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Abstract Objectives The simplified endoscopic score of Crohn’s disease (SES-CD) is the gold standard for quantitatively evaluating Crohn’s disease (CD) activity but is invasive. This study aimed to develop and validate a machine learning (ML) model based on dual-energy CT enterography (DECTE) to noninvasively evaluate CD activity. Methods We evaluated the activity in 202 bowel segments of 46 CD patients according to the SES-CD score and divided the segments randomly into training set and testing set at a ratio of 7:3. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) was used for feature selection, and three models based on significant parameters were established based on logistic regression. Model performance was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC), calibration, and clinical decision curves. Results There were 110 active and 92 inactive bowel segments. In univariate analysis, the slope of spectral curve in the venous phases (λHU-V) has the best diagnostic performance, with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.81 and an optimal threshold of 1.975. In the testing set, the AUC of the three models established by the 7 variables to differentiate CD activity was 0.81–0.87 (DeLong test p value was 0.071–0.766, p > 0.05), and the combined model had the highest AUC of 0.87 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.779–0.959). Conclusions The ML model based the DECTE can feasibly evaluate CD activity, and DECTE parameters provide a quantitative analysis basis for evaluating specific bowel activities in CD patients. Critical relevance statement The machine learning model based on dual-energy computed tomography enterography can be used for evaluating Crohn’s disease activity noninvasively and quantitatively. Key Points Dual-energy CT parameters are related to Crohn’s disease activity. Three machine learning models effectively evaluated Crohn’s disease activity. Combined models based on conventional and dual-energy CT have the best performance. Graphical Abstract

Abstract The carbon cycle in soil is significantly influenced by soil microbes. To investigate the vertical distribution of the dominant groups in agricultural soil and the carbon metabolic diversity of soil bacteria, 45 soil samples from the 0 ~ 50 cm soil layer in Hunan tobacco–rice multiple cropping farmland were collected in November 2017, and the carbon diversity of the soil bacterial community, bacterial community composition and soil physical and chemical properties were determined. The results showed that the carbon metabolic capabilities and functional diversity of the soil bacterial community decreased with depth. The three most widely used carbon sources for soil bacteria were carbohydrates, amino acids, and polymers. The dominant bacterial groups in surface soil (such as Chloroflexi, Acidobacteriota, and Bacteroidota) were significantly positively correlated with the carbon metabolism intensity. The alkali-hydrolysable nitrogen content, soil bulk density and carbon–nitrogen ratio were the key soil factors driving the differences in carbon metabolism of the soil bacterial communities in the different soil layers.

Abstract The binding of therapeutic antagonists to their receptors often fail to translate into adequate manipulation of downstream pathways. To fix this ‘bug’, here we report a strategy that stitches cell surface ‘patches’ to promote receptor clustering, thereby synchronizing subsequent mechano-transduction. The “patches” are sewn with two interactable nanothreads. In sequence, Nanothread-1 strings together adjacent receptors while presenting decoy receptors. Nanothread-2 then targets these decoys multivalently, intertwining with Nanothread-1 into a coiled-coil supramolecular network. This stepwise actuation clusters an extensive vicinity of receptors, integrating mechano-transduction to disrupt signal transmission. When applied to antagonize chemokine receptors CXCR4 expressed in metastatic breast cancer of female mice, this strategy elicits and consolidates multiple events, including interception of metastatic cascade, reversal of immunosuppression, and potentiation of photodynamic immunotherapy, reducing the metastatic burden. Collectively, our work provides a generalizable tool to spatially rearrange cell-surface receptors to improve therapeutic outcomes.

Abstract Predictive markers and prognostic models are useful for the individualization of cancer treatment. In this study, we sought to identify clinical and molecular factors to predict overall survival in recurrent glioma patients receiving bevacizumab-containing regimens. A cohort of 102 patients was retrospectively collected from June 2011 to January 2022 at our institution. A nomogram was generated by Cox regression and feature selection algorithms based on 19 clinicopathological and 60 molecular variables. The model's performance was internally evaluated by bootstrapping in terms of discrimination and calibration. The median overall survival from the initiation of bevacizumab administration to death or last follow-up was 11.6 months (95% CI: 9.2–13.8 months) for all 102 patients, 10.2 months (95% CI: 6.4–13.3 months) for 66 patients with grade 4 tumors, and 13.8 months (lower limit of 95% CI: 11.5 months) for 36 patients with tumors of grade lower or not available. In the final model, a lower WHO 2021 grade (Grade lower or not available vs. Grade 4, HR: 0.398, 95% CI: 0.223–0.708, p = 0.00172), having received adjuvant radiochemotherapy (Yes vs. No, HR: 0.488, 95% CI: 0.268–0.888, p = 0.0189), and wildtype EGFR (Wildtype vs. Altered, HR: 0.193, 95% CI: 0.0506–0.733, p = 0.0157; Not available vs. Altered, HR: 0.386, 95% CI: 0.184–0.810, p = 0.0118) were significantly associated with longer overall survival in multivariate Cox regression. The overall concordance index was 0.652 (95% CI: 0.566–0.714), and the areas under the time-dependent curves for 6-, 12-, and 18-month overall survival were 0.677 (95% CI: 0.516–0.816), 0.654 (95% CI: 0.470–0.823), and 0.675 (95% CI: 0.491–0.860), respectively. A prognostic model for overall survival in recurrent glioma patients treated with bevacizumab-based therapy was established and internally validated. It could serve as a reference tool for clinicians to assess the extent the patients may benefit from bevacizumab and stratify their treatment response.

Due to the strong unsteadiness of pulse detonation, large flow losses are generated when the detonation wave interacts with the turbine blades, resulting in low turbine efficiency. Considering that the flow losses are dissipated into the gas as heat energy, some of them can be recycled during the expansion process in subsequent stages by the reheat effect, which should be helpful to improve the detonation-driven turbine efficiency. Taking this into account, this paper developed a numerical model of the detonation chamber coupled with a two-stage axial turbine, and a stoichiometric hydrogen-air mixture was used. The improvement in turbine efficiency attributable to the reheat effect was calculated by comparing the average efficiency of the stages with the efficiency of the two-stage turbine. The research indicated that the first stage was critical in suppressing the flow unsteadiness caused by pulse detonation, which stabilized the intake condition of the second stage and consequently allowed much of the flow losses from the first stage to be recycled, so that the efficiency of the two-stage turbine was improved. At a 95% confidence level, the efficiency improvement was stable at 4.5%–5.3%, demonstrating that the reheat effect is significant in improving the efficiency of the detonation-driven turbine.

