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Prinsepia uniflora Batalin 1892 is a medicinal plant widely distributed in northwest China. In this study, we report and characterize the complete chloroplast (cp) genome sequence of P. uniflora. The entire sequence is 159,179 bp in length, consisting of the large single-copy region (LSC) and small single copy region (SSC) (87,239 and 19,180 bp, respectively); these two regions are separated by a pair of 26,380-bp inverted repeat (IR) regions. The genome contains 131 genes, including 86 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and eight rRNA genes. The overall GC content of the genome is 36.7%. A phylogenetic tree constructed from 18 chloroplast genomes revealed that P. uniflora was clustered with Prinsepia sinensis and Prinsepia utilis, all of which belong to the genus Prinsepia, which is supported as a sister group by a moderate bootstrap support value of 55% with the Malus and Pyrus genera.

Background The reprogramming of energy metabolism and consistently altered metabolic genes are new features of cancer, and their prognostic roles remain to be further studied in stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD). Methods Messenger RNA (mRNA) expression profiles and clinicopathological data were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the GSE84437 databases from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. A univariate Cox regression analysis and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) Cox regression model established a novel metabolic signature based on TCGA. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUROC) and a nomogram were calculated to assess the predictive accuracy. Results A novel metabolic-related signature (including acylphosphatase 1, RNA polymerase I subunit A, retinol dehydrogenase 12, 5-oxoprolinase, ATP-hydrolyzing, malic enzyme 1, nicotinamide N-methyltransferase, gamma-glutamyl transferase 5, deoxycytidine kinase, galactosidase alpha, DNA polymerase delta 3, glutathione S-transferase alpha 2, N-acyl sphingosine amidohydrolase 1, and N-acyl sphingosine amidohydrolase 1) was identified. In both TCGA and GSE84437, patients in the high-risk group showed significantly poorersurvival than the patients in the low-risk group. A good predictive value was shown by the AUROC and nomogram. Furthermore, gene set enrichment analyses (GSEAs) revealed several significantly enriched pathways, which may help in explaining the underlying mechanisms. Conclusions A novel robust metabolic-related signature for STAD prognosis prediction was conducted. The signature may reflect the dysregulated metabolic microenvironment and can provided potential biomarkers for metabolic therapy in STAD.

Activation of the NOX4/NLRP3 inflammasome pathway has been associated with fibrosis in other organs. An imbalance in intestinal bacteria is an important driving factor of liver fibrosis through the liver-gut axis. This study aimed to explore whether the effect of ursolic acid (UA) on liver fibrosis was associated with the NOX4/NLRP3 inflammasome pathways and intestinal bacteria. Wild-type (WT), NLRP3−/-, and NOX4−/- mice and AP-treated mice were injected with CCI4 and treated with or without UA. The intestinal contents of the mice were collected and analyzed by 16S rRNA sequencing. UA alleviated liver fibrosis, which manifested as decreases in collagen deposition, liver injury, and the expression of fibrosis-related factors, and the expression of NOX4 and NLRP3 was significantly inhibited by UA treatment. Even after CCI4 injection, liver damage and fibrosis-related factors were significantly decreased in NLRP3−/-, NOX4−/-, and AP-treated mice. Importantly, the expression of NLRP3 was obviously inhibited in NOX4−/- and AP-treated mice. In addition, the diversity of intestinal bacteria and the abundance of probiotics in NLRP3−/- and NOX4−/- mice was significantly higher than those in WT mice, while the abundance of harmful bacteria in NLRP3−/- and NOX4−/- mice was significantly lower than that in WT mice. The NOX4/NLRP3 inflammasome pathway plays a crucial role in liver fibrosis and is closely associated with the beneficial effect of UA. The mechanism by which the NOX4/NLRP3 inflammasome pathway is involved in liver fibrosis may be associated with disordered intestinal bacteria.

