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ABSTRACT Background and Aims Methods Results Conclusions Metabolic dysfunction‐associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is linked to various intrahepatic and extrahepatic diseases, but its association with severe infectious disease remains to be investigated.We analysed data from the Shanghai Suburban Adult Cohort and Biobank, encompassing participants enrolled in 2016 and 2017 with available abdominal ultrasonography data, and followed them up until December 2022 (median follow‐up = 5.71 years). We categorised the participants into the MASLD group and those without steatotic liver disease (non‐SLD). Multivariable‐adjusted Cox regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) for severe infections in patients with MASLD compared to the non‐SLD group. Cumulative incidences were calculated while accounting for competing risks (non‐infection‐related deaths). Mediation analyses were performed to explore the roles of cardiometabolic risk factors in the association between MASLD and severe infections.Among the 33 072 eligible participants (mean age 56.37 years; 38.20% male), 11 908 (36.01%) were diagnosed with MASLD at baseline. Severe infections occurred in 912 (7.66%) MASLD patients and 1258 (5.94%) non‐SLD. The rate of severe infections per 1000 person‐years was higher in MASLD patients (13.58) than in comparators (10.48) (fully adjusted HR 1.18, 95% CI 1.07–1.30). The most frequent infections in MASLD were respiratory (7.25/1000 person‐years) and urinary tract infections (2.61/1000 person‐years). The 5‐year cumulative incidence of severe infections was 6.79% (95% CI 6.36–7.26) in MASLD and 5.08% (95% CI 4.79–5.38) in comparators. Cardiometabolic risk factors, including waist circumference, triglycerides and HbA1C, partially mediate the association between MASLD and severe infections.Patients with MASLD were at significantly higher risk of incident severe infections compared to the non‐SLD group. Future studies are needed to elucidate the mechanisms linking MASLD to severe infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polysulfonamide (PSA), with its chemical stability and acid‐resistance, is seen as a potential material for reverse osmosis. However, the present PSA thin film composite membranes fabricated via prevailing interfacial polymerization (IP) approach generally exhibited nonfavored desalination performance. In this work, PSA membrane was assembled via spinning‐assist layer‐by‐layer (sLbL) on a poly(vinyl alcohol) modified polyethersulfone substrate. Fabrication was carried out through sequential interfacial reaction between naphthalene‐1,3,6‐trisufonylchloride and piperazine by alternately dipping and drying the substrate in two monomer phases. Morphology, chemical composition, surface charge distribution as well as surface hydrophilicity were investigated as a function of repeated cycles. The sLbL assembly approach implemented facile control over membrane properties with well‐organized selective layer thickness growth and twofold to threefold reduced surface roughness. As measured from spectroscopic ellipsometry, the sLbL assembled membranes exhibited a linear thickness growth at ~2.72 nm per layer. Performance test indicated that the salt rejection and water flux showed a trade‐off pattern with increasing layer number. The PSA membrane with five layers showed a preferable NaCl rejection of 95.7 ± 0.4% with a water flux of 12.4 ± 0.9 L m−2 h−1 at 10 bar, whereas the IP membrane exhibited only 58% and a 22.12 L m−2 h−1 flux. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 47138. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Steatotic liver disease (SLD) is influenced by both genetics and lifestyle factors, with lifestyle effects varying by genetic susceptibility. We aimed to evaluate gene-lifestyle interactions on SLD risk., Methods: We included 28,215 UK Biobank participants with available data. Predictors were healthy lifestyle patterns, PNPLA3-rs738409, TM6SF2-rs58542926, a 16-variant hepatic steatosis polygenic risk score (PRS), and gene-environment interactions. Primary outcome was liver fat content (LFC); secondary outcomes were cT1 (a measure of liver inflammation/fibrosis) and SLD-related events., Results: Lifestyle predictors, except smoking, reduced LFC, while genetic predictors increased it. Genetic predictors significantly interacted with healthy lifestyle patterns, sedentary behavior and social connection. Lifestyle effects on lower LFC were up to 6.3-fold stronger in PNPLA3-rs738409-GG vs. -CC individuals, and 1.5-7.0 times higher in the top vs. bottom PRS quartile. PRS and PNPLA3 also interacted with alcohol consumption, diet, and PNPLA3 further interacted with physical activity. These interactions were more pronounced in overweight participants. Genetic factors and physical activity interacted to influence cT1, while PRS, PNPLA3 and sleep duration were associated with cardiovascular events., Conclusions: Lifestyle effects on LFC, cT1 and cardiovascular events were accentuated in individuals at higher SLD genetic risk, implying lifestyle interventions may be more impactful in these populations., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare and nothing to disclose., (Copyright © 2025 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To investigate the association of fetal cardiac structural abnormalities with chromosomal aneuploidies and copy number variations (CNVs) in amniocytes., Methods: 328 pregnant women were subjected to fetal ultrasonography and chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA). Based on the fetal heart structure, the subjects were divided into normal (n=273) and abnormal groups (n=55). The detection rates of chromosomal aneuploidies and CNVs were compared between the two groups. Spearman method was used to assess the association between the results and fetal cardiac structural abnormalities., Results: The detection rates for chromosomal aneuploidies and CNVs in the abnormal group were significantly higher than that in the normal group (P< 0.05), and the incidence of fetal cardiac structural abnormalities was strongly associated with chromosomal aneuploidies and CNVs (P< 0.05)., Conclusion: Fetal chromosomal aneuploidies and CNVs are strongly associated with cardiac structural abnormalities.

