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In recent years, the rice-crayfish coculture has shown significant progress as an agricultural technology with significant economic value in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China. Nonetheless, as the promotion of the technology expands, the unvarying co-culture method poses challenges in adapting to the diverse environmental conditions across different regions. This has resulted in regional disparities dominated by environmental factors, which have emerged as the primary obstacle to the advancement of rice-crayfish coculture. It is uncertain whether the rice-crayfish coculture model can be implemented in tropical regions due to the higher temperature and stronger solar radiation. Therefore, this study analyzes the feasibility of establishing the rice-crayfish coculture model through estimating the rice and crayfish annual production and the economic and ecological benefits in the tropical region. The growth, annual production, and nitrogen partial factor productivity (NPFP) of rice, nitrogen dynamics in the field water, as well as the economic inputs and benefits associated with the rice-crayfish coculture system over two years were evaluated in Hainan province. It was found that: 1) Even with a reduction of 33.3% in nitrogen fertilizer application, the annual production of the rice-crayfish coculture system remains equivalent to that of the rice monoculture system. Furthermore, the rice-crayfish coculture can increase the effective panicle number of rice. 2) The rice-crayfish coculture system can provide nutrients to support rice growth without polluting the water environment. The nitrogen fertilizer partial productivity in the rice-crayfish coculture system is significantly higher than that in the rice monoculture system. Crayfish culture introduced additional nitrogen in rice field at early stage, but it did not gain any form of nitrogen content in the field water at the end of the season. 3) In comparison to the rice monoculture system, the tropical rice-crayfish coculture system increased net profit by 152.82% -745.26%. 4) Comprehensive analyses of the growth, yield, and economic benefits showed that SXHN is better than YXYLS, which indicated that suitable varieties were needed for developing rice-crayfish coculture in the tropics. Rice-crayfish coculture is an economic and ecological agricultural system. However, rice-crayfish coculture encounters extensive technical challenges across various regions, because of the varied culture conditions. These challenges impede the expansion of the rice-crayfish coculture model. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the practicality of the rice-crayfish coculture system in the tropics to facilitate the development of the rice-crayfish coculture model. [Display omitted] • The development of rice-crayfish coculture system in tropical regions is feasible and profitable. • The difference in annual production between the two systems was not significant. • The NPFP of the rice-crayfish coculture system is significantly higher than that of the rice monoculture system. • Compared to the rice monoculture, the net profit of the rice-crayfish coculture system can increase by 152.82% to 745.26%. • SXHN is better suited to rice-crayfish coculture in the tropics, as compared with YXYLS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel visible-light-mediated fluoroalkylation/cyclization tandem process for constructing fluoroalkyl-containing 3,4-disubstituted dihydro-1,5-naphthyridin-2(1H)-ones and 7,8-disubstituted dihydropyrido[3,2-d]pyrimidin-6(5H)-ones has been explored. This method is compatible with a wide range of N-arylcinnamamides as well as sodium fluoroalkylsulfonates (RfSO2Na, Rf = CHF2, CF3, C4F9, C6F13) and avoids the need for any external oxidant or photocatalyst. Mechanism studies revealed that the singlet oxygen coexists with the superoxide radical anion through energy transfer and single electron transfer processes during the photoredox reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Soybean (Glycine max), a vital grain and oilseed crop, serves as a primary source of plant protein and oil. Soil salinization poses a significant threat to soybean planting, highlighting the urgency to improve soybean resilience and adaptability to saline stress. Melatonin, recently identified as a key plant growth regulator, plays crucial roles in plant growth, development, and responses to environmental stress. However, the potential of melatonin to mitigate alkali stress in soybeans and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Results: This study investigated the effects of exogenous melatonin on the soybean cultivar Zhonghuang 13 under alkaline stress. We employed physiological, biochemical, transcriptomic, and metabolomic analyses throughout both vegetative and pod-filling growth stages. Our findings demonstrate that melatonin significantly counteracts the detrimental effects of alkaline stress on soybean plants, promoting plant growth, photosynthesis, and antioxidant capacity. Transcriptomic analysis during both growth stages under alkaline stress, with and without melatonin treatment, identified 2,834 and 549 differentially expressed genes, respectively. These genes may play a vital role in regulating plant adaptation to abiotic stress. Notably, analysis of phytohormone biosynthesis pathways revealed altered expression of key genes, particularly in the ARF (auxin response factor), AUX/IAA (auxin/indole-3-acetic acid), and GH3 (Gretchen Hagen 3) families, during the early stress response. Metabolomic analysis during the pod-filling stage identified highly expressed metabolites responding to melatonin application, such as uteolin-7-O-(2''-O-rhamnosyl)rutinoside and Hederagenin-3-O-glucuronide-28-O-glucosyl(1,2)glucoside, which helped alleviate the damage caused by alkali stress. Furthermore, we identified 183 differentially expressed transcription factors, potentially playing a critical role in regulating plant adaptation to abiotic stress. Among these, the gene SoyZH13_04G073701 is particularly noteworthy as it regulates the key differentially expressed metabolite, the terpene metabolite Hederagenin-3-O-glucuronide-28-O-glucosyl(1,2)glucoside. WGCNA analysis identified this gene (SoyZH13_04G073701) as a hub gene, positively regulating the crucial differentially expressed metabolite of terpenoids, Hederagenin-3-O-glucuronide-28-O-glucosyl(1,2)glucoside. Our findings provide novel insights into how exogenous melatonin alleviates alkali stress in soybeans at different reproductive stages. Conclusions: Integrating transcriptomic and metabolomic approaches, our study elucidates the mechanisms by which exogenous melatonin ameliorates the inhibitory effects of alkaline stress on soybean growth and development. This occurs through modulation of biosynthesis pathways for key compounds, including terpenes, flavonoids, and phenolics. Our findings provide initial mechanistic insights into how melatonin mitigates alkaline stress in soybeans, offering a foundation for molecular breeding strategies to enhance salt-alkali tolerance in this crop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are crucial in the targeted treatment of advanced colorectal cancer (CRC). Anlotinib, a multi-target TKI, has previously been demonstrated to offer therapeutic benefits in previous studies. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been implicated in CRC progression and their unique structural stability serves as promising biomarkers. The detailed molecular mechanisms and specific biomarkers related to circRNAs in the era of targeted therapies, however, remain obscure. Methods: The whole transcriptome RNA sequencing and function experiments were conducted to identify candidate anlotinib-regulated circRNAs, whose mechanism was confirmed by molecular biology experiments. CircHAS2 was profiled in a library of patient-derived CRC organoids (n = 22) and patient-derived CRC tumors in mice. Furthermore, a prospective phase II clinical study of 14 advanced CRC patients with anlotinib-based therapy was commenced to verify drug sensitivity (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT05262335). Results: Anlotinib inhibits tumor growth in vitro and in vivo by downregulating circHAS2. CircHAS2 modulates CCNE2 activation by acting as a sponge for miR-1244, and binding to USP10 to facilitate p53 nuclear export as well as degradation. In parallel, circHAS2 serves as a potent biomarker predictive of anlotinib sensitivity, both in patient-derived organoids and xenograft models. Moreover, the efficacy of anlotinib inclusion into the treatment regimen yields meaningful clinical responses in patients with high levels of circHAS2. Our findings offer a promising targeted strategy for approximately 52.9% of advanced CRC patients who have high circHAS2 levels. Conclusions: CircHAS2 promotes cell proliferation via the miR-1244/CCNE2 and USP10/p53/CCNE2 bidirectional axes. Patient-derived organoids and xenograft models are employed to validate the sensitivity to anlotinib. Furthermore, our preliminary Phase II clinical study, involving advanced CRC patients treated with anlotinib, confirmed circHAS2 as a potential sensitivity marker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Neoadjuvant chemo-immunotherapy combination has shown remarkable advances in the management of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). However, the identification of a reliable biomarker for predicting the response to this chemo-immunotherapy regimen remains elusive. While computed tomography (CT) is widely utilized for response evaluation, its inherent limitations in terms of accuracy are well recognized. Therefore, in this study, we present a novel technique to predict the response of ESCC patients before receiving chemo-immunotherapy by testing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath. Methods: This study employed a prospective-specimen-collection, retrospective-blinded-evaluation design. Patients' baseline breath samples were collected and analyzed using high-pressure photon ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPPI-TOFMS). Subsequently, patients were categorized as responders or non-responders based on the evaluation of therapeutic response using pathology (for patients who underwent surgery) or CT images (for patients who did not receive surgery). Results: A total of 133 patients were included in this study, with 91 responders who achieved either a complete response (CR) or a partial response (PR), and 42 non-responders who had stable disease (SD) or progressive disease (PD). Among 83 participants who underwent both evaluations with CT and pathology, the paired t-test revealed significant differences between the two methods (p < 0.05). For the breath test prediction model using breath test data from all participants, the validation set demonstrated mean area under the curve (AUC) of 0.86 ± 0.06. For 83 patients with pathological reports, the breath test achieved mean AUC of 0.845 ± 0.123. Conclusions: Since CT has inherent weakness in hollow organ assessment and no other ideal biomarker has been found, our study provided a noninvasive, feasible, and inexpensive tool that could precisely predict ESCC patients' response to neoadjuvant chemo-immunotherapy combination using breath test based on HPPI-TOFMS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The incidence of the iatrogenic foreign body retained after surgery is extremely low. Iatrogenic foreign body retained is surrounded by normal tissue, which responds to foreign matter to form inflammatory pseudotumors. Surgical sponge or swap is the most common type of foreign body. There were no reports of medical sutures remaining as foreign bodies in the lung parenchyma to form inflammatory pseudotumors.Case Presentation: A CT scan of a 50-year-old female showed an irregular soft tissue mass in the left upper lobe with rough edge and spiculation. After 20 months, the size increased from 2.8 × 1.9 cm to 3.2 × 2.2 cm. The patient underwent a ventricular septal repair surgery for congenital Fallot tetralogy 35 years ago and a left breast surgery for breast cancer. She had a family history of lung cancer. Evaluation of this mass highly suggested a lung malignant lesion. The patient underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) lobectomy and her pathology revealed an intrapulmonary inflammatory pseudotumor caused by a medical prolene suture. Based on her medical history and other reports of iatrogenic foreign bodies, we believe that this suture retained from the heart surgery 35 years ago entered the pulmonary artery, moved to the distal branch, and eventually formed an inflammatory pseudotumor in the lung parenchyma. Here we reported and analyze this rare case.Conclusion: We reported a rare case of inflammatory pseudotumor in the lung parenchyma caused by a medical suture, and determined it was a prolene suture retained in the body during a cardiac surgery 35 years ago. Diagnosis of this rare disease required sufficient imaging experience. Besides, appropriate surgical exploration can help with the diagnosis and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The abundant HA crystals were rapidly formed on the MAO coating by MH treatment. • The unique microstructure of the bioactive coating was clearly revealed by TEM method. • The MH treated MAO coating had better cell response and gene expression levels. • The osseointegration of the MAO coating was greatly improved after MH treatment. A bioactive coating with the outwards growth of the uniform and abundant hydroxyapatite (HA) crystals was quickly fabricated on titanium (Ti) by microarc oxidation (MAO) and microwave hydrothermal (MH) treatment. The MAO coating consisted of a few of TiO 2 nanocrystals and lots of amorphous phase containing Ca, P, Si, Ti and O. The MH treating time has significant influence on the surface morphology, elemental concentration and phase composition of the MAO coating. After MH treatment for 10 min, large numbers of HA columnar crystals were rapidly formed on the outermost surface of the MAO coating. However, long MH treating time (60 min) could give rise to the dissolution of the HA columnar crystals and lead to the formation of lots of Na 0.23 TiO 2 nanoflakes on the outer surface. As compared with the Ti and MAO coating, the MH treated MAO coatings showed better cell adhesion and proliferation as well as higher expression levels of various genes such as the bone morphogenetic protein 2, bone sialoprotein, osteopontin and alkaline phosphates genes. This improvement was probably attributed to the formation of large numbers of HA columnar crystals on the surface. After implantation for 16 weeks, the MH treated MAO coating for 10 min possessed the best osseointegration ability due to the high bioactivity of the HA columnar crystals, including the good bone-implant contact interface, less soft tissue at the interface, more new bone formation and higher interface bonding strength with the bones. Thus, the hybrid technology of the MAO and MH treatment could be considered as the rapid and effective surface modification technology, showing a promising application in the biochemical filed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let (M , g) be a compact Riemannian three-dimensional manifold with boundary. We prove the compactness of the set of scalar-flat metrics which are in the conformal class of g and have the boundary as a constant mean curvature hypersurface. This involves a blow-up analysis of a Yamabe-type equation with critical Sobolev exponent on the boundary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Emerging evidence indicates that circular RNAs (circRNAs) play vital roles in tumor progression, including lung adenocarcinomas (LUAD). However, the mechanisms by which circRNAs promote the progression of LUAD still require further investigation. Methods: Quantitative real-time PCR was performed to detect the expression of circP4HB in LUAD tissues and cells. Then, Kaplan–Meier analysis was used to determine the prognostic value of circP4HB expression. We employed RNA pull-down, RNA immunoprecipitation, mass spectrometry, cells fraction, glucose consumption, lactate production, pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) activity, and macrophage polarization assays to uncover the underlying mechanisms of circP4HB in LUAD. Results: We found that circP4HB is upregulated in LUAD tissues and correlated with advanced TNM stages and lymph node metastasis. LUAD patients with high circP4HB expression had poor prognoses. Functionally, circP4HB promoted LUAD progression in vivo and in vitro. Upregulated circP4HB increased glucose consumption, lactate production and accelerated aerobic glycolysis in LUAD cells. Mechanically, circP4HB mainly accumulated in the cytoplasm of LUAD cells and bound with PKM2 and subsequently upregulating PKM2 enzymatic activity by increasing its tetramer formation. Additionally, circP4HB promoted M2 macrophage phenotype shift via targeting PKM2. Finally, rescue assays further confirmed that circP4HB could promote LUAD cell progression through its interaction with PKM2. Conclusion: These results demonstrate that circP4HB could promote LUAD progression, indicating circP4HB might be a potential therapeutic target of LUAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying the ecological forces that structure root-associated microbial communities is an essential step toward more sustainable agriculture. Legumes are widely utilized as model plants to study selective forces and their functioning in plant-microbial interactions owing to their ability to establish mutualism with rhizobia. Root nodules act as symbiotic organs to optimize the cost-benefit balance in this mutualistic relationship by modulating the number of nodules. However, it is not known whether the number of nodules is related to the structure of root-associated bacterial communities. Here, the root-associated bacterial communities of soybean grown in native soil by means of soybean cultivars with super- or normal nodulation were investigated across four developmental stages. We compared ecological processes between communities and found decreased relative importance of neutral processes for super-nodulating soybean, although the overall structures resembled those of normal-nodulating soybean. We identified the generalist core bacterial populations in each root-associated compartment, that are shared across root-associated niches, and persist through developmental stages. Within core bacterial species, the relative abundances of bacterial species in the rhizosphere microbiome were linked to host-plant functional traits and can be used to predict these traits from microbes using machine learning algorithms. These findings broaden the comprehensive understanding of the ecological forces and associations of microbiotas in various root-associated compartments and provide novel insights to integrate beneficial plant microbiomes into agricultural production to enhance plant performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two internal solitary waves (ISWs) with very long fronts observed by synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images in the northern South China Sea (NSCS) are comparatively analyzed based on oceanic reanalysis data and the Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) theory. The differences in the environmental parameters, wave half-width, and amplitude of the two ISW fronts in the two distinct oceanic environments are studied. In the presence of a weak westward surface current of approximately 0.05 m/s, the values of the linear wave speed increase by up to 0.056 m/s, and the retrieved ISW amplitudes decrease by up to 14 m. On the contrary, for another background oceanic environment considering a relatively strong eastward surface current of approximately 0.2 m/s, there are decreases of up to 0.17 m/s in the linear wave speed and increases of up to 32 m in the retrieved amplitudes. However, the results retrieved from both the SAR observations commonly