Recently, ordinary residential users’ tolerance for power outages has dropped much by the flourishing economy. To further improve the power supply reliability, a scheme of seamless closed-loop load transfer was proposed based on series compensation technology. For its field application, two points should be considered: 1) For the efficient utilization, the device is designed with high mobility. But its mobility is limited due to its power requirements and the usage of magnetic components. 2) The mobility leads to variable nodes interconnected each time, which puts forward high requirements for the control strategy. The following are proposed: 1) Proposing a novel control strategy based on online impedance estimation method to ensure the effectiveness of the mobile prototype in variable scenarios. 2) Employing modular design and series-parallel mode to reduce the individual cabinet’s volume, while utilizing the short-term overload capacity of magnetic components to augment the power density. A mobile prototype is developed, and test results prove the effectiveness of the control strategy and the engineering feasibility of the prototype.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been extensively researched and used in civil and military applications due to their effectiveness and flexibility. However, when identifying obstacles and avoiding them, most of the existing path planning methods fail to accurately perceive the environment, such as without considering the differences between obstacles, which leads to low timeliness and easy fall into a local minimum. In this work, an improved artificial potential field UAV path planning algorithm (G-APF) guided by the rapidly-exploring random tree (RRT) based on an environment-aware model is designed to overcome the limitations of traditional methods. The model can perceive different objects in the environment through the addition of supervised environment modeling to traditional unsupervised path planning. Specifically, an environment-aware model based on YOLOv8 is used to establish the UAV flight environment model, and an adaptive optimal threat distance calculation module is used to construct the repulsive potential field. Secondly, to improve the timeliness of path planning and the global awareness of the model, we first use the G-APF algorithm to plan the rough flight path based on the UAV flight environment. Then, the initially generated trajectory is replanned by building an attractive potential field and combining it with a repulsive potential field. Finally, the problems of local minimum and target unreachability and local trajectory oscillation generated by the artificial potential field (APF) algorithm are solved by G-APF. Experiments with generated regions are performed to demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Rationale and objectives: Radiomic models based on normal-resolution (NR) computed tomography angiography (CTA) images can fail to distinguish between symptomatic and asymptomatic carotid atherosclerotic plaques. This study aimed to explore the effectiveness of a deep learning-based three-dimensional super-resolution (SR) CTA radiomic model for improved identification of symptomatic carotid atherosclerotic plaques. Materials and methods: A total of 193 patients with carotid atherosclerotic plaques were retrospectively enrolled and allocated into either a symptomatic (n = 123) or an asymptomatic (n = 70) groups. SR CTA images were derived from NR CTA images using deep learning-based three-dimensional SR technology. Handcrafted radiomic features were extracted from both the SR and NR CTA images and three risk models were developed based on manually measured quantitative CTA characteristics and NR and SR radiomic features. Model performances were assessed via receiver operating characteristic, calibration, and decision curve analyses. Results: The SR model exhibited the optimal performance (area under the curve [AUC] 0.820, accuracy 0.802, sensitivity 0.854, F1 score 0.847) in the testing cohort, outperforming the other two models. The calibration curve analyses and Hosmer–Lemeshow test demonstrated that the SR model exhibited the best goodness of fit, and decision curve analysis revealed that SR model had the highest clinical value and potential patient benefits. Conclusions: Deep learning-based three-dimensional SR technology could improve the CTA-based radiomic models in identifying symptomatic carotid plaques, potentially providing more accurate and valuable information to guide clinical decision-making to reduce the risk of ischemic stroke.

Objective The CAPSTONE-1 trial demonstrated that adebrelimab-based immunotherapy yielded a favourable survival benefit compared with chemotherapy for patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC). This study aims to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of this immunotherapy in the treatment of ES-SCLC from a healthcare system perspective in China.Design The TreeAge Pro software was used to establish a three-state partitioned survival model. Survival data came from the CAPSTONE-1 trial (NCT03711305), and only direct medical costs were included. Utility values were obtained from the published literature. Sensitivity analysis was performed to explore the robustness of the model. The cost-effectiveness of immunotherapy was investigated through scenario and exploratory analyses in various settings.Outcome measures Total costs, incremental costs, life years, quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), incremental QALYs and incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER).Results The basic analysis revealed that the adebrelimab group achieved a total of 1.1 QALYs at a cost of US$65 385, while the placebo group attained 0.78 QALYs at a cost of US$12 741. ICER was US$163 893/QALY. Sensitivity analysis confirmed that the model was robust. Results from scenario and exploratory analyses indicated that the combination of adebrelimab and chemotherapy did not demonstrate cost-effectiveness in any scenario.Conclusions From the perspective of the Chinese healthcare system, adebrelimab in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of ES-SCLC was not economical compared with chemotherapy.

Abstract Allogeneic tumor cell vaccines provide off‐the‐shelf convenience but lack patient specificity due to heterogeneity in tumor antigens. Here, allogeneic tumor cell corpses are converted into “zombie cells” capable of assimilating heterogeneous tumor by seizing cancer cells and spreading adjuvant infection. This causes pseudo‐oncolysis of tumors, transforming them into immunogenic targets for enhanced phagocytosis. It is shown that in postoperative tumor models, localized delivery of premade “zombie cells” through stepwise gelation in resection cavity consolidates tumor surgery. Compared to analogous vaccines lacking “seizing” or “assimilating” capability, “zombie cell” platform effectively mobilizes T cell response against residual tumors, and establishes immunological memory against tumor re‐challenge, showing less susceptibility to immune evasion. Despite using allogeneic sources, “zombie cell” platform functions as generalizable framework to produce long‐term antitumor immunity in different tumor models, showing comparable effect to autologous vaccine. Together, with the potential of off‐the‐shelf availability and personalized relevance to heterogenous tumor antigens, this study suggests an alternative strategy for timely therapy after tumor surgery.

To improve the reliability of power supply, this paper proposes a hierarchical and partitioned planning strategy for closed-loop devices in low-voltage distribution network. Based on the geographic location and load situation of the distribution network area, an improved KMeans partition method is used to partition the area in the upper layer. In the lower layer, an intelligent algorithm is adopted to decide the numbers and placement locations of mobile low-voltage contact boxes and mobile seamless closed-loop load transfer devices in each partition with the goal of the highest closed-loop safety, the greatest improvement in annual power outage amount and the lowest cost. Finally, the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed strategy are proved by an example.

BackgroundThe 2021 World Health Organization Classification of Central Nervous System Tumors updates glioma subtyping and grading system, and incorporates EGFR amplification (Amp) as one of diagnostic markers for glioblastoma (GBM).PurposeThis study aimed to describe the frequency, clinical value and molecular correlation of EGFR Amp in diffuse gliomas based on the latest classification.MethodsWe reviewed glioma patients between 2011 and 2022 at our hospital, and included 187 adult glioma patients with available tumor tissue for detection of EGFR Amp and other 59 molecular markers of interest. Clinical, radiological and pathological data was analyzed based on the status of EGFR Amp in different glioma subtypes.Results163 gliomas were classified as adult-type diffuse gliomas, and the number of astrocytoma, oligodendroglioma and GBM was 41, 46, and 76. EGFR Amp was more common in IDH-wildtype diffuse gliomas (66.0%) and GBM (85.5%) than IDH-mutant diffuse gliomas (32.2%) and its subtypes (astrocytoma, 29.3%; oligodendroglioma, 34.8%). EGFR Amp did not stratify overall survival (OS) in IDH-mutant diffuse gliomas and astrocytoma, while was significantly associated with poorer OS in IDH-wildtype diffuse gliomas, histologic grade 2 and 3 IDH-wildtype diffuse astrocytic gliomas and GBM.ConclusionOur study validated EGFR Amp as a diagnostic marker for GBM and still a useful predictor for shortened OS in this group.

