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Abstract Background This study aimed to establish a consensus on the delineation of target volumes for neoadjuvant radiation therapy (nRT) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) within China. Methods From February 2020 to June 2021, nine ESCC patients who received nRT were retrospectively selected from Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center and Shandong Cancer Hospital. A panel from eight cancer radiotherapy centers performed two rounds of nRT target volume delineation for these patients: the first round for cases 1–6 and the second for cases 7–9. Online meetings were held after each delineation round to discuss findings. The consistency of delineations across centers was compared using mean undirected Hausdorff distances (Hmean), dice similarity coefficients (DSC), and total volumes, analyzed with the Mann-Whitney U test. Results The second round of delineations showed improved consistency across centers (total clinical target volume (CTVtotal): mean DSC = 0.76–0.81; mean Hmean = 2.11–3.14 cm) compared to the first round (CTVtotal: mean DSC = 0.63–0.64; mean Hmean = 5.66–7.34 cm; DSC and Hmean: P

Abstract We previously identified that serum EFNA1 and MMP13 were potential biomarker for early detection of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. In this study, our aim is to explore the diagnostic value of serum EFNA1 and MMP13 for gastric cancer. We used enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect the expression levels of serum EFNA1 and MMP13 in 210 GCs and 223 normal controls. The diagnostic value of EFNA1 and MMP13 was evaluated in an independent cohorts of GC patients and normal controls (n = 238 and 195, respectively). Receiver operating characteristics were used to calculate diagnostic accuracy. In training and validation cohorts, serum EFNA1 and MMP13 levels in the GC groups were significantly higher than those in the normal controls (P

Abstract Background The aim of the study was to establish a weighted comprehensive evaluation model (WCEM) of image registration for cone‐beam computed tomography (CBCT) guided lung cancer radiotherapy that considers the geometric accuracy of gross target volume (GTV) and organs at risk (OARs), and assess the registration accuracy of different image registration methods to provide clinical references. Methods The planning CT and CBCT images of 20 lung cancer patients were registered using diverse algorithms (bony and grayscale) and regions of interest (target, ipsilateral, and body). We compared the coverage ratio (CR) of the planning target volume (PTVCT) to GTVCBCT, as well as the dice similarity coefficient (DSC) of the GTV and OARs, considering the treatment position across various registration methods. Furthermore, we developed a mathematical model to assess registration results comprehensively. This model was evaluated and validated using CRFs across four automatic registration methods. Results The grayscale registration method, coupled with the registration of the ipsilateral structure, exhibited the highest level of automatic registration accuracy, the DSC were 0.87 ± 0.09 (GTV), 0.71 ± 0.09 (esophagus), 0.74 ± 0.09 (spinal cord), and 0.91 ± 0.05 (heart), respectively. Our proposed WCEM proved to be both practical and effective. The results clearly indicated that the grayscale registration method, when applied to the ipsilateral structure, achieved the highest CRF score. The average CRF scores, excellent rates, good rate and qualification rates were 58 ± 26, 40%, 75%, and 85%, respectively. Conclusions This study successfully developed a clinically relevant weighted evaluation model for CBCT‐guided lung cancer radiotherapy. Validation confirmed the grayscale method's optimal performance in ipsilateral structure registration.

Abstract As the world's largest carbon emitter, China has been confronting the dual challenge of climate change and air pollution. China's quest for reducing carbon emissions will promisingly benefit the air quality, yet its impact on carbon sinks remains unclear. Here, we assess the effect of China's clean air actions and carbon neutrality policy on air quality and its associated co‐benefits for terrestrial carbon sinks by integrating multiple observations and numerical modeling. We find a quadratic response of plant photosynthesis to aerosol loading due to trade‐offs between diffuse fertilization effect and light limitations. The estimations show that China's air pollution suppresses terrestrial carbon uptake through aerosol‐induced light limitations, leading to a 7.3% decrease in plant productivity in the 2010s. In the context of carbon neutrality pledge, the associated aerosol reductions tend to alleviate the suppression and produce an additional CO2 removal of 0.39 GtCO2 year−1. Our results uncover the enhanced terrestrial carbon sinks by aerosol mitigation, highlighting the synergy between carbon neutrality and clean air.

Abstract The intricate currents of the Northwest Pacific Ocean, with strong manifestations along the westside rim, connect tropical and subtropical gyres and significantly influence East Asian and global climates. The El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) originates in the tropical Pacific Ocean and disrupts this ocean circulation system. However, the spatiotemporal dependence of the impact of ENSO events has yet to be elucidated because of the complexities of both ENSO events and circulation systems, as well as the increased availability of observational data. We thus combined altimeter and drifter observations to demonstrate the distinct tropical and subtropical influences of the circulation system on ENSO diversity. During El Niño years, the North Equatorial Current, North Equatorial Countercurrent, Mindanao Current, Indonesian Throughflow, and the subtropical Kuroshio Current and its Extension region exhibit strengthening, while the tropical Kuroshio Current weakens. The tropical impact is characterized by sea level changes in the warm pool, whereas the subtropical influence is driven by variations in the wind stress curl. The tropical and subtropical influences are amplified during the Centra Pacific El Niño years compared to the Eastern Pacific El Niño years. As the globe warms, these impacts are anticipated to intensify. Thus, strengthening observation systems and refining climate models are essential for understanding and projecting the enhancing influences of ENSO on the Northwest Pacific Oceanic circulation.

Abstract The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission provides a good opportunity to study fine‐scale processes in the global ocean but whether it can detect balanced submesoscale eddies is uncertain due to the “contamination” by unbalanced inertial gravity waves. Here, based on concurrent observations from SWOT and a mooring array in the northwestern Pacific, we successfully captured two submesoscale cyclonic eddies with negative sea level anomalies (SLAs) in spring 2023. We find that the SLA amplitude and equivalent radius of the first (second) eddy are 2.5 cm and 16.0 km (2.0 cm and 18.8 km), respectively. For both eddies, their vertical scales are around 150 m and their horizontal velocities and Rossby numbers exceed 15.0 cm/s and 0.4, respectively. Further analysis suggests that similar submesoscale eddies can commonly occur in the northwestern Pacific and that SWOT is capable to detect larger submesoscale eddies with scales greater than ∼10 km.