show that the ISW amplitudes along the fronts reach their maximums at roughly 21°N and decrease toward the southern and northern sides, in spite of their distinct background environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) management network and building cost-effective and well-managed healthcare systems are high priorities for healthcare units. Creating accurate and explainable mortality prediction models helps identify the most critical risk factors in the patients' survival/death status and early detect the most in-need patients. This study proposes a highly accurate and efficient machine learning model for predicting ICU mortality status upon discharge using the information available during the first 24 hours of admission. The most important features in mortality prediction are identified, and the effects of changing each feature on the prediction are studied. We used supervised machine learning models and illness severity scoring systems to benchmark the mortality prediction. We also implemented a combination of SHAP, LIME, partial dependence, and individual conditional expectation plots to explain the predictions made by the best-performing model (CatBoost). We proposed E-CatBoost, an optimized and efficient patient mortality prediction model, which can accurately predict the patients' discharge status using only ten input features. We used eICU-CRD v2.0 to train and validate the models; the dataset contains information on over 200,000 ICU admissions. The patients were divided into twelve disease groups, and models were fitted and tuned for each group. The models' predictive performance was evaluated using the area under a receiver operating curve (AUROC). The AUROC scores were 0.86 [std:0.02] to 0.92 [std:0.02] for CatBoost and 0.83 [std:0.02] to 0.91 [std:0.03] for E-CatBoost models across the defined disease groups; if measured over the entire patient population, their AUROC scores were 7 to 18 and 2 to 12 percent higher than the baseline models, respectively. Based on SHAP explanations, we found age, heart rate, respiratory rate, blood urine nitrogen, and creatinine level as the most critical cross-disease features in mortality predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The propagation of oceanic internal solitary waves (ISWs) with spatial irregularity and temporal instability is referred to as nonstationary evolution. To simplify the contraction and expansion of strait channels in the ocean into a sinusoidal geometric structure of a convex side boundary, numerical simulations with turbulent models were conducted in this study, supplemented by laboratory experiments in a stratified fluid flume, to verify the nonstationary evolution characteristics of ISWs propagating along a convex side boundary. This study reveals that when ISWs approach the convex side boundary, the wave amplitude begins to increase, and the horizontal shear increases. Upon entering the contraction segment of the side boundary, due to obstruction from the boundary, the wave shape undergoes vertical stretching and horizontal contraction, leading to a further increase in wave amplitude but a reduction in horizontal shear. The shear is the strongest when passing through the center of the convex side boundary with the smallest transect. However, the wave shape undergoes vertical contraction and horizontal stretching, resulting in decreases in both amplitude and shear compared to those at the center of the convex side boundary. • Characteristics of internal solitary waves propagating along a convex side boundary are studied. • The waveform undergoes vertical stretching and horizontal contraction upon entering the contraction segment and vice versa. • The wave amplitude and shear reach their maximums when passing through the center of the convex side boundary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Three‐dimensional reconstruction of chest computerized tomography (CT) excels in intuitively demonstrating anatomical patterns for pulmonary segmentectomy. However, current methods are labor‐intensive and rely on contrast CT. We hereby present a novel fully automated reconstruction algorithm based on noncontrast CT and assess its performance both independently and in combination with surgeons. Methods: A retrospective pilot study was performed. Patients between May 2020 to August 2020 who underwent segmentectomy in our single institution were enrolled. Noncontrast CTs were used for reconstruction. In the first part of the study, the accuracy of the demonstration of anatomical variants by either automated or manual reconstruction algorithm were compared to surgical observation, respectively. In the second part of the study, we tested the accuracy of the identification of anatomical variants by four independent attendees who reviewed 3‐D reconstruction in combination with CT scans. Results: A total of 20 cases were enrolled in this study. All segments were represented in this study with two left S1‐3, two left S4 + 5, one left S6, five left basal segmentectomies, one right S1, three right S2, 1 right S2b + 3a, one right S3, two right S6 and two right basal segmentectomies. The median time consumption for the automated reconstruction was 280 (205–324) s. Accurate vessel and bronchial detection were achieved in 85% by the AI approach and 80% by Mimics, p = 1.00. The accuracy of vessel classification was 80 and 95% by AI and manual approaches, respectively, p = 0.34. In real‐world application, the accuracy of the identification of anatomical variant by thoracic surgeons was 85% by AI+CT, and the median time consumption was 2 (1–3) min. Conclusions: The AI reconstruction algorithm overcame defects of traditional methods and is valuable in surgical planning for segmentectomy. With the AI reconstruction, surgeons may achieve high identification accuracy of anatomical patterns in a short time frame. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Discrete laser spot transformation hardening is a process that creates isolated laser hardening spots, usually distributed in a certain pattern, on a component surface, covering only a fraction of the surface region that is being treated. The process offers several unique advantages for tribological applications, including improved lubrication conditions and wear performance and increased productivity. However, very limited information is available on the appropriate selection of processing parameters to achieve optimal results. In this paper, discrete laser spot hardening of AISI O1 tool steel has been studied using a pulsed Nd:YAG laser. Effect of various laser processing parameters, including laser pulse energy, pulse duration and defocus distance, on characteristics of the laser treated spots are investigated. Maps are experimentally established for processing parameter selections in discrete laser spot transformation hardening of the AISI O1 tool steel. Results show that the maximum diameter and depth of transformation hardening zones with no surface melting increase with the increase of laser pulse energy. However, they are not markedly affected by laser pulse duration. On the other hand, longer pulse durations at a given pulse energy reduce the size of softening zone surrounding the central hardening zone and are thus more favourable for most practical applications. Short laser pulse durations below 8ms tend to produce shallower hardening zones and are not recommended for wear applications. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• A similarity evaluation method for 3D surface topography data based on statistical analysis. • A similarity evaluation method that can successfully distinguish if two sets of 3D-point-cloud data obtained by different optical metrology platforms are collected from the same surface. • A method can be utilized in cyber-manufacturing to avoid miscommunications when unified surface quality assessment systems are not established. The surface topographic measurements can be used by the additive manufacturing (AM) industry for in-situ quality inspection. However, disagreements may arise when we use different technologies to measure the topography of the same sample surface due to noise, sampling or optical properties of the sample surface, which may cause miscommunications or confusions between manufacturers. Thus, proposing methods for rating the similarities to match surface topographic data measured by various optical techniques is of crucial importance. This research investigates similarity evaluation methods for three-dimensional point-cloud topography data acquired by different technologies. Two different optical techniques (focus variation microscopy and structured light scanning) are used as testbeds. We propose two similarity evaluation methods for three-dimensional point-cloud data based on image distance method and Pearson's correlation coefficient. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed methods are effective and informative in determining whether the measured data are collected from the same sample, even though the measuring systems have different working principles and resolutions. This research facilitates our understanding of the discrepancies between different measuring systems, and meanwhile benefits a cyber-manufacturing system where unified inspection methods are unavailable among different manufacturers sharing the metrology data in cyber space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) has been widely applied for the diagnosis of pulmonary diseases in clinical as it was recognized as a minimally invasive, well-tolerated and easily performed procedure. Lipid analysis of BAL fluid is a comprehensive strategy to observe lipid phenotypes, explore potential biomarkers, and elucidate the biological mechanisms of respiratory diseases. However, the highly diverse concentration of lipids in BAL fluid due to the deviation between the retrieved and injected aliquot volumes during lavage raised a challenge in obtaining high-quality lipidomic data. Here, this study aims to investigate what volume of BAL fluid is suitable for lipidomic analysis. Specifically, the BAL fluid harvested from H1N1 infected mice and controls was concentrated to varying degrees by freeze-drying technique before preparation for lipidomic analysis. The optimal concentration multiple of BAL fluid was approved by comparing the coverage and quality of identified lipids, as well as the number of differentially expressed lipids in the H1N1 infection model. Sixty-two differential lipids were identified respectively in the positive and negative modes when the BAL fluid was condensed five times, and they were classified into glycerolipids, phospholipids and fatty acids. This study focuses on the alterations of phospholipids, since they are the main constituents of pulmonary surfactants. Several phospholipids significantly accumulated in the BAL fluid of H1N1-infected mice, while most of them contained omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, indicating disrupted inflammatory homeostasis in lungs. This study recommends freeze-drying/reconstitution prior to lipid extraction from BAL fluid for lipidomic analysis, as this procedure increased the richness and abundance of lipids. [Display omitted] • BAL fluid concentrated for five times was appropriate for lipidomic analysis. • Phospholipids and lysophospholipids accumulated in BAL fluid upon H1N1 infection. • Metabolic disorder of omega 3 PUFAs was involved in H1N1 infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study systematically explored the interaction mechanisms of soy protein fibrils–β-carotene complex. Herein, we used plant-based ingredients (β-carotene and protein fibrils) to fabricate high nutrient plant-based mayonnaise by a facile method, also investigated sensory properties and β-carotene bioaccessibility. Thioflavin T fluorescence, zeta potential, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy results revealed that the conformational transition of protein fibrils had occurred as the addition of β-carotene. Intrinsic fluorescence quenching, FTIR spectroscopy, and surface hydrophobicity suggested that the main interaction between protein fibrils and β-carotene was hydrophobic interaction, and the formation of the complex was attributed to entropy-driven. Compared with native proteins, protein fibrils had a higher binding ability to β-carotene. Additionally, the antioxidant activity was improved after the formation of β-carotene–protein fibrils complexes (F-0.3β, 61.50%). Upon such molecular encapsulation, the stability of β-carotene was greatly improved compared with that of β-carotene only. F-0.3β-based mayonnaise (F-0.3β-M) showed a solid-like property and lower droplet size than other plant-based mayonnaise, indicating good plasticity and smoothness. In vitro digestion revealed that F-0.3β-M exhibited higher transformation (63.95%) and bioaccessibility (87.63%). This work shed light on the understanding of β-carotene–protein fibrils binding, and develop egg-free mayonnaise to attract plant-based diet lovers. [Display omitted] • β-carotene promoted changes in the protein fibrils spatial structure. • The interaction between protein fibrils and β-carotene is maintained by hydrophobic interactions. • F-0.3β-based mayonnaise has good plasticity and smoothness. • The preparation of mayonnaise can improve the bio accessibility of β-carotene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposure to fine particles (PM 2.5) and associated PAHs are frequently linked with lung cancer, which makes the understanding of their occurrence and health risk in human lungs urgently important. Using the ultrasonic treatment and sequencing centrifugation (USC) extraction method coupled with gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC - MS/MS) analysis, we revealed the molecular fingerprints of PM-accumulated PAHs in human lungs from a cohort of 68 patients with lung cancer in a typical air-polluted region, China. Sixteen priority PAHs can be grouped by concentrations as ∼ 1 × 104 ng/g (ANT/BkF/ACE/DBA/BgP/PHN/PYR), 2–5 × 103 ng/g (BaP/FLE/NaP/BbF), and ∼ 1 × 103 ng/g (IND/Acy/CHR/FLT/BaA). The sum concentration of 16 PAHs was approximately equaled to 13% of those in atmospheric PM 2.5 , suggesting significant pulmonary leaching of PAHs deposited in lungs. Low- and high-molecular weight PAHs accounted for ∼ 41.8% and ∼ 45.1% of the total PAHs, respectively, which indicated that atmospheric PM 2.5, tobacco and cooking smoke were likely to be important sources of pulmonary PAHs. The evident increasing concentrations of NaP and FLE in pulmonary PM were significantly correlated with smoking history among smokers. The implicated carcinogenic potency of PM-accumulated PAHs among the participants aged 70–80 was 17 times that among participants aged 40–50 on the basis of BaP equivalent concentration (BaPeq) evaluation. The particulate enrichment factor (EF P), the PAH content in pulmonary PM relative to the bulk lung tissue, was equaled to 54 ∼ 835 and averaged at 436. The high value of EF P suggested that PAHs were essentially accumulated in pulmonary PM and exhibited a pattern of "hotspot" distribution in the lungs, which would likely increase the risk of monoclonal tumorigenesis. The chemical characteristics of PM-accumulated PAHs in human lungs together with their implicated lung cancer risks could provide significant information for understanding health effects of particulate pollution in the human body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Assessing the cardiovascular safety of new chemical or biological entities is important during pre-clinical development. Electrocardiogram (ECG) assessments in non-human primate (NHP) toxicology studies are often made using non-invasive telemetry systems. We investigated whether ECG recording was feasible during group housing of NHPs, rather than the usual single housed arrangement, and whether it would impact the data collected or affect the ability to detect drug-induced changes in QTc interval. Methods Following a period of acclimatisation to jackets, cynomolgus monkeys (3 males and 3 females) were housed in same sex groups of 3. Female monkeys were administered 4 doses of vehicle while male monkeys were administered vehicle, 15, 45, and 135 mg/kg moxifloxacin. Each dose was administered on a separate dosing day. The same dosing protocol was repeated with the animals singly housed and the results from the two phases were compared including assessment of statistical power. Results Heart rate (HR) was significantly lower, and PR and QT intervals were significantly higher, at multiple time points when the animals were group housed compared with the singly housed phase. QRS duration and QTc interval were less affected. Moxifloxacin increased QT and QTc intervals but had no consistent effect on HR, QRS duration or PR interval under group housed or singly housed conditions. Power analysis suggested that group housing did not adversely affect the magnitude of detectable changes of ECG parameters. In general, detection of slightly smaller changes was achieved under conditions of group housing. Discussion The current study shows group housing to be technically possible during non-invasive ECG recording, resulting in lower resting heart rates and small improvements in sensitivity of detection of drug-induced effects. Given the psychological benefits of group housing for NHPs, it is a refinement that should be considered when conducting ECG assessments in NHP toxicology studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cellulose and hemicellulose are key cross-linked carbohydrates affecting bioethanol production in maize stalks. Traditional wet chemical methods for their detection are labor-intensive, highlighting the need for high-throughput techniques. This study used Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy combined with machine learning (ML) algorithms on 200 large-scale maize germplasms to develop robust predictive models for stalk cellulose, hemicellulose and holocellulose content. We identified several peak height features correlated with three contents, used them as input data for model building. Four ML algorithms demonstrated higher predictive accuracy, achieving coefficient of determination (R 2 ) ranging from 0.83 to 0.97. Notably, the Categorical Boosting algorithm yielded optimal models with coefficient of determination (R 2 ) exceeding 0.91 for the training set and over 0.81 for the test set. The approach combined FTIR spectroscopy with ML algorithms offers a precise and high-throughput tool for predicting stalk cellulose, hemicellulose and holocellulose contents, benefiting maize genetic breeding for bioenergy and biofuels., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The ICU is a specialized hospital department that offers critical care to patients at high risk. The massive burden of ICU-requiring care requires accurate and timely ICU outcome predictions for alleviating the economic and healthcare burdens imposed by critical care needs. Existing research faces challenges such as feature extraction difficulties, low accuracy, and resource-intensive features. Some studies have explored deep learning models that utilize raw clinical inputs. However, these models are considered non-interpretable black boxes, which prevents their wide application. The objective of the study is to develop a new method using stochastic signal analysis and machine learning techniques to effectively extract features with strong predictive power from ICU patients' real-time time series of vital signs for accurate and timely ICU outcome prediction. The results show the proposed method extracted meaningful features and outperforms baseline methods, including APACHE IV (AUC = 0.750), deep learning-based models (AUC = 0.732, 0.712, 0.698, 0.722), and statistical feature classification methods (AUC = 0.765) by a large margin (AUC = 0.869). The proposed method has clinical, management, and administrative implications since it enables healthcare professionals to identify deviations from prognostications timely and accurately and, therefore, to conduct proper interventions.

