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In this paper, the manipulative effect of N doping on topological insulator Bi 2 Se 3 was investigated by using density functional theory (DFT). The computational results reveal that the van der Waals (vdW) correction is necessary when calculating the geometric structure of Bi 2 Se 3. Taking into account the spin–orbit coupling(SOC), the electronic structure of Bi 2 Se 3 can be accurately described, especially for the energy bands near the Fermi level. The N doping at anion sites can produce an impurity band which appeared at Fermi energy. Comparing with pure Bi 2 Se 3 , the electronic structure of N doping Bi 2 Se 3 changed obviously at Fermi energy. The valence band and conduction band meet when N doped on Se1 sites, the insulating properties of Bi 2 Se 3 system are damaged. The indirect gaps between the valence band and conduction band are 0.135 eV and 0.115 eV with N doping on Se2 sites with the doping levels 6.67% and 1.67%, respectively. On the other hand, the N doping at Se sites of Bi 2 Se 3 can induce magnetic moments. The magnetic moments are related to the covalent bond length between N atom and Bi atom. Furthermore, the real and imaginary parts of dielectric functions have been computed. The static dielectric constant ε 1 (0) becomes significantly larger and the peaks in the imaginary part of dielectric constant ε 2 (ω) spectra move toward low energy. The intensity of the peak is gradually enhanced and there is a small bump in Bi 6 Se 8 N2 at 0.38 eV. The N doping paves a prospective way to tune the topological properties and may find change to potential spintronic applications and electronic devices. • The electronic structure of N doping Bi 2 Se 3 are changed obvious at fermi energy. • The insulation properties of Bi 2 Se 3 system are damaged with N doping on Se1 sites. • The N doping at Se sites can induce magnetic moments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Gut microbiota dysbiosis is closely associated with psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety (DA). In our preliminary study, fecal microbiota transplantation from volunteers with psychological stress and subclinical symptoms of depression (Vsd) induced DA-like behaviors in mice. Escherichia fergusonii (Esf) was found to be more abundant in the feces of Vsd compared to healthy volunteers. Therefore, we investigated the effect of Esf on DA-like behavior and neuroinflammation in mice with and without celiac vagotomy., Methods and Results: Orally gavaged Esf increased DA-like behaviors, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4) expression, and NF-κB + Iba1 + and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) + Iba1 + cell populations, while decreasing serotonin, 5-HT 1A receptor, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. However, celiac vagotomy attenuated Esf-induced DA-like behavior and neuroinflammation. Orally gavaged extracellular vesicle (EV) from Vsd feces (vfEV) or Esf culture (esEV) induced DA-like behavior and inflammation in hippocampus, prefrontal cortex and colon. However, celiac vagotomy attenuated vfEV- or esEV-induced DA-like behaviors and inflammation in the brain alone, while vfEV- or esEV-induced blood LPS and TNF-α levels, colonic TNF-α expression and NF-κB-positive cell number, and fecal LPS level were not. Although orally gavaged fluorescence isothiocyanate-labeled esEV was translocated into the blood and hippocampus, celiac vagotomy decreased its translocation into the hippocampus alone., Conclusions: esEVs may be translocated into the brain via the vagus nerve and bloodstream, subsequently inducing TNF-α expression and suppressing serotonin, its receptor, and BDNF expression through the activation of TLR4-mediated NF-κB signaling, thereby contributing to DA pathogenesis., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: New-onset atrial fibrillation (NOAF) occurs in 5% to 15% of patients who undergo transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Cardiac imaging has been underutilized to predict NOAF following TAVR., Objectives: The objective of this analysis was to compare and assess standard, manual echocardiographic and cardiac computed tomography (cCT) measurements as well as machine learning-derived cCT measurements of left atrial volume index and epicardial adipose tissue as risk factors for NOAF following TAVR., Methods: The study included 1,385 patients undergoing elective, transfemoral TAVR for severe, symptomatic aortic stenosis. Each patient had standard and machine learning-derived measurements of left atrial volume and epicardial adipose tissue from cardiac computed tomography. The outcome of interest was NOAF within 30 days following TAVR. We used a 2-step statistical model including random forest for variable importance ranking, followed by multivariable logistic regression for predictors of highest importance. Model discrimination was assessed by using the C-statistic to compare the performance of the models with and without imaging., Results: Forty-seven (5.0%) of 935 patients without pre-existing atrial fibrillation (AF) experienced NOAF. Patients with pre-existing AF had the largest left atrial volume index at 76.3 ± 28.6 cm 3 /m 2 followed by NOAF at 68.1 ± 26.6 cm 3 /m 2 and then no AF at 57.0 ± 21.7 cm 3 /m 2 (P < 0.001). Multivariable regression identified the following risk factors in association with NOAF: left atrial volume index ≥76 cm 2 (OR: 2.538 [95% CI: 1.165-5.531]; P = 0.0191), body mass index <22 kg/m 2 (OR: 4.064 [95% CI: 1.500-11.008]; P = 0.0058), EATv (OR: 1.007 [95% CI: 1.000-1.014]; P = 0.043), aortic annulus area ≥659 mm 2 (OR: 6.621 [95% CI: 1.849-23.708]; P = 0.004), and sinotubular junction diameter ≥35 mm (OR: 3.891 [95% CI: 1.040-14.552]; P = 0.0435). The C-statistic of the model was 0.737, compared with 0.646 in a model that excluded imaging variables., Conclusions: Underlying cardiac structural differences derived from cardiac imaging may be useful in predicting NOAF following transfemoral TAVR, independent of other clinical risk factors., Competing Interests: Funding Support and Author Disclosures This work was supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Barts Biomedical Research Centre (NIHR203330); a delivery partnership of Barts Health NHS Trust, Queen Mary University of London, St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and St George’s University of London. Drs Abdulkareem and Petersen receive support from the CAP-AI programme (led by Capital Enterprise in partnership with Barts Health NHS Trust and Digital Catapult and funded by the European Regional Development Fund and Barts Charity) and Health Data Research UK (HDR UK—an initiative funded by UK Research and Innovation, Department of Health and Social Care (England) and the devolved administrations, and leading medical research charities). Dr Petersen also receives support from the SmartHeart EPSRC programme grant (EP/P001009/1) and the London Medical Imaging and AI Center for Value-Based Healthcare; and has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 825903 (euCanSHare project). DrPiccini is supported by National Institutes of Aging grant R01AG074185. He has also received grants for clinical research from Abbott, the American Heart Association, the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation, Bayer, Boston Scientific, iRhythm, and Philips; and serves as a consultant to Abbott, Abbvie, ARCA biopharma, Bayer, Boston Scientific, Bristol Myers Squibb (Myokardia), Element Science, Itamar Medical, LivaNova, Medtronic, Milestone, ElectroPhysiology Frontiers, ReCor, Sanofi, Philips, and Up-to-Date. All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 American College of Cardiology Foundation. All rights reserved.)

