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Urban eco-efficiency (EE) refers to the ability of a city to balance economic growth with environmental protection through the optimal use of resources and environmental management, reflecting the city’s performance in sustainable development. Quantitative EE analysis is a crucial evaluation criterion for measuring the process of sustainable development (SD). To assess the current state of sustainable development in China, this study employs the slacks-based super efficiency model (Super-SBM) to measure the the urban eco-efficiency in China (CUEE) of 284 cities. The study utilizes Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) and Spatial Autocorrelation Analysis (SAA) to investigate the fundamental patterns of CUEE in terms of inter-city differences and relationships. Complex Network Analysis (CNA) and Link Prediction methods are applied to examine the characteristics and future trends of the CUEE network. Additionally, Geodetector and Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) are used to analyze the influencing factors of CUEE. The findings are as follows: Overall CUEE is relatively low but shows a steady increase. The spatial association network of CUEE is becoming more complex, with increasing association strengths. The Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle (CCEC) is expected to further enhance its spatial association strength and may emerge as a new core area. The effectiveness of the interactions among selected factors is greater than that of individual factors. Degree centrality (X1) is identified as a core explanatory factor influencing CUEE, showing a positive correlation with CUEE. Scientific expenditure (X5) is also positively correlated with CUEE. Local fiscal budget expenditure (X3), industrial output value of foreign-invested enterprises (X7), and total cargo transportation volume (X9) are negatively correlated with CUEE. The analytical framework and research conclusions of this study offer valuable insights into the development of urban ecological efficiency in China and provide constructive recommendations for promoting sustainable urban development.

Mucinous ovarian carcinoma (MOC) represents a distinct entity within ovarian malignancies, characterized by diagnostic challenges due to its rarity and the potential overlap with other tumor types. The determination of tumor origin is important for precise postsurgical treatment. This article highlights the accurate diagnosis and management of MOC, including the use of imaging modalities, serological tumor markers, immunohistochemistry, and genomic analyses. Transabdominal and transvaginal ultrasonography, complemented by MRI and CT, plays a pivotal role in differentiating MOC from other mucinous tumors and in surgical planning, particularly for fertility preservation. Serological markers like CA19-9, CA-125, and CEA, though not definitive, provide valuable preoperative insights. Immunohistochemistry aids in distinguishing primary MOC from metastatic mucinous carcinomas, while genomic profiling offers the potential for precision medicine through the identification of specific molecular signatures and treatment susceptibilities. Despite advancements in diagnostic techniques, no single method conclusively differentiates between primary and metastatic tumors intraoperatively. The paper reviews the origins, diagnosis, and differential diagnosis of primary mucinous ovarian carcinoma highlights the need for a multimodal diagnostic approach and advocates for the inclusion of MOC patients in clinical trials for personalized therapies, recognizing the heterogeneity of the disease at the molecular level.

Objective: In this study, we aimed to determine whether proly4-hydroxylase-III (P4HA3) could be used as a biomarker for the diagnosis of colorectal cancer (CRC) as well as for determining prognosis. Methods: We used The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database to analyze P4HA3 expression in CRC and further investigated the association between P4HA3 and clinicopathological parameters, immune infiltration, and prognosis of patients with CRC. Enrichment analysis was conducted to investigate the potential biological role of P4HA3 in CRC. To verify the results of TCGA analysis, we performed immunohistochemical staining of 180 clinical CRC tissue samples to probe into the relationship of P4HA3 expression with lymphocyte infiltration and immune checkpoints expression. Results: The expression of P4HA3 was significantly higher in CRC tissues and associated with a higher degree of malignancy and poorer prognosis in CRC. The results of enrichment analysis indicated that P4HA3 may be associated with the epithelial-mesenchymal transition process and the immune response. Immunohistochemical staining results showed that high P4HA3 expression was associated with high infiltration levels of CD8+ and Foxp3+ TILs and high PD-1/PD- L1 expression. Lastly, patients with CRC co-expressing P4HA3 and PD-1 had a significantly worse prognosis. Conclusion: High expression of P4HA3 is associated with adverse clinical features and immune cell infiltration in CRC, and has the potential to serve as a biomarker for predicting CRC prognosis.