Most recurrences of lung cancer (LC) occur within 3 years after surgery, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Here, we collect LC tissues with shorter (<3 years, recurrence group) and longer (>3 years, non-recurrence group) recurrence-free survival. By using 16S sequencing, we find that intratumor microbiome diversity is lower in the recurrence group and butyrate-producing bacteria are enriched in the recurrence group. The intratumor microbiome signature and circulating microbiome DNA can accurately predict LC recurrence. We prove that intratumor injection of butyrate-producing bacteria Roseburia can promote subcutaneous tumor growth. Mechanistically, bacteria-derived butyrate promotes LC metastasis by increasing expression of H19 in tumor cells through inhibiting HDAC2 and increasing H3K27 acetylation at the H19 promoter and inducing M2 macrophage polarization. Depletion of macrophages partially abolishes the metastasis-promoting effect of butyrate. Our results provide evidence for the cross-talk between the intratumor microbiome and LC metastasis and suggest the potential prognostic and therapeutic value of the intratumor microbiome., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Metabolic reprogramming has been observed in cancer metastasis, whereas metabolic changes required for malignant cells during lymph node metastasis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) are still poorly understood. Here, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) of paired ESCC tumor tissues and lymph nodes to uncover the reprogramming of tumor microenvironment (TME) and metabolic pathways. By integrating analyses of scRNA-seq data with metabolomics of ESCC tumor tissues and plasma samples, we found nicotinate and nicotinamide metabolism pathway was dysregulated in ESCC patients with lymph node metastasis (LN + ), exhibiting as significantly increased 1-methylnicotinamide (MNA) in both tumors and plasma. Further data indicated high expression of N-methyltransferase (NNMT), which converts active methyl groups from the universal methyl donor, S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), to stable MNA, contributed to the increased MNA in LN + ESCC. NNMT promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and metastasis of ESCC in vitro and in vivo by inhibiting E-cadherin expression. Mechanically, high NNMT expression consumed too much active methyl group and decreased H3K4me3 modification at E-cadherin promoter and inhibited m6A modification of E-cadherin mRNA, therefore inhibiting E-cadherin expression at both transcriptional and post-transcriptional level. Finally, a detection method of lymph node metastasis was build based on the dysregulated metabolites, which showed good performance among ESCC patients. For lymph node metastasis of ESCC, this work supports NNMT is a master regulator of the cross-talk between cellular metabolism and epigenetic modifications, which may be a therapeutic target., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Since the advent of conventional multiport laparoscopic surgery, the prosperity of minimally invasive surgery has been thriving on the advancement of endoscopic techniques. Cosmetic superiority, recovery benefits, and noninferior surgical outcomes weigh single-incision laparoscopic surgery as a promising modality. Although there are surgical challenges posed by steep learning curve and technological difficulties, such as instruments collision, triangulation loss and limited retraction, the establishment of robotic surgical platform as a solution to all is inspiring. Furthermore, with enhanced instrument maneuverability and stability, robotic ergonomic innovations adopt the advantages of single-incision laparoscopic surgery and surmount its recognized barriers by introducing a novel combination, single-incision robotic-assisted surgery. As was gradually diffused in general surgery and other specialties, single-incision robotic-assisted surgery manifests privileges in noninferior clinical outcomes an satisfactory cosmetic effect among strictly selected patients, and has the potential of a preferable surgical option for minimally invasive surgery., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Background: The technological barriers and steep learning curve of single-incision laparoscopic surgery had kept it from further applications. A literature review had reported that robotic technology could preserve its advantages while simplifying its difficulties. This nonrandomized cohort pilot study aims to evaluate the feasibility and safety of single-incision robotic assisted colorectal surgery based on a novel robotic surgical platform, the SHURUI Endoscopic Surgical Robotic System (SR-ENS-600)., Method: This study enrolled 7 patients with colorectal malignancy who underwent single-incision robotic assisted surgery (SIRAS) at a tertiary general surgery center, and retrospectively included 23 patients who underwent robotic assisted surgery from September 2015 to June 2016 and 35 patients who underwent single-incision laparoscopic surgery from June 2017 to March 2018, which were labeled as the initial in-learning-curve attempts from the same surgical team. The technological feasibility and safety of SIRAS were evaluated. Perioperative outcomes, short-term postoperative outcomes, clinicopathologic outcomes, and follow-up were reported., Results: Six SIRAS operations were completed successfully without eventful intraoperative complications, except for one operation that encountered a large-volume of intraoperative hemorrhage. Two SIRAS cases were converted to multiport laparoscopic surgery because of intraoperative hemorrhage and difficulty in retraction. Postoperative pathology reported satisfactory specimen qualities. There were no short-term postoperative complications, no short-term mortality, no tumor recurrence, or metastasis reported. There was one incisional hernia reported half a year after operation. Patients with advanced staging were sent to standard evaluation and chemotherapy, and follow-up is still on-going., Conclusions: SIRAS can be feasibly performed by a skilled surgical team via the SR-ENS-600 platform for strictly-selected patients, which provides preferable instrument maneuverability and stability in confined surgical fields and overcomes the technical difficulty of multisite dissection through a single-incision. Large-volume investigations and high-level evidences are required to further validate its safety and superiority., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Soybean is an important food and oil crop widely cultivated globally. However, water deficit can seriously affect the yield and quality of soybeans. In order to ensure the stability and increase of soybean yield and improve agricultural water use efficiency (WUE), research on improving drought tolerance and the efficiency of water utilization of soybeans under drought stress has become particularly important. This study utilized the drought-tolerant variety Heinong 44 (HN44) and the drought-sensitive variety Suinong 14 (SN14) to analyze physiological responses and transcriptome changes during the gradual water deficit at the early seed-filling stage. The results indicated that under drought conditions, HN44 had smaller stomata, higher stomatal density, and lower stomatal conductance (Gs) and transpiration rate as compared to SN14. Additionally, HN44 had a higher abscisic acid (ABA) content and faster changes in stomatal morphology and Gs to maintain a dynamic balance between net photosynthetic rate (Pn) and Gs. Additionally, drought-tolerant variety HN44 had high instantaneous WUE under water deficit. Further, HN44 retained a high level of superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and proline content, mitigating malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation and drought-induced damage. Comprehensive analysis of transcriptome data revealed that HN44 had fewer differentially expressed genes (DEGs) under light drought stress, reacting insensitivity to water deficit. At the initial stage of drought stress, both varieties had a large number of upregulated DEGs to cope with the drought stress. Under severe drought stress, HN44 had fewer downregulated genes enriched in the photosynthesis pathway than SN14, while it had more upregulated genes enriched in the ABA-mediated signaling and glutathione metabolism pathways than SN14. During gradual water deficit, HN44 demonstrated better drought-tolerant physiological characteristics and water use efficiency than SN14 through key DEGs such as GmbZIP4 , LOC100810474 , and LOC100819313 in the major pathways. Key transcription factors were screened and identified, providing further clarity on the molecular regulatory pathways responsible for the physiological differences in drought tolerance among these varieties. This study deepened the understanding of the drought resistance mechanisms in soybeans, providing valuable references for drought-resistant soybean breeding., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Xu, Song, Qi, Asad, Wang, Tong, Jiang and Wang.)