Bakground: It is important to understand the outcomes of adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients at different facilities as treatment paradigms change., Aims: Our primary objective was to determine adult ALL overall survival (OS) by facility volume and type. Secondary objectives included identifying sociodemographic factors that may have impacted outcomes and analyzing treatment patterns by facility volume and type., Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of the National Cancer Database (NCDB) that included patients ≥40 years diagnosed with ALL between 2004 and 2016., Results: A total of 14 593 patients were included in this study. Univariate OS was greatest at low volume (LV) and community programs (CPs) and the least at high volume (HV) and academic programs (AP). This difference was lost after multivariable Cox proportional hazards model analysis, which found no difference in survival by facility volume or type, however, survival was significantly influenced by age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, insurance, and residence location (p < 0.05). Patients treated at HV and APs compared to LV and CP received more anti-neoplastic directed therapy., Conclusion: Our results suggest treatment facility volume and type do not impact older adult ALL patient (≥40 years) survival, however confounding sociodemographic differences do impact survival outcomes, despite more aggressive and novel treatment approaches provided at HV and APs., (© 2024 The Author(s). Cancer Reports published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Tear matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 is an inflammatory signal in patients with dry eye (DE). In the present study, to understand the action mechanism of probiotic LB101 (Lactobacillus plantarum NK151 and Bifidobacterium bifidum NK175 [4:1] mix) against DE, we investigated its effect on tear amount and inflammatory marker expression levels in mice with unilateral exorbital lacrimal gland excision/atropine-benzalkonium chloride application (EB) or fecal microbiota transplantation from mice with EB (eFMT). Oral gavage of LB101 increased EB-suppressed tear amount and decreased EB-induced blinking number. Furthermore, LB101 decreased EB-induced TNF-α, IL-1β, and MMP-9 expression, TNF-α+ and NF-κB+CD11c+ cell populations, and edema in the conjunctiva, while EB-suppressed IL-10 and occludin expression increased. LB101 also decreased EB-induced TNF-α and IL-1β expression and NF-κB+CD11c+ cell population in the colon. eFMT also decreased tear amount and increased blinking number in the transplanted mice. eFMT increased TNF-α, IL-1β, and MMP-9 expression and TNF-α+ and NF-κB+CD11c+ cell populations in the conjunctiva and TNF-α and IL-1β expression and NF-κB+CD11c+ cell populations in the colon. Oral gavage of LB101 increased eFMT-suppressed tear amount and decreased eFMT-induced blinking number. Furthermore, LB101 decreased TNF-α, IL-1β, and MMP-9 expression, TNF-α+ and NF-κB+CD11c+ cell populations, and edema in the conjunctiva and TNF-α and IL-1β expression and NF-κB+CD11c+ cell population in the colon, while eFMT-suppressed IL-10 and occludin expression decreased. Furthermore, LB101 increased eFMT-suppressed Muribaculaceae, Prevotellaceae, and Lactobacillaceae populations in the gut microbiota, while eFMT-induced Bacteroidaceae population decreased. These findings suggest that DE may cause gut dysbiosis, which may be a risk factor for DE, and LB101 may alleviate DE with gut inflammation by suppressing the expression of MMP-9 and proinflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-1β with the regulation of gut microbiota-involved NF-κB signaling., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Ma et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Gut microbiota communicates bidirectionally with the brain through the nervous, immune, and endocrine systems of the gut. In our preliminary study, the fecal microbiota of volunteers with mild cognitive impairment (Fmci) exhibited a higher abundance of Escherichia fergusonii (NK2001), Veillonella infantium (NK2002), and Enterococcus faecium (NK2003) populations compared with those of healthy volunteers. Therefore, we examined the effects of Fmci, NK2001 (gram-negative), NK2002 (gram-negative-like), and NK2003 (gram-positive) on cognitive impairment-like behavior, neuroinflammation, and colitis in mice with or without antibiotics. Fmci transplantation increased cognitive impairment-like behavior, hippocampal tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α expression, and the size of toll-like receptor (TLR)4 + Iba1 + , TLR2 + Iba1 + , and NF-κB + Iba1 + cell populations independent of antibiotic treatment. Oral gavage of NK2001, NK2002, or NK2003, which induced TNF-α expression in Caco-2 cells, significantly increased cognitive impairment-like behavior and hippocampal TNF-α expression and Iba1-positive cell populations and decreased brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression in mice. Celiac vagotomy significantly decreased NK2001- or NK2002-induced cognitive impairment-like behavior and hippocampal Iba1 + cell population and TNF-α expression and increased NK2001- or NK2002-suppressed hippocampal BDNF expression. However, NK2003-induced cognitive impairment-like behavior and hippocampal Iba1 + cell population and TNF-α expression were partially, but not significantly, attenuated by celiac vagotomy. Furthermore, celiac vagotomy did not affect NK2001-, NK2002-, or NK2003-induced lipopolysaccharide (LPS) levels in the blood and feces and TNF-α expression and NF-κB-positive cell population in the colon. In conclusion, LPS-producing NK2001 and NK2002 and LPS-nonproducing NK2003 may induce NF-κB-mediated neuroinflammation through the translocation of byproducts such as LPS and peptidoglycan into the brain through gut-blood/vagus nerve-brain and gut-blood-brain pathways, respectively, resulting in cognitive impairment., 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 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

After the first report of a graphene-based passive mode-locking ultrafast fiber laser, two-dimensional materials as efficient saturable absorbers offer a new horizon in ultrafast fiber laser. However, the interactions on atomic scale between these two-dimensional materials and fiber and the fiber effect on the carrier dynamics have not been realized. To figure out the exact role of fiber and the carrier dynamics affected by the fiber substrate related to ultrafast photonics, bismuthene, a newly reported 2D quantum material used in a passive mode-locking fiber laser, deposited on α-quartz has been investigated. We surprisingly found that the α-quartz substrate can strongly accelerate the nonradiative electron-hole recombination of bismuthene in theory, and the transient absorption spectra of bismuthene on normal glass and α-quartz further verify the substrate effect on carrier dynamics of bismuthene. The discovery provides new thinking about substrate effect to regulate the performance of ultrafast mode-locking fiber lasers as well as ultrafast photonics.

Fecal microbiota transplantation from patients with depression/inflammatory bowel disease (PDI) causes depression with gut inflammation in mice. Here, we investigated the effects of six Lactobacillus reuteri strains on brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF), serotonin, and interleukin (IL)-6 expression in neuronal or macrophage cells and PDI fecal microbiota-cultured microbiota (PcM)-induced depression in mice. Of these strains, L6 most potently increased BDNF and serotonin levels in corticosterone-stimulated SH-SY5Y and PC12 cells, followed by L3. L6 most potently decreased IL-6 expression in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated macrophages. When L1 (weakest in vitro), L3, and L6 were orally administered in mice with PcM-induced depression, L6 most potently suppressed depression-like behaviors and hippocampal TNF-α and IL-6 expression and increased hippocampal serotonin, BDNF, 5HT7, GABAARα1, and GABABR1b expression, followed by L3 and L1. L6 also suppressed TNF-α and IL-6 expression in the colon. BDNF or serotonin levels in corticosterone-stimulated neuronal cells were negatively correlated with depression-related biomarkers in PcM-transplanted mice, while IL-6 levels in LPS-stimulated macrophage were positively correlated. These findings suggest that IL-6 expression-suppressing and BDNF/serotonin expression-inducing LBPs in vitro, particularly L6, may alleviate gut microbiota-involved depression with colitis in vivo., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Applied Microbiology International.)