ABSTRACT Antibiotics are widely used to treat bacterial infection and reduce the mortality rate, while antibiotic overuse can cause gut microbiota dysbiosis. The impact of antibiotics on gut microbiota is not fully understood. In our study, four commonly used antibiotics (ceftazidime, cefoperazone-sulbactam, imipenem-cilastatin, and moxifloxacin) were given subcutaneously to mice, and their impacts on the gut microbiota composition and serum cytokine levels were evaluated through 16S rRNA analysis and a multiplex immunoassay. Antibiotic treatment markedly reduced gut microbiota diversity and changed gut microbiota composition. Antibiotic treatment significantly increased and decreased the abundance of Firmicutes and Bacteroidota, respectively. The antibiotic treatments increased the abundance of opportunistic pathogens such as Enterococcus and decreased that of Lachnospiraceae and Muribaculaceae. For moxifloxacin, the significantly high abundance of Enterococcus and Klebsiella was observed after 14 and 21 days of treatment. However, a relatively low abundance of opportunistic pathogens was found after 14 days of imipenem-cilastatin treatment. Additionally, the serum levels of various pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1β, IL-12 (p70), and IL-17, significantly increased after 21 days of antibiotic treatments. Overall, these results provide a guide for rational use of antibiotics in clinical settings: short-term use of moxifloxacin is recommended with regard to gut microbiota health, and the 14-day use of imipenem-cilastatin may have a less severe impact than other antibiotics.IMPORTANCEAntibiotic treatments are directly associated with changes in gut microbiota and are effective against both pathogens and beneficial bacteria. Gut microbiota dysbiosis induced by antibiotic treatment could increase the risk of some diseases. Therefore, an adequate understanding of gut microbiota changes after antibiotic use is crucial. In this study, we investigated the effects of continuous treatment with antibiotics on gut microbiota, serum cytokines, and intestinal inflammatory response. Our results suggest that short-term use of moxifloxacin is recommended, and the 14-day use of imipenem-cilastatin may have a less severe effect on gut microbiota health than cefoperazone-sulbactam. These results provide useful guidance on the rational use of antibiotics with regard to gut microbiota health.

Purpose This study aimed to investigate the prognostic significance of pretreatment dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE)-MRI parameters concerning tumor response following induction immunochemotherapy and survival outcomes in patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who underwent immunotherapy-based multimodal treatments.Material and methods Unresectable stage III NSCLC patients treated by induction immunochemotherapy, concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) with or without consolidative immunotherapy from two prospective clinical trials were screened. Using the two-compartment Extend Tofts model, the parameters including Ktrans, Kep, Ve, and Vp were calculated from DCE-MRI data. The apparent diffusion coefficient was calculated from diffusion-weighted-MRI data. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the area under the curve (AUC) were used to assess the predictive performance of MRI parameters. The Cox regression model was used for univariate and multivariate analysis.Results 111 unresectable stage III NSCLC patients were enrolled. Patients received two cycles of induction immunochemotherapy and CCRT, with or without consolidative immunotherapy. With the median follow-up of 22.3 months, the median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 16.3 and 23.8 months. The multivariate analysis suggested that Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group score, TNM stage and the response to induction immunochemotherapy were significantly related to both PFS and OS. After induction immunochemotherapy, 67 patients (59.8%) achieved complete response or partial response and 44 patients (40.2%) had stable disease or progressive disease. The Ktrans of primary lung tumor before induction immunochemotherapy yielded the best performance in predicting the treatment response, with an AUC of 0.800. Patients were categorized into two groups: high-Ktrans group (n=67, Ktrans＞164.3×10−3/min) and low-Ktrans group (n=44, Ktrans≤164.3×10−3/min) based on the ROC analysis. The high-Ktrans group had a significantly higher objective response rate than the low-Ktrans group (85.1% (57/67) vs 22.7% (10/44), p

Accurately predicting oil well production volume is of great significance in oilfield production. To overcome the shortcomings in the current study of oil well production prediction, we propose a hybrid model (GRU-KAN) with the gated recurrent unit (GRU) and Kolmogorov–Arnold network (KAN). The GRU-KAN model utilizes GRU to extract temporal features and KAN to capture complex nonlinear relationships. First, the MissForest algorithm is employed to handle anomalous data, improving data quality. The Pearson correlation coefficient is used to select the most significant features. These selected features are used as input to the GRU-KAN model to establish the oil well production prediction model. Then, the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm is used to enhance the predictive performance. Finally, the model is evaluated on the test set. The validity of the model was verified on two oil wells and the results on well F14 show that the proposed GRU-KAN model achieves a Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) and Coefficient of Determination (R2) values of 11.90, 9.18, 6.0% and 0.95, respectively. Compared to popular single and hybrid models, the GRU-KAN model achieves higher production-prediction accuracy and higher computational efficiency. The model can be applied to the formulation of oilfield-development plans, which is of great theoretical and practical significance to the advancement of oilfield technology levels.

The Enhanced Wide-field Galaxy Classification Network (EWGC) is a novel architecture designed to classify spiral and elliptical galaxies using Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) images. The EWGC achieves an impressive classification accuracy of 90.02%, significantly outperforming the previously developed WGC network and underscoring its superior performance in galaxy morphology classification. Remarkably, the network demonstrates a consistent accuracy of 90.02% when processing both multi-target and single-target images. Such robustness indicates the EWGC’s versatility and potential for various applications in galaxy classification tasks.

ZG25MnCrNiMo steel samples were prepared by squeeze casting under pressure ranging from 0 to 150 MPa. The effects of pressure on the microstructure, low-temperature toughness, hardness, and impact wear performance of the prepared steels were experimentally investigated. The experimental results indicated that the samples fabricated under pressure exhibited finer grains and a significant ferrite content compared to those produced without pressure. Furthermore, the secondary dendrite arm spacing of the sample produced at 150 MPa decreased by 45.3%, and the ferrite content increased by 39.1% in comparison to the unpressurized sample. The low-temperature impact toughness of the steel at −40 °C initially increased and then decreased as the pressure varied from 0 MPa to 150 MPa. And the toughness achieved an optimal value at a pressure of 30 MPa, which was 65.4% greater than that of gravity casting (0 MPa), while the hardness decreased by only 6.17%. With a further increase in pressure, the impact work decreased linearly while the hardness increased slightly. Impact fracture analysis revealed that the fracture of the steel produced without pressure exhibited a quasi-cleavage morphology. The samples prepared by squeeze casting under 30 MPa still exhibited a large number of fine dimples even at −40 °C, indicative of ductile fracture. In addition, the impact wear performance of the steels displayed a trend of initially decreasing and subsequently increasing across the pressure range of 0–150 MPa. The wear resistance of samples prepared without pressure and at 30 MPa was superior to that at 60 MPa, and the wear resistance deteriorated when the pressure increased to 60 MPa, after which it exhibited an upward trend as the pressure continued to rise. The wear mechanisms of the samples predominantly consisted of impact wear, adhesive wear, and minimal abrasive wear, along with notable occurrences of plastic removal, furrows, and spalling.

Computer aided diagnosis methods play an important role in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) identification. Dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) analysis has been widely used for ADHD diagnosis based on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI), which can help capture abnormalities of brain activity. However, most existing dFC-based methods only focus on dependencies between two adjacent timestamps, ignoring global dynamic evolution patterns. Furthermore, the majority of these methods fail to adaptively learn dFCs. In this paper, we propose an adaptive spatial-temporal neural network (ASTNet) comprising three modules for ADHD identification based on rs-fMRI time series. Specifically, we first partition rs-fMRI time series into multiple segments using non-overlapping sliding windows. Then, adaptive functional connectivity generation (AFCG) is used to model spatial relationships among regions-of-interest (ROIs) with adaptive dFCs as input. Finally, we employ a temporal dependency mining (TDM) module which combines local and global branches to capture global temporal dependencies from the spatially-dependent pattern sequences. Experimental results on the ADHD-200 dataset demonstrate the superiority of the proposed ASTNet over competing approaches in automated ADHD classification.

