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Abstract Purpose To compare the effects of phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantation (phaco) combined with goniosynechialysis (phaco + GSL) versus phaco with trabeculectomy (phaco + trab) for the management of primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) refractory to peripheral anterior synechiae (PAS) of over 180°. Methods This retrospective study followed 77 eyes of 77 patients for at least 6 months. Intraocular pressure (IOP), best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), number of glaucoma drugs, and PAS were recorded at the preoperative baseline and evaluated at each postoperative follow-up visit. The National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire-25 (NEI VFQ-25) was administered to patients enrolled in this study. Pearson’s correlation analysis and multivariate linear analysis were performed to identify factors influencing changes in NEI VFQ-25 scores and to identify factors associated with increases in NEI VFQ-25 scores after the operation. Results In total, seventy-seven eyes were included (43 with phaco + GSL and 34 with phaco + trab). Comparing preoperative baseline and month 6 after surgery measurements revealed that both groups found significant improvements in IOP, PAS, BCVA and the number of glaucoma drugs (P

Introduction Evaporative dry eye (EDE) is common and can lead to ocular pain, decreased visual quality and reduced quality of life. Intense pulsed light (IPL) and 3% diquafosol ophthalmic solution have been found to be beneficial in reducing signs and symptoms of dry eye.Methods and analysis A randomised clinical trial will be performed at He Eye Specialist Hospital in Shenyang. 360 dry eye disease patients will be equally divided randomly into the IPL group, DQS group (3% diquafosol ophthalmic solution eye-drops) and IPL+group (IPL combined with 3% diquafosol eye-drops). All groups will be followed up for 4 weeks. The primary outcome measures will be the non-invasive tear break-up time and the Ocular Surface Disease Index change from the baseline. The secondary outcome measures willincludeconjunctival and cornea staining with fluorescein and lissamine, meibomian gland function and secretion quality, tear film lipid layer score, tear meniscus height, conjunctival hyperemia (redness score) changes . Adverse events also will be monitored and documented.Discussion This study aimed to assess whether the combination of IPL with 3% diquafosol ophthalmic solution (study group), IPL+ (study group), is more effective than IPL (active control group) or DQS (active control group) in participants with EDE.Ethics and dissemination Management of dry eye with IPL combined with 3% diquafosol ophthalmic solution, registered on 23 January 2023. Ethics approval number: IRB (2022) K029.01. The study’s findings will be shared regardless of the effect’s direction.Trial registration number NCT05694026.

Background Deep learning has been widely used for glaucoma diagnosis. However, there is no clinically validated algorithm for glaucoma incidence and progression prediction. This study aims to develop a clinically feasible deep-learning system for predicting and stratifying the risk of glaucoma onset and progression based on color fundus photographs (CFPs), with clinical validation of performance in external population cohorts.Methods We established data sets of CFPs and visual fields collected from longitudinal cohorts. The mean follow-up duration was 3 to 5 years across the data sets. Artificial intelligence (AI) models were developed to predict future glaucoma incidence and progression based on the CFPs of 17,497 eyes in 9346 patients. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve, sensitivity, and specificity of the AI models were calculated with reference to the labels provided by experienced ophthalmologists. Incidence and progression of glaucoma were determined based on longitudinal CFP images or visual fields, respectively.Results The AI model to predict glaucoma incidence achieved an AUROC of 0.90 (0.81–0.99) in the validation set and demonstrated good generalizability, with AUROCs of 0.89 (0.83–0.95) and 0.88 (0.79–0.97) in external test sets 1 and 2, respectively. The AI model to predict glaucoma progression achieved an AUROC of 0.91 (0.88–0.94) in the validation set, and also demonstrated outstanding predictive performance with AUROCs of 0.87 (0.81–0.92) and 0.88 (0.83–0.94) in external test sets 1 and 2, respectively.Conclusion Our study demonstrates the feasibility of deep-learning algorithms in the early detection and prediction of glaucoma progression.FUNDING National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); the High-level Hospital Construction Project, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University; the Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou, China (2021), the Science and Technology Development Fund (FDCT) of Macau, and FDCT-NSFC.

Objective To investigate the role of the deubiquitinase ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCHL1) in hypertension and retinopathy in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR). Methods Wistar–Kyoto (WKY) rats and SHRs were administered the UCHL1 inhibitor LDN57444 (20 μg/kg/day) for 4 months. Pathological changes were detected with hematoxylin and eosin, immunofluorescence, and dihydroethidium staining. The mRNA and protein expression of UCHL1 were examined by real-time PCR and immunoblotting analysis. Results At 6 months of age, SHRs showed significantly increased mRNA and protein levels of UCHL1 in the retina compared with WKY rats. Moreover, SHRs exhibited significantly increased central retinal thickness, inflammation, and reactive oxygen species production compared with WKY rats, and these effects were markedly attenuated by systemic administration of the UCHL1 inhibitor LDN57444. The beneficial effects of LDN57444 were possibly associated with reduced blood pressure and the inactivation of several signaling pathways. Conclusion UCHL1 is involved in hypertension and retinopathy in SHRs, suggesting that UCHL1 may be used as a potential therapeutic target for treating hypertensive retinopathy.

