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Abstract Background Clear cell type hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an uncommon neoplasm with an ambivalent prognosis compared to common type HCC. Methods First, patients with clear cell or common type HCC were enrolled from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database, and their demographic and clinical characteristics were identified. Next, overall survival (OS), disease‐specific survival (DSS), and subgroup analysis of the two types of HCC were performed. Next, we utilized a competing risk model to focus on cancer‐caused death. Finally, propensity score matching (PSM) was employed to reduce the confounding factors based on the histopathological type, and sensitivity analysis was conducted. Results A total of 205 cases of clear cell type HCC and 29,954 cases of common type HCC were enrolled in our study. Patients with clear cell type HCC were older and predominantly female than those with common type HCC. OS and DSS were not significantly different between the two groups, and histopathological type was not a prognostic factor of HCC, as verified by the competing risk model. Patient characteristics adjusted by PSM and sensitivity analysis confirmed this conclusion. In subgroup analysis, patients with clear cell type HCC at grade III ~ IV and with lymph nodes metastasis had a better prognosis compared to common type HCC. Conclusions This study revealed that the prognosis of clear cell type HCC is similar to common type HCC. Tumor differentiation grade and status of lymph node metastasis affect the prognosis of HCC.

Flexible electronic skin (e-skin) can enable robots to have sensory forms similar to human skin, enhancing their ability to obtain more information from touch. The non-invasive nature of electrical impedance tomography (EIT) technology allows electrodes to be arranged only at the edges of the skin, ensuring the stretchability and elasticity of the skin's interior. However, the image quality reconstructed by EIT technology has deteriorated in multi-touch identification, where it is challenging to clearly reflect the number of touchpoints and accurately size the touch areas. This paper proposed an EIT-based flexible tactile sensor that employs self-made hydrogel material as the primary sensing medium. The sensor's structure, fabrication process, and tactile imaging principle were elaborated. To improve the quality of image reconstruction, the fast iterative shrinkage-thresholding algorithm (FISTA) was embedded into the EIDORS toolkit. The performances of the e-skin in aspects of assessing the touching area, quantitative force sensing and multi-touch identification were examined. Results showed that the mean intersection over union (MIoU) of the reconstructed images was improved up to 0.84, and the tactile position can be accurately imaged in the case of the number of the touchpoints up to seven (larger than two to four touchpoints in existing studies), proving that the combination of the proposed sensor and imaging algorithm has high sensitivity and accuracy in multi-touch tactile sensing. The presented e-skin shows potential promise for the application in complex human–robot interaction (HRI) environments, such as prosthetics and wearable devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drug‐induced hepatotoxicity limits development of new effective medications. Drugs and numerous endogenous/exogenous agents are metabolized/detoxified by hepatocytes, during which reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generated as a by‐product. ROS has broad adverse effects on liver function and integrity, including damaging hepatocyte proteins, lipids, and DNA and promoting liver inflammation and fibrosis. ROS in concert with iron overload drives ferroptosis. Hepatic nuclear factor kappa B (NF‐κB)‐inducing kinase (NIK) is aberrantly activated in a broad spectrum of liver disease. NIK phosphorylates and activates inhibitor of NF‐κB kinase subunit alpha (IKKα), and the hepatic NIK/IKKα cascade suppresses liver regeneration. However, the NIK/IKKα pathway has not been explored in drug‐induced liver injury. Here, we identify hepatic NIK as a previously unrecognized mediator for acetaminophen (APAP)‐induced acute liver failure. APAP treatment increased both NIK transcription and NIK protein stability in primary hepatocytes as well as in liver in mice. Hepatocyte‐specific overexpression of NIK augmented APAP‐induced liver oxidative stress in mice and increased hepatocyte death and mortality in a ROS‐dependent manner. Conversely, hepatocyte‐specific ablation of NIK or IKKα mitigated APAP‐elicited hepatotoxicity and mortality. NIK increased lipid peroxidation and cell death in APAP‐stimulated primary hepatocytes. Pretreatment with antioxidants or ferroptosis inhibitors blocked NIK/APAP‐induced hepatocyte death. Conclusion: We unravel a previously unrecognized NIK/IKKα/ROS/ferroptosis axis engaged in liver disease progression.