Background Acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF), which is characterized by rapid deterioration of liver function and multiorgan failure, has high mortality. This study was designed to identify prognostic scores to predict short-term and long-term outcome in patients with ACLF to facilitate early treatment and thereby improve patient survival. Materials and Methods We retrospectively analyzed 102 ACLF patients who were hospitalized in the gastroenterology department. The EASL-CLIF criteria were used to define the ACLF. The demographic characteristics and biochemical examination results of the patients were acquired, and seven scores (CTP score, MELD score, MELD-Na, CLIF ACLF score, CLIF-C OF score, and CLIF SOFA score) were calculated 24 h after admission. All patients were observed until loss to follow-up, death, or specific follow-up times (28 days, 3 months, and 6 months), which were calculated after the initial hospital admission. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was employed to estimate the power of six scores to forecast ACLF patients’ outcome. Results All scores were distinctly higher in nonsurviving patients than in surviving patients and had predictive value for outcome in patients with ACLF at all time points (P < 0.050). The areas under the ROC curve (AUROCs) of the CLIF-SOFA score were higher than those of other scores at all time points. The comparison of the AUROC of the CLIF-SOFA score with other scores was statistically significant at 28 days (P < 0.050), which was the only time point at which it was greater than 0.800. Conclusion Patients with ACLF have high mortality. These six scores are effective tools for assessing the prognosis of ACLF patients. The CLIF-SOFA score is especially effective for evaluating 28-day mortality.

We investigate the femtosecond laser filamentation in nanoparticle colloidal solutions. Colloidal solutions of water doped with gold (Au), silver (Ag), copper (Cu), and calcium carbonate (CaCO3) nanospheres under different sizes and concentrations were experimentally studied. A cyan–red light path was visualized, and the generated supercontinuum spectra spanning from 400 nm to 950 nm were obtained. It was found that the energy losses and frequency-dependent scattering are necessary prerequisites for generating a colorful light path.

Background The number of elderly hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients is increasing, and precisely assessing of the prognosis of these patients is necessary. We developed a prognostic scoring model to predict survival in elderly HCC patients. Methods We extracted data from 4,076 patients ≥65 years old from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database and randomly divided them into training and validation groups. Cox regression analysis was used to screen for meaningful independent prognostic factors. The receiver operating characteristic curve reflected the model’s discrimination power. Results Age, race, American Joint Committee on Cancer stage, degree of tumour differentiation, tumour size, alpha-fetoprotein and tumour therapy were independent prognostic factors for survival in elderly HCC patients. We developed a prognostic scoring model based on the seven meaningful variables to predict survival in elderly HCC patients. The AUCs of the model were 0.805 (95% CI [0.788–0.821]) and 0.788 (95% CI [0.759–0.816]) in the training and validation groups, respectively. We divided the patients into low-risk groups and high-risk groups according to the optimal cut-off value. The Kaplan–Meier survival curve showed that in the training and validation groups, the survival rate of the low-risk group was significantly higher than that of the high-risk group (P < 0.001). Conclusion Based on a large population, we constructed a prognostic scoring model for predicting survival in elderly HCC patients. The model may provide a reference for clinicians for preoperative and postoperative evaluations of elderly HCC patients.

Background and Aims: Continuous development will evolve into end-stage liver disease. Profibrotic factors NOX4 and RhoA participate in the activation of HSC and accelerate the development of liver fibrosis. Abnormal intrahepatic metabolism during liver fibrosis interferes with intestinal homeostasis through the liver—gut axis.Methods: Wild-type (WT), NOX4 knockout, RhoA expression inhibition C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into 6 groups as follows: control group, CCl4 group, NOX4−/− group, AP group, RhoAi group, and FA group.Results: The results of alpha-diversity suggest that the diversity and abundance of intestinal flora in liver fibrosis mice is lower than that in normal mice, but there is some recovery in liver fibrosis mice with NOX4 or RhoA intervention. The flora structure showed that the intestinal flora of the control group, NOX4−/− group, AP group, RhoAi group, and FA group belonged to one type, while the intestinal flora of the CCl4 group belonged to another type. In addition, analysis of the composition of the flora at the level of the phylum and genus also suggested the decline in Firmicutes and Lactobacillus caused by liver fibrosis has partially restore in the liver fibrosis mice with NOX4 or RhoA intervention. In terms of functional prediction, the “Secondary metabolites biosynthesis, transport and catabolism,” “Infectious diseases,” and “Xenobiotics biodegradation and metabolism” signaling pathways are mainly enriched in liver fibrosis mice, and the “Energy production and conversion,” “Defense mechanisms,” and “Carbohydrate metabolism” signaling pathways are mainly enriched in the NOX4 and RhoA intervention groups.Conclusion: In the case of liver fibrosis, the intestinal flora is disordered, and the disorder is related to NOX4 and RhoA. This study provides theoretical support for a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of liver fibrosis development.