Dongfudou 3 is a highly sought-after soybean variety due to its lack of beany flavor. To support molecular breeding efforts, we conducted a genomic survey using next-generation sequencing. We determined the genome size, complexity, and characteristics of Dongfudou 3. Furthermore, we constructed a chromosome-level draft genome and speculated on the molecular basis of protein deficiency in GmLOX1, GmLOX2, and GmLOX3. These findings set the stage for high-quality genome analysis using third-generation sequencing. The estimated genome size is approximately 1.07 Gb, with repetitive sequences accounting for 72.50%. The genome is homozygous and devoid of microbial contamination. The draft genome consists of 916.00 Mb anchored onto 20 chromosomes, with annotations of 46,446 genes and 77,391 transcripts, achieving Benchmarking Single-Copy Orthologue (BUSCO) completeness of 99.5% for genome completeness and 99.1% for annotation. Deletions and substitutions were identified in the three GmLox genes, and they also lack corresponding active proteins. Our proposed approach, involving k -mer analysis after filtering out organellar DNA sequences, is applicable to genome surveys of all plant species, allowing for accurate assessments of size and complexity. Moreover, the process of constructing chromosome-level draft genomes using closely related reference genomes offers cost-effective access to valuable information, maximizing data utilization.

The impact of host condition on prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and the interaction between host and NSCLC remain unclear. This study investigated the association between systemic inflammation and prognosis and characteristics of radically resected NSCLC. This study consisted of a cohort study and an exploratory study of institutional prospective databases. All participants underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy as the primary treatment. Systemic inflammation was assessed before surgery using the advanced lung cancer inflammation index and the systemic inflammation response index. Next-generation sequencing and multiplex immunofluorescence analysis were conducted to delineate tumor characteristics. In the cohort study including 1507 participants, high inflammation was associated with poor disease-free survival and overall survival before and after propensity score matching and in multivariable analysis. Systemic inflammation showed good prognostic value for stage IA-IB NSCLC, and the prognostic value diminished with upstaging of NSCLC. In the exploratory study including 217 adenocarcinomas, tumor microenvironment of high inflammation group showed a greater abundance of PDL1+ tumor cells and immune cells, which were independent from driver gene mutations and clinicopathological characteristics. Spatial analysis demonstrated a higher frequency of immune-suppressed cellular neighborhood, increased avoidance between immune cells and PDL1- tumor cells and compromised immune killing and presentation in tumor microenvironment of high inflammation group. Systemic inflammation showed limited association with genomic mutations. Systemic inflammation may influence the prognosis of NSCLC at both the systematic level and the local immune response. The correlation between high inflammation and immunosuppressive microenvironment indicates a novel thread for anticancer treatment., (© 2023 UICC.)