Background: Extracellular vesicles (EVs) were reported to participate in various cellular processes based on the biomolecules, particularly microRNAs. Numerous commercial EVs isolation reagents are available. However, whether these reagents are suitable for separating EVs from the culture medium supernatant supernatant of model cell lines, such as HepG2, and whether the isolated products are suitable for High-throughput sequencing remains unclear.Methods: We examined three commonly used EVs isolation kits: the ExoQuick-TC exosome precipitation solution (EQ), Total Exosome Isolation from cell culture medium (EI), and exoEasy Maxi Kit (EM), to isolate EVs from HepG2 cell culture medium supernatants. EVs were identified based on marker proteins, particle size measurements, and electron microscopy analysis. The total amounts of microRNA and microRNA High-throughput sequencing data quality from EVs isolated by each kit were compared.Results: The total amount of EVs’ microRNA isolated from the EI and EM groups were higher than that obtained from the EQ group (EQ/EI: p = 0.036, EI/EM: p = 0.024). High-throughput sequencing data quality evaluation showed that the EI group possessed higher quality than those in the EM group.Conclusion: For the cell culture medium from HepG2, EVs’ microRNA isolated by EI reagents might be more suitable for High-throughput sequencing applications.

Acute liver failure (ALF) is a severe liver disease with a high mortality rate without effective therapeutic drugs. Ferroptosis is a form of programmed cell death that plays an important role in ALF. In this study, we aimed to identify ferroptosis-related genes in ALF, thereby predicting promising compounds to treat ALF. First, mRNA microarray data were utilized to identify the ferroptosis-related differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Hub genes were screened in the protein–protein interaction network and validated. Subsequently, potential drugs to treat ALF were predicted. One of the predicted drugs was tested in an ALF model of mice. Ferroptosis examination and molecular docking were analyzed to explore the mechanism. A total of 37 DEGs were identified, ten hub genes were extracted, and their expression in ALF was validated. The predicted drug niclosamide mitigated lipopolysaccharide/D-galactosamine-induced hepatotoxicity, and decreased mortality of mice in the ALF model. Mechanically, niclosamide may combine with signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 to inhibit ALF progression by suppressing ferroptosis. This study may help advance our understanding of the role of ferroptosis in ALF, and niclosamide may be promising for therapeutic efficacy in patients with ALF.

Abstract Background Acute fatty liver of pregnancy (AFLP) is a potentially lethal condition of pregnant women with a high mortality rate. Potential predictors related to postpartum recovery time and prognostic factors of AFLP are still unclear. This study aimed to evaluate potential predictors for prognosis and postpartum recovery time of AFLP. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 76 AFLP patients in our hospital from 2002 to 2017 and investigated potential predictors using univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) was found to be associated with prognosis in AFLP patients (P = 0.005, OR = 26.844). The postpartum recovery time analysis showed that AFLP patients with a age