Sucrose non-fermenting-1-related protein kinase 1 (SnRK1) plays an important role in plant carbohydrate metabolism and starch biosynthesis. The regulatory role of GmSnRK1 from soybean in regulating carbohydrate metabolism and starch accumulation has not been reported. In the present study, a gene encoding the SnRK1 protein, named GmSnRK1, was successfully isolated from soybean, and the functions of this gene were studied. Subcellular localisation analysis in onion epidermal cells indicated that GmSnRK1 protein was localised to the nucleus. The GmSnRK1 gene was introduced into Arabidopsis to obtain transgenic plants. Its overexpression significantly increased the starch content, as well as the sucrose, glucose and fructose content in the transgenic plants compared to the wild-type (WT). Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis showed that overexpression of GmSnRK1 up-regulated the genes involved in starch biosynthesis, including sucrose synthase (AtSUS), phosphoglucomutase (AtPGM), ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (AtAGPase), granule-bound starch synthases (AtGBSS I and AtGBSS II), soluble starch synthases (AtSSS I, AtSSS II, AtSSS III and AtSSS IV) and starch branching enzymes (AtSBE I and AtSBE II) genes. In contrast, the expression of sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS) gene was decreased in the transgenic plants. Meanwhile, the enzyme activity levels of the five starch biosynthetic enzymes (SUS, AGPase, GBSS, SSS and SBE) exhibited higher activities, while the SPS activity was decreased in the transgenic plants compared to WT. These results suggest that the manipulation of GmSnRK1 expression might be used for improving the starch content in engineered plants for biofuel production.

Based on the outcrop survey, 3D seismic data interpretation, drilling data analysis, the structural patterns and distribution of fault damage zones in carbonate strata of Tazhong Paleo-uplift were established to reveal the oil and gas enrichment law in the fault damage zones. The following findings were reached: (1) Through the filed survey, the fault damage zone system consists of fault core, damage zone with branch fault and fracture network. Affected by the active nature of the major faults, the fault damage zones differ in planar pattern and scale along the major faults. (2) 3D seismic profiles reveal that there are three types of fault damage zones in carbonate strata in Tazhong paleo-uplift, strike-slip fault damage zones, thrust fault damage zones and superimposed fault damage zones. Featuring 3 flowers and 3 root belts in vertical, the strike-slip fault damage zone can be subdivided into linear type, oblique type, feather type and horsetail type in plane. Thrust fault damage zones can be further divided into fault anticline type, anticline type and slope type. As the superimposition result of the above two kinds of fault damage zones, superimposed fault damage zones appear in three patterns, intersect type, encompassment type and penetrating type. (3) Cores from wells and geochemical data show oil and gas may migrate along the major fault and laterally. The feather type in strike-slip fault system, fault anticline type in thrust fault damage zone and intersect type in superimposed fault damage zone are possible sites for high production and efficiency wells. Key words: Tazhong Paleo-uplift, carbonate strata, fault damage zone, structural pattern, high production well area