In this study, we propose a high-throughput and low-cost automatic detection method based on deep learning to replace the inefficient manual counting of rapeseed siliques. First, a video is captured with a smartphone around the rapeseed plants in the silique stage. Feature point detection and matching based on SIFT operators are applied to the extracted video frames, and sparse point clouds are recovered using epipolar geometry and triangulation principles. The depth map is obtained by calculating the disparity of the matched images, and the dense point cloud is fused. The plant model of the whole rapeseed plant in the silique stage is reconstructed based on the structure-from-motion (SfM) algorithm, and the background is removed by using the passthrough filter. The downsampled 3D point cloud data is processed by the DGCNN network, and the point cloud is divided into two categories: sparse rapeseed canopy siliques and rapeseed stems. The sparse canopy siliques are then segmented from the original whole rapeseed siliques point cloud using the sparse-dense point cloud mapping method, which can effectively save running time and improve efficiency. Finally, Euclidean clustering segmentation is performed on the rapeseed canopy siliques, and the RANSAC algorithm is used to perform line segmentation on the connected siliques after clustering, obtaining the three-dimensional spatial position of each silique and counting the number of siliques. The proposed method was applied to identify 1457 siliques from 12 rapeseed plants, and the experimental results showed a recognition accuracy greater than 97.80%. The proposed method achieved good results in rapeseed silique recognition and provided a useful example for the application of deep learning networks in dense 3D point cloud segmentation., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Qiao, Liao, Zhang, Han, Peng, Huang, Wang, Zhou and Xu.)