The mechanical behavior of the fine-grained piezoelectric/substrate structure with multiple interface cracks under the electromechanical impact loading is investigated. Using the Laplace and Fourier integral transforms, the double-coupled singular integral equations and single-valued conditions of the problems are formulated. Both the singular integral equation and single-valued conditions are simplified into an algebraic equation through the Chebyshev point placement method and solved by numerical calculation. Then, the expression of the dynamic energy release rate is given with the help of the dynamic intensity factors of electric displacement and stress obtained. Finally, numerical results of the dynamic energy release rate with material parameters are demonstrated. The results show that the dynamic energy release rate depends on the size of the interface cracks, coating thickness, and the mechanical–electrical loading. Meanwhile, the fine-grained piezoelectric structures exhibit safer structural performance compared to normal one.

Abstract Background The latest fifth edition of the World Health Organization (WHO) classification of the central nervous system (CNS) tumors (WHO CNS 5 classification) released in 2021 defined astrocytoma, IDH‐mutant, Grade 4. However, the understanding of this subtype is still limited. We conducted this study to describe the features of astrocytoma, IDH‐mutant, Grade 4 and explored the similarities and differences between histological and molecular subtypes. Methods Patients who underwent surgery from January 2011 to January 2022, classified as astrocytoma, IDH‐mutant, Grade 4 were included in this study. Clinical, radiological, histopathological, molecular pathological, and survival data were collected for analysis. Results Altogether 33 patients with astrocytoma, IDH‐mutant, Grade 4 were selected, including 20 with histological and 13 with molecular WHO Grade 4 astrocytoma. Tumor enhancement, intratumoral‐necrosis like presentation, larger peritumoral edema, and more explicit tumor margins were frequently observed in histological WHO Grade 4 astrocytoma. Additionally, molecular WHO Grade 4 astrocytoma showed a tendency for relatively longer overall survival, while a statistical significance was not reached (47 vs. 25 months, p = 0.22). TP53, CDK6, and PIK3CA alteration was commonly observed, while PIK3R1 (p = 0.033), Notch1 (p = 0.027), and Mycn (p = 0.027) alterations may affect the overall survival of molecular WHO Grade 4 astrocytomas. Conclusions Our study scrutinized IDH‐mutant, Grade 4 astrocytoma. Therefore, further classification should be considered as the prognosis varied between histological and molecular WHO Grade 4 astrocytomas. Notably, therapies aiming at PIK3R1, Notch 1, and Mycn may be beneficial.

Abstract Background Numerous chemical pesticides have been used in agricultural production to combat crop diseases and pests. Despite ensuring certain economic advantages, they have also resulted in issues like environmental contamination, declining soil quality, and pesticide residues. Because biological control is environmentally friendly and difficult to acquire resistance to, it has been used in practice recently. Methods In this study, we isolated the endophytic fungus Purpureocillium lilacinum from Portulaca oleracea L., which was previously found to have inhibitory effects on soil pathogens in tobacco fields. To find out how the biocontrol agent P. lilacinum affects soil microorganisms and plant metabolism in tobacco cultivation, we used amplicon sequencing technology and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to look at the structure of soil microbial communities and the networks of interactions between microorganisms and metabolites in the inter-rhizosphere soil of tobacco fields treated with different amounts of P. lilacinum. Results The findings showed that there was a trend toward less microbial diversity among inter-root microorganisms as solid-state fermentation (SSF) products of P. lilacinum increased; however, submerged fermentation (SmF) had no discernible impact on microbial diversity when compared to the direct use of SSF. Additionally, the relationship between inter-root fungi and volatile compounds in tobacco leaves was dominated by a negative correlation. Conclusions The result demonstrated that P. lilacinum’s antagonistic interaction in the inter-rhizosphere microbial community was dominant and valuable for biopesticide application. P. lilacinum can work more effectively on tobacco roots by using SSF products. P. lilacinum’s opposition to fungal colonies may enhance the volatile chemicals in tobacco leaves. These provide some implications for the biocontrol application of P. lilacinum.

The loop closing operation can decrease the power outages of consumers and enhance the reliability of power supply. In low-voltage distribution network, to scientifically assess the risk of loop closing operation, and obtain the risk grade conclusion, a risk assessment method based on fuzzy comprehensive evaluation is proposed. Firstly, the risk assessment indicator system of loop closing operation is established, with the corresponding weights calculated. Secondly, the risk comment set and the calculation method of subordinate degrees are determined. Finally, the fuzzy method is adopted to obtain the risk grade conclusion of loop closing operation, which provides the rationale and technical support for the comprehensive promotion of loop closing operation in low-voltage distribution network. The method is applied to a 123-bus test system, and the risk of loop closing operation is divided into 5 grades. The assessment results are analyzed to verify the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed method.

In recent years, due to the wide application of 3D vision in the fields of autonomous driving, robot navigation, and the protection of cultural heritage, 3D point cloud registration has received much attention. However, most current methods are time-consuming and are very sensitive to noises and outliers, resulting in low registration accuracy. Therefore, we propose a two-stage framework based on graph neural network and attention—TSGANet, which is effective in registering low-overlapping point cloud pairs and is robust to variable noises as well as outliers. Our method decomposes rigid transformation estimation into two stages: global estimation and fine-tuning. At the global estimation stage, multilayer perceptrons are employed to estimate a seven-dimensional vector representing rigid transformation directly from the fusion of two initial point cloud features. For the fine-tuning stage, we extract contextual information through an attentional graph neural network consisting of attention and feature-enhancing modules. A mismatch-suppression mechanism is also proposed and applied to keep our method robust to partially visible data with noises and outliers. Experiments show that our method yields a state-of-the-art performance on the ModelNet40 dataset.

The ecological niche gradient is an important determinant of microbial community structure. In this paper, we studied variation in rhizosphere bacterial diversity and community composition along an ecological niche gradient. We used the high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA genes to study changes in the rhizosphere soil microbial communities of six grass and four shrub species during the secondary succession of abandoned farmland on the Loess Plateau of China. A structural equation model (SEM) was employed to disentangle the relative contribution of ecological niche and soil properties to bacterial diversity and community composition. Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Actinobacteria were the dominant phyla of rhizosphere bacteria in all samples. During the dynamics of the plant niche from low to high, bacterial community composition transitioned from Actinobacteria + Acidobacteria to Proteobacteria + Bacteroidetes higher abundance. Moreover, the bacterial diversity and species richness changed with an increasing niche gradient, showing a clear differentiation in the rhizosphere bacterial community of grassland and shrubland. Further, diversity and species richness decreased from the middle niche of B. ischaemum to the poles, indicating that the succession process had not yet reached the climax community stage. Community assembly analysis suggested that the stochastic process gradually strengthened along the increasing ecological niche gradient, especially the drift effect. Furthermore, SEM analysis showed that the ecological niche had significant negative effects on soil properties and bacterial richness, while the effects on bacterial diversity and the stochastic processes of community assembly were weakened and insignificant. Altogether, our findings suggest that the complex interaction of the ecological niche with bacterial diversity and composition was determined by soil properties. Further, bacterial diversity was not necessarily higher with increasing ecological niche gradients.

Abstract Convolution neural networks have been widely used in the field of computer vision, which effectively solve practical problems. However, the loss function with fixed parameters will affect the training efficiency and even lead to poor prediction accuracy. In particular, when there is a class imbalance in the data, the final result tends to favor the large‐class. In detection and recognition problems, the large‐class will dominate due to its quantitative advantage, and the features of few‐class can be not fully learned. In order to learn few‐class, batch nuclear‐norm maximization is introduced to the deep neural networks, and the mechanism of the adaptive composite loss function is established to increase the diversity of the network and thus improve the accuracy of prediction. The proposed loss function is added to the crowd counting, and verified on ShanghaiTech and UCF_CC_50 datasets. Experimental results show that the proposed loss function improves the prediction accuracy and convergence speed of deep neural networks.