Abstract Background A Two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) Analysis was used to assess the causal relationship between non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and sepsis. Method Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) closely associated with NSCLC were utilized as instrumental variables (IVs) in this study. The Inverse Variance Weighted (IVW) method was used as the primary method for MR analysis, supplemented by the Weighted median, Weighted model, and MR-Egger regression method. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to improve result robustness, and data from various sources were validated and integrated. Bonferroni tests were applied to adjust for multiple comparisons. Results After Bonferroni tests correcting the combined results, MR analysis revealed a significant association between genetically predicted NSCLC and an increased susceptibility to sepsis (odds ratios [OR]: 1.140, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.085–1.199, P = 2.61 × 10− 7). The combined results demonstrated that NSCLC is associated with a heightened risk of sepsis in patients under 75 years of age (OR: 1.085, 95%CI: 1.037–1.353, P = 3.84 × 10− 4). Furthermore, lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) was found to be potentially associated with an increased susceptibility to sepsis (OR: 1.040, 95% CI: 1.009–1.073, P = 1.16 × 10− 2). These results withstood multiple sensitivity analyses, demonstrating their robustness. Conclusion This study confirms that NSCLC can significantly increase susceptibility to sepsis at the genetic level, providing valuable insights for the early identification of individuals at risk for sepsis.

ABSTRACTAmyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that leads to respiratory failure, and eventually death. However, there is a lack of effective treatments for ALS. Here we report the results of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) in two patients with late-onset classic ALS with a Japan ALS severity classification of grade 5 who required tracheostomy and mechanical ventilation. In both patients, significant improvements in respiratory function were observed following two rounds of FMT, leading to weaning off mechanical ventilation. Their muscle strength improved, allowing for assisted standing and mobility. Other notable treatment responses included improved swallowing function and reduced muscle fasciculations. Metagenomic and metabolomic analysis revealed an increase in beneficial Bacteroides species (Bacteroides stercoris, Bacteroides uniformis, Bacteroides vulgatus), and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii after FMT, as well as elevated levels of metabolites involved in arginine biosynthesis and decreased levels of metabolites involved in branched-chain amino acid biosynthesis. These findings offer a potential rescue therapy for ALS with respiratory failure and provide new insights into ALS in general.

Due to its exceptionally high theoretical energy density, fluorinated carbon has been recognized as a strong contender for the cathode material in lithium primary batteries particularly valued in aerospace and related industries. However, CFx cathode with high F/C ratio, which enables higher energy density, often suffer from inadequate rate capability and are unable to satisfy escalating demand. Furthermore, their intrinsic low discharge voltage imposes constraints on their applicability. In this study, a novel and high F/C ratio fluorinated carbon nanomaterials (FNC) enriched with semi-ionic C–F bonds is synthesized at a lower fluorination temperature, using aggregated nanocarbon as the precursor. The increased presence semi-ionic C–F bonds of the FNC enhances conductivity, thereby ameliorating ohmic polarization effects during initial discharge. In addition, the spherical shape and aggregated configuration of FNC facilitate the diffusion of Li+ to abundant active sites through continuous paths. Consequently, the FNC exhibits high discharge voltage of 3.15 V at 0.01C and superior rate capability in lithium primary batteries. At a high rate of 20C, power density of 33,694 W kg–1 and energy density of 1,250 Wh kg–1 are achieved. Moreover, FNC also demonstrates notable electrochemical performance in sodium/potassium-CFx primary batteries. This new-type alkali-metal/CFx primary batteries exhibit outstanding rate capability, rendering them with vast potential in high-power applications.

BackgroundCardiovascular diseases (CVDs) stand as the foremost global cause of mortality, prompting a growing interest in using the potential of immune cells for heart injury treatment. This study aims to assess the causal association between immune cells and CVDs.MethodsA total of 731 immune cells were derived from a previously published genome-wide association study (GWAS), which included approximately 22 million genetic variants among 3,757 individuals of Sardinian ancestry. Genetic associations with atrial fibrillation (AF), heart failure, coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction and stroke were extracted from large-scale GWAS. A two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was used to assess the causal association between immune cells and CVDs. Replication MR analysis based on FinnGen dataset and meta-analysis are sequentially conducted to validate causal relationships.ResultsCollectively, genetically predicted 4 immune cell traits were associated with AF and 5 immune cell traits were associated with stroke. Increased levels of IgD- CD38dim absolute count were associated with a higher susceptibility to AF, while increased expression of CD14+ CD16+ monocytes, CD62L on CD62L+ myeloid dendritic cells, and CD16 on CD14- CD16+ monocytes were linked to a decreased susceptibility to AF. Additionally, an elevated susceptibility to stroke was linked to an increase in the percentage of CD39+ resting Tregs and heightened CD27 expression on IgD- CD38+ cells. Conversely, a decreased susceptibility to stroke was associated with increased CD40 expression on monocytes, particularly on CD14+ CD16+ and CD14+ CD16- monocytes, with the latter two showing the most compelling evidence.ConclusionThis study identified several immune cell traits that have a causal relationship with CVDs, thus confirming that immune cells play an important role in the pathogenesis of these diseases.

Abstract The shear yield stress is an important parameter for the industrial application of magnetorheological (MR) fluids. A test equipment was designed and built to perform investigations on the behaviours of compression and shear after squeeze of MR fluids. Mathematical expression of magnetic flux density was further established. Furthermore, the magnetic field distribution of the test device based on two-coil mode and single-coil mode was simulated and compared using finite element analysis(ANSYS/Multiphysics). An experimental test system was fabricated and modified based on the final conditions and simulation results. The compression and shear after squeeze performances of MR fluids were tested. The results showed that a smaller initial gap distance or a larger compressive strain corresponds to a larger compressive stress under the same external magnetic field strength. The shear yield stress after the squeeze of MR fluids increases quickly with the increasing compression stress and the increasing magnetic flux density. This test equipment was thought to be suitable for studying the compression and shear after squeeze performances of MR fluids.