The design of system architecture that incorporates a System‐on‐chip (SoC) and a co‐processor, has emerged as a prevailing trend in the realm of Mixed‐Reality (MR) devices. The interconnection between such two chips is critical for the performance and reliability of MR devices, but it faces challenges from high bandwidth requirement and various channel losses in different chip placements. In this paper, we present a typical chip‐to‐chip interconnect model that can support 32Gbps bandwidth and adapt to various channel loss and transmission line lengths in different system designs. The interconnect model incorporates each typical element in packages, PCB and FPC. We optimize the interconnect model in signal integrity, use the model to simulate the interconnection up to 400mm‐length with calibrated material properties and analyze its performance in time‐domain and frequency‐domain. Our model can offer valuable insight for interconnect design when incorporating a co‐processor approach into MR devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In our study, we simulated naked‐eye 3D stereoscopic depth images and examined the clarity of images at different depths in detail. Our findings reveal an important insight: as the image depth increases, crosstalk between images becomes more severe. This is mainly due to the increase in parallax and the characteristics of the visual system in processing depth information. Furthermore, we utilized the modulation transfer function (MTF) for related analysis, and the results show that the MTF of stereoscopic depth decreases as the depth increases. This trend further illustrates the close relationship between increased depth and decreased image quality. Our research findings provide important theoretical basis for understanding and improving the quality of naked‐eye 3D images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the domain of Naked‐eye 3D display technology, the periodic interference between lenticular lens and screen subpixels frequently results in the generation of moiré patterns, which significantly impair image quality. This study proposes a strategy to reduce moir é artifacts by adjusting the tilt angle of the lenticular lens. Relying on the human eye sensitivity function, we have conducted a thorough analysis of the moiré patterns caused by the interference between the lenticular lens and the screen at various tilt angles. After extensive research, it has been discovered that the analytical method which applies spectral sensitivity weighting subsequent to the consideration of the human eye sensitivity function aligns more closely with the actual perception of moiré patterns by the human eye. This approach enables a more precise determination of the optimal tilt angles for lenticular lenses and screens, thereby substantially minimizing the moiré effect. The implications of this finding are significant for the realization of high‐quality, high‐definition naked‐eye 3D image displays, and may positively contribute to advancements within this technical field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among marine species distributed in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, the Indo–Pacific Barrier (IPB) has been found to be an important barrier of divergence of species distributed on both sides. Among the five species of the genus Pampus, only Pampus chinensis and P. cinereus are distributed across the western Pacific and the Indian Oceans and have not been studied comparatively using extensive sampling and gene markers. Furthermore, the origin and history of genus Pampus remain unrevealed. We used thousands of nuclear loci based on target gene enrichment to explore genetic structure of P. chinensis and P. cinereus across the western Pacific and Indian Oceans. We performed divergence dating and ancestral area reconstruction analysis and inferred the dispersal routes of the Pampus species. The results suggest that the IPB played an important role in the differentiation between populations among the two oceans for both P. chinensis and P. cinereus, dividing species into the Pacific lineage and the Indian Ocean lineage. Low sea level in the late Pleistocene may be the main cause. The result also showed that the South China Sea was the center of origin of the genus Pampus, and dispersal routes of each species may be associated with the ocean currents. Our study provided new examples for the IPB effect on marine species.

Abstract Background Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and Treponema pallidum (TP) infections are considered classic transfusion-transmissible infections (TTIs). Few data are available about the prevalence of TTIs in patients before blood transfusion in China. This study aimed to investigate the seroprevalence of four TTIs among patients before blood transfusion in Xiangya Hospital Central South University, China. Methods From 2011 to 2016, 442,121 hospitalized patients before possible blood transfusion were tested for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), anti-HCV, syphilis antibody (anti-TP) and anti-HIV. Results Of the 442,121 patients, the overall positivity of the four TTI serum markers was 15.35%. The positive rates of HBsAg, anti-HCV, anti-HIV and anti-TP were 10.98, 1.43, 0.16 and 2.78%, respectively. TTI serum markers showed a significant difference by gender, with positive rates of 17.98% for males and 12.79% for females. The prevalence of TTI serum markers varied significantly by age. The overall co-infection rate was 0.63%, and the top three multiple infections were HBV-TP, HBV-HCV, and HCV-TP. The co-infection rates of HBV-TP and HBV-HCV showed a significant decrease from 2011 to 2016, while the rates of other co-infections remained stable. Conclusions The prevalence of TTIs in patients before blood transfusion is much higher compared to that in blood donors in the region. The infection rates of HIV and TP increased, and the infection rate of HBsAg decreased in recent years.