Toward the quadcopter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attitude measurement problem, to improve the accuracy of acquisition of vehicle attitude parameters, and ensure accuracy of subsequent attitude control, the Quaternion-based Unscented Kalman filter (QUKF) data fusion method is presented. This attitude measurement system uses STM32F103 as the central controller, MPU6050 with integrated accelerometer and gyroscope, and magnetometer HMC5883l as the measurement sensor. Coordinate Rotation Relationships for the Attitude Heading Reference System (AHRS) in Quaternions, combining Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) to Fuse Low-Cost Attitude Measurement Systems, tracking estimation of the genuine attitude of the vehicle. High-precision sensor measurements as real values, by comparing with Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), Complementary Filter (CF), and genuine values to validate and analyze the effectiveness of the algorithm applied to the low-cost attitude measurement system. Experimental results show that the low-cost attitude measurement system using quaternions as state variables combined with UKF can accurately estimate attitude information, providing precise attitude information for subsequent attitude control of UAVs.

UAV obstacle avoidance technology is one of the key factors to realize UAV autonomous flight, efficient and accurate obstacle avoidance is significant to complete the UAV autonomous flight task. In contrast, the dynamic, real-time and uncertainty of the environment in which the UAV is located makes the problem very tricky, especially in the indoor environment. At present, a large number of scholars have shown strong interest in the indoor UAV obstacle avoidance problem. With the rapid development of computer technology and hardware devices, many intelligent algorithms have been proposed to solve the obstacle avoidance problem. However, the research on indoor UAV obstacle avoidance technology is not comprehensive enough, and there is a lack of summarization of the research results in recent years. This paper introduces the sensor modules commonly used for indoor UAV environment sensing, related obstacle avoidance methods based on sensory detection. Classifies and composes the commonly used UAV path planning obstacle avoidance algorithms, and gives several representative UAV flight control research methods. This paper summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of different perception modules and detection methods applied to UAV obstacle avoidance tasks, and compares various current path planning methods. Finally, the critical difficulties and challenges faced in the field of indoor UAV obstacle avoidance are discussed, and future research in the field of UAV obstacle avoidance has prospected.

The biochar and organic fertilizer amendment have been used as an effective practice to increase soil fertility. Nevertheless, the mechanisms of microbial community response to organic fertilizer and biochar application on saline-alkali soil have not been clarified. This study investigated the effects at different concentrations of organic fertilizer and biochar on the microbial community of wheat rhizosphere soil under field experiment in the Yellow River Delta (China, YRD), using high-throughput sequencing technology. Biochar and organic fertilizer significantly influenced in most soil parameters (p

Summary: Morbidity and mortality caused by acute myocardial infarction (AMI) are on the rise, posing a grave threat to the health of the general population. Up to now, interventional, surgical, and pharmaceutical therapies have been the main treatment methods for AMI. Effective and timely reperfusion therapy decreases mortality, but it cannot stimulate myocardial cell regeneration or reverse ventricular remodeling. Cell therapy, gene therapy, immunotherapy, anti-inflammatory therapy, and several other techniques are utilized by researchers to improve patients’ prognosis. In recent years, biomaterials for AMI therapy have become a hot spot in medical care. Biomaterials furnish a microenvironment conducive to cell growth and deliver therapeutic factors that stimulate cell regeneration and differentiation. Biomaterials adapt to the complex microenvironment and respond to changes in local physical and biochemical conditions. Therefore, environmental factors and material properties must be taken into account when designing biomaterials for the treatment of AMI. This article will review the factors that need to be fully considered in the design of biological materials.

BackgroundThe disease activity status and behavior of Crohn’s disease (CD) can reflect the severity of the disease, and changes in body composition are common in CD patients.AimsThe aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between body composition parameters and disease severity in CD patients treated with infliximab (IFX).MethodsPatients with CD assessed with the simple endoscopic score (SES-CD) and were treated with IFX were retrospectively collected, and body composition parameters at the level of the 3rd lumbar vertebrae were calculated from computed tomography (CT) scans of the patients. The correlation of patients’ body composition parameters with disease activity status and disease behavior was analyzed, and the diagnostic value of the relevant parameters was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves.ResultsA total of 106 patients were included in this study. There were significant differences in the subcutaneous adiposity index (SAI) (p = 0.010), the visceral adiposity index (VAI) (p 0.05).ConclusionBody composition parameters of CD patients treated with IFX correlate with the endoscopic disease severity, and SMI can be used as a reliable indicator of disease activity status.

Diarrhea caused by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) infections poses a significant challenge in global pig farming. To address this issue, the study was conducted to identify and characterize 19 ETEC isolates from fecal samples of diarrheic pigs sourced from large-scale farms in Sichuan Province, China. Whole-genome sequencing and bioinformatic analysis were utilized for identification and characterization. The isolates exhibited substantial resistance to cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, ampicillin, tetracycline, florfenicol, and sulfadiazine, but were highly susceptible to amikacin, imipenem, and cefoxitin. Genetic diversity among the isolates was observed, with serotypes O22:H10, O163orOX21:H4, and O105:H8 being dominant. Further analysis revealed 53 resistance genes and 13 categories of 195 virulence factors. Of concern was the presence of tet(X4) in some isolates, indicating potential public health risks. The ETEC isolates demonstrated the ability to produce either heat-stable enterotoxin (ST) alone or both heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) and ST simultaneously, involving various virulence genes. Notably, STa were linked to human disease. Additionally, the presence of 4 hybrid ETEC/STEC isolates harboring Shiga-like toxin-related virulence factors, namely stx2a, stx2b, and stx2e-ONT-2771, was identified. IncF plasmids carrying multiple antimicrobial resistance genes were prevalent, and a hybrid ETEC/STEC plasmid was detected, highlighting the role of plasmids in hybrid pathotype emergence. These findings emphasized the multidrug resistance and pathogenicity of porcine-origin ETEC strains and the potential risk of epidemics through horizontal transmission of drug resistance, which is crucial for effective control strategies and interventions to mitigate the impact on animal and human health.

IntroductionGlioblastoma (GBM), the most lethal primary brain malignancy, is divided into histological (hist-GBM) and molecular (mol-GBM) subtypes according to the 2021 World Health Organization classification of central nervous system tumors. This study aimed to characterize the clinical, radiological, molecular, and survival features of GBM under the current classification scheme and explore survival determinants.MethodsWe re-examined the genetic alterations of IDH-wildtype diffuse gliomas at our institute from 2011 to 2022, and enrolled GBMs for analysis after re-classification. Univariable and multivariable analyses were used to identify survival determinants.ResultsAmong 209 IDH-wildtype gliomas, 191 were GBMs, including 146 hist-GBMs (76%) and 45 mol-GBMs (24%). Patients with mol-GBMs were younger, less likely to develop preoperative motor dysfunction, and more likely to develop epilepsy than hist-GBMs. Mol-GBMs exhibited lower radiographic incidences of contrast enhancement and intratumoral necrosis. Common molecular features included copy-number changes in chromosomes 1, 7, 9, 10, and 19, as well as alterations in EGFR, TERT, CDKN2A/B, and PTEN, with distinct patterns observed between the two subtypes. The median overall survival (mOS) of GMB was 12.6 months. Mol-GBMs had a higher mOS than hist-GBMs, although not statistically significant (15.6 vs. 11.4 months, p=0.17). Older age, male sex, tumor involvement of deep brain structure or functional area, and genetic alterations in CDK4, CDK6, CIC, FGFR3, KMT5B, and MYB were predictors for a worse prognosis, while MGMT promoter methylation, maximal tumor resection, and treatment based on the Stupp protocol were predictive for better survival.ConclusionThe definition of GBM and its clinical, radiological, molecular, and prognostic characteristics have been altered under the current classification.