Abstract High metastatic propensity of osteosarcoma leads to its therapeutic failure and poor prognosis. Although nuclear activation miRNAs (NamiRNAs) are reported to activate gene transcription via targeting enhancer and further promote tumor metastasis, it remains uncertain whether NamiRNAs regulate osteosarcoma metastasis and their exact mechanism. Here, we found that extracellular vesicles of the malignant osteosarcoma cells (143B) remarkably increased the migratory abilities of MNNG cells representing the benign osteosarcoma cells by two folds, which attributed to their high miR‐1246 levels. Specially, miR‐1246 located in nucleus could activate the migration gene expression (such as MMP1) to accelerate MNNG cell migration through elevating the enhancer activities via increasing H3K27ac enrichment. Instead, MMP1 expression was dramatically inhibited after Argonaute 2 (AGO2) knockdown. Notably, in vitro assays demonstrated that AGO2 recognized the hybrids of miR‐1246 and its enhancer DNA via PAZ domains to prevent their degradation from RNase H and these protective roles of AGO2 may favor the gene activation by miR‐1246 in vivo. Collectively, our findings suggest that miR‐1246 could facilitate osteosarcoma metastasis through interacting with enhancer to activate gene expression dependent on AGO2, highlighting the nuclear AGO2 as a guardian for NamiRNA‐targeted gene activation and the potential of miR‐1246 for osteosarcoma metastasis therapy.

Abstract Background Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is a self-healing muscle pain disorder. Inflammatory pain is the main feature of DOMS. More and more researchers have realized that changes in mitochondrial morphology are related to pain. However, the role of mitochondria in the pathogenesis of DOMS and the abnormal immune microenvironment is still unknown. Methods Mitochondria-related genes and gene expression data were obtained from MitoCarta3.0 and NCBI GEO databases. The network of mitochondrial function and the immune microenvironment of DOMS was constructed by computer algorithm. Subsequently, the skeletal muscle of DOMS rats was subjected to qPCR to verify the bioinformatics results. DOMS and non-DOMS histological samples were further studied by staining and transmission electron microscopy. Results Bioinformatics results showed that expression of mitochondria-related genes was changed in DOMS. The results of qPCR showed that four hub genes (AMPK, PGC1-α, SLC25A25, and ARMCX1) were differentially expressed in DOMS. These hub genes are related to the degree of skeletal muscle immune cell infiltration, mitochondrial respiratory chain complex, DAMPs, the TCA cycle, and mitochondrial metabolism. Bayesian network inference showed that IL-6 and PGC1-α may be the main regulatory genes of mitochondrial damage in DOMS. Transmission electron microscopy revealed swelling of skeletal muscle mitochondria and disorganization of myofilaments. Conclusions Our study found that skeletal muscle mitochondrial damage is one of the causes of inflammatory factor accumulation in DOMS. According to the screened-out hub genes, this study provides a reference for follow-up clinical application.

Abstract Objective The objective of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of home-based exercise interventions on pain, physical function and quality of life in individuals with knee osteoarthritis (KOA). Methods Five databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, Web of Science Core Collection) were searched for relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published from database inception to 2 August 2022. The Cochrane Collaboration’s standards were followed for study selection, eligibility criteria, data extraction and statistics, using the Cochrane Collaboration Risk of Bias Tool and PEDro for quality assessment. A meta-analysis and subgroup analyses, stratified by control condition and intervention duration, were conducted using RevMan 5.4. The study was reported in compliance with the PRISMA statement. Results A total of 12 independent RCTs with 1442 participants were included. The meta-analysis showed that the home-based exercise interventions significantly reduced pain in individuals with KOA (SMD = − 0.32, 95% CI [− 0.41, − 0.22], p