Abstract Background Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) has reemerged as a major public health concern, causing chikungunya fever with increasing cases and neurological complications. Methods In the present study, we investigated a low-passage human isolate of the East/ Central/South African (ECSA) lineage of CHIKV strain LK(EH)CH6708, which exhibited a mix of small and large viral plaques. The small and large plaque variants were isolated and designated as CHIKV-SP and CHIKV-BP, respectively. CHIKV-SP and CHIKV-BP were characterized in vitro and in vivo to compare their virus production and virulence. Additionally, whole viral genome analysis and reverse genetics were employed to identify genomic virulence factors. Results CHIKV-SP demonstrated lower virus production in mammalian cells and attenuated virulence in a murine model. On the other hand, CHIKV-BP induced higher pro-inflammatory cytokine levels, compromised the integrity of the blood–brain barrier, and led to astrocyte infection in mouse brains. Furthermore, the CHIKV-SP variant had limited transmission potential in Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, likely due to restricted dissemination. Whole viral genome analysis revealed multiple genetic mutations in the CHIKV-SP variant, including a Glycine (G) to Arginine (R) mutation at position 55 in the viral E2 glycoprotein. Reverse genetics experiments confirmed that the E2-G55R mutation alone was sufficient to reduce virus production in vitro and virulence in mice. Conclusions These findings highlight the attenuating effects of the E2-G55R mutation on CHIKV pathogenicity and neurovirulence and emphasize the importance of monitoring this mutation in natural infections.

Strawberry, considered to be a model for non-climacteric fruits, has traditionally been viewed as having a less pronounced reliance on ethylene in fruit development. However, the inherent tissue heterogeneity within strawberry fruit, coupled with variable ethylene production levels, suggests a potential role for ethylene in the maturation of the true fruit, the achenes, dispersed on the fleshy receptacle. This intricate process is likely to exert ripple effects on the subsequent growth and ripening of the receptacle. To comprehensively unravel the functions of ethylene in strawberry fruit, there is a need for ethylene detection sensors, ethylene response reporter transgenic plants, and genetically engineered mutants achieved through genome editing, encompassing both biosynthesis and signaling mutants.

Leaf color mutants serve as valuable models for studying the regulation of plant photosynthesis, alternations in chloroplast structure and function, and the analysis of associated gene functions. A yellow leaf mutant, ylm, was separated from the wild tomato M82, with its yellowing intensity influenced by low temperature. To assess the low-temperature sensitivity of this mutant, the photosynthetic and chlorophyll fluorescence responses of ylm and M82 were examined under different temperature conditions. In this study, the ylm mutant and its wild type, M82, were exposed to three temperature levels, 16, 25, and 30 °C, for 48 h. The impact of these temperature treatments on leaf color change, chlorophyll content, photosynthetic performance, and chlorophyll fluorescence characteristics of mutant ylm was investigated. The results revealed the following: (1) After exposure to 16 °C, the ylm mutant exhibited significant yellowing, a marked reduction in chlorophyll content, and a notable increase in carotenoid content. At 25 °C, the differences were less pronounced, and at 30 °C, the differences between ylm and M82 were minimal. (2) The photosynthetic rate of the ylm mutant was lower than that of M82 at 16 °C, with the gap narrowing as temperature increased, eventually converging at higher temperatures. (3) The fluorescence transient curve (OJIP) of the ylm mutant differed significantly from that of M82 at 16 °C, with higher fluorescence intensity at the O point and lower intensity at the J, I, and P points. This difference was decreased at 25 °C and nearly disappeared at 30 °C. Additionally, the Fv/Fm, Fv/Fo, PIabs, PItotal, ABS/CSm, TRo/CSm, and ETo/CSm values of ylm were lower than those of M82 at 16 °C, while the ABS/RC and DIo/RC values were higher, with no significant differences observed at 30 °C. These findings suggest that the ylm mutant is highly sensitive to low temperature, with pronounced yellowing, reduced light energy absorption and capture efficiency, and impaired electron transport at lower temperature.

Fluorinated carbon cathode materials have extremely high theoretical specific energy among known cathode materials of lithium primary batteries. Nevertheless, current fluorinated carbon cannot meet the performance demands of future applications due to the rate performance. This work innovatively applies hollow carbon spheres with a porous structure as carbon sources to prepare fluorinated hollow porous carbon spheres (FHPCS) with high energy density and power density. The porous structure provides more reaction sites for the fluorination process and also shortens the diffusion path of lithium ions during the discharge. Additionally, the hollow porous structure offers more interfacial contact areas and reduces volumetric expansion during discharge reactions. The Li/CFx primary battery has a maximum specific energy of 2007 Wh kg−1 and a maximum power density of 30,400 W kg−1 and can have a capacity retention rate of 80.8% at a current density of 16 A g−1. In addition, FHPCS also has the highest specific energy of 1999 Wh kg−1 and 1711 Wh kg−1 in Na/CFx and K/CFx primary batteries, respectively. The diffusion efficiency of an alkali metal ion is analyzed by the different discharge depths with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and galvanostatic intermittent titration technique. This effort introduces a new high-performance fluorinated carbon featuring a hollow porous structure and puts forward an innovative approach to designing fluorinated carbon materials.

Abstract Background Postoperative anemia is a risk factor for adverse surgical outcomes. Our study aimed to assess the role of intravenous iron and erythropoietin therapy for the rapid correction of anemia following orthopedic surgery. Methods Patients undergoing elective orthopedic surgery were prospectively enrolled and randomly divided into three groups: Control (placebo), Group 1 (IV iron monotherapy), and Group 2 [combined IV iron and recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) therapy]. Blood tests were performed preoperative (baseline) and on postoperative days (PODs) 1, 3, and 7. Results All groups demonstrated significantly lower hemoglobin (Hb) concentrations compared to baseline, with no significant inter-group differences in postoperative Hb concentrations (p > 0.05). Serum erythropoietin, ferritin, and vitamin B12 levels, and reticulocyte count increased beyond normal ranges in all groups. Significantly lower serum iron levels were observed postoperatively in all groups (p 0.05). Conclusion Postoperative treatment with combined intravenous iron and rHuEPO was ineffective in correcting postoperative anemia among orthopedic surgery patients, besides achieving higher reticulocyte counts in the first week of surgery. No improvement in mobilization of storage iron was achieved with rHuEPO. We further suggest against vitamin B12 administration during the early postoperative period.