Background: Alkaline pectate lyase plays an important role in papermaking, biological refining and wastewater treatment, but its industrial applications are largely limited owing to its low activity and poor alkali resistance.Methods: The alkaline pectate lyase BspPel from Bacillus RN.1 was heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) and its activity and alkali resistance were improved by loop replacement. Simultaneously, the effect of R260 on enzyme alkaline tolerance was also explored.Results: Recombinant pectate lyase (BspPel-th) showed the highest activity at 60°C and pH 11.0, and showed significant stability over a wide pH range (3.0–11.0). The specific enzyme activity after purification was 139.4 U/mg, which was 4.4 times higher than that of the wild-type enzyme. BspPel-th has good affinity for apple pectin, since the Vmax and Km were 29 μmol/min. mL and 0.46 mol/L, respectively. Molecular dynamics simulation results showed that the flexibility of the loop region of BspPel-th was improved.Conclusion: The modified BspPel-th has considerable potential for industrial applications with high pH processes.

Distributed energy storage and demand response technology are considered important means to promote new energy consumption, which has the advantages of peak regulation, balance, and flexibility. Firstly, this paper introduces the carbon trading market and the new energy abandonment penalty mechanism. Taking the energy storage cost, distribution network operation cost, network loss cost, carbon transaction cost, and new energy abandonment cost as the objective functions, the distributed energy storage optimization allocation model is established. Considering the scheduling problems of various units in the system, the operation strategy of distributed energy storage and demand response linkage is proposed. The improved bat algorithm is used to solve the problem. The example analysis shows that under the combined action of energy storage and demand response, the annual total cost of the distribution network is effectively reduced, the consumption rate of new energy is improved, and the voltage quality and network loss of the power grid are improved to ensure the reliability and stability of the distribution network.

IntroductionElderly glioblastoma (GBM) patients is characterized by high incidence and poor prognosis. Currently, however, there is still a lack of adequate molecular characterization of elderly GBM patients. The fifth edition of the WHO Classification of Central Nervous System Tumors (WHO5) gives a new classification approach for GBM, and the molecular characteristics of elderly GBM patients need to be investigated under this new framework.MethodsThe clinical and radiological features of patients with different classifications and different ages were compared. Potential prognostic molecular markers in elderly GBM patients under the WHO5 classification were found using Univariate Cox regression and Kaplan–Meier survival analysis.ResultsA total of 226 patients were included in the study. The prognostic differences between younger and elderly GBM patients were more pronounced under the WHO5 classification. Neurological impairment was more common in elderly patients (p = 0.001), while intracranial hypertension (p = 0.034) and epilepsy (p = 0.038) were more common in younger patients. Elderly patients were more likely to have higher Ki-67(p = 0.013), and in elderly WHO5 GBM patients, KMT5B (p = 0.082), KRAS (p = 0.1) and PPM1D (p = 0.055) were each associated with overall survival (OS). Among them, KRAS and PPM1D were found to be prognostic features unique to WHO5 elderly GBM patients.ConclusionOur study demonstrates that WHO5 classification can better distinguish the prognosis of elderly and younger GBM. Furthermore, KRAS and PPM1D may be potential prognostic predictors in WHO5 elderly GBM patients. The specific mechanism of these two genes in elderly GBM remains to be further studied.

Introduction: β-Alanine is the only β-amino acid in nature; it is widely used in food additives, medicines, health products, and surfactants. To avoid pollution caused by traditional production methods, the synthesis of β-alanine has been gradually replaced by microbial fermentation and enzyme catalysis, which is a green, mild, and high-yield biosynthesis method.Methods: In this study, we constructed an Escherichia coli recombinant strain for efficient β-alanine production using glucose as the raw material. The microbial synthesis pathway of L-lysine-producing strain, Escherichia coli CGMCC 1.366, was modified using gene editing by knocking out the aspartate kinase gene, lysC. The catalytic efficiency and product synthesis efficiency were improved by assembling key enzymes with cellulosome.Results: By-product accumulation was reduced by blocking the L-lysine production pathway, thereby increasing the yield of β-alanine. In addition, catalytic efficiency was improved by the two-enzyme method to further increase the β-alanine content. The key cellulosome elements, dockerin (docA) and cohesin (cohA), were combined with L-aspartate-α-decarboxylase (bspanD) from Bacillus subtilis and aspartate aminotransferase (aspC) from E.coli to improve the catalytic efficiency and expression level of the enzyme. β-alanine production reached 7.439 mg/L and 25.87 mg/L in the two engineered strains. The β-alanine content reached 755.465 mg/L in a 5 L fermenter.Discussion: The content of β-alanine synthesized by constructed β-alanine engineering strains were 10.47 times and 36.42 times higher than the engineered strain without assembled cellulosomes, respectively. This research lays the foundation for the enzymatic production of β-alanine using a cellulosome multi-enzyme self-assembly system.

Background: L-lysine is widely used in the feed, food, and pharmaceutical industries, and screening for high L-lysine-producing strains has become a key goal for the industry.Methods: We constructed the rare L-lysine codon AAA by corresponding tRNA promoter replacement in C. glutamicum. Additionally, a screening marker related to the intracellular L-lysine content was constructed by converting all L-lysine codons of enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) into the artificial rare codon AAA. The artificial EGFP was then ligated into pEC-XK99E and transformed into competent Corynebacterium glutamicum 23604 cells with the rare L-lysine codon. After atmospheric and room-temperature plasma mutation and induction culture, 55 mutants (0.01% of total cells) with stronger fluorescence were sorted using flow cytometry, and further screened by fermentation in a 96-deep-well plate and 500 mL shaker.Results: The fermentation results showed that the L-lysine production was increased by up to 9.7% in the mutant strains with higher fluorescence intensities, and that the highest screening positive rate was 69%, compared with that in the wild-type strain.Conclusion: The application of artificially constructed rare codons in this study represents an efficient, accurate, and simple method for screening other amino acid-producing microorganisms.