Background: Poria acid (PAC) is a triterpene compound found in Poria cocos, a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The current study aims to explore the therapeutic effects and potential mechanisms of PAC on the migration and proliferation of human renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cells as well as tumor growth in animal model. Methods: Cell viability and proliferative capacity of normal renal cells and RCC cells were investigated by MTT assay. In addition, 786-O cells were divided into four groups and treated with different concentrations of PAC (0, 20, 40, and 60 μM) for 48 h. Cell scratch test and cell invasion assay were performed to evaluate the effects of PAC on the invasion and migration of RCC cells, respectively. The effects of PAC on apoptosis of RCC cells and expression levels of PI3K/Akt/NF-kB signaling pathway-related biomarkers were investigated using TUNEL staining and Western blotting methods, respectively. Effects of PAC on the inhibitory activity of RCC tumor in mice were evaluated in a 786-O CDX model. Results: The study found that PAC inhibited the viability of RCC cells in a dose-dependent manner, as demonstrated by in vitro cell assays (p 0.05). PAC also significantly inhibited the migration and invasion of RCC via EMT/MMP signaling pathways (p

Abstract On behalf of the journal, AGU, and the scientific community, the editors of Geophysical Research Letters would like to sincerely thank those who reviewed manuscripts for us in 2023. The hours reading and commenting on manuscripts not only improve the manuscripts, but also increase the scientific rigor of future research in the field. With the advent of AGU's data policy, many reviewers have also helped immensely to evaluate the accessibility and availability of data, and many have provided insightful comments that helped to improve the data presentation and quality. We greatly appreciate the assistance of the reviewers in advancing open science, which is a key objective of AGU's data policy. We particularly appreciate the timely reviews in light of the demands imposed by the rapid review process at Geophysical Research Letters. We received 4,512 submissions in 2023 and 5,112 reviewers contributed to their evaluation by providing 8,587 reviews in total. We deeply appreciate their contributions.

Non-immune hydrops fetalis (NIHF) is a common and severe manifestation of many genetic disorders. The ultrasound is an ideal method for diagnosing hydrops fetalis during pregnancy. Since most NIHFs do not have an identifiable cause, determining the underlying etiology remains a challenge for prenatal counseling. Due to advancements in exome sequencing, the diagnostic rates of NIHF have recently increased. As reported here, DNA was extracted from the amniotic fluid of a pregnant woman who was prenatally diagnosed with a NIHF type of unclear origin. Amniocentesis sampling demonstrated a normal female karyotype and copy number variation(CNVs) without alterations. Tri-whole exome sequencing (WES) was conducted to identify possible causative variants. In the fetus, a de novo genetic mutation was identified as a homozygous form. The mutation was located on the glucuronidase beta (GUSB) gene: NM_000181.3: c.1324G > A; p. Ala442Thr; Chr7:65439349, which leads to mucopolysaccharidosis type VII. This mutation was inherited from the parents and was first reported to be related to NIHF. We conclude that the use of WES is beneficial for NIHF cases whose prognosis has not been explained by standard genetic testing.

Abstract Purpose To investigate the distribution of the incidence and genotypes of human papillomavirus (HPV) among women with cervical cancer (CC) and precancerous cervical lesions in Yueyang City, China, to develop prevention and control strategies for CC. Methods A total of 3674 patients with cervical lesions and cervical cancer who attended 7 hospitals in Yueyang City between September 2019 and September 2022 were included. They included 1910 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) I, 718 CIN II, 576 CIN II and 470 CC, respectively. The HPV genotyping of the above patients was detected by Real time-PCR in the laboratory department of each hospital. Results The total HPV prevalence was 74.69% (95% CI 73.28–76.09%) in 3674 patients. The incidence of high- and low-risk HPV was 73.46% and 7.21%, respectively. The prevalence of HPV in CIN I, CIN II, CIN III, and invasive CC (ICC) groups was 66.65% (1273/1910, 95% CI 64.53–68.77%), 80.78% (580/718, 95% CI 77.89–83.67%), 83.88% (483/576, 95% CI 80.84–86.87%), and 86.81% (408/470, 95% CI 83.74–89.88%), respectively. The top three HPV subtypes in ICC are HPV16, HPV52, and HPV58. The prevalence of HPV 16 increased with increasing disease severity, with this genotype being present in 12.57%, 20.89%, 36.98%, and 50.85% of CIN I, CIN II, CIN III, and ICC cases, respectively (p

ABSTRACT: Background: About one-third of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) have a risk of occurrence and chemoresistance, making survival rates abysmal. We aim to evaluate the role of F-box/WD repeat-containing protein 7 (FBXW7) to further develop efficient treatment of chemoresistant OSCC. Methods: FBXW7 overexpression was induced in human OSCC cell lines including SCC9 and CAL27 by a lentiviral vector, Lv-FBXW7 or lv-NC (noncoding control), and overexpression efficiency was assessed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and western blot of FBXW7. Cell viability was measured using MTT assay. The effects of FBXW7 overexpression on cell migration and invasion was evaluated by the colony formation assay and Matrigel assay. Apoptosis of cells with lv-FBXW7 transfection was measured by qRT-PCR and western blot analyses of BAX, BAK, MCL1, and BCL2 expression. Growth rate and cisplatin sensitivity of CAL27 xenografts with or without FBXW7 overexpression was monitored. Ki-67 and PCMA levels—which are biomarkers of intratumoural apoptosis—BAX, MCL1, Beclin1, and LC3I&II—which are autophagy biomarkers—were assessed. Results: Transfection of lv-FBXW7 in SCC9 and CAL27 cells resulted in increased sensitivity to cisplatin treatment, as evidenced by slower cell proliferation, lower colony formation and invasion, higher apoptosis, and autophagy compared to those transfected with lv-NC. Mice with CAL27 xenografts overexpressing FBXW7 also demonstrated slower tumour growth and upregulation in Ki067 and PCNA. Tumours also showed higher apoptosis and autophagy activities. Conclusions: FBXW7 overexpression was herein shown to effectively sensitise OSCC cells to cisplatin treatment in vitro and in vivo.

Abstract Purpose To determine the feasibility of incorporating bevacizumab consolidation into hypo‐fractionated concurrent chemoradiotherapy (hypo‐CCRT) for patients with unresectable locally advanced non‐squamous non‐small‐cell lung cancer (LA‐NS‐NSCLC). Patients and Methods Eligible patients were treated with hypo‐RT (40Gy in 10 fractions) followed by hypo‐boost (24‐28Gy in 6–7 fractions), along with concurrent weekly chemotherapy. Patients who completed the hypo‐CCRT without experiencing ≥G2 toxicities received consolidation bevacizumab every 3 weeks for up to 1 year, until disease progression or unacceptable treatment‐related toxicities. The primary endpoint was the risk of G4 or higher hemorrhage. Secondary endpoints included progression‐free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), locoregional failure‐free survival (LRFS), distant metastasis‐free survival (DMFS), and objective response rate (ORR). All time‐to‐event endpoints (OS, PFS, LRFS, and DMFS) were measured from the start of radiotherapy. Results Between December 2017 and July 2020, a total of 27 patients were included in the analysis, with a median follow‐up duration of 28.0 months. One patient (3.7%) developed G5 hemorrhage during bevacizumab consolidation. Additionally, seven patients (25.9%) had G3 cough and three patients (11.1%) experienced G3 pneumonitis. The ORR for the entire cohort was 92.6%. The median OS was 37.0 months (95% confidence interval, 8.9–65.1 months), the median PFS was 16.0 months (95% confidence interval, 14.0–18.0 months), the median LRFS was not reached, and the median DMFS was 18.0 months. Conclusions This pilot study met its goal of demonstrating the tolerability of consolidation bevacizumab after hypo‐CCRT. Further investigation of antiangiogenic and immunotherapy combinations in LA‐NSCLC is warranted, while the potential for grade 3 respiratory toxicities should be taken into consideration.