Abstract High-performance Li-ion/metal batteries working at a low temperature (i.e.,

Abstract Background Stool DNA (sDNA) tests and fecal immunochemical test (FIT) are used for the detection of colorectal cancer (CRC). Here we performed a novel evaluation using sDNA and FIT to assess their performance in CRC screening and monitoring in Hubei, China. Methods Stool samples were collected from a high-risk population in Hubei, China (n = 359). sDNA tests and FIT were performed to test for KRAS mutations, NDRG4 and BMP3 methylation, and check hemoglobin levels. The methylation in BMP3 and NDRG4 genes was detected by TaqMan PCR method from human fecal samples. KRAS gene mutation in human fecal DNA was tested using TaqMan probe and amplification-refractory mutation system method. The colloid gold method was used for detection of hemoglobin in fecal samples. Finally, a novel evaluation by software was used to calculate the comprehensive value of the combined results for CRC detection and monitoring. Results The sensitivity and specificity of the novel evaluation for early CRC (stage I and II), advanced adenoma (AA), and non-colon cancer neoplasm (NA) detection were 95.45% and 81.6%, 29.63% and 75.9%, and 23.08% and 75.17%, respectively. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves of the combined value for the above diseases were 0.945 ± 0.015, 0.543 ± 0.055, and 0.547 ± 0.038, respectively. The levels of the novel evaluation were not significantly associated with the pathology and stage (P > 0.05). In 20 out of 22 CRC patients, the novel evaluation of sDNA and FIT had decreased below threshold (

Early detection and diagnosis of crop anomalies is crucial for enhancing crop yield and quality. Recently, the combination of machine learning and deep learning with hyperspectral images has significantly improved the efficiency of crop detection. However, acquiring a large amount of properly annotated hyperspectral data on stressed crops requires extensive biochemical experiments and specialized knowledge. This limitation poses a challenge to the construction of large-scale datasets for crop stress analysis. Meta-learning is a learning approach that is capable of learning to learn and can achieve high detection accuracy with limited training samples. In this paper, we introduce meta-learning to hyperspectral imaging and crop detection for the first time. In addition, we gathered 88 hyperspectral images of drought-stressed tomato plants and 68 images of freeze-stressed tomato plants. The data related to drought serve as the source domain, while the data related to frost damage serve as the target domain. Due to the difficulty of obtaining target domain data from real-world testing scenarios, only a limited amount of target domain data and source domain data are used for model training. The results indicated that meta-learning, with a minimum of eight target domain samples, achieved a detection accuracy of 69.57%, precision of 59.29%, recall of 66.32% and F1-score of 62.61% for classifying the severity of frost stress, surpassing other methods with a target domain sample size of 20. Moreover, for determining whether the plants were under stress, meta-learning, with a minimum of four target domain samples, achieved a detection accuracy of 89.1%, precision of 89.72%, recall of 93.08% and F1-score of 91.37% outperforming other methods at a target domain sample size of 20. The results show that meta-learning methods require significantly less data across different domains compared to other methods. The performance of meta-learning techniques thoroughly demonstrates the feasibility of rapidly detecting crop stress without the need for collecting a large amount of target stress data. This research alleviates the data annotation pressure for researchers and provides a foundation for detection personnel to anticipate and prevent potential large-scale stress damage to crops.

Abstract Background Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty(UPPP) is the most prevalent surgical treatment of obstructive sleep apnea, but postoperative pharyngeal pain may affect patient comfort. The enhanced recovery after surgery pathway has been proved beneficial to many types of surgery but not to UPPP yet. The aim of this pilot study was to preliminarily standrize an enhanced recovery after surgery protocol for UPPP, to assess whether it has positive effects on reducing postoperative pharyngeal pain and improving patient comfort, and to test its feasibility for an international multicentre study. Methods This randomised controlled study analysed 116 patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) who were undergoing UPPP in a single tertiary care hospital. They were randomly divided according to treatment: the ERAS group (those who received ERAS treatment) and the control group (those who received traditional treatment). Ninety-five patients completed the assessment (ERAS group, 59 patients; control group, 36 patients). Pharyngeal pain and patient comfort were evaluated using a visual analogue scale (VAS) at 30 min and at 6, 12, 24 and 48 h after UPPP. Complications, hospitalisation duration, and hospital cost were recorded. Results The VAS scores for resting pain and swallowing pain were significantly lower in the ERAS group than those in the control group at 30 min and at 6, 12, 24 and 48 h after surgery. Patient comfort was improved in the ERAS group. The hospitalisation duration and cost were comparable between the groups. The incidence of complications showed an increasing trend in the ERAS group. Conclusion The ERAS protocol significantly relieved pharyngeal pain after UPPP and improved comfort in patients with OSA, which showed the prospect for an larger study. Meanwhile a potential increase of post-operative complications in the ERAS group should be noticed. Trial registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (23/09/2018, ChiCTR1800018537 )

The on-going COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to SARS-CoV-2 clades and variants with differing levels of symptoms and severity. To this end, we aim to systematically elucidate the changes in the pathogenesis as SARS-CoV-2 evolved from ancestral to the recent Omicron VOC, on their mechanisms (e.g. cytokine storm) resulting in tissue damage, using the established K18-hACE2 murine model. We reported that among the SARS-CoV-2 viruses tested, infection profiles were initially similar between viruses from early clades but started to differ greatly starting from VOC Delta, where the trend continues in Omicron. VOCs Delta and Omicron both accumulated a significant number of mutations, and when compared to VOCs Alpha, Beta, and earlier predecessors, showed reduced neurotropism and less apparent gene expression in cytokine storm associated pathways. They were shown to leverage on other pathways to cause tissue damage (or lack of in the case of Omicron). Our study highlighted the importance of elucidating the response profiles of individual SARS-CoV-2 iterations, as their propensity of severe infection via pathways like cytokine storm changes as more variant evolves. This will then affect the overall threat assessment of each variant as well as the use of immunomodulatory treatments as management of severe infections of each variant.