Scope: Lignans are a group of phenolic compounds commonly found in plants, often in the form of glycosides. This study investigates the differences in the digestion, absorption, and metabolism of lignans and their glucosides using pinoresinol (PIN) and pinoresinol-4-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (PMG)., Methods and Results: After oral administration mice PIN and PMG with a dose of 0.1 µmol kg -1 . The results showed that the stomach and small intestine rapidly absorbe PIN and PMG in their prototype form. After oral administration of 0.25 h, serum levels of PIN and PMG reach peak values of 61.14 and 52.97 ng mL -1 , respectively. This indicates a faster PIN absorption rate than PMG, likely due to the glycosides attach to the parent compound, with concentrations of 1574.14 and 876.75 ng g -1 , respectively. Pharmacokinetic analysis reveals that PIN has a greater area under the curve and a longer half-life than PMG in serum and liver. Moreover, mice in the PIN group exhibit higher metabolite levels in the serum and liver compared to those in the PMG group., Conclusion: The deglycosylation process that occurs during the pickling of white radish facilitates the absorption and metabolism of the lignans fraction in the body., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Introduction: Porphyromonas gingivalis (PG)-infected periodontitis is in close connection with the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). PG-derived extracellular vesicles (pEVs) contain inflammation-inducing virulence factors, including gingipains (GPs) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)., Objectives: To understand how PG could cause cognitive decline, we investigated the effects of PG and pEVs on the etiology of periodontitis and cognitive impairment in mice., Methods: Cognitive behaviors were measured in the Y-maze and novel object recognition tasks. Biomarkers were measured using ELISA, qPCR, immunofluorescence assay, and pyrosequencing., Results: pEVs contained neurotoxic GPs and inflammation-inducible fimbria protein and LPS. Gingivally exposed, but not orally gavaged, PG or pEVs caused periodontitis and induced memory impairment-like behaviors. Gingival exposure to PG or pEVs increased TNF-α expression in the periodontal and hippocampus tissues. They also increased hippocampal GP + Iba1 + , LPS + Iba1 + , and NF-κB + Iba1 + cell numbers. Gingivally exposed PG or pEVs decreased BDNF, claudin-5, and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor expression and BDNF + NeuN + cell number. Gingivally exposed fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate-labeled pEVs (F-pEVs) were detected in the trigeminal ganglia and hippocampus. However, right trigeminal neurectomy inhibited the translocation of gingivally injected F-EVs into the right trigeminal ganglia. Gingivally exposed PG or pEVs increased blood LPS and TNF-α levels. Furthermore, they caused colitis and gut dysbiosis., Conclusion: Gingivally infected PG, particularly pEVs, may cause cognitive decline with periodontitis. PG products pEVs and LPS may be translocated into the brain through the trigeminal nerve and periodontal blood pathways, respectively, resulting in the cognitive decline, which may cause colitis and gut dysbiosis. Therefore, pEVs may be a remarkable risk factor for dementia., 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 © 2023. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.)

Lignans are a group of phenolic compounds found in plant-based diets. The human body can obtain lignans through diet, which are then metabolized into enterolignans. The enterolignans have been linked to several health benefits, including anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant effects, and estrogen effects. This review explores the relationship between the estrogenic effects of lignans and health. This review not only considers the estrogen-like activity of lignans but also discusses the safe dosage of lignans at different life stages. In addition, this review also identified other types of bioactive compounds that can act synergistically with lignans to promote health. Studies have shown that lignan administration during pregnancy and lactation reduces the risk of breast cancer in offspring. Further studies are needed to investigate the estrogenic safety effects of lignan on pregnant women and children. Whether lignans combine with other nutrients in complex food substrates to produce synergistic effects remains to be investigated. This review provides a basis for future studies on the safe dose of lignan and recommended dietary intake of lignan. We believe that the acquired as discussed here has implications for developing dietary therapies that can promote host nutrition and modulate estrogenic diseases.

Sarcopenia is closely associated with gut dysbiosis. Probiotics alleviate gut dysbiosis. Therefore, we selected probiotics Lactobacillus paracasei P62 (Lp) and Bifidobacterium bifidum P61 (Bb), which suppressed muscle RING-finger protein-1 (MuRF1) expression and NF-κB activation in C2C12 cells, and examined their effects on muscle mass loss and dysfunction in aged mice. Oral administration of Lp, Bb, or their mix (LB) increased grip strength and treadmill running distance and time. They significantly increased muscle weight in aged mice. They also increased AKT activation, PGC1α, SIRT1, and myosin heavy chain (MyHC) expression, MyHC-positive cell population, and cell size in the gastrocnemius (GA) muscle, while FOXO3a and NF-κB activation, MuRF1, muscle atrophy F-box, and p16 expression, and NF-κB + CD11c + cell population decreased. Furthermore, they reduced cognitive impairment-like behavior, IL-6 expression, FOXO3a activation, and NF-κB-positive cell population in the hippocampus, GA, and colon, while hippocampal brain-derived neurotropic factor expression increased. They shifted gut microbiota composition in aged mice: they increased Akkermansiaceae and Bacteroidaceae populations, which were positively correlated with total muscle weight and MyHC expression, and decreased Odoribacteraceae and Deferribacteriaceae populations, which were positively correlated with MuRF1 and IL-6 expression. LB alleviated sarcopenia- and cognitive impairment-like symptoms more potently than Lp or Bb alone. Based on these findings, probiotics, particularly Lp, Bb, and LB, can alleviate aging-dependent sarcopenia and cognitive impairment by regulating gut microbiota-mediated AKT, NF-κB, and/or FOXO3a signaling pathways., (© 2023. BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.)