Abstract Oceanic transport of heat by ubiquitous mesoscale eddies plays a critical role in regulating climate variability and redistributing excess heat absorbed by ocean under global warming. Eddies have long been simplified as axisymmetric vortices and their influence on heat transport remains unclear. Here, we combine satellite and drifter data and show that oceanic mesoscale eddies are asymmetric and directionally-dependent, and are controlled by their self-sustaining nature and their dynamical environment. Both the direction and amplitude of eddy-induced heat fluxes are significantly influenced by eddy’s asymmetry and directional dependence. When the eddy velocity field is decomposed into asymmetric and symmetric components, the eddy kinetic energy exhibits a nearly equal partition between these two components. The total eddy-induced meridional heat flux similarly doubles the heat flux induced by the symmetric components, highlighting the crucial contribution of eddy asymmetry on the magnitude of eddy-induced oceanic heat transport.

Abstract Background We launched a single‐arm phase II study to determine the efficacy and cost‐effectiveness of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) before concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Methods Eligible patients received pretreatment PEG and enteral nutrition during CCRT. The primary outcome was the change of weight during CCRT. The secondary outcome included nutrition status, loco‐regional objective response rate (ORR), loco‐regional progression‐free survival (LRFS), overall survival (OS), and toxicities. A 3‐state Markov model was applied for cost‐effectiveness analysis. Eligible patients were matched and compared with those who had nasogastric tube feeding (NTF) or oral nutritional supplements (ONS). Results Sixty‐three eligible patients received pretreatment PEG‐based CCRT. The mean change of weight during CCRT was −1.4% (standard deviation, 4.4%), and after CCRT, 28.6% of patients gained weight and 98.4% had normal albumin levels. The loco‐regional ORR and 1‐year LRFS were 98.4% and 88.3%. The incidence of grade ≥3 esophagitis was 14.3%. After matching, another 63 patients were included in the NTF group and 63 in the ONS group. More patients gained weight after CCRT in the PEG group (p = 0.001). The PEG group showed higher loco‐regional ORR (p = 0.036) and longer 1‐year LRFS (p = 0.030). In cost analysis, the PEG group showed an incremental cost‐effectiveness ratio of $3457.65 per quality‐adjusted life‐years (QALY) compared with the ONS group with a probability of cost‐effectiveness of 77.7% at the $10,000 per QALY willingness‐to‐pay threshold. Conclusion Pretreatment PEG is associated with better nutritional status and treatment outcome in ESCC patients treated with CCRT compared with ONS and NTF. Pretreatment of PEG can be cost‐effective because of its significant clinical benefits.

Modern day survivorship from childhood malignancies is estimated to be over 80%. However, central nervous system tumors remain the leading cause of cancer mortality in children and is the most common solid tumor in this population. Improved survivorship is, in part, a result of improved multidisciplinary care, often with a combination of surgery, radiation therapy, and systemic therapy. With improved survival, long term effects of treatment and quality of life impacts have been recognized and pose a challenge to maximize the therapeutic ratio of treatment. It has been increasingly more apparent that precise risk stratification, such as with the inclusion of molecular classification, is instrumental in efforts to tailor radiotherapy for appropriate treatment, generally towards de-intensification for this vulnerable patient population. In addition, advances in radiotherapy techniques have allowed greater conformality and accuracy of treatment for those who do require radiotherapy for tumor control. Ongoing efforts to tailor radiotherapy, including de-escalation, omission, or intensification of radiotherapy, continue to improve as increasing insight into tumor heterogeneity is recognized, coupled with advances in precision medicine employing novel molecularly-targeted therapeutics.

Abstract To investigate the causal relationship between circulating serum homocysteine (Hcy) levels and osteoporosis (OP). Using public datasets gathered from independently published genome-wide association studies (GWAS), Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was done to investigate the causal influence of Hcy on OP. SNPs were selected from a meta-analysis of GWAS on Hcy concentrations in 44,147 individuals of European ancestry. Meanwhile, SNPs of individuals of European descent for OP were extracted from the Genetic Factors of Osteoporosis Consortium (GEFOS) UK Biobank. The odds ratio (OR) of inverse variance weighted (IVW) approaches was established as the primary outcome. Moreover, weighted median (WM) and MR-Egger regressions were included in the sensitivity analysis. There were no causal effects of Hcy on forearm bone mineral density and lumbar bone mineral density according to IVW, MR-Egger, and WM analyses (all p > 0.05). In the IVW, we discovered the causality between genetically predicted Hcy and heel bone mineral density (H-BMD) with an OR of 0.96 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.927–0.990, p = 0.011]. In the additional sensitivity analysis, WM regression (OR = 0.97, 95% CI = 0.995–1.076, p = 0.084) and MR-Egger regression (OR = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.918–1.049, p = 0.609) yielded values that were comparable in direction but less precise. The MR-Egger intercept, funnel plot, and IVW all indicate the absence of any discernible directional pleiotropy. The leave-one-out analysis revealed that a single SNP did not influence the results of the MR analysis. In conclusion, our MR investigation revealed evidence of a causal relationship between circulating serum Hcy levels and H-BMD, but not OP in the European population. However, larger sample sizes are needed in the future to get more reliable conclusions.

Abstract Tibetan Plateau (TP) snow cover is featured by sub‐seasonal changes, affecting weather and climate in surrounding and downstream areas. Previous studies emphasize the effect of background atmospheric circulation on rapid changes of TP snow cover as a whole. However, spatial discrepant changes of snow cover over the TP with complex topography and uneven snowfall remain unaddressed. Our research indicates that snow cover fraction dominates the rapid changes of surface albedo across the TP, and snow depth also significantly influences surface albedo changes through modulating snow albedo in central and eastern TP with shallow snow. However, the excessive snow amount and empirical snow cover fraction schemes introduce spatially divergent biases of surface albedo changes in simulations. Our research highlights the instant response of TP surface albedo to both snow coverage and depth in snow season, and provides a promising perspective for improving TP snow and surface albedo simulations.

Abstract Mesoscale and submesoscale processes have crucial impacts on ocean biogeochemistry, importantly enhancing the primary production in nutrient‐deficient ocean regions. Yet, the intricate biophysical interplay still holds mysteries. Using targeted high‐resolution in situ observations in the South China Sea, we reveal that isopycnal submesoscale stirring serves as the primary driver of vertical nutrient transport to sustain the dome‐shaped subsurface chlorophyll maximum (SCM) within a long‐lived cyclonic mesoscale eddy. Density surface doming at the eddy core increased light exposure for phytoplankton production, while along‐isopycnal submesoscale stirring disrupted the mesoscale coherence and drove significant vertical exchange of tracers. These physical processes play a crucial role in maintaining the elevated phytoplankton biomass in the eddy core. Our findings shed light on the universal mechanism of how mesoscale and submesoscale coupling enhances primary production in ocean cyclonic eddies, highlighting the pivotal role of submesoscale stirring in structuring marine ecosystems.