Plant-based milk is considered a healthy and environmentally sustainable option. However, due to the low protein content of most plant-based milk and the difficulty of gaining flavor acceptance by consumers, its production scale is usually limited. Soy milk is a kind of food with comprehensive nutrition and high protein content. In addition, kombucha is naturally fermented by acetic acid bacteria (AAB), yeast, lactic acid bacteria (LAB), and other microorganisms, and the microorganisms in its system can improve the flavor characteristics of food. In the present study, LAB (commercially purchased) and kombucha were used as fermenting agents for soybean, which was used as a raw material to produce soy milk. A variety of characterization methods were used to study the relationship between the microbial composition and flavor regularity of soy milk produced with different proportions of fermenting agents and different fermentation times. In soy milk produced at 32 °C with a mass ratio of LAB to kombucha of 1:1 and a fermentation time of 42 h, the concentrations of LAB, yeast, and acetic acid bacteria in the milk were optimal at 7.48, 6.68, and 6.83 log CFU/mL, respectively. In fermented soy milk produced with kombucha and LAB, the dominant bacterial genera were Lactobacillus (41.58%) and Acetobacter (42.39%), while the dominant fungal genera were Zygosaccharomyces (38.89%) and Saccharomyces (35.86%). After 42 h, the content of hexanol in the fermentation system of kombucha and LAB decreased from 30.16% to 8.74%, while flavor substances such as 2,5-dimethylbenzaldehyde and linalool were produced. Soy milk fermented with kombucha offers the opportunity to explore the mechanisms associated with flavor formation in multi-strain co-fermentation systems and to develop commercial plant-based fermentation products.

Background: The recognition of anatomical variants is essential in preoperative planning for lung cancer surgery. Although three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction provided an intuitive demonstration of the anatomical structure, the recognition process remains fully manual. To render a semiautomated approach for surgery planning, we developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-based chest CT semantic segmentation algorithm that recognizes pulmonary vessels on lobular or segmental levels. Hereby, we present a retrospective validation of the algorithm comparing surgeons' performance., Methods: The semantic segmentation algorithm to be validated was trained on non-contrast CT scans from a single center. A retrospective pilot study was performed. An independent validation dataset was constituted by an arbitrary selection from patients who underwent lobectomy or segmentectomy in three institutions during Apr. 2020 to Jun. 2021. The golden standard of anatomical variants of each enrolled case was obtained via expert surgeons' judgments based on chest CT, 3-D reconstruction, and surgical observation. The performance of the algorithm is compared against the performance of two junior thoracic surgery attendings based on chest CT., Results: A total of 27 cases were included in this study. The overall case-wise accuracy of the AI model was 82.8% in pulmonary vessels compared to 78.8% and 77.0% for the two surgeons, respectively. Segmental artery accuracy was 79.7%, 73.6%, and 72.7%; lobular vein accuracy was 96.3%, 96.3%, and 92.6% by the AI model and two surgeons, respectively. No statistical significance was found. In subgroup analysis, the anatomic structure-wise analysis of the AI algorithm showed a significant difference in accuracies between different lobes (p = 0.012). Higher AI accuracy in the right-upper lobe (RUL) and left-lower lobe (LLL) arteries was shown. A trend of better performance in non-contrast CT was also detected. Most recognition errors by the algorithm were the misclassification of LA 1+2 and LA 3 . Radiological parameters did not exhibit a significant impact on the performance of both AI and surgeons., Conclusion: The semantic segmentation algorithm achieves the recognition of the segmental pulmonary artery and the lobular pulmonary vein. The performance of the model approximates that of junior thoracic surgery attendings. Our work provides a novel semiautomated surgery planning approach that is potentially beneficial to lung cancer patients., Competing Interests: Authors DW, ZH, and YH were employed by Infervision Medical Technology Co., Ltd. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The reviewer YH declared a shared parent affiliation with the author(s) XC, HX, QQ, CS, JJ, HZ, XuW, WW, SW, XS, ZW, NH and FY to the handling editor at the time of review., (Copyright © 2022 Chen, Xu, Qi, Sun, Jin, Zhao, Wang, Weng, Wang, Sui, Wang, Dai, Peng, Wang, Hao, Huang, Wang, Duan, Zhu, Hong and Yang.)

Lipoxygenases (LOXs; EC1.13.11.12) are a family of iron- or manganese-containing dioxygenases that catalyze the oxygenation of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and play important roles in plant growth, development, and stress response. In this study, a total of 36 LOX gene family members were identified and annotated in Zhonghuang 13, a soybean cultivar bred by Chinese scientists in 2001. Sanger sequencing of the GmLOX1 -coding sequence and colorimetric assays for the GmLOX1 protein showed that Zhonghuang 13 possessed the GmLOX1 gene. These LOX genes are divided into three subfamilies: 9-LOX, type Ⅰ 13-LOX and type II 13-LOX. In the 13-LOX group, the number of GmLOX members was the highest. These GmLOX genes are unevenly distributed on chromosomes 3, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 19, and 20. Most of the 13- LOX genes exist in the form of gene clusters, indicating that these genes may originate from tandem duplications. The analysis of duplicated gene pairs showed that GmLOX genes underwent purifying selective pressure during evolution. The gene structures and conserved functional domains of these genes are quite similar. Compared to the orthologous gene pairs of LOX genes between wild soybean ( Glycine soja W05) and Zhonghuang 13, the sequences of most gene pairs are relatively conserved. Many cis-elements are present in the promoter region and are involved in stress response, growth and development, hormone response and light response. The tissue-specific gene expression of GmLOX genes was evaluated. Represented by GmLOX1 , GmLOX2 , and GmLOX3 , which were expressed at extremely high levels in seeds, they showed the characteristics of specific expression. This study provides detailed information on soybean lipoxygenase gene family members in Zhonghuang 13, which lays a foundation for further research., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Zhang, Ng, Jiang, Wang, Wang and Wang.)