Trichinellosis is a major food-borne parasitosis caused by ingesting raw or semi-raw meat products from pigs infected with Trichinella spiralis (T. spiralis). Although China is the largest consumer of pork in the world, the current diagnostic method of T. spiralis is exclusively performed in a laboratory setting, due to its complexity and laborious procedure. Here, in order to solve the detection problems in the pig breeding industry, a rapid, sensitive, and on-site serological diagnosis method was developed. The novel lateral flow immunoassay strip (ICS) is based on europium(III) chelate microparticle (ECM) to detect T. spiralis-specific IgG antibody in the serum and whole blood samples from pigs. The structure of the blood-filtering pad and the conjugate pad was added to the ICS, allowing for whole blood samples to be detected and enabling on-site deployment. By comparing the detection results of the serum samples and the whole blood samples, the detection limit of this method was evaluated. Thereafter, this method was used to investigate Trichinella infection in Chongqing, Sichuan, Inner Mongolia, Guangxi, and Liaoning provinces of China, and the results were almost consistent with the standard method of artificial digestion. Taking advantage of its user-friendly procedure, short detection time (3 min), and sensitivity, the ECM-ICS could be employed for monitoring the epidemic of Trichinella infection and ensuring meat safety.

The enhancement mechanism of the fillet on brazing joints is of great significance for vacuum brazing technology. Although a lot of research on the enhancement mechanism of the fillet has been carried out, some key components of a comprehensive systematic enhancement mechanism for brazing fillets have yet to be established. In this paper, the enhancement mechanism for brazing fillets of SS304/pure copper brazing joints was studied by both experimental and numerical simulations. The SEM and tensile experiments were used to characterize the microstructure and shear strength of the brazing joints. The results show that the brazing joints, using 60 µm thick pure copper filler metal, exhibit a good microstructure in the brazing seam; however, its mechanical properties are lower than those found in specimens with a thickness of 90 µm. The fracture behaviors of brazing joints were also investigated, the fracture of the brazing seam was a fracture of mode II due to shear stress, while the fracture of the brazing fillet was caused by a combination of tensile stress and shear stress (mode I and mode II).

Dengue virus (DENV) is the cause of dengue fever, infecting 390 million people worldwide per year. It is transmitted to humans through the bites of mosquitoes and could potentially develop severe symptoms. In spite of the rising social and economic impact inflicted by the disease on the global population, a conspicuous lack of efficacious therapeutics against DENV still persists. In this study, catechin, a natural polyphenol compound, was evaluated as a DENV infection inhibitor in vitro. Through time-course studies, catechin was shown to inhibit a post-entry stage of the DENV replication cycle. Further investigation revealed its role in affecting viral protein translation. Catechin inhibited the replication of all four DENV serotypes and chikungunya virus (CHIKV). Together, these results demonstrate the ability of catechin to inhibit DENV replication, hinting at its potential to be used as a starting scaffold for further development of antivirals against DENV infection.

Abstract Background The relationships between polymorphisms in interleukin-10 (IL-10) gene and the risk of viral hepatitis remain inconclusive. Therefore, the authors conducted so far the very first meta-analysis to robustly assess the relationships between polymorphisms in IL-10 gene and the risk of viral hepatitis by integrating the results of previous works. Methods Medline, Embase, Wanfang, VIP and CNKI were searched throughly for eligible studies, and 76 genetic association studies were finally included in this meta-analysis. Results We noticed that rs1800871 (− 819 C/T), rs1800872 (− 592 C/A) and rs1800896 (− 1082 G/A) polymorphisms were all significantly associated with the risk of viral hepatitis in Asians, whereas only rs1800896 (− 1082 G/A) polymorphism was significantly associated with the risk of viral hepatitis in Caucasians. In further analyses by disease subtypes, we noticed that the three investigated polymorphisms were all significantly associated with the risk of both HBV and HCV. Conclusions This meta-analysis demonstrates that rs1800871 (− 819 C/T), rs1800872 (− 592 C/A) and rs1800896 (− 1082 G/A) polymorphisms may influence the risk of viral hepatitis in Asians, while only rs1800896 (− 1082 G/A) polymorphism may influence the risk of viral hepatitis in Caucasians. In further analyses by disease subtypes, we noticed that the three investigated polymorphisms may influence the risk of both HBV and HCV.