Abstract From continuous high‐frequency and high‐resolution observations of temperature, salinity, current and microstructure in the northern South China Sea during 28–31 May 2021, we found that the transition layer (TL) experienced a regular diurnal vertical fluctuation of ∼20–30 m, likely associated with the displacements of the mixed layer (ML) and tidal shear in the TL. Specifically, surface cooling (heating) caused an erosion (enhancement) of thermal stratification and facilitated (hindered) convection, rapidly deepening (shoaling) the ML and causing corresponding vertical displacements in the TL. The mixture of diurnal and semidiurnal tides, together with internal tides and tidal rectification, resulted in a diurnally varying large shear in the TL. This enhanced shear caused the TL to further descend along with the rapid thickening of the ML, while the relatively weaker shear slowed the uplift of the TL with a rapid shoaling of the ML and resulted in its gradual shoaling.

Abstract Oceanic eddy-induced meridional heat transport (EHT) is an important process in the Southern Ocean heat budget, the variability of which significantly modulates global meridional overturning circulation (MOC) and Antarctic sea-ice extent. Although it is recognized that mesoscale eddies with scales of ~40–300 km greatly contribute to the EHT, the role of submesoscale eddies with scales of ~1–40 km remains unclear. Here, using two state-of-the-art high-resolution simulations (resolutions of 1/48° and 1/24°), we find that submesoscale eddies significantly enhance the total poleward EHT in the Southern Ocean with an enhancement percentage reaching 19–48% in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current band. By comparing the eddy energy budgets between the two simulations, we detect that the primary role of submesoscale eddies is to strengthen mesoscale eddies (and thus their heat transport capability) through inverse energy cascade rather than directly through submesoscale heat fluxes. Due to the submesoscale-mediated enhancement of mesoscale eddies in the 1/48° simulation, the clockwise upper cell and anti-clockwise lower cell of the residual-mean MOC in the Southern Ocean are weakened and strengthened, respectively. This finding identifies a potential route to improve the mesoscale parameterization in climate models for more accurate simulations of the MOC and sea ice variability in the Southern Ocean.

Pancreatic cancer is the seventh leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, and despite advancements in disease management, the 5 -year survival rate stands at only 12%. Triptolides have potent anti-tumor activity against different types of cancers, including pancreatic cancer, however poor solubility and toxicity limit their translation into clinical use. We synthesized a novel pro-drug of triptolide, (E)–19-[(1’-benzoyloxy-1’-phenyl)-methylidene]-Triptolide (CK21), which was formulated into an emulsion for in vitro and in vivo testing in rats and mice, and used human pancreatic cancer cell lines and patient-derived pancreatic tumor organoids. A time-course transcriptomic profiling of tumor organoids treated with CK21 in vitro was conducted to define its mechanism of action, as well as transcriptomic profiling at a single time point post-CK21 administration in vivo. Intravenous administration of emulsified CK21 resulted in the stable release of triptolide, and potent anti-proliferative effects on human pancreatic cancer cell lines and patient-derived pancreatic tumor organoids in vitro, and with minimal toxicity in vivo. Time course transcriptomic profiling of tumor organoids treated with CK21 in vitro revealed

Valsartan/amlodipine (I) is a single-pill combination (SPC) of an angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) and a calcium channel blocker (CCB) for treating hypertension. A clinical trial was performed to demonstrate that the test and reference valsartan/amlodipine formulations were bioequivalent under fasting and postprandial conditions. Participants were randomly divided into three sequences at a ratio of 1:1:1 for three-cycle, reference formulation replicated, crossover administration. The average bioequivalence (ABE) and reference-scaled average bioequivalence (RSABE) methods were used to evaluate BE using the main pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters. Overall, 45 eligible participants were enrolled in the postprandial trial, which was consistent with the fasting trial. For valsartan, the RSABE method was used to evaluate the BE of Cmax, while the ABE method was applied to evaluate the BE of AUC0–t and AUC0–∞. Both point estimates and 95% upper confidence bound met the BE criteria. For amlodipine, the ABE method was performed, and the 90% confidence intervals of the geometric mean ratios (GMR) for Cmax and AUC0–72 h were all within 80%–125%, with the BE criteria being met. Therefore, the two formulations are bioequivalent and have similar safety profiles in healthy Chinese subjects.Clinical trial registration: [http://www.chinadrugtrials.org.cn/index.html], identifier [CTR20210214].

Abstract Background Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of vision loss in elderly people, and dry AMD is the most common type of AMD. Oxidative stress and alternative complement pathway activation may play essential roles in the pathogenesis of dry AMD. There are no available drugs for dry AMD. Qihuang Granule (QHG) is an herbal formula for the treatment of dry AMD, and it achieves a good clinical effect in our hospital. However, its potential mechanism is unclear. Our study investigated the effects of QHG on oxidative stress-associated retinal damage to reveal its underlying mechanism. Methods Oxidative stress models were established using H2O2 and NaIO3 in ARPE-19 cells and C57BL/6 mice. Cell apoptosis and viability were assessed using phase contrast microscopy and flow cytometry, respectively. Alterations in the mouse retinal structure were evaluated using Masson staining and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The expression of complement factor H (CFH), complement component 3a (C3a) and complement component 5a (C5a) in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells and mice was measured using RT‒PCR, Western blot analysis and ELISA. Results Pretreatment with QHG significantly prevented cell apoptosis and disorder of the RPE and inner segment/outer segment (IS/OS) in H2O2-treated RPE cells and NaIO3-injected mice. QHG alleviated mitochondrial damage in mouse RPE cells, as shown by TEM. QHG also promoted CFH expression and inhibited the expression of C3a and C5a. Conclusions The results suggest that QHG protects the retinal pigment epithelium from oxidative stress, likely by regulating the alternative complement pathway.

Abstract Background To investigate the classification and microsurgical treatment of foramen magnum meningioma (FMM). Methods We retrospectively analyzed 76 patients with FMM and classified them into two classifications, classification ABS according to the relationship between the FMM and the brainstem and classification SIM according to the relationship between the FMM and the vertebral artery (VA). All patients underwent either the far lateral approach (54 cases) or the suboccipital midline approach (22 cases). Results Of the 76 cases, 47 cases were located ahead of the brainstem (A), 16 cases at the back of the brainstem (B), and 13 cases were located laterally to the brainstem (S). There were 15 cases located superior to the VA (S), 49 cases were inferior (I), and 12 cases were mixed type (M). Among 76 cases, 71 cases were resected with Simpson grade 2 (93.42%), 3 with Simpson grade 3 (3.95%), and 2 with Simpson grade 4 (2.63%). We summarized four anatomical triangles: triangles SOT, VOT, JVV, and TVV. The mean postoperative Karnofsky performance score was improved in all patients (p < 0.05). However, several complications occurred, including hoarseness and CSF leak. Conclusion ABS and SIM classifications are objective indices for choosing the surgical approach and predicting the difficulty of FMMs, and it is of great importance to master the content, position relationship with the tumor, and variable anatomical structures in the four “triangles” for the success of the operation.