Background: This study aimed to retrospectively compare the short- and long-term outcomes of robotic- and laparoscopic-assisted right hemicolectomies., Materials and Methods: Patients who underwent right hemicolectomy with either robotic (46 patients) or laparoscopic (186 patients) surgery between January 2016 and December 2018 were analyzed retrospectively using propensity score matching (PSM)., Results: After matching, the robotic group included 45 patients (out of 46) and the laparoscopic group included 100 patients (out of 186). Compared to the laparoscopic group, the robotic group had shorter median times to first flatus (2 vs. 4 days; p < 0.01) and a liquid diet (4 vs. 5 days; p < 0.01) and shorter median postoperative hospital stays (7 vs. 8 days; p < 0.01). There were no significant differences in other short-term or oncological outcomes between the two groups. The 3-year overall survival and disease-free survival rates were equivalent., Conclusions: Robotic-assisted right hemicolectomy had the advantages of a quick recovery of bowel functions and an earlier postoperative discharge and was non-inferior to laparoscopic-assisted right hemicolectomy in all other outcomes., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2022 IJS Publishing Group Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Current therapies such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy encounter obstacles in preventing metastasis of CRC even when applied in combination. Immune checkpoint inhibitors depict limited effects due to the limited cases of CRC patients with high microsatellite instability (MSI-H). Cancer vaccines are designed to trigger the elevation of tumor-infiltrated lymphocytes, resulting in the intense response of the immune system to tumor antigens. This review briefly summarizes different categories of CRC vaccines, demonstrates the current outcomes of relevant clinical trials, and provides particular focus on recent advances on nanovaccines and neoantigen vaccines, representing the trend and emphasis of CRC vaccine development., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Jia, Zhang, Huang, Feng, Wang, Guo, Luo, Ji, Cheng and Zhao.)

Digestive system malignancies are one of the primary causes of cancer-related death. Meanwhile, angiogenesis has been proved to play an important role in the process of cancer neovascularization. Apatinib, a novel targeted antiangiogenic molecule, could generate highly selective competition in the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2, involved in tumor progression and metastasis. It has been implied as a promising cancer treatment agent that can prevent tumor cell proliferation meanwhile inhibit tumor angiogenesis. Furthermore, completed clinical trials demonstrated that apatinib could prolong the progression-free survival and overall survival in advanced gastric cancer and primary liver cancer. Recent studies revealed that apatinib had a synergistic effect with immunotherapy as a second-line and third-line treatment regimen for some other cancers. In this review, we summarize the pharmacological properties of apatinib and the latest clinical application in chemotherapy-refractory patients with advanced digestive system cancer. Based on the comparable survival results, the molecular mechanisms of apatinib are prospective to include the antiangiogenic, apoptosis-inducing, and autophagy-inducing properties in the corresponding signaling pathway. Treatment of apatinib monotherapy or combination immunotherapy remains the optimal option for patients with digestive system malignancies in the future., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Li, Huang, Zhang, Feng, Wang, Zhang, Ji, Cheng and Zhao.)

Background: Breathomics testing has been considered a promising method for detection and screening for lung cancer. This study aimed to identify breath biomarkers of lung cancer through perioperative dynamic breathomics testing., Methods: The discovery study was prospectively conducted between Sept 1, 2020 and Dec 31, 2020 in Peking University People's Hospital in China. High-pressure photon ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry was used for breathomics testing before surgery and 4 weeks after surgery. 28 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were selected as candidates based on a literature review. VOCs that changed significantly postoperatively in patients with lung cancer were selected as potential breath biomarkers. An external validation was conducted to evaluate the performance of these VOCs for lung cancer diagnosis. Multivariable logistic regression was used to establish diagnostic models based on selected VOCs., Findings: In the discovery study of 84 patients with lung cancer, perioperative breathomics demonstrated 16 VOCs as lung cancer breath biomarkers. They were classified as aldehydes, hydrocarbons, ketones, carboxylic acids, and furan. In the external validation study including 157 patients with lung cancer and 368 healthy individuals, patients with lung cancer showed elevated spectrum peak intensity of the 16 VOCs after adjusting for age, sex, smoking, and comorbidities. The diagnostic model including 16 VOCs achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.952, sensitivity of 89.2%, specificity of 89.1%, and accuracy of 89.1% in lung cancer diagnosis. The diagnostic model including the top eight VOCs achieved an AUC of 0.931, sensitivity of 86.0%, specificity of 87.2%, and accuracy of 86.9%., Interpretation: Perioperative dynamic breathomics is an effective approach for identifying lung cancer breath biomarkers. 16 lung cancer-related breath VOCs (aldehydes, hydrocarbons, ketones, carboxylic acids, and furan) were identified and validated. Further studies are warranted to investigate the underlying mechanisms of identified VOCs., Funding: National Natural Science Foundation of China (82173386) and Peking University People's Hospital Scientific Research Development Founds (RDH2021-07)., Competing Interests: We declare no competing interests., (© 2022 The Authors.)

This work investigated the distribution and chemical fingerprints of 24 metals in particulate matter (PM) deposited in nonoccupational human lungs. Metals in the pulmonary PM can be grouped by the mean concentration as > 5 × 10 3 μg/g (Al/Fe/Ca/Mg/Zn), 1-5 × 10 3 μg/g (Ti/Ba/Pb/Mn), 0.2-1 × 10 3 μg/g (Cu/Cr/As/V) and < 100 μg/g (Ni/Sn/Cd/Sb). Three parameters (LF L , LR, EF P ) were defined to predict different metal leaching behaviors. The leaching factor (LF L ) of metals was 10-60 for Pb/Sb/Cd/Co/Cu and decreased to 1-2 for Ni/Cr/Mg/Al/Fe. Metals showed a divergent extent of lung retention (LR), including high retention (LR>10, Al/Cd/Cr/Ba/Ni/Ti/Sn/V/Sb), moderate retention (2 

We propose an algorithm to compute global conformal parameterizations of high-genus meshes, which is based on an implementation of holomorphic quadratic differentials. First, we design a novel diffusion method which is capable of computing a pole-free discrete harmonic measured foliation. Second, we propose a definition for discrete holomorphic quadratic differential which consists of a horizontal and a vertical harmonic measured foliation. Third, we present a practical algorithm to approximate the discrete natural coordinates for a holomorphic quadratic differential, which represents a flat metric with cones conformal to the original metric, i.e., a parameterization. Finally, we apply the discrete natural coordinates for parameterization of high genus meshes. Our parameterization method is global conformal and simple to implement. The advantage of our method over the approach based on holomorphic differential one-forms is that ours has a larger space of parameterizations. We demonstrate our approach with hundreds of configurations on dozens of meshes to show its robustness on conformal parameterization.

Background: Considerable controversies exist regarding the efficacies of segmentectomy and wedge resection for elderly patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to solve these issues., Methods: We searched the online databases PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library to identify eligible studies. Elderly patients were defined as ≥65 years. Early-stage NSCLC was defined as stage I based on TNM systems. The primary endpoints were survival outcomes (overall survival (OS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), and disease-free survival (DFS)) and recurrence patterns. The second endpoints were perioperative morbidities. The hazard rate (HR) and odds ratio (OR) were effect sizes., Results: Sixteen cohort studies (3140 participants) and four database studies were finally included. Segmentectomy and lobectomy showed no significant difference in OS (cohort studies HR 1.00, p = 0.98; database studies HR 1.07, p = 0.14), CSS (HR 0.91, p = 0.85), or DFS (HR 1.04, p = 0.78) in elderly patients with stage I NSCLC. In contrast, wedge resection showed inferior OS (HR 1.28, p < 0.001), CSS (HR 1.17, p = 0.001) and DFS (HR 1.44, p = 0.042) compared to lobectomy. Segmentectomy also showed comparable local recurrence risk with lobectomy (OR 0.98, p = 0.98), while wedge resection showed increased risk (OR 5.46, p < 0.001). Furthermore, sublobar resections showed a decreased risk of 30/90-day mortality, pneumonia, and leak complications compared to lobectomy., Conclusion: Segmentectomy is promising when applied to elderly patients with stage I NSCLC, while wedge resection should be limited. Randomized controlled trials are warranted to validate these findings.

Low rectal cancer has always posed surgical challenges to gastrointestinal surgeons. Transanal total mesorectal excision (taTME) is a novel approach to radical resection for low rectal cancer. Compared with conventional laparoscopic TME (laTME), taTME is relevant to the benefits of better vision of the mesorectal plane, feasibility of operating in a narrow pelvis, and exact definition of distal resection margin, which may lead to a higher possibility of free circumferential resection margin, better quality of TME specimen, and lower conversion rate. Although there are concerns about its long-term oncological outcomes and complex learning curve, taTME is a promising alternative for rectal cancer. In this review, we discuss the application status and prospects of taTME., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Guo, Ji, Wang, Zhang, Liu, Wang, Deng, Zhang, Cheng and Zhao.)