The acquisition of dynamic information on the coastline is of great significance for the Zhoushan archipelago. However, a large amount of suspended sediments, a tortuous coastline, numerous tidal flats, and so on have brought many challenges to research involving coastline extraction and the analysis of the spatial–temporal dynamics. This study has developed a method for extracting coastline information using multi-temporal remote sensing images based on tasseled cap transformation and mathematical morphology, allowing the temporal and spatial evolution of the coastline to be analyzed. The results showed that the proposed method can effectively attenuate the influence of suspended sediments, winding coastline, and shoals on the extraction of coastline information, and allow researchers to extract the spatial position of the coastline more accurately. The total coastline length of the Zhoushan archipelago increased by 327.36 km during the study period from 2000 to 2018, the average growth in length was 18.19 km, and the average growth rate was 0.72% over the 19-year period. The total area enclosed by the coastline of the Zhoushan archipelago increased by 112.26 km2 during the study period from 2000 to 2018, the average growth in area was 6.24 km2, and the average growth rate was 0.49% over the 19-year period. Construction, reclamation, and ocean engineering are the main causes of changes to the coastline of the Zhoushan archipelago. This study is useful for accurate coastline information extraction using remote sensing images in a complex marine environment and for protecting coastal resources in the archipelago.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about unprecedented medical and healthcare challenges worldwide. With the continual emergence and spread of new COVID-19 variants, four drug compound libraries were interrogated for their antiviral activities against SARS-CoV-2. Here, we show that the drug screen has resulted in 121 promising anti-SARS-CoV-2 compounds, of which seven were further shortlisted for hit validation: citicoline, pravastatin sodium, tenofovir alafenamide, imatinib mesylate, calcitriol, dexlansoprazole, and prochlorperazine dimaleate. In particular, the active form of vitamin D, calcitriol, exhibits strong potency against SARS-CoV-2 on cell-based assays and is shown to work by modulating the vitamin D receptor pathway to increase antimicrobial peptide cathelicidin expression. However, the weight, survival rate, physiological conditions, histological scoring, and virus titre between SARS-CoV-2 infected K18-hACE2 mice pre-treated or post-treated with calcitriol were negligible, indicating that the differential effects of calcitriol may be due to differences in vitamin D metabolism in mice and warrants future investigation using other animal models.

Ecosystem functions and services support all life on earth and are directly or indirectly related to human well-being. Meanwhile, island cities have concentrated populations, limited natural resources, and fragile environments. This study obtained land use and cover change information for an island city based on long-term series remote sensing imagery. Then, ecosystem services value was estimated based on the equivalent factor method. Finally, the correlations between ecosystem service values and social-economic indicators were analyzed. The results showed that: (1) From 1984 to 2017, land-use patterns changed significantly in Zhoushan City. The spatial extent of urbanized land increased, vegetation and bare land area decreased, and water body areas initially increased, then decreased, and later increased. This reflects the fact that the aquaculture industry of Zhoushan was developing rapidly during the study period, and the process of urbanization and coastal port development was accelerating. (2) The total value of ecosystem services in the study area increased from 1,876.04 million yuan in 1984 to 2,128.52 million yuan in 2017 (+13.46%) with an average annual increase of 7.65 million yuan or 0.40% annually. The ecosystem service values of water conservation and waste disposal have changed significantly, both increasing by about 40%. (3) The value of ecosystem services was positively correlated with the areas of vegetation and water, while negatively correlated with the area of bare land. This study not only provides a reference for the sustainable use of regional land resources but also establishes a new method of regional environmental assessment, which is of great significance for the formulation of sustainable development planning.

Background: ShuoTong ureteroscopy (Sotn-ureteroscopy, ST-URS), a new lithotripsy operation method developed on the basis of ureteroscopy, is widely used to treat ureteral stones in China. Its composition includes rigid ureteral access sheath, standard mirror, lithotripsy mirror, and ShuoTong perfusion aspirator (ST-APM). Here, we compared the efficacy and safety of the ST-URS and the flexible ureteroscope (F-URS) holmium laser lithotripsy in the treatment of unilateral upper ureteral calculi.Methods: Retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of 280 patients who met the inclusion 1) urinary tract CT was diagnosed with unilateral single upper ureteral calculi above the L4 lumbar spine; 2) patient age was from 18 to 80 years old; 3) patients were informed and consented to this study; and 4) patients were approved by the hospital ethics committee (proof number: KY-2019-020) and the exclusion criteria for unilateral upper ureteral calculi in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University from January 2018 to November 2020, and they were divided into the ST-URS group and the flexible ureteroscopy (F-URS) group.Results: The stone-free rate of 1 day after operation of the ST-URS group was significantly higher than the F-URS group (63.71 vs. 34.62%, P < 0.0001). The operative time (38.45 vs. 46.18 min, P = 0.005) and hospitalization cost (27,203 vs. 33,220 Yuan, P < 0.0001) of the ST-URS group were significantly lower than the F-URS group. There were no significant differences in the success rate of ureteral access sheath placement, operative blood loss, stone-free rate of 1 month after operation, postoperative complications, postoperative hospital stay, and postoperative visual analog scale (VAS) pain score between the two groups (P > 0.05). In subgroups of a diameter of calculi ≥ 1.5 cm, calculi CT numerical value ≥ 1,000 Hounsfield unit and the preoperative hydronephrosis range ≥ 3.0 cm, ST-URS shows more advantages in the operative time, stone-free rate of 1 day after the operation, the hospitalization cost, and the incidence of postoperative complications.Conclusion: In unilateral upper ureteral stones treated with a holmium laser, compared with the simple F-URS, the ST-URS has a shorter operative time, lower hospitalization cost, and a higher stone-free rate of 1 day after the operation, suggesting that the ST-URS could be more widely applied in clinics.

Rapid urbanization, marked by massive land-use and land-cover change (LUCC) and explosive population growth, has a significant impact on human activities. To provide a comprehensive understanding of the characteristics of LUCC in the Zhoushan Archipelago, dynamic monitoring and analysis of LUCC was performed using seven Landsat images from 1984 to 2016. The observations and results obtained in this study include the following: the forest of Zhoushan Island was well protected and had a slight increase in the area, yet the spatial distribution remained nearly unchanged; the construction land gradually expanded to all of the coastal plains and southern islands with a trend “first southward, then eastward and finally northward,” and the area increased by 571.88%; the coastal cropland/grassland surrounding Zhoushan Island was observed to have been gradually occupied by construction land as noted by a 27.94% decrease in area and the spatial distribution becoming discrete; the mudflat decreased by 93.39% and was mainly converted into construction land; the total land area observed in this study increased by 8.87%, which was achieved primarily by sea reclamation and conversion to construction land and inland water body. These results provide a better understanding of the spatial and temporal evolvement features of LUCC in Zhoushan, China, and the LUCC characteristics that can be expected to significantly support urban management and sustainable development.