The perennial ornamental peanut Arachis glabrata represents one of the most adaptable wild Arachis species. This study used PacBio combined with BGISEQ-500 RNA-seq technology to study the transcriptome and gene expression dynamics of A. glabrata. Of the total 109,747 unique transcripts obtained, >90,566 transcripts showed significant homology to known proteins and contained the complete coding sequence (CDS). RNA-seq revealed that 1229, 1039, 1671, 3923, 1521 and 1799 transcripts expressed specifically in the root, stem, leaf, flower, peg and pod, respectively. We also identified thousands of differentially expressed transcripts in response to drought, salt, cold and leaf spot disease. Furthermore, we identified 30 polyphenol oxidase encoding genes associated with the quality of forage, making A. glabrata suitable as a forage crop. Our findings presented the first transcriptome study of A. glabrata which will facilitate genetic and genomics studies and lays the groundwork for a deeper understanding of the A. glabrata genome., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background: MicroRNAs are important gene expression regulators in plants immune system. Aspergillus flavus is the most common causal agents of aflatoxin contamination in peanuts, but information on the function of miRNA in peanut-A. flavus interaction is lacking. In this study, the resistant cultivar (GT-C20) and susceptible cultivar (Tifrunner) were used to investigate regulatory roles of miRNAs in response to A. flavus growth., Results: A total of 30 miRNAs, 447 genes and 21 potential miRNA/mRNA pairs were differentially expressed significantly when treated with A. flavus. A total of 62 miRNAs, 451 genes and 44 potential miRNA/mRNA pairs exhibited differential expression profiles between two peanut varieties. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis showed that metabolic-process related GO terms were enriched. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses further supported the GO results, in which many enriched pathways were related with biosynthesis and metabolism, such as biosynthesis of secondary metabolites and metabolic pathways. Correlation analysis of small RNA, transcriptome and degradome indicated that miR156/SPL pairs might regulate the accumulation of flavonoids in resistant and susceptible genotypes. The miR482/2118 family might regulate NBS-LRR gene which had the higher expression level in resistant genotype. These results provided useful information for further understanding the roles of miR156/157/SPL and miR482/2118/NBS-LRR pairs., Conclusions: Integration analysis of the transcriptome, miRNAome and degradome of resistant and susceptible peanut varieties were performed in this study. The knowledge gained will help to understand the roles of miRNAs of peanut in response to A. flavus.

