaller values with increased pressure drop and temperature gradient. Both the mechanical transport coefficient and the thermo-osmosis coefficient exhibit a negative correlation with wettability, and roughness further decreases these coefficients. Through this work, we provide insights into the effects of surface properties on fluid transport through nanopores, contributing valuable information for the optimization of high-performance membrane processes.

Traditional model tests for soil and rock materials face challenges in observing the slurry diffusion within the soil mass, hindering the understanding of the relationship between grouting-induced ground deformation and grout diffusion. This study conducts grouting diffusion model tests using a self-developed experimental setup on both ordinary and transparent sand. We investigate cement slurry diffusion patterns, distribution characteristics, and temporal variations in ground uplift displacement during the grouting process. By leveraging a visualization grouting model and non-intrusive displacement measurements, we directly observe and verify the changes in cement slurry diffusion and ground displacement in transparent sand. The results indicate the following: during non-steady grouting in sand, slurry diffusion progresses from low-pressure infiltration to medium-pressure compaction, culminating in high-pressure fracturing; ground uplift displacement curves exhibit a consistent “step-like” increase with grouting time, featuring accelerated growth after each step; and visualization tests reveal a strong correlation between grouting pressure, slurry diffusion, and corresponding uplift displacement. Distinct features in the grouting pressure plot align with the acceleration phases of the displacement; at a water–cement ratio (w/c) of 0.8, the stratum’s vertical deformation shows a symmetric “higher in the middle, lower on the sides” distribution. As the burial depth decreases, the stratum’s uplift displacement tends to flatten horizontally, especially at w/c = 0.8 and 1.2.

As global demand for ecological resources continues to surpass ecosystem capacity, predicting future changes in ecological supply, consumption, and carrying capacity is crucial for informed decision-making regarding sustainable land use and ecological security. This study forecasts ecological carrying states in Nepal, a representative region in the southern Himalayan foothills, from 2020 to 2030. We employ three alternative scenarios from the Shared Socioeconomic Pathway and Representative Concentration Pathway (SSP-RCP): SSP2-RCP4.5 (BAU), SSP1-RCP2.6 (TSS) and SSP5-RCP8.5 (SSS). Our findings indicate a continuous rise in ecological consumption, particularly in densely populated tropical areas such as the hilly region (HR) and Terai region (TR). Under the BAU and SSS scenarios, ecological supply decreases rapidly in these regions. Alarmingly, over one-third of Nepal's districts, mainly in central and eastern HR and TR, are projected to experience overloaded ecological carrying states by 2030. Climate change sensitivity and escalating consumption due to improved living standards and population growth pose significant challenges for these regions to reverse ecological deficits. This study offers a scientific foundation for reconciling the conflict between ecological protection and societal demands, facilitating the preservation, restoration, and sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems while striving to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

Neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy has demonstrated significant benefit for resectable non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) excluding known EGFR/ALK genetic alterations. Recent evidence has shown that neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy could be clinically valuable in resectable localized driver gene-mutant NSCLC, though the data still lack robust support, especially for rare oncogenic mutations. Here, we report a patient with stage IIIA lung adenocarcinoma with a RET fusion gene and high expression of PD-L1 who underwent neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy and successfully attained a pathologic complete response. The patient has survived for 12 months with no recurrence or metastases after surgery. Our case suggests that this treatment strategy may be an alternative therapeutic option for resectable RET fusion-positive NSCLC patients.

Nuclear protein of the testis (NUT) midline carcinoma (NMC) is a rare tumor, with particularly low incidence in the lungs, and a correspondingly poor prognosis. To determine the clinicopathological characteristics, outcomes, and prognostic factors of primary pulmonary NMC, a case was reported and a systematic review was performed. Twenty-nine records, including ours, involving 62 cases, were finally included. The median age at diagnosis was 29.5 years. At presentation, the most common symptoms at presentation were cough (47.50%) and chest/back pain (37.50%). In terms of diagnosis, 32.14% of NMC cases were identified through immunohistochemistry (IHC); However, a greater number of cases may be misdiagnosed initially, and ultimately, the diagnosis of NMC was confirmed through a combination of IHC and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Despite the clinical application of various chemotherapy-based treatments, the actual effectiveness remains unsatisfactory. Furthermore, Cox regression analysis of multiple factors identified male gender and concurrent presence of pleural effusion as indicators of shorter survival time in patients. These results emphasize the importance of increased diagnostic awareness among clinical and pathology practitioners concerning NMC. While there is currently no established standard for treating NMC, a treatment approach combining multiple methods shows promise for future research. Concurrently, clinical and foundational investigations addressing variables such as gender and the presence of pleural effusion may yield valuable insights into the diagnosis and treatment of NMC.

ObjectiveThis study aims to analyze the efficacy of anti-syphilis treatment and the impact of syphilis events on HIV virology and immunology in HIV/syphilis co-infected patients on long-term antiretroviral therapy (ART) and to investigate the incidence and factors of syphilis recurrence/re-infection/serofast state. The insights derived from this investigation can potentially guide strategies for preventing and managing syphilis and AIDS.MethodsA retrospective case–control study was conducted at the AIDS clinic of Peking Union Medical College Hospital from January 2003 to December 2022. The study involved 86 HIV/syphilis co-infected patients and 86 HIV mono-infected patients matched based on age, baseline CD4 + T cell counts, and viral load. We examined the clinical characteristics of HIV/syphilis co-infected patients, evaluated the efficacy of anti-syphilis treatment, and analyzed the dynamic changes in HIV virology and immunology. The Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) model investigated the factors associated with HIV/syphilis co-infection and syphilis recurrence/reinfection/serofast state.ResultsSyphilis serofast state was observed in 11.6% (10/86) of HIV/syphilis co-infected patients after treatment, and 33.7% (29/86) had syphilis recurrence or re-infection. The overall effectiveness of syphilis treatment stood at 76.8% (63/82). Notably, the effectiveness of syphilis treatment displayed a significant correlation with baseline syphilis titers exceeding 1:128 (p = 0.003). Over the 10-year follow-up period on ART, the HLA-DR + CD8+/CD8 + % levels in the HIV/syphilis co-infected group were markedly higher than those in the HIV mono-infected group (p 0.05). GEE analysis model revealed that elevated HLA-DR + CD8+/CD8 + % levels were associated with HIV/syphilis co-infection (OR = 1.026, 95% CI = 1.007–1.046; p = 0.007) and syphilis recurrence/reinfection/serofast state (OR = 1.036, 95% CI = 1.008–1.065; p = 0.012).ConclusionWhile HIV/syphilis co-infected patients typically receive adequate treatment, the incidence of syphilis recurrence and reinfection remain notably elevated. A heightened HLA-DR + CD8+/CD8+ % is a notable risk factor for HIV/syphilis co-infection and syphilis recurrence/reinfection/serofast state. Therefore, it is advisable to reinforce health education efforts and ensure regular follow-ups for people living with HIV undergoing ART to monitor syphilis infection or increased risk of syphilis infection.