The main challenge in extracting coastal aquaculture ponds is how to weaken the influence of the “same-spectrum foreign objects” effect and how to improve the definition of the boundary and accuracy of the extraction results of coastal aquaculture ponds. In this study, a recognition model based on the U2-Net deep learning model using remote sensing images for extracting coastal aquaculture ponds has been constructed. Firstly, image preprocessing is performed to amplify the spectral features. Second, samples are produced by visual interpretation. Third, the U2-Net deep learning model is used to train and extract aquaculture ponds along the coastal region. Finally, post-processing is performed to optimize the extraction results of the model. This method was validated in experiments in the Zhoushan Archipelago, China. The experimental results show that the average F-measure of the method in the study for the four study cases reaches 0.93, and the average precision and average recall rate are 92.21% and 93.79%, which is suitable for extraction applications in aquaculture ponds along the coastal region. This study can quickly and accurately carry out the mapping of coastal aquaculture ponds and can provide technical support for marine resource management and sustainable development.

Water, as an important part of ecosystems, is also an important topic in the field of remote sensing. Shadows and dense vegetation negatively affect most traditional methods used to extract water body information from remotely sensed images. As a result, extracting water body information with high precision from a wide range of remote sensing images which contain complex ground-based objects has proved difficult. In the present study, a method used for extracting water body information from remote sensing imagery considers the greenness and wetness of ground-based objects. Ground objects with varied water content and vegetation coverage have different characteristics in their greenness and wetness components obtained by the Tasseled Cap transformation (TCT). Multispectral information can be output as brightness, greenness, and wetness by Tasseled Cap transformation, which is widely used in satellite remote sensing images. Hence, a model used to extract water body information was constructed to weaken the influence of shadows and dense vegetation. Jiangsu and Anhui provinces are located along the Yangtze River, China, and were selected as the research area. The experiment used the wide-field-of-view (WFV) sensor onboard the Gaofen-1 satellite to acquire remotely sensed photos. The results showed that the contours and spatial extent of the water bodies extracted by the proposed method are highly consistent, and the influence of shadow and buildings is minimized; the method has a high Kappa coefficient (0.89), overall accuracy (92.72%), and user accuracy (88.04%). Thus, the method is useful in updating a geographical database of water bodies and in water resource management.

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a mosquito-borne pathogen that is responsible for numerous large and geographical epidemics, causing millions of cases. However, there is no vaccine or therapeutics against CHIKV infection available. Interferon-alpha (IFN-α) has been shown to produce potent antiviral responses during viral infection. Herein we demonstrated the use of an adenovirus-vectored expressed mouse IFN-α (mDEF201) as a prophylactic and therapeutic treatment against CHIKV in vivo. 6-day-old BALB/c mice were pre- or post-treated intranasally with single dose of mDEF201 at 5 x 106 PFU per mouse and challenged with lethal dose of CHIKV. Complete survival protection was observed in mice upon a single dose of mDEF201 administration 1 days prior to virus challenge. Viral load in the serum and multiple organs were significantly reduced upon mDEF201 administration in a dose dependent manner as compare with adenovirus 5 vector placebo set. Histological analysis of the mice tissue revealed that mDEF201 could significantly reduce the tissue morphological abnormities, mainly infiltration of immune cells and muscle fibre necrosis caused by CHIKV infection. In addition, administration of mDEF201 at 6 hours post CHIKV challenge also showed promising inhibitory effect against viral replication and dissemination. In conclusion, single-dose of intranasal administration with mDEF201 as a prophylactic or therapeutic agent within 6 hours post CHIKV infection is highly protective against a lethal challenge of CHIKV in the murine model.

Objective To evaluate the efficiency of county public hospitals in Shandong Province following China’s new medical reform and compare the efficiency of hospitals with different bed sizes for improving efficiency.Design and setting This was a cross-sectional study on the efficiency and size of 68 county public hospitals in China in 2017.Outcome measures Data envelopment analysis was used to calculate the efficiency scores of hospitals and to analyse the slack values of inefficient hospitals. The actual number of open beds, doctors, nurses and total expenditure were selected as inputs, and the total number of annual visits, discharges and total income were selected as outputs. The Kruskal-Wallis H test was employed to compare the efficiency of hospitals with different bed sizes. The χ2 test was used to compare the returns to scale (RTS) of hospitals with different bed sizes.Results Twenty (29.41%) hospitals were efficient. There were 27 hospitals with increasing returns to scale, 23 hospitals with constant returns to scale and 18 hospitals with decreasing returns to scale (DRS). The differences in technical efficiency (p=0.248, p>0.05) and pure technical efficiency (p=0.073, p>0.05) were not statistically significant. However, the differences in scale efficiency (p=0.047, p

Post-operative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) could cause short-term or long-term cognitive disruption lasting weeks or months after anesthesia and surgery in elderly. However, no effective treatment of POCD is currently available. Previous studies indicated that the enhancement of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression, and the elevation the cholinergic system, might be effective to prevent POCD. In this study, we have discovered that tacrine(10)-hupyridone (A10E), a novel acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitor derived from tacrine and huperzine A, could prevent surgery-induced short-term and long-term impairments of recognition and spatial cognition, as evidenced by the novel object recognition test and Morris water maze (MWM) tests, in aged mice. Moreover, A10E significantly increased the expression of BDNF and activated the downstream Akt and extracellular regulated kinase (ERK) signaling in the surgery-treated mice. Furthermore, A10E substantially enhanced choline acetyltransferase (ChAT)-positive area and decreased AChE activity, in the hippocampus regions of surgery-treated mice, indicating that A10E could prevent surgery-induced dysfunction of cholinergic system, possibly via increasing the synthesis of acetylcholine and the inhibition of AChE. In conclusion, our results suggested that A10E might prevent POCD via the activation of BDNF pathway and the inhibition of AChE, concurrently, in aged mice. These findings also provided a support that A10E might be developed as a potential drug lead for POCD.