IntroductionThe fifth edition of the World Health Organization (WHO) classification of central nervous system (CNS) tumors released in 2021 formally defines pediatric-type diffuse gliomas. However, there is still little understanding of pediatric-type diffuse gliomas, and even less attention has been paid to adult patients. Therefore, this study describes the clinical radiological, survival, and molecular features of adult patients with pediatric-type glioma.MethodsAdult patients who underwent surgery from January 2011 to January 2022, classified as pediatric-type glioma, were included in this study. Clinical, radiological, histopathological, molecular pathological, and survival data were collected for analysis.ResultsAmong 596 adult patients, 20 patients with pediatric-type glioma were screened, including 6 with diffuse astrocytoma, MYB- or MYBL1-altered, 2 with diffuse midline glioma, H3 K27-altered, and 12 with diffuse pediatric-type high-grade glioma, H3-wildtype and IDH-wildtype. Pediatric high-grade glioma (pHGG) frequently showed tumor enhancement, peritumoral edema, and intratumoral necrosis. Adult patients with pHGG showed a longer life expectancy than adult patients with glioblastoma. Common molecular alterations included chromosome alterations and CDKN2A/B, PIK3CA, and PTEN, while altered KMT5B and MET were found to affect the overall survival.ConclusionOur study demonstrated adult patients with pediatric-type glioma. Notably, our research aims to expand the current understanding of adult patients with pediatric-type diffuse gliomas. Furthermore, personalized therapies consisting of targeted molecular inhibitors for MET and VEGFA may exhibit beneficial effects in the corresponding population.

Compared to linear accelerators, pulsed lasers have the characteristics of high efficiency, low cost, stable pulse output, and low environment interference for researching the transient dose rate effect (TDRE) on semiconductor devices. In this paper, pulsed laser radiation experiments are performed on a level-shifting transceiver. The experimental results are consistent with the results of the transient γ-ray radiation experiment, demonstrating the feasibility of using the pulsed laser in TDRE research on the level-shifting transceiver. This paper obtains theoretical and experimental conversion factors (CFs) through theoretical analysis and equivalency of the peak photocurrents, which are measured in pulsed laser and transient γ-ray radiation experiments. The CF results from the two approaches are within 7% of each other. In pulsed laser radiation experiments, an uncommon phenomenon is found. At the I/O (Input/Output) ports of the level-shifting transceiver, a trend of a positive photocurrent followed by a negative pulse is observed. A hypothesis is proposed that this photocurrent is produced by the turn-on and turn-off of the parasitic PNP (Positive-Negative-Positive) transistors in electrostatic discharge circuits at the level-shifting transceiver I/O ports. In addition, this hypothesis is verified by TCAD (Technology Computer Aided Design) simulations.

Natural disasters lead to the uncertain topological structure of the urban distribution network. It is difficult for the communication system to recover quickly, which brings great difficulties to restoring the power supply. Therefore, the deployment of an emergency power supply is one of the critical measures to ensure the stable operation of isolated network systems and reduce power loss. Compared with the traditional synchronous diesel generator (SDG) as an emergency power supply, a doubly-fed induction diesel generator (DFIDG) has the advantages of flexible and controllable, rapid response and high operation efficiency. This paper presents a layered frequency control strategy for a doubly-fed induction diesel generator in an emergency scenario. Firstly, the models of doubly-fed induction diesel generator and its control system, prime mover and its speed regulation system are established. Secondly, the hierarchical frequency control strategy is proposed, including primary integrated frequency control (including droop control and virtual inertia control) and secondary frequency regulation control based on translation method. The virtual inertia control can make the doubly-fed machine quickly release the rotor kinetic energy when the frequency changes rapidly, so as to improve the frequency supportability. According to the overall shortage of the system and the maximum output power of the doubly-fed induction diesel generator, the strategy calculates the secondary frequency regulation power adjustment as the DFIDG power setting value, and then can realize automatic secondary frequency regulation without a communication system. Finally, simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed strategy.

This paper develops a practice-oriented seismic design procedure for an emerging lateral force resisting system. The system combines the favorable re-centering feature with the attractive hybrid damping capacity. The system overcomes the detrimental frame expansion effect that occurs in conventional self-centering building frames without the cost of building space. Following the proposed design procedure, multiple designs with different parameters to achieve performance objectives were performed for a representative three-story building in which the considered lateral force resisting system is used to resist the seismic forces. Nonlinear response history analyses were performed for the designs to evaluate the applicability and adequacy of the proposed design approach. Based on the analyses conducted in this research, it was found that the considered system designed using the proposed approach can meet both transient and residual inter-story drift requirements specified for the selected performance objectives. While an initial design per the proposed design approach may be inadequate, the re-design strategy recommended can help transform the design to an acceptable one after only one round of modification. Moreover, the composition of hybrid damping may affect the maximum floor acceleration responses. In this study, the maximum floor acceleration can be reduced 12.75% at most by replacing hysteretic damping with viscous damping. This should be included in design consideration in the proposed approach through adjusting the hybrid damping composition.

Abstract Screen content video (SCV) consists primarily of text areas, computer graphics and other computer‐generated content and possesses unique perceptual characteristics. To compress SCVs more effectively with less reduction in subjective quality, perceptual characteristics of SCVs are analyzed and a perceptual redundancy (PR) model for SCV compression is proposed, including spatial PR (SPR), temporal PR (TPR) and foveated PR (FPR) model. In SPR modeling, the SCV is divided into sharp edge (SE) areas and non‐SE areas, then SPR is estimated separately. In TPR modeling, both inter‐frame luminance adaptation effect and motion masking effect are taken into account. In FPR modeling, each frame of SCV is classified into abrupt frames, relative motion frames or static frames. Then fixation points of different kinds of frames are predicted using different methods, and FPR is modeled considering foveated masking effect and visual attention. Finally, the perceptual redundancy of SCV is estimated based on the product of SPR, TPR and FPR. It is experimentally demonstrated that compared to the state‐of‐the‐art models, the authors' model could obtain more accurate estimates of PR. Moreover, the model is incorporated into SCV compression with an adaptive perceptual quantizer. An average of 7.42% bits could be saved with less decline in subjective quality.

Induction of immunogenic cell death promotes antitumor immunity against cancer. However, majority of clinically-approved drugs are unable to elicit sufficient ICD. Here, our study revealed that mitochondria-targeted delivery of doxorubicin (DOX) massively amplified ICD via substantial generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) after mitochondrial damage. The underlying mechanism behind increased ICD was further demonstrated to be ascribed to two pathways: (1) ROS elevated endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, leading to surface exposure of calreticulin; (2) ROS promoted release of various mitochondria-associated damage molecules including mitochondrial transcription factor A. Nevertheless, adaptive upregulation of PD-L1 was found after such ICD-inducing treatment. To overcome such immunosuppressive feedback, we developed a tumor stimuli-responsive nano vehicle to simultaneously exert mitochondrial targeted ICD induction and PD-L1 blockade. The nano vehicle was self-assembled from ICD-inducing copolymer and PD-L1 blocking copolymer, and possessed long-circulating property which contributed to better tumor accumulation and mitochondrial targeting. As a result, the nano vehicle remarkably activated antitumor immune responses and exhibited robust antitumor efficacy in both immunogenic and non-immunogenic tumor mouse models.