Cerasus subhirtella (Miq.) Sok. is a widely used ornamental tree in urban areas around China and has a high ornamental value. From 2018 to 2020, a root rot disease was observed in C. subhirtella in Meitan County, Weng'an County, and Guiyang city of Guizhou, China (106.71 E, 26.57 N). Diseased C. subhirtella trees exhibited wilting with leaf chlorosis accompanied by brown to black root discoloration. In an area of 100 ha in total, with disease incidence ranging from 60 to 80%. Six symptomatic plants with root rot were randomly collected from three locations where disease symptoms were observed for pathogen isolation. Fifty fragments of diseased roots (5×5mm) were disinfected in 3% sodium hypochlorite for 30 s and 75% alcohol for 60 s, rinsed three times in sterile distilled water, plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA; BoWei, Shanghai), and incubated at 28 °C in the dark for 7 days. Eighteen isolates were purified by single spore culturing. Typical Fusarium spp. colonies were obtained from all root samples. On PDA, the colonies showed white and the hyphae were dense, while the colony of isolate YH15 showed pale yellow on the back, radial growth and produced chlamydospores. The macrospores (YH15) were straight to subarcuate, measured 15.3 to 25.1 × 2.5 to 6.2 μm (n=50). The microconidia (YH26) were ellipsoid to ovoid, measured 8.6 to 12.7 × 1.6 to 5.1 μm (n=50). These morphological characteristics were consistent with Fusarium spp., as described recently in Vitullo et al. (2014). To confirm the morphological diagnosis, genomic DNA from the isolates was extracted. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) (White et al, 1990) region of rDNA and a β-tubulin (Varga et al, 2011) gene fragment were amplified with the primers ITS1/ITS4 and Bt2a/Bt2b, respectively, and were subsequently sequenced. Maximum likelihood analysis was carried out using MEGA 11.0. BLAST analysis revealed that the ITS and β-tubulin sequences of isolate YH15 were 100% homologous with F. oxysporum, and the isolate YH26 had a 99.69~100% homology with F. solani. Sequences of isolate YH15 and YH26 were deposited in GenBank (ITS: OQ363005 and OQ363049; β-tubulin: OQ398187 and OQ398180). The isolate YH15 was thus identified as F. oxysporum by the morphological characteristics and sequences analysis, and the isolate YH26 was identified as F. solani. A reconstructed phylogenetic tree also confirmed their phylogenetic position. The healthy 2-year-old C. subhirtella plants grown in autoclaved acid yellow soil were used for the pathogenicity tests. Then, 50 mL of conidial suspension (2.0×105 conidia/mL, in medium) of 7-day-old isolates YH15 and YH26 were gently applied to the soil in each of the 10 pots as the treatment. A sterilized fungal culture matrix (PDB; BoWei, Shanghai) was applied to each of 10 pots as a control. All pots (30 cm high, 25 cm upper diameter, 15 cm base diameter) were placed in a greenhouse (25 °C, 12 h photoperiod). After 30 days of inoculation, all plants inoculated with the isolates showed wilting symptoms, and the roots showed light-brown to dark-brown lesions. No symptoms were observed in the controls. The pathogen was reisolated from all symptomatic roots and identified as F. oxysporum and F. solani as described above. The pathogenicity test was repeated twice with similar results. Although this fungus was previously reported to cause root disease in many hosts (Li et al., 2020; Gibert et al., 2022), this is the first report of F. oxysporum and F. solani causing root rot in C. subhirtella in China.

Background: Traditional risk scores for recurrent atrial fibrillation (AF) following catheter ablation utilize readily available clinical and echocardiographic variables and yet have limited discriminatory capacity. Use of data from cardiac imaging and deep learning may help improve accuracy and prediction of recurrent AF after ablation., Methods: We evaluated patients with symptomatic, drug-refractory AF undergoing catheter ablation. All patients underwent pre-ablation cardiac computed tomography (cCT). LAVi was computed using a deep-learning algorithm. In a two-step analysis, random survival forest (RSF) was used to generate prognostic models with variables of highest importance, followed by Cox proportional hazard regression analysis of the selected variables. Events of interest included early and late recurrence., Results: Among 653 patients undergoing AF ablation, the most important factors associated with late recurrence by RSF analysis at 24 (+/-18) months follow-up included LAVi and early recurrence. In total, 5 covariates were identified as independent predictors of late recurrence: LAVi (HR per mL/m 2 1.01 [1.01-1.02]; p  < .001), early recurrence (HR 2.42 [1.90-3.09]; p  < .001), statin use (HR 1.38 [1.09-1.75]; p  = .007), beta-blocker use (HR 1.29 [1.01-1.65]; p  = .043), and adjunctive cavotricuspid isthmus ablation [HR 0.74 (0.57-0.96); p  = .02]. Survival analysis demonstrated that patients with both LAVi >66.7 mL/m 2 and early recurrence had the highest risk of late recurrence risk compared with those with LAVi <66.7 mL/m 2 and no early recurrence (HR 4.52 [3.36-6.08], p  < .001)., Conclusions: Machine learning-derived, full volumetric LAVi from cCT is the most important pre-procedural risk factor for late AF recurrence following catheter ablation. The combination of increased LAVi and early recurrence confers more than a four-fold increased risk of late recurrence., Competing Interests: Authors declare no conflict of interests for this article., (© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Arrhythmia published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Japanese Heart Rhythm Society.)

With the continuous integration of material science and bionic technology, as well as increasing requirements for the operation of robots in complex environments, researchers continue to develop bionic intelligent microrobots, the development of which will cause a great revolution in daily life and productivity. In this study, we propose a bionic flower based on the PNIPAM-PEGDA bilayer structure. PNIPAM is temperature-responsive and solvent-responsive, thus acting as an active layer, while PEGDA does not change significantly in response to a change in temperature and solvent, thus acting as a rigid layer. The bilayer flower is closed in cold water and gradually opens under laser illumination. In addition, the flower gradually opens after injecting ethanol into the water. When the volume of ethanol exceeds the volume of water, the flower opens completely. In addition, we propose a bionic Venus flytrap soft microrobot with a bilayer structure. The robot is temperature-responsive and can reversibly transform from a 2D sheet to a 3D tubular structure. It is normally in a closed state in both cold (T < 32 °C) and hot water (T > 32 °C), and can be used to load and transport objects to the target position (magnetic field strength < 1 T).