Li/CFx is one of the highest-energy-density primary batteries; however, poor rate capability hinders its practical applications in high-power devices. Here we report a preparation of fluorinated graphene (GFx) with superior performance through a direct gas fluorination method. We find that the so-called “semi-ionic” C-F bond content in all C-F bonds presents a more critical impact on rate performance of the GFx in comparison with sp2 C content in the GFx, morphology, structure, and specific surface area of the materials. The rate capability remains excellent before the semi-ionic C-F bond proportion in the GFx decreases. Thus, by optimizing semi-ionic C-F content in our GFx, we obtain the optimal x of 0.8, with which the GF0.8 exhibits a very high energy density of 1,073 Wh kg−1 and an excellent power density of 21,460 W kg−1 at a high current density of 10 A g−1. More importantly, our approach opens a new avenue to obtain fluorinated carbon with high energy densities without compromising high power densities.

A molecular diagnostic platform with DANP-anchored hairpin primer was developed and evaluated for the rapid and cost-effective detection of Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) with high sensitivity and specificity. The molecule 2, 7-diamino-1, 8-naphthyridine (DANP) binds to a cytosine-bulge and emits fluorescence at 450 nm when it is excited by 400 nm light. Thus, by measuring the decline in fluorescence emitted from DANP-primer complexes after PCR reaction, we could monitor the PCR progress. By adapting this property of DANP, we have previously developed the first generation DANP-coupled hairpin RT-PCR assay. In the current study, we improved the assay performance by conjugating the DANP molecule covalently onto the hairpin primer to fix the DANP/primer ratio at 1:1; and adjusting the excitation emission wavelength to 365/430 nm to minimize the background signal and a 'turn-on' system is achieved. After optimizing the PCR cycle number to 30, we not only shortened the total assay turnaround time to 60 minutes, but also further reduced the background fluorescence. The detection limit of our assay was 0.001 PFU per reaction. The DANP-anchored hairpin primer, targeting nsP2 gene of CHIKV genome, is highly specific to CHIKV, having no cross-reactivity to a panel of other RNA viruses tested. In conclusion, we report here a molecular diagnostic assay that is sensitive, specific, rapid and cost effective for CHIKV detection and can be performed where no real time PCR instrumentation is required. Our results from patient samples indicated 93.62% sensitivity and 100% specificity of this method, ensuring that it can be a useful tool for rapid detection of CHIKV for outbreaks in many parts of the world.

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an arthropod-borne virus responsible for recent epidemics in the Asia Pacific regions. A customized gene expression microarray of 18,760 transcripts known to target Aedes mosquito genome was used to identify host genes that are differentially regulated during the infectious entry process of CHIKV infection on C6/36 mosquito cells. Several genes such as epsin I (EPN1), epidermal growth factor receptor pathway substrate 15 (EPS15) and Huntingtin interacting protein I (HIP1) were identified to be differentially expressed during CHIKV infection and known to be involved in clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME). Transmission electron microscopy analyses further revealed the presence of CHIKV particles within invaginations of the plasma membrane, resembling clathrin-coated pits. Characterization of vesicles involved in the endocytic trafficking processes of CHIKV revealed the translocation of the virus particles to the early endosomes and subsequently to the late endosomes and lysosomes. Treatment with receptor-mediated endocytosis inhibitor, monodansylcadaverine and clathrin-associated drug inhibitors, chlorpromazine and dynasore inhibited CHIKV entry, whereas no inhibition was observed with caveolin-related drug inhibitors. Inhibition of CHIKV entry upon treatment with low-endosomal pH inhibitors indicated that low pH is essential for viral entry processes. CHIKV entry by clathrin-mediated endocytosis was validated via overexpression of a dominant-negative mutant of Eps15, in which infectious entry was reduced, while siRNA-based knockdown of genes associated with CME, low endosomal pH and RAB trafficking proteins exhibited significant levels of CHIKV inhibition. This study revealed, for the first time, that the infectious entry of CHIKV into mosquito cells is mediated by the clathrin-dependent endocytic pathway.

Although thiazolidinediones (TZDs) were found to be ligands for peroxisome proliferators-activated receptorγ (PPARγ), the mechanism by which TZDs exert their anticancer effect remains unclear. Furthermore, the effect of TZDs on metastatic and angiogenesis potential of cancer cells is unknown. Our results in this paper show that rosiglitazone inhibited SGC-7901 gastric cancer cells growth, caused G1 cell cycle arrest and induced apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. The effects of rosiglitazone on SGC-7901 cancer cells were completely reversed by treatment with PPARγ antagonist GW9662. Rosiglitazone inhibited SGC-7901 cell migration, invasiveness, and the expression of MMP-2 in dose-dependent manner via PPARγ-independent manner. Rosiglitazone reduced the VEGF induced angiogenesis of HUVEC in dose-dependent manner through PPARγ-dependent pathway. Moreover, rosiglitazone did not affect the expression of VEGF by SGC-7901 cells. Our results demonstrated that by PPARγ ligand, rosiglitazone inhibited growth and invasiveness of SGC-7901 gastric cancer cells and angiogenesis in vitro via PPARγ-dependent or -independent pathway.