Abstract Background Definitive concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) is the standard treatment for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (LANSCLC) patients, but the treatment response and survival outcomes varied among these patients. We aimed to identify pretreatment computed tomography-based radiomics features extracted from tumor and tumor organismal environment (TOE) for long-term survival prediction in these patients treated with CCRT. Methods A total of 298 eligible patients were randomly assigned into the training cohort and validation cohort with a ratio 2:1. An integrated feature selection and model training approach using support vector machine combined with genetic algorithm was performed to predict 3-year overall survival (OS). Patients were stratified into the high-risk and low-risk group based on the predicted survival status. Pulmonary function test and blood gas analysis indicators were associated with radiomic features. Dynamic changes of peripheral blood lymphocytes counts before and after CCRT had been documented. Results Nine features including 5 tumor-related features and 4 pulmonary features were selected in the predictive model. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve for the training and validation cohort were 0.965 and 0.869, and were reduced by 0.179 and 0.223 when all pulmonary features were excluded. Based on radiomics-derived stratification, the low-risk group yielded better 3-year OS (68.4% vs. 3.3%, p

A new study finds that deforestation in the northern extratropics can enhance horizontal temperature advection through biogeophysical processes, leading to higher local daily temperature variability, particularly in winter.

Abstract Purpose Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common joint disease characterized by cartilage degeneration, synovial inflammation, osteophytes, and subchondral osteosclerosis. This study investigated the effects of resveratrol (RES) on extracellular matrix (ECM), autophagy, and apoptosis in OA pathogenesis via the SIRT1/FOXO1 pathway. Methods The microenvironment of OA chondrocytes was stimulated in vitro by adding 10 ng/mL of IL-1β to primary Wistar rat chondrocyte. Western blotting, immunofluorescence, quantitative real-time PCR, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used for analysis. Results In the presence of IL-1β, RES increased the expression of silent information regulator (SIR) 1 protein and the phosphorylation level of forkhead transcription factor (FOXO) 1. It also promoted chondrocyte autophagy, increased the expression of SOX9 and aggrecan, inhibited chondrocyte apoptosis and matrix breakdown, and protected chondrocytes from IL-1β damage. After a SIRT1 inhibitor or FOXO1 inhibitor was added, the protective effect of RES on chondrocytes was significantly weakened. Our results suggest that RES regulates the ECM metabolism, autophagy, and apoptosis of OA chondrocytes through the SIRT1/FOXO1 pathway to ameliorate IL-1β-induced chondrocyte injury. Conclusion RES protects chondrocytes from IL-1β-induced damage by activating SIRT1/FOXO1 signaling and holds potential in OA treatment.

Extensive irrigation activities in the North China Plain (NCP) significantly influence regional weather and climate. However, previous studies focusing on the NCP were primarily based on coarse-resolution models, which are unable to explicitly resolve convection systems, causing large uncertainty in precipitation simulations. In this study, a convection-permitting model coupled with a dynamic irrigation scheme is utilized to investigate the impacts of irrigation on summertime mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) over the NCP. Sensitivity experiments with irrigation off and on are conducted for 5 summers and an MCS identification and tracking algorithm is applied to both satellite observations and model simulations. We find that incorporating irrigation in the model increases MCS precipitation, which agrees more with observations. The probability distributions of MCS lifetime, area, propagation speed, and intensity are all better simulated with irrigation. Irrigation increases the occurrence frequency of MCSs throughout the entire day. The nighttime increase is partly because of more frequent local initiation of MCS developed from isolated deep convection, while the daytime increase is mainly attributed to the changes in MCSs initiating elsewhere and then propagating to the NCP. On average, irrigation induces additional moisture that is more thermodynamically favorable for precipitation, but this effect is partially offset by the weakened ascending air motion primarily caused by irrigation surface cooling. Compared to weak MCS precipitation events, strong MCS precipitation events experience greater enhancement in precipitation intensity when including irrigation because the offset effect from the change in large-scale ascending air motion is insignificant. In addition, irrigation makes the variation of MCS precipitation intensity more correlated with the variation in ascending motion but less correlated with that in atmospheric moisture. Our results suggest the pronounced impacts of irrigation on MCSs over the NCP which should be included in numerical models to improve regional precipitation simulation and prediction.

In the past decade, various sky surveys with a wide range of wavelengths have been conducted, resulting in an explosive growth of survey data. There may be overlapping regions between different surveys, but the data quality and brightness are different. The translation of data quality between different surveys provides benefits for studying the properties of galaxies in specific regions that high-quality surveys have not yet covered. In this paper, we create a data set for analyzing the quality transformation of different surveys, AstroSR, using the galaxy images from overlapping regions from the Subaru/Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). In addition, we use superresolution (SR) techniques to improve the quality of low-resolution images in the AstroSR and explore whether the proposed data set is suitable for SR. We try four representative models: EDSR, RCAN, ENLCN, and SRGAN. Finally, we compare the evaluation metrics and visual quality of the above methods. SR models trained with AstroSR successfully generate HSC-like images from SDSS images, which enhance the fine structure present in the SDSS images while retaining important morphological information and increasing the brightness and signal-to-noise. Improving the resolution of astronomical images by SR can improve the size and quality of the sky surveys. The data set proposed in this paper provides strong data support for the study of galaxy SR and opens up new research possibilities in astronomy. The data set is available online at https://github.com/jiaweimmiao/AstroSR .

The increasing frequency of European heatwaves and the associated impacts on ecosystems have raised widespread concern during the last two decades. The partitioning of surface energy between latent and sensible heat fluxes plays a pivotal role in regulating heat and water exchange between the land surface and the atmosphere. However, the responses of surface energy partitioning during heatwave events and the contributions of changes in energy partitioning to heatwave development have been underexplored. Here, we investigated the responses of surface energy exchange to temperature extremes during four devastating European heatwaves (2003, 2010, 2018, and 2022) based on long‒term observations from 31 flux towers. Our results demonstrated that the divergent responses of surface energy exchange to heatwaves were modulated by vegetation type and background climate in Europe. Forests maintained similar latent heat fluxes as the climatological mean but largely increased sensible heat under heat‒stressed conditions. While grasslands and croplands tended to increase sensible heat by suppressing latent heat during heatwaves, especially under water‒stressed conditions. Furthermore, the changes in surface energy partitioning strengthened positive land‒atmosphere feedbacks during the heatwave period, leading to unprecedented temperature extremes. This study highlights the importance of surface energy partitioning in land‒atmosphere interactions and heatwave developments.

Compound hot-dry events (CHDEs) are among the deadliest climate hazards and are occurring with increasing frequency under global warming. The Yangtze River Basin in China experienced a record-breaking CHDE in the summer of 2022, causing severe damage to human societies and ecosystems. Recent studies have emphasized the role of atmospheric circulation anomalies in driving this event. However, the contribution of land–atmosphere feedback to the development of this event remains unclear. Here, we investigated the impacts of soil moisture-temperature coupling on the development of this concurrent heatwave and drought. We showed that large amounts of surface net radiation were partitioned to sensible heat instead of latent heat as the soil moisture-temperature coupling pattern shifted from energy-limited to water-limited under low soil moisture conditions, forming positive land–atmosphere feedback and leading to unprecedented hot extremes in August. The spatial heterogeneity of hot extremes was also largely modulated by the land–atmosphere coupling strength. Furthermore, enhanced land–atmosphere feedback has played an important role in intensifying CHDEs in this traditional humid region. This study improves the understanding of the development of CHDEs from three aspects, including timing, intensity, and spatial distribution, and enables more effective early warning of CHDEs.