Background: Plant height, mainly decided by main stem height, is the major agronomic trait and closely correlated to crop yield. A number of studies had been conducted on model plants and crops to understand the molecular and genetic basis of plant height. However, little is known on the molecular mechanisms of peanut main stem height., Results: In this study, a semi-dwarf peanut mutant was identified from 60 Co γ-ray induced mutant population and designated as semi-dwarf mutant 2 (sdm2). The height of sdm2 was only 59.3% of its wild line Fenghua 1 (FH1) at the mature stage. The sdm2 has less internode number and short internode length to compare with FH1. Gene expression profiles of stem and leaf from both sdm2 and FH1 were analyzed using high throughput RNA sequencing. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were involved in hormone biosynthesis and signaling pathways, cell wall synthetic and metabolic pathways. BR, GA and IAA biosynthesis and signal transduction pathways were significantly enriched. The expression of several genes in BR biosynthesis and signaling were found to be significantly down-regulated in sdm2 as compared to FH1. Many transcription factors encoding genes were identified as DEGs., Conclusions: A large number of genes were found differentially expressed between sdm2 and FH1. These results provide useful information for uncovering the molecular mechanism regulating peanut stem height. It could facilitate identification of causal genes for breeding peanut varieties with semi-dwarf phenotype.

Background: Fatigue is the most common symptom in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) patients. Many fatigue instruments have been used in SLE, with Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) mostly adopted. However, fatigue instruments haven't been tested in the Chinese SLE population. The aim of our study was to test the psychometric properties of FSS in Chinese SLE patients., Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted. 201 patients diagnosed with SLE were enrolled in the study with convenience sampling. Fatigue score, depression score and vitality subscale score of SF-36 were collected. Floor and ceiling effects were tested. Factor analysis was conducted. Reliability and validity of FSS were also tested., Results: Floor (4.50%) and ceiling (4.00%) effects were minimal. One factor was extracted, explaining 61.80% of total variance. When item1 and item 2 were deleted, one factor explained 69.54% of variance, and Cronbach's Alpha increased from 0.92 to 0.93. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.94. Fatigue correlated with both depression (r = 0.52, P < 0.01) and vitality (r = - 0.55, P < 0.01), indicating acceptable construct validity for original FSS. When item 1 and 2 were removed, the correlation coefficient between 7-item FSS and vitality increased (r = - 0.58, P < 0.01), while correlation coefficient between 7-item FSS and depression remained the same (r = 0.52, P < 0.01). Known-groups validity was verified by that patients with depression showed higher fatigue score both for 9-item (Z = -5.56, P < 0.001) and 7-item FSS (Z = -5.70, P < 0.001)., Conclusions: 9-item FSS is a reliable instrument and can be used to assess fatigue problem in Chinese SLE patients, and 7-item FSS also demonstrated good psychometric properties in the same participants.

Background: The referral service is a significant component of healthcare reform in China, and the measurement of patient satisfaction with the referral service process will help to improve the quality of referral medical delivery. Furthermore, the referral service in China includes inter-institutional collaborations between hospitals at different levels and multi-nodes throughout the referral process. It is therefore necessary to identify the key nodes that affect patient satisfaction during the referral service process., Methods: This study conducted a questionnaire survey of 110 patients to collect data regarding patient satisfaction at the following healthcare nodes: primary-level hospital, referral appointment registration, claim of appointment number in the outpatient department, examination service, admission service, and overall satisfaction during the referral service process. Correlation analysis and logistic regression methods were used to establish a mathematical model of patient satisfaction between five nodes and overall satisfaction. Additionally, a peak-end model was formed to identify the peak node impacting overall patient satisfaction during the referral service based on the sample data., Results: Over 80% of referral patients rated the overall referral service as 'good'. The correlation analysis revealed that there was a significant correlation between the satisfaction of each node and the overall satisfaction (P < 0.05). The results of the regression model showed that the satisfaction of five nodes determined the overall satisfaction and that "admission service at the higher-level hospital" exerted the greatest impact on overall satisfaction (β = 0.312), while "referral appointment registration" had the lowest influence on overall satisfaction (β = 0.177). The peak-end model also revealed that "admission service at the higher-level hospital" had a greater effect on overall satisfaction., Conclusion: Our study showed that the key nodes affecting patient satisfaction were "transferring service at the primary-level hospital" and "admission service at the higher-level hospital". Furthermore, the efficacy of the referral services is determined by the gatekeepers' management of the referral system at the primary-level hospital and the allocation and management of bed resources at the higher-level hospital. These findings can serve as a science-based guidance for them to improve their performance in inter-regional healthcare collaborations in the referral service process.