Peritoneal vaginoplasty (PV) has been reported for congenital and primary gender-affirming cases, but few have reported its use as secondary vaginoplasty to treat post-op neovaginal canal shortening after penile-inversion vaginoplasty (PIV). Recent adaptations of PV have been modifications of the Davydov procedure, wherein peritoneum adherent to the bladder and rectum are incorporated to line the new terminal apex of the vaginal canal. We describe our alternative technique using a urachus-peritoneal hinge flap and discuss proposed advantages. We performed retrospective review of all trans-female patients who underwent our PV technique for revision/salvage vaginoplasty from May 2019 to August 2020 (minimum 10 months follow-up). Patients were asked questions about their experience and satisfaction. All cases were performed via combined trans-perineal and laparoscopic (robot-assisted) approaches. Pre-op and post-op neovaginal depth/circumference were recorded. After incision and spatulation of the terminal neovagina, a midline, inferiorly based peritoneal hinge flap (minimum 8-cm width) was elevated craniocaudally from the umbilicus to the mid-posterior bladder. The flap's free end was flipped posteriorly and sutured to the posterior edge of the open canal remnant to form a peritoneum-lined pouch. The pouch's lateral edges were sutured together, using a vaginal dilator as a guide. Five patients underwent peritoneal vaginoplasty with our technique from 5/2019 to 8/2020. Mean age was 32. All previously underwent PIV for primary vaginoplasty, with loss of neovaginal depth. Pre-op: mean neovaginal depth was 8.6 (±1.8) cm and girth was 12 cm. Immediate post-op: mean depth was 16.8 (±1.2) cm (mean net increase from pre-op: 8.2 cm) and girth was 12 cm. At mean follow-up of 1.4 years, mean depth was 12.8 (±2.4) cm (mean net increase from pre-op: 4.2 cm) and girth was 12 cm. There were no immediate complications. One patient developed anastomotic stenosis at 6 weeks post-op, managed conservatively with dilation under anesthesia. One patient stopped dilating due to a mental-health crisis and lost significant postoperative depth. Three of the 5 (60%) patients report satisfactory vaginal receptive intercourse. The other 2 have not yet attempted vaginal receptive intercourse. Our PV vaginoplasty technique is a safe and effective option to treat neovaginal shortening after PIV. Advantages include no tension on peritoneal suture lines when vaginal canal is empty and total exclusion of the rectum. This technique also allows for omental interposition. We recognize the natural limited availability of peritoneum and so reserve this technique only for cases where there is adequate residual canal girth and at least 6-7 cm of residual depth. No [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Postoperative pain control in gender-affirming penile-inversion vaginoplasty (PIV) significantly affects patient experience and satisfaction. With the rise of opioid misuse and over-prescription, non-narcotic adjuncts for post-surgical analgesia are greatly needed. Currently, there is limited data on postoperative pain control after genital gender-affirming surgery (gGAS). To evaluate the effects of preoperative pudendal nerve block on post-op patient-reported pain scores and opioid usage. We retrospectively reviewed all trans-female patients undergoing PIV (+ creation of vaginal canal) at a single institution from August 2017 to July 2021. We recorded patient demographics, operative details, surgical-site pain (using a Likert scale 0-10; 0=no pain, 10=severe pain), and analgesic medication usage. Baseline demographics, pain scores and opioid usage were compared between patients who received pudendal nerve block preoperatively (immediately before the surgical procedure) and those who did not. Independent sample t-tests were used for all comparisons. Out of 36 consecutive patients (mean age 36.6 years, mean BMI 25.3 kg/m2) that underwent PIV, 25/36 patients did not have pre-op pudendal nerve block, while the most recent 11/36 patients did. Patient characteristics across cohorts were similar, though the 11 patients who had pudendal nerve block had higher rates of depression (54.5% vs. 28.0%, p=0.043) and hypertension (18.2% vs. 4.0%, p=0.041). Surgical-site pain scores on postop day 0 (POD0) were compared: patients who received pudendal nerve block had 35% lower pain scores than those who did not (3.09 vs. 4.74, p<0.001). Surgical-site pain scores on POD5 were 10% lower in those who received pudendal nerve block (4.16 vs. 4.63, p=0.046). Although patients experienced lower subjective pain scores, average total opioid usage was similar between patients who received pudendal block (MME= 224) versus those that did not (MME= 225). Our preliminary data suggests that pudendal nerve blocks are safe and effective adjuncts to improve pain control after gender-affirming PIV, thus improving patients' postoperative experience. This modality should be further investigated and considered for routine usage in vaginoplasty, and other gGAS perioperative pain regimens. Similar opioid usage despite improved pain scores suggests that in-hospital opioid pain regimens should be more closely tailored to patient-reported pain scores. No [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cucumber is the most important vegetable crop in the Cucurbitaceae family. Condon usage bias (CUB) is a valuable character of species evolution. However, there is little research on the CUB of cucumber. Thus, this study analyzes the codon usage patterns of cucumber and its relatives within Cucurbitaceae on the genomic level. The analysis of fundamental indicators of codon characteristics shows that it was slightly GC poor, and there was weak codon usage bias in cucumber. We conduct the analysis of neutrality plot, ENC plot, P2 index, and COA indicates that the nucleotide composition, mutation pressure, and translational selection might play roles in CUB in cucumber and its relatives. Among these factors, nucleotide composition might play the most critical role. Based on these analyses, 30 optimal codons were identified in cucumber, most of them ending with U or A. Meanwhile, based on the RSCU values of species, a cluster tree was constructed, in which the situation of cucumber is consistent with the current taxonomic and evolutionary studies in Cucurbitaceae. This study systematically compared the CUB patterns and shaping factors of cucumber and its relatives, laying a foundation for future research on genetic engineering and evolutionary mechanisms in Cucurbitaceae.