Abstract On behalf of the journal, AGU, and the scientific community, the editors of Geophysical Research Letters would like to sincerely thank those who reviewed manuscripts for us in 2022. The hours reading and commenting on manuscripts not only improve the manuscripts, but also increase the scientific rigor of future research in the field. With the advent of AGU's data policy, many reviewers have also helped immensely to evaluate the accessibility and availability of data, and many have provided insightful comments that helped to improve the data presentation and quality. We greatly appreciate the assistance of the reviewers in advancing open science, which is a key objective of AGU's data policy. We particularly appreciate the timely reviews in light of the demands imposed by the rapid review process at Geophysical Research Letters. We received 6,687 submissions in 2022 and 5,247 reviewers contributed to their evaluation by providing 8,720 reviews in total. We deeply appreciate their contributions in these challenging times.

Abstract The Kuroshio south of Japan is known to vacillate between a straight and a large meander (LM) path. Since 1950, eight LM events have been observed with different durations. The most recent/on‐going LM started in August 2017 and has become the longest event in record. By analyzing eddy‐resolving sea surface height data and by adopting a wind‐forced linear vorticity model, we demonstrate that the on‐going LM is maintained by an exceptionally stable dynamic state of the Kuroshio Extension (KE) forced by wind stresses across the Pacific basin. The highly‐stable KE system not only minimizes westward eddy perturbations from disrupting the upstream Kuroshio path, its strengthened southern recirculation gyre further helps to anchor the Kuroshio across the Izu Ridge. By contrasting the on‐going event to the 2004–2005 event, we argue that the LM duration is more sensitive to the wind‐forced KE dynamic state than the eastward Kuroshio transport south of Japan.

Abstract Background F‐box and WD repeat domain containing 7 (FBXW7) is a critical tumor suppressor. The expression of FBXW7 is decreased in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) tissues and shows diagnosis value. We aimed to investigate the influence of FBXW7 overexpression on OSCC cell proliferation and autophagy. Methods In Balb/c nude mice, CAL27 xenograft tumor model was established. Western blot was employed to evaluate protein level. Messenger RNA level was analyzed by quantitative reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction. Colony formation assay and MTT assay were employed to evaluate cell proliferation. Results FBXW7 expression was decreased in OSCC cell lines. FBXW7 inhibited cell proliferation of SCC9 and CAL27. FBXW7 increased Autophagy related 7 (Atg7), Beclin1 (BECN1), B‐cell lymphoma 2 (BCL2) ‐associated X (BAX), BCL2 antagonist killer (BAK), and microtubule‐associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3) levels and decreased MCL1 and BCL2 levels in CAL27 cells. FBXW7 decreased tumor volume and weight in CAL27 xenograft tumor model. FBXW7 increased BECN1, Atg7, and LC3 levels in CAL27 xenograft tumor model. Conclusion In conclusion, decreased expression of FBXW7 is confirmed in diverse OSCC cell lines. The enhanced FBXW7 expression inhibits cancer cell proliferation and promotes autophagy in both OSCC cells and xenograft tumor model.

Purpose: To assess the feasibility and potential benefits of online adaptive MR-guided fractionated stereotatic radiotherapy (FSRT) in patients with brain metastases (BMs). Methods and materials: Twenty-eight consecutive patients with BMs were treated with FSRT of 30 Gy in 5 fractions on the 1.5 T MR-Linac. The FSRT fractions employed daily MR scans and the contours were utilized to create each adapted plan. The brain lesions and perilesional edema were delineated on MR images of pre-treatment simulation (Fx0) and all fractions (Fx1, Fx2, Fx3, Fx4 and Fx5) to evaluate the inter-fractional changes. These changes were quantified using absolute/relative volume, Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and Hausdorff distance (HD) metrics. Planning target volume (PTV) coverage and organ at risk (OAR) constraints were used to compare non-adaptive and adaptive plans. Results: A total of 28 patients with 88 lesions were evaluated, and 23 patients (23/28, 82.1%) had primary lung adenocarcinoma. Significant tumor volume reduction had been found during FSRT compared to Fx0 for all 88 lesions (median −0.75%, −5.33%, −9.32%, −17.96% and −27.73% at Fx1, Fx2, Fx3, Fx4 and Fx5, p

MIL-100(Fe) was modified by amino groups (MIL-100(Fe)-NH2) to enhance the removal of antimonate (Sb(V)) with low concentration (50−200 μg/L) from natural water through batch adsorption experiments. With the initial Sb(V) concentration up to 200 μg/L, the residual Sb(V) concentration after treated by MIL-100(Fe)-NH2 was only 3.52 ± 0.131 μg/L, lower than the drinking water standards (5 μg/L) in China, while that was much higher (94.2 ± 3.52 μg/L) after pristine MIL-100(Fe) treatment. Based on results of XPS analysis, and adsorption kinetics and isotherms, we concluded that Sb(V) substituted the terminal −OH groups of MIL-100(Fe) to form inner-sphere complexes by coordination reactions with Fe nodes and be adsorbed by hydrogen bonding as well. The grafted amino groups (−NH2) adsorbed Sb(V) by hydrogen bonding and facilitated the coordination reactions between Sb(V) and Fe nodes. The higher KL value (0.0116 ± 0.00,118 L/μg) obtained by fitting with the Langmuir isotherm model, while that of unmodified MIL-100(Fe) was 4.74 × 10−4 ± 5.85 × 10−5 L/μg, also confirmed that the −NH2 groups greatly enhanced the affinity between MIL-100(Fe) and Sb(V). Furthermore, MIL-100(Fe)-NH2 still worked nicely in a wide pH range (2 − 12), with varied ionic strength (0.05 µmol/L−1.5 mol/L), coexisting ions (CO32−, NO3−, SO42−, Cl−, H2PO4−), and even in the real water bodies. Additionally, MIL-100(Fe)-NH2 exhibited good reusability and low Fe leaching (99.92 μg/L). We hope MIL-100(Fe)-NH2 become a candidate for effective removal of Sb(V), even other heavy metals from natural waterbodies.

Abstract Oceanic submesoscale processes (submesoscales) with O(1–10) km horizontal scale can generate strong vertical buoyancy flux (VBF) that significantly modulate upper‐ocean stratification. Because submesoscales cannot be resolved by the prevailing ocean models, their VBFs have to be properly parameterized in order to improve model performance. Here, based on theoretical scaling analysis, we propose a new parameterization of submesoscale VBF by simultaneously considering mixed‐layer baroclinic instability (MLI) and strain‐induced frontogenesis, which are two leading generation mechanisms of submesoscales that typically co‐occur in open ocean. Compared with the parameterization of Fox‐Kemper et al. (2008, https://doi.org/10.1175/2007jpo3792.1; F08) that only considers the MLI, the new parameterization includes mesoscale strain rate and improves vertical structure function. Diagnostic validations based on submesoscale permitting simulation outputs suggest that the newly parameterized VBFs are more realistic than F08 in regard to three‐dimension distributions. How to incorporate this new parameterization into coarser‐grid ocean models, however, needs further studies.