Neuropsychiatric disorders including Alzheimer's disease (AD) may cause gut inflammation and dysbiosis. Gut inflammation-suppressing probiotics alleviate neuropsychiatric disorders. Herein, to understand whether anti-inflammatory probiotics Lactobacillus mucosae NK41 and Bifidobacterium longum NK46, which suppressed tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α expression in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated macrophages, could alleviate cognitive impairment, we first examined their effects on cognitive function, gut inflammation, and gut microbiota composition in 5xFAD-transgenic mice. Oral administration of NK41 or NK46 decreased cognitive impairment-like behaviors, hippocampal amyloid-β (Aβ), TNF-α and interleukin (IL)-1β expression, hippocampal NF-κB + Iba1 + cell population, and Aβ accumulation, while hippocampal brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) and IL-10 expression and BDNF + NeuN + cell population increased. They also decreased TNF-α and IL-1β expression and NF-κB + CD11c + cell population in the colon. They also reduced fecal and blood LPS levels and gut Proteobacteria and Verrucomicrobia populations (including Akkkermansiaceae ), which are positively associated with hippocampal TNF-α and fecal LPS levels and negatively correlated with hippocampal BDNF level. However, they increased Odoribactericeae , which positively correlated with BDNF expression level and TNF-α to IL-10 expression ratio. The combination of NK41 and NK46 (4:1, NKc), which potently inhibited TNF-α expression in LPS-stimulated macrophages, additively alleviated cognitive impairment-like behaviors in 5xFAD-transgenic or aged mice. NKc increased hippocampal BDNF + NeuN + cell population and BDNF expression in 5xFAD-transgenic or aged mice, while hippocampal TNF-α and IL-1β expression decreased. NKc also decreased TNF-α and IL-1β expression in the colon and LPS levels in the blood and feces. These findings suggest that gut bacteria and its product LPS may be closely connected with occurrence of cognitive impairment and neuroinflammation and the combination of NK41 and NK46 can additively alleviate cognitive impairment and neuroinflammation by inducing NF-κB-suppressed BDNF expression and suppressing LPS-producing gut bacteria., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study, in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data, in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Vacuoles, E1 enzyme, X-linked, autoinflammatory, somatic (VEXAS) syndrome is caused by somatic mutations in UBA1 (UBA1mut) and characterized by heterogenous systemic autoinflammation and progressive hematologic manifestations, meeting criteria for myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and plasma cell dyscrasias. The landscape of myeloid-related gene mutations leading to typical clonal hematopoiesis (CH) in these patients is unknown. Retrospectively, we screened 80 patients with VEXAS for CH in their peripheral blood (PB) and correlated the findings with clinical outcomes in 77 of them. UBA1mut were most common at hot spot p.M41 (median variant allele frequency [VAF] = 75%). Typical CH mutations cooccurred with UBA1mut in 60% of patients, mostly in DNMT3A and TET2, and were not associated with inflammatory or hematologic manifestations. In prospective single-cell proteogenomic sequencing (scDNA), UBA1mut was the dominant clone, present mostly in branched clonal trajectories. Based on integrated bulk and scDNA analyses, clonality in VEXAS followed 2 major patterns: with either typical CH preceding UBA1mut selection in a clone (pattern 1) or occurring as an UBA1mut subclone or in independent clones (pattern 2). VAF in the PB differed markedly between DNMT3A and TET2 clones (median VAF of 25% vs 1%). DNMT3A and TET2 clones associated with hierarchies representing patterns 1 and 2, respectively. Overall survival for all patients was 60% at 10 years. Transfusion-dependent anemia, moderate thrombocytopenia, and typical CH mutations, each correlated with poor outcome. In VEXAS, UBA1mut cells are the primary cause of systemic inflammation and marrow failure, being a new molecularly defined somatic entity associated with MDS. VEXAS-associated MDS is distinct from classical MDS in its presentation and clinical course.

The genus Enterococcus is commonly overpopulated in patients with depression compared to healthy control in the feces. Therefore, we isolated Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus durans, Enterococcus gallinarum, Enterococcus faecium, and Enterococcus mundtii from the feces of patients with comorbid inflammatory bowel disease with depression and examined their roles in depression in vivo and in vitro. Of these Enterococci, E. mundtii NK1516 most potently induced NF-κB-activated TNF-α and IL-6 expression in BV2 microglia cells. NK1516 also caused the most potent depression-like behaviors in the absence of sickness behaviors, neuroinflammation, downregulated brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and serotonin (5-HT) levels in the hippocampus of mice. Furthermore, E. mundtii NK1516 reduced the mRNA expression of Htr1a in the hippocampus. Its capsular polysaccharide (CP), but not cytoplasmic components, also caused depression-like behaviors and reduced BDNF and serotonin levels in the hippocampus. Conversely, this was not observed with E. mundtii ATCC882, a well-known probiotic, or its CP. Orally gavaged fluorescence isothiocyanate (FITC)-conjugated NK1516 CP was detected in the hippocampus of mice. The NK1516 genome exhibited unique CP biosynthesis-related genes (capD, wbjC, WecB, vioB), unlike that of ATCC882. These findings suggest that E. mundtii may be a risk factor for depression., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.. All rights reserved.)

The exceptional mechanical, electronic, topological, and optical properties, make bismuthene an ideal candidate for various applications in ultrafast saturation absorption and spintronics. Despite the extensive research efforts devoted to synthesizing this material, the introduction of defects, which can significantly affect its properties, remains a substantial obstacle. In this study, we investigate the transition dipole moment and joint density of states of bismuthene with/without single vacancy defect via energy band theory and interband transition theory. It is demonstrated that the existence of the single defect enhances the dipole transition and joint density of states at lower photon energies, ultimately resulting in an additional absorption peak in the absorption spectrum. Our results suggest that the manipulation of defects in bismuthene has enormous potential for improving the optoelectronic properties of this material.

Stress-induced depression and anxiety (DA) are closely connected to gastrointestinal inflammation and dysbiosis, which can suppress brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the brain. Herein, we isolated the BDNF expression-inducing probiotics Lactobacillus casei HY2782 and Bifidobacterium lactis HY8002 in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated SH-SY5Y cells. Then, we investigated the effects of HY2782, HY8002, anti-inflammatory L-theanine, and their supplement (PfS, probiotics-fermented L-theanine-containing supplement) on DA in mice exposed to restraint stress (RS) or the fecal microbiota of patients with inflammatory bowel disease and depression (FMd). Oral administration of HY2782, HY8002, or L-theanine alleviated RS-induced DA-like behaviors. They also decreased RS-induced hippocampal interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6 levels, as well as NF-κB-positive cell numbers, blood corticosterone level, and colonic IL-1β and IL-6 levels and NF-κB-positive cell numbers. L-theanine more potently suppressed DA-like behaviors and inflammation-related marker levels than probiotics. However, these probiotics more potently increased RS-suppressed hippocampal BDNF level and BDNF + NeuN + cell numbers than L-theanine. Furthermore, HY2782 and HY8002 suppressed RS-increased Proteobacteria and Verrucomicrobia populations in gut microbiota. In particular, they increased Lachnospiraceae and Lactobacillacease populations, which are closely positively associated with hippocampal BDNF expression, and suppressed Sutterellaceae , Helicobacteriaceae , Akkermansiaceae , and Enterobacteriaceae populations, which are closely positively associated with hippocampal IL-1β expression. HY2782 and HY8002 potently alleviated FMd-induced DA-like behaviors and increased FMd-suppressed BDNF, serotonin levels, and BDNF-positive neuronal cell numbers in the brain. They alleviated blood corticosterone level and colonic IL-1β α and IL-6 levels. However, L-theanine weakly, but not significantly, alleviated FMd-induced DA-like behaviors and gut inflammation. BDNF expression-inducing probiotic (HY2782, HY8002, Streptococcus thermophilus , and Lactobacillus acidophilus )-fermented and anti-inflammatory L-theanine-containing supplement PfS alleviated DA-like behaviors, inflammation-related biomarker levels, and gut dysbiosis more than probiotics or L-theanine. Based on these findings, a combination of BDNF expression-inducing probiotics with anti-inflammatory L-theanine may additively or synergistically alleviate DA and gut dysbiosis by regulating gut microbiota-mediated inflammation and BDNF expression, thereby being beneficial for DA., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