Maize rough dwarf disease, caused by rice black-streaked dwarf virus (RBSDV), is a devastating disease in maize (Zea mays L.). MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are known to play critical roles in regulation of plant growth, development, and adaptation to abiotic and biotic stresses. To elucidate the roles of miRNAs in the regulation of maize in response to RBSDV, we employed high-throughput sequencing technology to analyze the miRNAome and transcriptome following RBSDV infection. A total of 76 known miRNAs, 226 potential novel miRNAs and 351 target genes were identified. Our dataset showed that the expression patterns of 81 miRNAs changed dramatically in response to RBSDV infection. Transcriptome analysis showed that 453 genes were differentially expressed after RBSDV infection. GO, COG and KEGG analysis results demonstrated that genes involved with photosynthesis and metabolism were significantly enriched. In addition, twelve miRNA-mRNA interaction pairs were identified, and six of them were likely to play significant roles in maize response to RBSDV. This study provided valuable information for understanding the molecular mechanism of maize disease resistance, and could be useful in method development to protect maize against RBSDV.

Objective: Intracranial aneurysms are extremely rare in infants, especially less than 1 year old. This study aimed to analyze the frequency of infantile intracranial aneurysm in our department and investigate the clinical characteristics, treatment strategies, and outcomes of this disease., Methods: Six infants under 1 year old in 4350 patients with intracranial aneurysms were retrospectively analyzed from January 2010 to December 2016., Results: The patients (5 females and 1 male) ranged in age from 2 to 11 (mean age, 4.67) months. Four patients presented with generalized seizure and vomiting, 3 showed lethargy, 1 presented eye deviation, and 1 had right-sided hemiparesis. Radiographically, two aneurysms were localized in the middle cerebral artery (MCA) of the M2 segment, two were located in the M3 segment of MCA, one was located at left MCA bifurcation, and one was located at the nonbranching site of the left supraclinoid internal carotid artery. All these lesions were successfully managed with aneurysm clipping or resection, and the improvement of neurological deficits was achieved in all patients., Conclusion: Intracranial aneurysms should be considered in the differential diagnosis of infants who present with acute raised intracranial pressure. An improvement of neurological deficits is noted in infants who are managed promptly with microsurgical techniques of clipping during the long-term follow-up.

WUSCHEL-related homeobox (WOX) genes play key roles in plant stem cell maintenance and development. WOX genes showed specific expression patterns which are important for their functions. WOX13 subfamily genes as the ancestor genes of this family were less studied in the past. In this study, we cloned three Arachis hypogaea (peanut) WOX13 (AhWOX13) subfamily genes from peanut: WOX13A and WOX13B1, 2. WOX13B1 encoded a same protein as WOX13B2, and there were only two-base difference between these two genes. Differential expression patterns were observed for these three AhWOX13 subfamily genes in different tissues and developmental stages. Phylogenic trees analysis showed that these AhWOX13 subfamily genes were the most conserved WOX genes and belonged to the ancient clade of WOX family. This was also supported by the conserved motif analysis. Selective pressure analysis showed that the WOX family genes mainly underwent weak purifying selection (ω = 0.58097), while many positive mutations accumulated during the evolution history. Under the purifying selection, gene duplication event and loss of duplicated gene play important roles in the expansion and evolution of WOX family.

In order to fully understand the anxiety level of the patients who will have ultrasound-guided puncture biopsy, and the survey results will guide the future clinical care to reduce the anxiety score of the patients, and to im-prove the satisfaction of them, which reflects the quality of care, we used Zung Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) to investigate outpatients who will have ultrasound-guided puncture biopsy in a upper first-class hospital by convenience sampling way. The results showed that the SAS standard score of the patients was higher than the Chinese normal population's, and there is significant difference between the patients and the normal population's score (t = 47.12, P < 0.001). So for reducing the patients' anxiety level we should give health education and care intervention to the patients before the operation. This reflects the Patient-centered Culture and Excellent-quality Care in China.