PurposeWe launched this prospective phase II single-arm trial on the combination of moderately hypo-fractionated radiotherapy and S-1, to explore the safety and efficacy of the new potent regimen in inoperable locally advanced esophageal squamous carcinoma (LA-ESCC) patients.MethodsPatients with unresectable stage II-IVB LA-ESCC (UICC 2002, IVB only with metastatic celiac or supraclavicular lymph nodes) were included. Moderately hypofractionated radiotherapy (60Gy in 24 fractions) concurrent with S-1 was delivered. Meanwhile, gastrostomy tube placement by percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) was performed to provide nutritional support. Nutritional supplements were prescribed to meet requirements. The study outcomes included objective response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), locoregional progression-free survival (LRPFS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), failure pattern, toxicities, nutritional status and treatment compliance. Endoscopy was routinely performed during post-treatment follow-up.ResultsFifty-eight patients were included with a median follow-up of 24.4 months. The median age was 63 years (range 49-83 years) and 42 patients (72.4%) had stage III or IV diseases. The ORR was 91.3% and the CR rate was 60.3%. The estimated 2-year PFS rate and 2-year OS rate was 44.2% (95% confidence interval (CI), 31.3-57.1%) and 71.4% (95% CI, 59.4-83.4%), respectively. Radiation-induced esophagitis was the most common non-hematologic toxicity and 5 patients (8.6%) developed grade≥3 esophagitis. While, with PEG nutrition support, the nutrition-related indicators presented a clear trend toward a gradual improvement. Treatment-related death was not observed.ConclusionsThe moderately hypo-fractionated radiotherapy combined with S-1 showed promising loco-regional disease control and survival benefit in inoperable LA-ESCC patients. Meanwhile, favorable nutritional status and low incidence of severe radiation-induced esophagitis were observed with PEG nutritional support. Moreover, endoscopy examination contributed to the early detection of recurrent esophageal lesions and timely salvage treatment. The efficacy and toxicity of the combined regimen deserved further evaluation.Trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov, identifier NCT03660449.

Compared with the international meteor surveillance systems, the ground wide angle camera (GWAC) system exhibits characteristics such as images with the resolution of 4K × 4K and single-site observation. These characteristics present challenges for meteor detection in the GWAC system. Consequently, this paper proposes a new meteor detection algorithm for the GWAC system on the base of the solely mini-GWAC system data algorithm. The new algorithm consists of the following key steps: (1) to compare differences between adjacent frames, applying block-based image binarization thresholds, and incorporating median filtering to reduce noise; (2) to adopt the probabilistic Hough transform (PHT) to identify moving objects and cluster them based on the origin moment of the line segments, while assessing the credibility of clustering; (3) to introduce the so-called maximum disappearance frame for moving objects in the tracking algorithm, enhancing the ability to track multi-frame moving objects. The utilization of the line segment inclination angle of the moving object as the direction of movement facilitates the tracking of multiple moving objects, thereby reducing the probability of mistakenly selecting single-frame moving objects; (4) to leverage the light curves of single-frame moving objects to select meteors to enhance the accuracy of meteor detection. Comparative experiments demonstrate that our proposed algorithm processes each frame image in just 0.39 s, achieving an accuracy of 89.8% in the dataset of 5856 adjacent frames. The experimental results indicate that the algorithm achieved an accuracy of 90.27% when applied in the meteor detection of the image data captured by the GWAC system from Dec. 10th to 19th in 2019 and 2021, obtaining excellent detection results.

Determining the types of light curves has been a challenge due to the massive amount of light curves generated by large sky survey programs. In the literature, the light curves classification methods are overly dependent on the imaging quality of the light curves, so the classification results are often poor. In this paper, a new method is proposed to classify the Kepler light curves from Quarter 1, and consists of two parts: feature extraction and classification neural network construction. In the first part, features are extracted from the light curves using three different methods, and then the features are fused (transform domain features, light curve flux statistics features, and Kepler photometry features). In the second part, a classification neural network RLNet, based on Residual Network (ResNet) and Long Short Term Memory (LSTM), is proposed. The experiment involved the classification of approximately 150,000 Kepler light curves into 11 categories. The results show that this new method outperforms seven other methods in all metrics, with an accuracy of 0.987, a minimum recall of 0.968, and a minimum precision of 0.970 under all categories.

Stellar parameters are estimated through spectra and are crucial in studying both stellar evolution and the history of the galaxy. To extract features from the spectra efficiently, we present ESNet (encoder selection network for spectra), a novel architecture that incorporates three essential modules: a feature encoder (FE), feature selection (FS), and feature mapping (FM). FE is responsible for extracting advanced spectral features through encoding. The role of FS, on the other hand, is to acquire compressed features by reducing the spectral dimension and eliminating redundant information. FM comes into play by fusing the advanced and compressed features, establishing a nonlinear mapping between spectra and stellar parameters. The stellar spectra used for training and testing are obtained through crossing LAMOST and SDSS. The experimental results demonstrate that for low signal-to-noise spectra (0–10), ESNet achieves excellent performance on the test set, with mean absolute error (MAE) values of 82 K for Teff (effective temperature), 0.20 dex for logg (logarithm of the gravity), and 0.10 dex for [Fe/H] (metallicity). The results indeed indicate that ESNet has an excellent ability to extract spectral features. Furthermore, this paper validates the consistency between ESNet predictions and the SDSS catalog. The experimental results prove that the model can be employed for the evaluation of stellar parameters.

Quasars have an important role in the studies of galaxy evolution and star formation. The rare close projection of two quasars in the sky allows us to study the environment and matter exchange around the foreground quasar (QSOfg) and the background quasar (QSObg). This paper proposes a pipeline DPQP for quasar pair (QP) candidates’ detection based on photometric images and the corresponding spectra. The pipeline consists of three main parts: a target source detector, a regressor, and a discriminator. In the first part, the target source detection network–YOLOv4 (TSD-YOLOv4) and the target source classification network (TSCNet) are used in sequence to detect quasars in SDSS photometric images. In the second part, a depth feature extraction network of quasar images (DE-QNet) is constructed to estimate the redshifts of quasars from photometric images. In the third part, a quasar pair score (Q-Score) metric is proposed based on the spectral analysis. The larger the Q-Score, the greater the possibility of two pairs being a quasar pair. The experimental results show that between redshift 1.0 and 4.0, the MAE of DE-QNet is 0.316, which is 16.1% lower than the existing method. Samples with |Δz| < 0.15 account for 77.1% of the test dataset. A new table with 1025 QP candidates is provided by traversing 50,000 SDSS photometric images.

Vaginal microbiome is mutually beneficial to the host and has a significant impact on health and disease. Candida species, including Candida albicans, are part of the mucosal flora of most healthy women. Under suitable conditions, they can live in the vulvovaginal mucosa, resulting in symptomatic vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC). Based on the analysis of 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences, great progress has been made in exploring the composition and structure of vaginal bacterial community. Moreover, researchers have conducted several studies on whether vaginal microbiome will change during VVC infection. In addition, it has been reported that vaginal colonization of probiotics in vaginal microorganisms, especially Lactobacillus, can effectively reduce the risk of VVC and treat VVC. This review aims to summarize the changes of vaginal microflora during VVC infection, and further point out the possibility of using lactic acid bacteria as probiotics to treat VVC, so as to reduce the adverse consequences of VVC infection and reduce the expensive treatment cost.