The choice to postpone treatment while awaiting genetic testing can result in significant delay in definitive therapies in patients with severe pancytopenia. Conversely, the misdiagnosis of inherited bone marrow failure (BMF) can expose patients to ineffectual and expensive therapies, toxic transplant conditioning regimens, and inappropriate use of an affected family member as a stem cell donor. To predict the likelihood of patients having acquired or inherited BMF, we developed a 2-step data-driven machine-learning model using 25 clinical and laboratory variables typically recorded at the initial clinical encounter. For model development, patients were labeled as having acquired or inherited BMF depending on their genomic data. Data sets were unbiasedly clustered, and an ensemble model was trained with cases from the largest cluster of a training cohort (n = 359) and validated with an independent cohort (n = 127). Cluster A, the largest group, was mostly immune or inherited aplastic anemia, whereas cluster B comprised underrepresented BMF phenotypes and was not included in the next step of data modeling because of a small sample size. The ensemble cluster A-specific model was accurate (89%) to predict BMF etiology, correctly predicting inherited and likely immune BMF in 79% and 92% of cases, respectively. Our model represents a practical guide for BMF diagnosis and highlights the importance of clinical and laboratory variables in the initial evaluation, particularly telomere length. Our tool can be potentially used by general hematologists and health care providers not specialized in BMF, and in under-resourced centers, to prioritize patients for genetic testing or for expeditious treatment.

Porphyromonas gingivalis (PG) is closely involved in the outbreak of periodontitis and cognitive impairment (CI). Herein, we examined the effects of anti-inflammatory Lactobacillus pentosus NK357 and Bifidobacterium bifidum NK391 on PG- or its extracellular vesicles (pEVs)-induced periodontitis and CI in mice. Oral administration of NK357 or NK391 significantly decreased PG-induced tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, receptor activator of nuclear factors κB (RANK), and RANK ligand (RANKL) expression, gingipain (GP) + lipopolysaccharide (LPS) + and NF-κB + CD11c + populations, and PG 16S rDNA level in the periodontal tissue. Their treatments also suppressed PG-induced CI -like behaviors, TNF-α expression and NF-κB-positive immune cells in the hippocampus and colon, while PG-suppressed hippocampal BDNF and N -methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) expression increased. The combination of NK357 and NK391 additively alleviated PG- or pEVs-induced periodontitis, neuroinflammation, CI-like behaviors, colitis, and gut microbiota dysbiosis and increased PG- or pEVs-suppressed BDNF and NMDAR expression in the hippocampus. In conclusion, NK357 and NK391 may alleviate periodontitis and dementia by regulating NF-κB, RANKL/RANK, and BDNF-NMDAR signaling and gut microbiota.

Aging-related gut microbiota dysbiosis initiates gut inflammation and microbiota dysbiosis, which induce the occurrence of psychiatric disorders including dementia. The alleviation of gut microbiota dysbiosis by probiotics is suggested to be able to alleviate psychiatric disorders including cognitive impairment (CI). Therefore, to understand how probiotics could alleviate CI, we examined the effects of anti-inflammatory Lactobacillus gasseri NK109 and its supplement (NS, mixture of NK109 and soybean embryo ethanol extract) on cognitive function in aged (Ag), 5XFAD transgenic (Tg), or mildly cognition-impaired adult fecal microbiota (MCF)-transplanted mice. Oral administration of NK109 or NS decreased CI-like behaviors in Ag mice. Their treatments suppressed TNF-α and p16 expression and NF-κB-activated cell populations in the hippocampus and colon, while BDNF expression was induced. Moreover, they partially shifted the β-diversity of gut microbiota in Ag mice to those of young mice: they decreased Bifidobacteriaceae, Lactobacillaceae, and Helicobacteriaceae populations and increased Rikenellaceae and Prevotellaceae populations. Oral administration of NK109 or NS also reduced CI-like behaviors in Tg mice. Their treatments induced BDNF expression in the hippocampus, decreased hippocampal TNF-α and Aβ expression and hippocampal and colonic NF-κB-activated cell populations. NK109 and NS partially shifted the β-diversity of gut microbiota in Tg mice: they decreased Muribaculaceae and Rhodospiraceae populations and increased Helicobacteriaceae population. Oral administration of NK109 or NS decreased MCF transplantation-induced CI-like behaviors in mice. NK109 and NS increased hippocampal BDNF expression, while hippocampal and colonic TNF-α expression and NF-κB-activated cell populations decreased. These findings suggest that dementia can fluctuate the gut microbiota composition and NK109 and its supplement NS can alleviate CI with systemic inflammation by inducing BDNF expression and suppressing NF-κB activation and gut microbiota dysbiosis.

Due to the limitation of frequency resolution and the spectrum leakage caused by signal windowing, the spectrums of harmonic and interharmonic components with close frequencies overlap each other. When the dense interharmonic (DI) components are close to the harmonic spectrum peaks, the harmonic phasor estimation accuracy is seriously reduced. To address this problem, a harmonic phasor estimation method considering DI interference is proposed in this paper. Firstly, based on the spectral characteristics of the dense frequency signal, the phase and amplitude characteristics are used to determine whether DI interference exists in the signal. Secondly, an autoregressive model is established by using the autocorrelation of the signal. Data extrapolation is performed on the basis of the sampling sequence to improve the frequency resolution and eliminate the interharmonic interference. Finally, the estimated values of harmonic phasor, frequency and rate of change of frequency are obtained. The simulation and some experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can accurately estimate the parameters of harmonic phasors when DIs exist in the signal, and has a certain anti-noise capability and dynamic performance.

Background: There are multiple predictive factors for cardiovascular (CV) mortality measured at, or after heart failure (HF) diagnosis. However, the predictive role of long-term exposure to these predictors prior to HF diagnosis is unknown., Objectives: We aim to identify predictive factors of CV mortality in participants with HF, using cumulative exposure to risk factors before HF development., Methods: Participants of Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) with incident HF were included. We used stepwise Akaike Information Criterion to select CV mortality predictors among clinical, biochemical, and imaging markers collected prior to HF. Using the AUC of B-spline-corrected curves, we estimated cumulative exposure to predictive factors from baseline to the last exam before HF. The prognostic performance for CV mortality after HF was evaluated using competing risk regression with non-CV mortality as the competing risk., Results: Overall, 375 participants had new HF events (42.9% female, mean age: 74). Over an average follow-up of 4.7 years, there was no difference in the hazard of CV death for HF with reduced versus preserved ejection fraction (HR = 1.27, p = 0.23). The selected predictors of CV mortality in models with the least prediction error were age, cardiac arrest, myocardial infarction, and diabetes, QRS duration, HDL, cumulative exposure to total cholesterol and glucose, NT-proBNP, left ventricular mass, and statin use. The AUC of the models were 0.72 when including the latest exposure to predictive factors and 0.79 when including cumulative prior exposure to predictive factors ( p = 0.20)., Conclusion: In HF patients, besides age and diagnosed diabetes or CVD, prior lipid profile, NT-proBNP, LV mass, and QRS duration available at the diagnosis time strongly predict CV mortality. Implementing cumulative exposure to cholesterol and glucose, instead of latest measures, improves predictive accuracy for HF mortality, though not reaching statistical significance., 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 Shabani, Ostovaneh, Ma, Ambale Venkatesh, Wu, Chahal, Bakhshi, McClelland, Liu, Shea, Burke, Post, Watson, Folsom, Bluemke and Lima.)