BackgroundThe 5th edition of the World Health Organization (WHO) classification of central nervous system tumors incorporated specific molecular alterations into the categorization of gliomas. The major revision of the classification scheme effectuates significant changes in the diagnosis and management of glioma. This study aimed to depict the clinical, molecular, and prognostic characteristics of glioma and its subtypes according to the current WHO classification.MethodsPatients who underwent surgery for glioma at Peking Union Medical College Hospital during 11 years were re-examined for tumor genetic alterations using next-generation sequencing, polymerase chain reaction-based assay, and fluorescence in situ hybridization methods and enrolled in the analysis.ResultsThe enrolled 452 gliomas were reclassified into adult-type diffuse glioma (ntotal=373; astrocytoma, n=78; oligodendroglioma, n=104; glioblastoma, n=191), pediatric-type diffuse glioma (ntotal=23; low-grade, n=8; high-grade, n=15), circumscribed astrocytic glioma (n=20), and glioneuronal and neuronal tumor (n=36). The composition, definition, and incidence of adult- and pediatric-type gliomas changed significantly between the 4th and the 5th editions of the classification. The clinical, radiological, molecular, and survival characteristics of each subtype of glioma were identified. Alterations in CDK4/6, CIC, FGFR2/3/4, FUBP1, KIT, MET, NF1, PEG3, RB1, and NTRK2 were additional factors correlated with the survival of different subtypes of gliomas.ConclusionsThe updated WHO classification based on histology and molecular alterations has updated our understanding of the clinical, radiological, molecular, survival, and prognostic characteristics of varied subtypes of gliomas and provided accurate guidance for diagnosis and potential prognosis for patients.

IntroductionHealth literacy is an effective strategy to promote more cost-effective use of health care services and a crucial tool for preventing the spread of infectious diseases. The main objective of this study was to analyze changes in health literacy from 2019 to 2021.MethodsData were from the latest three-round cross-sectional studies with the same study design.ResultsAlthough the prevalence of adequate health literacy rose significantly over time, increasing from 26.9% (95% CI 20.1–33.7) in 2019 to 34.1% (32.9–35.3) in 2021, it was still at a relatively low level. The most significant decrease was observed for health skills among the three aspects and health information literacy among the six dimensions. Working as medical staff was a protective factor for adequate health literacy, health skills literacy, and health information literacy. Risk factors for adequate health literacy and health information literacy were older age and lower education level. Furthermore, adequate health information literacy was positively related to annual family income.DiscussionMore practical and effective policies targeting health literacy for critical aspects and groups in Central China, are urgently needed, especially during the epidemic.

In this section, the dynamic propagation behavior of a penny-shaped interface crack in piezoelectric bimaterials is analyzed. The objective of this paper is to use the boundary conditions of the penny-shaped interface crack to study the dynamic propagation of the crack under the action of load, so as to provide some valuable implications for the fracture mechanics of the piezoelectric bimaterials and simulate the interface crack between piezoelectric bimaterials, it is necessary to establish a suitable model and give appropriate boundary conditions according to the actual situation. The elastic displacement and potential equations are constructed according to the structural characteristics of the circular crack. In the case of a given displacement or stress, the Laplace transform and Hankel transform are used to simplify the problem into an integral equation with unknown functions. According to the boundary conditions, the corresponding unknowns are obtained, and the closed solution is derived. The results show that the fracture toughness of a penny-shaped interface crack in piezoelectric bimaterials is related to the thickness of the material, the impact time, the material characteristics, and the electric field. At the same time, it can be found that different materials have different roles in the crack propagation, so it is very important to study the crack opening displacement (COD) intensity factor of the crack for safety design.

Soil salinization has become a major environmental factor severely threatening global food security. The application of porous minerals could significantly ameliorate soil fertility and promote plant productivity under salt stress conditions. However, the effects of porous minerals on improving the salt resistance of grain crops in coastal saline soils is not fully studied. In this work, the shoot growth and grain yield of wheat plants grown in coastal saline fields, respectively amended with the four naturally available porous minerals, diatomite, montmorillonite, bentonite and zeolite, were assessed. The application of porous minerals, especially zeolite, significantly improved the biomass and grain yield of wheat plants under saline conditions, as demonstrated by the augmented plant fresh mass (14.8~61.2%) and increased seed size (3.8~58.8%) and number (1.4~57.5%). Soil property analyses exhibited that porous-mineral amendment decreased soil sodium content and sodium absorption ratio, and increased soil nutrients in both the rhizosphere and nonrhizosphere of wheat plants. Further quantitative-PCR and 16S high-throughput sequencing analysis revealed that porous-mineral application also remarkably increased the abundance of bacterial 16S rRNA (0.8~102.4%) and fungal 18S rRNA (89.2~209.6%), and altered the composition of the soil microbial community in the rhizosphere of wheat. Our findings suggest that zeolite could be used as an ideal salt soil amendment, and the changes in soil properties and microorganisms caused by the application of porous minerals like zeolite improved the salt resistance of wheat plants in coastal saline land, leading to increased shoot growth and seed production.

The diversity and community structure of rhizospheric microbes are largely affected by soil physicochemical properties and plant species. In this work, high throughput sequencing and quantitative real-time PCR targeting nifH gene were used to assess the abundance and diversity of diazotrophic community in the coastal saline soils of Yellow River Delta (YRD). We demonstrated that the copy number of nifH gene encoding the Fe protein subunit of the nitrogenase in the nitrogen fixation process was significantly affected by soil physiochemical factors, and the abundance of diazotrophs in the rhizospheric soil samples collected from different locations was positively related with soil physicochemical properties. Soil salinity (P=0.003) and moisture (P=0.003) were significantly co-varied with the OTU-based community composition of diazotrophs. Taxonomic analysis showed that most diazotrophs belonged to the Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria and Deltaproteobacteria. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) effect size (LEfSe) and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that diazotrophic community structure significantly varied with soil salinity, moisture, pH and total nitrogen, carbon, sulphur and nitrite (NO2–N) content. Our findings provide direct evidence toward the understanding of different effects of soil physicochemical properties and host plant traits such as halophytes types, life span and cotyledon type, on the community composition of diazotrophic populations in the rhizosphere of plants grown in coastal saline soils.

Abstract Conflicting evidence was found about the relationship between lipid profiles and R219K polymorphism in adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette exporter A1 (ABCA1) gene. In this study, four meta-analyses were conducted to assess the effect of R219K on lipid levels, including high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, total cholesterol, and triglycerides (TG). A total of 125 samples of 87 studies (about 60,262 subjects) were included. The effect of each study was expressed using the standard mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) and pooled by meta-analysis in the random-effects model. Subgroup and meta-regression analyses were conducted to explore potential heterogeneity sources. The overall pooled effect showed the following results. (1) The R219K was significantly associated with HDLC level (SMD = − 0.25 mmol/L, 95%CI − 0.32 to − 0.18, z = − 6.96, P

ObjectiveTo develop and validate a model based on the radiomics features of the infarct areas on non-contrast-enhanced CT to predict hemorrhagic transformation (HT) in acute ischemic stroke.Materials and methodsA total of 118 patients diagnosed with acute ischemic stroke in two centers from January 2019 to February 2022 were included. The radiomics features of infarcted areas on non-contrast-enhanced CT were extracted using 3D-Slicer. A univariate analysis and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) were used to select features, and the radiomics score (Rad-score) was then constructed. The predictive model of HT was constructed by analyzing the Rad-score and clinical and imaging features in the training cohort, and it was verified in the validation cohort. The model was evaluated with the receiver operating characteristic curve, calibration curve and decision curve, and the prediction performance of the model in different scenarios was further discussed hierarchically.ResultsOf the 118 patients, 52 developed HT, including 21 cases of hemorrhagic infarct (HI) and 31 cases of parenchymal hematoma (PH). The Rad-score was constructed from five radiomics features and was the only independent predictor for HT. The predictive model was constructed from the Rad-score. The area under the curve (AUCs) of the model for predicting HT in the training and validation cohorts were 0.845 and 0.750, respectively. Calibration curve and decision curve analyses showed that the model performed well. Further analysis found that the model predicted HT for different infarct sizes or treatment methods in the training and validation cohorts with 78.3 and 71.4% accuracy, respectively. For all samples, the model predicted an AUC of 0.754 for HT in patients within 4.5 h since stroke onset, and predicted an AUC of 0.648 for PH.ConclusionThis model, which was based on CT radiomics features, could help to predict HT in the setting of acute ischemic stroke for any infarct size and provide guiding suggestions for clinical treatment and prognosis evaluation.