In this paper, we present a one-dimensional (1-D) inversion algorithm for triaxial induction logging tools in multi-layered transverse isotropic (TI) formation. A non-linear least-square model based on Gauss-Newton algorithm is used in the inversion. Cholesky factorization is implemented to improve the stability and the reliability of the inversion. Zero-D inversion is conducted at the center of each layer to provide a reasonable initial guess for the best efficiency of the inversion procedure. Cross components are used to provide sufficient information for determining the boundaries in the initial guess. It will be illustrated that using all the nine components of the conductivity/resistivity yield more reliable inversion results and even faster convergence than using only the diagonal components. The resultant algorithm can be used to obtain various geophysical parameters such as layer boundaries, horizontal and vertical resistivity, dipping angle and rotation angle etc. from triaxial logging data automatically without any priori information. Several synthetic examples are presented to demonstrate the capability and reliability of the inversion algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a finite-difference based method is presented to simulate the electromagnetic field generated by arbitrarily-oriented coil antennas in three-dimensional (3-D) complex underground media. The media have multiple layers in both the vertical and horizontal direction and can be fully anisotropic. The developed finite-difference method uses a staggered grid to approximate a vector equation in terms of the scattered electric field. The resultant linear sparse matrix is solved iteratively using a generalized minimal residual (GMRES) algorithm and an incomplete LU precondition technique is applied to improve the convergence behavior of the linear equation, thus accelerate the solution. The developed algorithm is validated by numerical examples and then applied to the simulation and study of the popular triaxial induction tools in electrical well logging engineering for anisotropy detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the phenomenological Landau-Devonshire theory, we investigate the effect of misfit strain on the electrocaloric effect of P(VDF-TrFE) copolymer thin films. Theoretical analysis indicates that the compressive misfit strain reduces the working temperature to a great extent where the electrocaloric effect is maximized, which is different from the result of the conventional ferroelectric thin films, such as BaTiO. Although the compressive or tensile misfit strain does not change the maximum of the electrocaloric coefficient, the compressive misfit strain decreases the maximum of the adiabatic temperature change and the tensile misfit strain results in the opposite effect. Consequently, control of the misfit strain provides potential means to vary the working temperature for use in cooling systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Survival outcomes of never smokers with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who undergo surgery are poorly characterized. This investigation compared surgical outcomes of never and current smokers with NSCLC.Methods: This investigation was a single-institution retrospective study of never and current smokers with NSCLC from 1975 to 2004. From an analytic cohort of 4,546 patients with NSCLC, we identified 724 never smokers and 3,822 current smokers. Overall, 1,142 patients underwent surgery with curative intent. For survival analysis by smoking status, hazard ratios (HRs) were estimated using Cox proportional hazard modeling and then further adjusted by other covariates.Results: Never smokers were significantly more likely than current smokers to be women (P < .01), older (P < .01), and to have adenocarcinoma (P < .01) and bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (P < .01). No statistically significant differences existed in stage distribution at presentation for the analytic cohort (P = .35) or for the subgroup undergoing surgery (P = .24). The strongest risk factors of mortality among patients with NSCLC who underwent surgery were advanced stage (adjusted hazard ratio, 3.43; 95% CI, 2.32-5.07; P < .01) and elevated American Society of Anesthesiologists classification (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.18; 95% CI, 1.40-3.40; P < .01). The minor trend toward an elevated risk of death on univariate analysis for current vs never smokers in the surgically treated group (hazard ratio, 1.20; 95% CI, 0.98-1.46; P = .07) was completely eliminated when the model was adjusted for covariates (P = .97).Conclusions: Our findings suggest that smoking status at time of lung cancer diagnosis has little impact on the long-term survival of patients with NSCLC, especially after curative surgery. Despite different etiologies between lung cancer in never and current smokers the prognosis is equally dismal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface water bodies, such as rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, play an irreplaceable role in global ecosystems and climate systems. Sentinel-2 imagery provides new high-resolution satellite remote sensing data. Based on the analysis of the spectral characteristics of the Sentinel-2 satellite, a novel water index called the Sentinel-2 water index (SWI) that is based on the vegetation-sensitive red-edge band (Band 5) and shortwave infrared (Band 11) bands was developed. Four representative water body types, namely, Taihu Lake, Yangtze River, Chaka Salt Lake, and Chain Lake, were selected as study areas to conduct a water body extraction performance comparison with the normalized difference water index (NDWI). We found that (1) the contrast value of the SWI was larger than that of the NDWI in terms of various water body types, including purer water, turbid water, salt water, and floating ice, which suggested that the SWI could achieve better enhancement performance for water bodies. (2) An effective water body extraction method was proposed by integrating the SWI and Otsu algorithm, which could accurately extract various water body types with high overall accuracy. (3) The method effectively extracted large water bodies and wide river channels by suppressing shadow noise in urban areas. Our results suggested that the novel method can achieve efficient water body extraction for rapidly and accurately extracting various water bodies from Sentinel-2 data and the novel method has application potential for larger-scale surface water mapping.