Abstract: Mandibular angle osteotomy with outer cortex grinding has become the preferred cosmetic procedure for correcting square faces. After surgery, bone hyperplasia at the mandibular angle affects the operation result. This study evaluated the effect of the masticatory muscles on bone repair. From January 2016 to January 2019, patients who underwent mandibular angle osteotomy with outer cortex grinding were retrospectively reviewed. Computed tomography data of these patients were collected, and the bone volume of the mandibular angle changes and its correlation with masticatory muscle morphology were analyzed. Computed tomography data measurement results showed that a large amount of bone in the mandibular angle area was removed by the operation; however, the long-term follow-up results showed that there was bone hyperplasia in the mandibular angle areas. Compared with the immediate postoperative bone volume, the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.01). The thickness and cross-sectional area of the masseter muscle were significantly related to bone regeneration (P < 0.01). This study suggests that mandibular angle osteotomy with outer cortex grinding could ablate the symptoms of a prominent mandibular angle; however, muscle-related bone hyperplasia in the mandibular angle area after surgery was a non-negligible event, which may significantly compromise surgical outcomes., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2021 by Mutaz B. Habal, MD.)

Gut lactobacilli and bifidobacteria on the immune homeostasis. Therefore, to understand the mechanism in vivo, we selected human fecal Lactobacillus rhamnosus NK210 and Bifidobacterium longum NK219, which strongly suppressed the IFN-γ to IL-10 expression (IIE) ratio in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated macrophages. Thereafter, we examined their effects on the endotoxin, antibiotics, or antitumor drug-stimulated immune imbalance in mice. Intraperitoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide and oral gavage of ampicillin increased IFN-γ and TNF-α expression in the spleen, colon, and hippocampus, while IL-10 expression decreased. However, intraperitoneal injection of cyclophosphamide suppressed IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-10 expression. LPS exposure induced splenic natural killer cell cytotoxicity against YAC-1 cells (sNK-C) and peritoneal macrophage phagocytosis against Candida albicans (pMA-P) activities, while cyclophosphamide and ampicillin treatments suppressed sNK-C and pMA-P activities. However, LPS, ampicillin, cyclophosphamide all increased IIE and TNF-α to IL-10 expression (TIE) ratios. Oral administration of NK210 and/or NK219 significantly reduced LPS-induced sNK-C, pMA-P, and IFN-γ expression, while cyclophosphamide- or ampicillin-suppressed sNK-C and pMA-P activities, cyclophosphamide-suppressed IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-10 expression, and ampicillin-suppressed IL-10 expression increased. Nevertheless, they suppressed LPS-, ampicillin-, or cyclophosphamide-induced IIE and TIE ratios, cognitive impairment, and gut dysbiosis. In particular, NK219, but not NK210, increased the IIE expression ratio in vitro and in vivo, and enhanced sNK-C and pMA-P activities in normal control mice, while cognitive function and gut microbiota composition were not significantly affected. These findings suggest that NK210, Lactobacillus sp, and NK219, Bifidobacterium additively or synergistically alleviate gut dysbiosis, inflammation, and cognitive impairment with immune imbalance by controlling IIE and TIE ratios., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Aims: Little is known about the association of temporal changes in inflammatory biomarkers and the risk of death and cardiovascular diseases. We aimed to evaluate the association between temporal changes in C-reactive protein (CRP), fibrinogen, and interleukin-6 (IL-6) and risk of heart failure (HF), cardiovascular disease (CVD), and all-cause mortality in individuals without a history of prior CVD., Methods and Results: Participants from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) cohort with repeated measures of inflammatory biomarkers and no CVD event prior to the second measure were included. Quantitative measures, annual change, and biomarker change categories were used as main predictors in Cox proportional hazard models stratified based on sex and statin use. A total of 2258 subjects (50.6% female, mean age of 62 years) were studied over an average of 8.1 years of follow-up. The median annual decrease in CRP levels was 0.08 mg/L. Fibrinogen and IL-6 levels increased by a median of 30 mg/dL and 0.24 pg/mL annually. Temporal changes in CRP were positively associated with HF risk among females (HR: 1.18 per each standard deviation increase, P < 0.001) and other CVD in both female (HR: 1.12, P = 0.004) and male participants (HR: 1.24, P = 0.003). The association of CRP change with HF and other CVD was consistently observed in statin users (HR: 1.23 per SD increase, P = 0.001 for HF and HR: 1.19 per SD increase, P < 0.001 for other CVD). There were no significant associations between temporal changes of fibrinogen or IL-6 with HF or other CVD. Men with sustained high values of IL-6 had a 2.3-fold higher risk of all-cause mortality (P < 0.001) compared with those with sustained low values., Conclusions: Temporal change in CRP is associated with HF only in women and statin users, and other CVD in both women and men, and statin users. Annual changes in fibrinogen and IL-6 were not predictive of cardiovascular outcomes in either sex., (© 2021 The Authors. ESC Heart Failure published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Society of Cardiology.)

The phase stability and electronic properties of two-dimensional Si1-xGex alloys are investigated via the first-principles method in combination with the cluster expansion and Monte Carlo simulations. The calculated composition-temperature phase diagram indicates that at low temperatures (below 200 K) monolayer Si1-xGex alloys energetically favor phase separation, whereas when the temperature is increased above 550 K, Si1-xGex alloys can be stabilized and thereby form solid solutions across the whole composition range. Special quasi-random structures were constructed to model the monolayer Si1-xGex. The Si1-xGex alloys are found to possess a robust Dirac cone against composition variation. These results provide a guideline for the experimental realization of Si1-xGex alloys and monolayer Si1-xGex alloys are believed to hold great potential for realization of applications in nanoelectronics and nano-optoelectronics.

Pathological scars occur during skin wound healing, and the use of adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) is one of the various treatments. The present study aimed to investigate the in vitro effects of ADSCs on the biological properties of hypertrophic scar fibroblasts (HSFs) and keloid fibroblasts (KFs), such as proliferation, migration, and the synthesis of extracellular matrix proteins. Transwell chambers were used to establish a co-culture system of ADSCs with normal skin fibroblasts (NFs), HSFs or KFs. The effect of ADSCs on the proliferation of fibroblasts was evaluated by CCK8 measurement, while the migration ability of fibroblasts was assessed using cell scratch assay. The expression of extracellular matrix proteins was measured by immunoblotting. Co-culture of NFs with ADSCs did not affect cell proliferation and migration, nor the expression of extracellular matrix proteins [collagen-I, collagen-III, fibronectin (FN) and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA)] in NFs. However, as with the inhibitor SB431542, ADSCs significantly inhibited cell proliferation and migration and the expression of extracellular matrix proteins (collagen-I, collagen-III, FN and α-SMA), but also suppressed the protein expression of transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1), phosphorylated (p-) mothers against decapentaplegic homolog (Smad) 2, p-Smad3 and Smad7 in HSFs and KFs. The results show that ADSCs inhibited cell proliferation and migration and the expression of extracellular matrix proteins in HSCs and KFs in vitro , possibly through inhibition of the TGF-β1/Smad pathway., (Copyright: © Xie et al.)