Background: Considerable controversies exist regarding the severity of skeletal muscle wasting (SMW) during neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) and its impact on therapeutic outcomes in patients with esophageal or esophagogastric junction cancer (EC/EGJC). This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to resolve these issues. Particularly, the prognostic value of SMW during NAT was compared to pre-NAT and pre-surgery sarcopenia status., Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases through October 13th, 2021 to identify cohort studies focusing on SMW during NAT and therapeutic outcomes in EC/EGJC patients. Both neoadjuvant chemotherapy and neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy were studied. A meta-analysis was conducted to quantify SMW and increased sarcopenia during NAT. Therapeutic outcomes include perioperative morbidities and survival profiles. A separate meta-analysis investigating the impacts of pre-NAT/pre-surgery sarcopenia on therapeutic outcomes was synchronously performed., Results: Twenty-five studies with 2706 participants were included in this review. The pooled SMW during NAT were -2.47 cm 2 /m 2 in skeletal muscle index and -0.23 cm 2 /m 2 in psoas muscle index, with wasting proportion reaching 4.44%. The pooled prevalence rate of sarcopenia increased from 53.1% before NAT to 65.8% before surgery. Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, advanced age, and being male were identified as risk factors for severe SMW during NAT. Notably, severe SMW during NAT showed a greater hazard ratio (HR) than pre-NAT and pre-surgery sarcopenia in predicting overall survival (HR 1.92, P < 0.001; HR 1.17, P = 0.036; and HR 1.28, P = 0.011, respectively) and recurrence-free survival (HR 1.51, P = 0.002; HR 1.27, P = 0.008; and HR 1.38, P = 0.006, respectively). However, severe SMW during NAT was not significantly associated with perioperative morbidities., Conclusions: SMW during NAT is a novel prognosticator that is different from sarcopenia for poor survival in EC/EGJC patients. Interventions aiming at maintaining skeletal muscle during NAT are anticipated to promote therapeutic outcomes., (Copyright © 2022 IJS Publishing Group Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: This study aimed to construct a nomogram to quantitatively predict pneumonectomy complication risks for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients., Methods: Data from 1052 NSCLC patients who underwent pneumonectomy were retrospectively retrieved from the databases of three thoracic centers. Multivariable logistic regression was used to investigate postoperative morbidity predictors. Clinical parameters and operative features were analyzed using univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses, and a nomogram to predict the risk of postoperative complications was constructed using bootstrap resampling. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to estimate the discrimination power for the nomogram., Results: A total of 212 patients (20.2%) had major complications. After regression analysis, forced expiratory volume in 1 s, Charlson Comorbidity Index score, male sex, and right-sided pneumonectomy were identified and entered into the nomogram. The nomogram showed a robust discrimination, with an area under the ROC curve of 0.753 (95% confidence interval 0.604-0.818). The calibration curves for the probability of postoperative complications showed optimal agreement between the nomogram and the actual probability., Conclusions: Based on preoperative data, we developed a nomogram for predicting complication risks after pneumonectomy. This model may be helpful for thoracic surgeons in selecting appropriate patients for adopting prophylactic measures after surgery., (© 2021. Society of Surgical Oncology.)

Importance: A triage test is needed to increase the detection rate for esophageal cancer., Objective: To investigate whether breathomics can detect esophageal cancer among patients without a previous diagnosis of cancer using high-pressure photon ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPPI-TOFMS)., Design, Setting, and Participants: This diagnostic study included participants who planned to receive an upper endoscopy or surgery of the esophagus at a single center in China. Exhaled breath was collected with a self-designed collector and air bags before participants underwent these procedures. Sample collection and analyses were performed by trained researchers following a standardized protocol. Participants were randomly divided into a discovery data set and a validation data set. Data were collected from December 2020 to March 2021., Exposures: Breath samples were analyzed by HPPI-TOFMS, and the support vector machine algorithm was used to construct a detection model., Main Outcomes and Measures: The accuracy of breathomics was measured by the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve., Results: Exhaled breath samples were obtained from 675 patients (216 [32%] with esophageal cancer; 459 [68%] with noncancer diseases). Of all patients, 206 (31%) were women, and the mean (SD) age was 64.0 (11.9) years. In the validation data set, esophageal cancer was detected with an accuracy of 93.33%, sensitivity of 97.83%, specificity of 83.72%, positive predictive value of 94.74%, negative predictive value of 92.78%, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.89. Notably, for 16 patients with high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia, 12 (75%) were predicted to have esophageal cancer., Conclusions and Relevance: In this diagnostic study, testing breathomics using HPPI-TOFMS was feasible for esophageal cancer detection and totally noninvasive, which could help to improve the diagnosis of esophageal cancer.

Studies have demonstrated that noncoding RNAs play important roles in various types of cancer; however, noncoding RNAs derived from regions of genomic alterations have rarely been explored, especially for circular RNAs (circRNA). Previously, we found several circRNAs were upregulated in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) tumor tissues by RNA sequencing. Here, we characterized a novel circRNA, circXPO1, in LUAD, which is derived from a well-established cancer therapeutic target, XPO1. circXPO1, is formed by back-splicing of exon 3 and exon 4 of XPO1 gene. circXPO1 was highly expressed in LUAD tissues compared with paired adjacent non-tumor tissues, and high circXPO1 expression correlated with worse overall survival. circXPO1 expression was positively correlated with the XPO1 gene copy number. Mechanically, circXPO1 could bind with IGF2BP1 and enhance CTNNB1 mRNA stability, and subsequently promote LUAD progression. In a LUAD patient-derived xenograft model, intratumoural injection of cholesterol-conjugated siRNA specifically targeting circXPO1 efficiently suppressed tumor growth. To summary, these results suggest that circXPO1 is critical for LUAD progression and may serve as a biomarker for poor prognosis and a therapeutic target. On the other hand, the functional roles of noncoding transcripts derived from coding genes should be re-evaluated.

Background: With the increase of lung cancer screening, more and more patients have been diagnosed as sub-centimeter (≤1 cm) lung adenocarcinoma. Sub-centimeter lung adenocarcinoma is mostly early stage lung cancer, but the research on sub-centimeter lung adenocarcinoma is still insufficient. This study analyzed the clinical characteristics and prognosis of patients with sub-centimeter lung adenocarcinoma in order to provide the basis for the diagnosis and treatment of such patients., Methods: A retrospective study was performed to analyze patients with sub-centimeter lung adenocarcinoma who underwent VATS in Peking University People's Hospital from January 2012 to December 2016. Patients were divided into pure ground-glass nodules (pGGN) group, mixed ground-glass nodules (mGGN) group and solid nodules (SN) group according to the features of nodular imaging. The clinical characteristics of the three groups were compared and the subgroup analysis of nodules in different diameter was performed. We also performed multivariate logistic regression analyses to identify the risk factors for sub-centimeter lung invasive adenocarcinoma., Results: The study included 182 patients (57 men and 125 women) with a median age of 54 (27-75) years. Female sub-centimeter lung adenocarcinoma patients had a significantly lower proportion of non-smoking history than males (P<0.001). All patients with 1 mm-10 mm pGGN, 1 mm-5 mm mGGN and 1 mm-5 mm SN had no other pathologically positive findings except for the primary lesion. Of the 46 patients with 6 mm-10 mm mGGN, 3 had pleural invasion and 1 had vascular tumor thrombus. Of the 39 patients with 6 mm-10 mm SN, 5 had pleural invasion, 2 had vascular tumor thrombus and 2 had lymph node metastasis. The pathological type in each patient with pleural invasion, vascular tumor thrombus or lymph node metastasis was invasive adenocarcinoma. Logistic regression analysis indicated that smoking history (OR=4.727, P=0.009), previous tumor history (OR=3.408, P=0.015), mGGN (OR=3.735, P=0.004), SN (OR=8.921, P<0.001) and tumor diameter >5 mm (OR=4.241, P=0.001) were independent risk factors for sub-centimeter lung invasive adenocarcinoma. The median follow-up time was 44 (22-82) months. The 5-year recurrence-free survival rate was 100.0% and the overall survival rate was 98.9%., Conclusions: Patients with sub-centimeter lung adenocarcinoma have a relatively earlier onset age. Sub-centimeter lung invasive adenocarcinoma patients with 6 mm-10 mm mGGN and 6 mm-10 mm SN may be involved in pleural invasion or lymph node metastasis. Smoking history, previous tumor history, mGGN, SN and tumor diameter >5 mm are independent risk factors for sub-centimeter lung invasive adenocarcinoma. For patients with sub-centimeter lung adenocarcinoma, early detection and appropriate surgical intervention can lead to a good prognosis.