The hybrid volume-surface integral equation (VSIE) combined with the Method of Moments (MoM) is applied to the analysis of scattering from arbitrarily composite conducting-dielectric objects withconducting-dielectric or dielectric-dielectric junctions. The electric field volume integral equation is applied to the material region and the electric field surface integral equation is enforced over the conducting surface. Compared to the surface integral equation (SIE), the VSIE is more efficient and convenient since the formulation of the VSIE retains the same simple form regardless of the complexity of the object and materials, and no extra treatment is required when dealing withjunction problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, a facile strategy was firstly developed to synthesize ellipsoidal mesoporous silica nanomaterials (MSNs) with well-ordered parallel channels along the short axis. A miniaturized microfluidic device with spiral-shaped channels was then chosen as a straightforward and general platform to produce the corresponding hollow counterparts of MSNs under mild conditions. Such reaction process carried out in a microfluidic system was further demonstrated to be more rapid and efficient than a conventional batch method under equivalent experimental conditions. The evolution of hollow structure can be well tuned by flow rates (i.e. etching time), providing a new paradigm for rational design and engineering of anisotropic nanostructures.

Single-photon sources are one of the most basic devices for quantum optical experiments and applications. Here, Lin et al. present an electrically driven single-photon source based on solution-processed colloidal quantum dots with near-optimal antibunching at room temperature.