Objective: To three-dimensionally calculate the craniofacial parameters of midface of patients with Treacher Collins syndrome (TCS) in China, in order to understand the changes in the spatial position relationship between the various anatomical structures of the midface., Methods: CT imaging data of TCS patients and age- and gender-matched normal populations between January 2013 and July 2020 was retrospectively analyzed. A total of 33 cases met the selection criteria for inclusion in the study, including 14 cases in the TCS group and 19 cases in the control group. ProPlan CMF 3.0 software was used to perform three-dimensional digital reconstruction of the craniofacial bone, measure the anatomical parameters of the midface, and analyze its morphological structure; at the same time perform three-dimensional digital reconstruction of the upper airway for morphological analysis (measure upper airway volume)., Results: CT images analysis revealed that all 14 patients with TCS presented the typical features with downward slanting of the palpebral fissures and different degrees of zygomatico-orbital complex dysplasia. Cephalometric and morphological analysis of the midface revealed that, multiple transverse diameters of the midface of TCS patients were significantly decreased when compared with the control group ( P <0.05), such as the width of the maxillary base, the length of the maxillary complex, and some distances related to the nasal morphology; but the distance between bilateral orbitales increased in TCS group ( P <0.05). Several anteroposterior distances in TCS group were decreased significantly when compared to control group and the distance between the skull base point and the posterior nasal spine was the most shortened ( P <0.05). But there was no significant difference of the distance between nasion and anterior nasal spine, which represented anterior midface height, between groups ( P >0.05). The skull base angle and SNB angle (the angle between the sella point-nose root point-inferior alveolar seat point) of the TCS group both decreased when compared with the control group ( P <0.05), but there was no significant difference in SNA angle (the angle between the sella point-nose root point-upper alveolar seat point) between the two groups ( P >0.05). The total volume of the upper airway was (24 621.07±8 476.63) mm 3 in the TCS group, which was significantly lower than that of the control group [(32 864.21±13 148.74) mm 3 ] ( t =2.185, P =0.037)., Conclusion: The transverse distances, anteroposterior distances, and multiple craniofacial angles measurement of TCS patients were significantly decreased when compared to the control group, presented with different degrees of zygomatico-orbital complex dysplasia, nasal and maxillary dysplasia, but there was no obvious restriction in face height development. Reduced internal diameters of the upper airway maybe responsible for the decreased upper airway volume of patients with TCS.

Background: The effectiveness of lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) and chloroquine treatment for COVID-19 has not been verified., Methods: We conducted a retrospective study to summarize the clinical practices of nonsevere patients with COVID-19 receiving the standard care, LPV/r or chloroquine in Beijing Ditan Hospital from January 20 to March 26, 2020. The main outcome measurements include the changes of cycle threshold values of open reading frame 1 ab (ORF1ab) and nucleocapsid (N) genes by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction assay from day 1 to 7 after admission for patients receiving standard care or after treatment being initiated for patients receiving either LPV/r or chloroquine. The proportion of developing severe illness, fever duration and the time from symptom onset to chest computer tomography improvement, and negative conversion of nucleic acid were compared., Results: Of the 129 patients included in the study, 59 received the standard care, 51 received LPV/r, and 19 received chloroquine. The demographics and baseline characteristics were comparable among the 3 groups. The median duration of fever, median time from symptom onset to chest computer tomography improvement, and negative conversion of the nucleic acid were similar among the 3 groups. The median increase in cycle threshold values of N and ORF1ab gene for patients receiving LPV/r or chloroquine or the standard care during the treatment course was 7.0 and 8.5, 8.0, and 7.6, 5.0, and 4.0, respectively. These figures were not found significantly different among the 3 groups., Conclusions: Antiviral therapy using LPV/r or chloroquine seemed not to improve the prognosis or shorten the clinical course of COVID-19.

Objective: To summarize the progress of diagnosis and treatment of upper respiratory obstruction in patients with Treacher Collins syndrome (TCS)., Methods: The domestic and abroad literature about the diagnosis and treatment of upper respiratory obstruction in patients with TCS was extensively reviewed and analyzed., Results: TCS is an autosomal-dominant craniofacial developmental syndrome. It is often accompanied by midface and/or mandibular hypoplasia, soft tissue hypertrophy, and other respiratory tissue developmental abnormalities, which can lead to different degrees of upper respiratory obstruction symptoms. Respiratory obstruction in patients with TCS is affected by many factors, and the obstructive degree are different. Early detection of the causes and obstructive sites and adopted targeted treatments can relieve the symptoms of respiratory obstruction and avoid severe complications., Conclusion: Due to the low incidence of TCS, there is still a lack of high-quality research evidence to guide clinical treatment. Large-scale and prospective clinical studies are needed to provide new ideas for the treatment and prevention of upper respiratory obstruction.

Background: Patients with Treacher-Collins syndrome (TCS) are frequently affected by congenital ear deformities. The external ear in patients with TCS tends to have both abnormal morphology and reduced overall volume. Previous studies considered a correlation exists between TCS mandibular skeletal features and external ear volume. The purpose of this study was to assess the external ear volume in patients with TCS 3-dimensionally. Furthermore, this study evaluated the relationship between mandibular morphology, external ear profile, and external ear volume., Methods: A total of 36 nonoperated patients with TCS were compared to 39 age- and gender-matched normal controls. Morphologic variables of the mandible and the external ear were compared between TCS group and controls by 3-dimensional cephalometrics. The external ear volume and morphologic variables were analyzed with independent sample T-tests and Pearson correlation coefficient analyses (level of evidence: level III)., Results: The external ear volume was reduced by approximately 50% in patients with TCS compared to controls (P < 0.001). External ear length and width were positively correlated with external ear volume (length: r = 0.809, P < 0.001 on left and r = 0.732, P < 0.001 on right; width: r = 0.518, P = 0.001 on left and r = 0.447, P < 0.010 on right). A negative correlation of right ear inclination angle and external ear volume was shown in patients with TCS (r = -0.396, P = 0.027). However, no correlation was shown for the mandibular anatomic variables., Conclusions: Three-dimensional analysis confirmed that external ear volume is significantly reduced in patients with TCS. The external ear dimensions and orientation correlated significantly with ear volume. There was no intrinsic association between the severity of mandibular deformity and external ear volume.