Modified Lvdou Gancao decoction (MLG), a traditional Chinese medicine formula, has been put into clinical use to treat the diseases of the digestive system for a long run, showing great faculty in gastric protection and anti-inflammatory, whereas its protective mechanisms have not been determined. The current study puts the focus on the protective effect and its possible mechanisms of MLG on ethanol-induced gastric lesions in mice. In addition to various gastric lesion parameters and histopathology analysis, the activities of a list of relevant indicators in gastric mucosa were explored including ALDH, ADH, MDA, T-SOD, GSH-Px, and MPO, and the mechanisms were clarified using RT-qPCR, ELISA Western Blot and immunofluorescence staining. The results showed that MLG treatment induced significant increment of ADH, ALDH, T-SOD, GSH-Px, NO, PGE2 and SS activities in gastric tissues, while MPO, MDA, TNF-α and IL-1β levels were on the decline, both in a dose-dependent manner. In contrast to the model group, the mRNA expression of Nrf-2 and HO-1 in the MLG treated groups showed an upward trend while the NF-κB, TNFα, IL-1β and COX2 in the MLG treated groups had a downward trend simultaneously. Furthermore, the protein levels of p65, p-p65, IκBα, p-IκBα, iNOS, COX2 and p38 were inhibited, while Nrf2, HO-1, SOD1, SOD2 and eNOS were ramped up in MLG treatment groups. Immunofluorescence intensities of Nrf2 and HO-1 in the MLG treated groups were considerably enhanced, with p65 and IκBα diminished simultaneously, exhibiting similar trends to that of qPCR and western blot. To sum up, MLG could significantly ameliorate ethanol-induced gastric mucosal lesions in mice, which might be put down to the activation of alcohol metabolizing enzymes, attenuation of the oxidative damage and inflammatory response to maintain the gastric mucosa. The gastroprotective effect of MLG might be achieved through the diminution of damage factors and the enhancement of defensive factors involving NF-κB/Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway. We further confirmed that MLG has strong potential in preventing and treating ethanol-induced gastric lesions.

This research is focused on improving the conventional response spectrum analysis (CRSA) method for the elastic shear demands estimation of shear-dominated steel building frames. An alternative approach named the improved response spectrum analysis (IRSA) method is proposed and validated in this paper. A simplified procedure to capture the dynamic features of a continuous shear beam (CSB) with stepped stiffness is first presented, and then validated. The CSB is employed in IRSA to replace the original eigenvalue analysis in CRSA to provide the modal parameter estimation for the considered system. A modified SRSS (MSRSS) mode superposition based on a genetic algorithm is then proposed and employed in IRSA. Based on the analyses conducted in this research, it is found that using first three modes in MSRSS to execute mode superposition could provide a great estimation of the elastic shear demands distribution. The amplification of weighting coefficients for the second and third mode contribution indicates the underestimation of the high mode effect in CSRSS. Further, response history analyses (RHA) are performed on two demonstration building frames to evaluate the improvement of the IRSA. The results indicate that IRSA provides a more precise estimation on the elastic shear force demand distribution in shear-dominated steel building frames under seismic effects compared with that which was achieved by CRSA.

Effects of total ionizing dose (TID) on the transient radiation upset sensitivity of commercial static random access memories (SRAMs) were investigated. Commercial SRAMs of three technology nodes were irradiated with Co-60 gamma rays for total dose effects and with pulsed x rays generated using a “Chen-Guang” accelerator for doserate effects. It is shown that TID irradiation and the memory pattern written to the memory array during TID irradiation can substantially affect the transient radiation upset sensitivity of all the SRAMs. First, the memory pattern written to the memory array during TID irradiation is more sensitive to pulsed x rays for all SRAMs. Second, the variation in transient radiation upset sensitivity with total dose has different tendencies for different SRAMs, but the static power current increased with the increase in total dose for all SRAMs. The increase in static power current with total dose and the increasing sensitivity of the memory pattern during TID irradiation are caused by the increasing TID induced leakage current, which results in an asymmetric noise margin of individual memory cells.

This article presents the dynamic behavior of a semi-infinite interfacial crack in piezoelectric bimaterials under impact loading. With the help of the transform methods (the Laplace transforms and Fourier transforms), the problem is studied with the Wiener–Hopf technique. This strict proof guarantees the feasibility of this approach. The dynamic stress intensity factor and dynamic electric displacement intensity factor of the interfacial crack propagation characteristics are expressed. Finally, several classic numerical examples are mentioned and discussed to demonstrate that the theoretical deduction is highly accurate for interfacial crack analysis of piezoelectric bimaterials. The results show that the crack propagation is affected by the electromechanical coupling coefficient. In addition, if the velocity of the dynamic crack propagation reaches the generalized Raleigh wave speed, the dynamic stress intensity factor will disappear. Furthermore, for a given time, the ratio of the dynamic stress intensity factor to load increases with the electromechanical coupling coefficient decreasing. Numerical examples are presented to highlight the result.

Space is the driving force of the world’s sustainable development, and ensuring the sustainability of human activity in space is also necessary. Robotic arm active debris capture removal (RA-ADCR) is a noteworthy technology for containing the dramatic increase in space debris and maintaining orbital safety. This review divides the RA-ADCR technology progress history into three periods and presents the status of related research. Two major development trends are summarized and subdivided through the analysis and collation of research achievements over the past three years. Taking the treatment of parameter uncertainties as the entry point, researchers would like to improve the discrimination accuracy and scope to reduce uncertainties. On the other hand, researchers accept such uncertainties and would like to offset and avoid the impact of uncertainties by extending the error margins. Subsequently, the challenges of RA-ADCR are analyzed in line with the task execution flow, which mainly focuses on the conflict between on-satellite computing power and the performance of task execution. In addition, feasible solutions for the current phase are discussed. Finally, future outlooks are evaluated and discussed.

Abstract Background In recent years, research on health literacy has become increasingly focused on the health care system and public health. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate health literacy and analyse the risk factors that affect health literacy in Wuhan, China. Methods Multistage stratified random sampling was used to select 5304 urban and rural residents aged 15 to 69 years from 204 monitoring points in 15 districts of Wuhan. Using the Chinese Citizen Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ) (2018 edition), a face-to-face survey was conducted from November to December 2018. Risk factors that may affect health literacy were assessed using the Chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression models. Results The knowledge rate of health literacy was relatively low (19.3%). The knowledge rate of health-related behaviour and lifestyle (BAL, 17.3%) was the lowest of the three aspects of health literacy, and the knowledge rate of chronic diseases (CD, 19.0%) was the lowest of the six dimensions of health literacy. Respondents who lived in urban areas, had higher education levels, worked as medical staff, had a higher household income and did not suffer from chronic diseases were likely to have higher health literacy. Conclusions The health literacy levels of citizens in Wuhan are insufficient and need to improve.