BackgroundThe accurate identification of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) and different nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) species is crucial for the timely diagnosis of NTM infections and for reducing poor prognoses. Nucleotide matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) has been extensively used for microbial identification with high accuracy and throughput. However, its efficacy for Mycobacterium species identification has been less studied. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of nucleotide MALDI-TOF-MS for Mycobacterium species identification.MethodsA total of 933 clinical Mycobacterium isolates were preliminarily identified as NTM by the MPB64 test. These isolates were identified by nucleotide MALDI-TOF-MS and Sanger sequencing. The performance of nucleotide MALDI-TOF MS for identifying various Mycobacterium species was analyzed based on Sanger sequencing as the gold standard.ResultsThe total correct detection rate of all 933 clinical Mycobacterium isolates using nucleotide MALDI-TOF-MS was 91.64% (855/933), and mixed infections were detected in 18.65% (174/933) of the samples. The correct detection rates for Mycobacterium intracellulare, Mycobacterium abscessus, Mycobacterium kansasii, Mycobacterium avium, MTBC, Mycobacterium gordonae, and Mycobacterium massiliense were 99.32% (585/589), 100% (86/86), 98.46% (64/65), 94.59% (35/37), 100.00% (34/34), 95.65% (22/23), and 100% (19/19), respectively. For the identification of the MTBC, M. intracellulare, M. abscessus, M. kansasii, M. avium, M. gordonae, and M. massiliense, nucleotide MALDI-TOF-MS and Sanger sequencing results were in good agreement (k > 0.7).ConclusionIn conclusion, nucleotide MALDI-TOF-MS is a promising approach for identifying MTBC and the most common clinical NTM species.

Abstract Citrus fruit has long been considered a healthy food, but its role and detailed mechanism in lifespan extension are not clear. Here, by using the nematode C. elegans, we identified that nomilin, a bitter-taste limoloid that is enriched in citrus, significantly extended the animals’ lifespan, healthspan, and toxin resistance. Further analyses indicate that this ageing inhibiting activity depended on the insulin-like pathway DAF-2/DAF-16 and nuclear hormone receptors NHR-8/DAF-12. Moreover, the human pregnane X receptor (hPXR) was identified as the mammalian counterpart of NHR-8/DAF-12 and X-ray crystallography showed that nomilin directly binds with hPXR. The hPXR mutations that prevented nomilin binding blocked the activity of nomilin both in mammalian cells and in C. elegans. Finally, dietary nomilin supplementation improved healthspan and lifespan in D-galactose- and doxorubicin-induced senescent mice as well as in male senescence accelerated mice prone 8 (SAMP8) mice, and induced a longevity gene signature similar to that of most longevity interventions in the liver of bile-duct-ligation male mice. Taken together, we identified that nomilin may extend lifespan and healthspan in animals via the activation of PXR mediated detoxification functions.

【Objective】In this study, the F1 population of two cultivars of plum (Prunus salicina L.) in Northeast China, Jilin 6 and Longyuanqiuli, were used as research materials, and the correlation analysis and QTL mapping of six fruit traits (weight of single fruit, transverse diameter of fruit, vertical diameter of fruit, fruit shape index, thickness of pulp and content of total sugar) were carried out.【Method】SPSS 23.0 software was used to analyze the phenotype and correlation of 6 fruit traits. QTL analysis of fruit traits with normal distribution was carried out by Map QTL 5.0 software. QTL was located according to interval mapping method. Finally, the linkage group of QTL was mapped by Map Chart 2.3 software.【Result】The variation coefficient of 6 fruit traits was 6.09%-35.98%. The phenotypic data of transverse diameter of fruit, vertical diameter of fruit and thickness of pulp showed normal distribution. There was a significant positive correlation between weight of single fruit and transverse diameter of fruit, and the correlation coefficient was 0.959. The transverse diameter of fruit was significantly positively correlated with vertical diameter of fruit and thickness of pulp. There was a significant or extremely significant negative correlation between content of total sugar and other indicators. A total of 11 QTLs related to fruit traits were detected, including 4 QTLs related to transverse diameter of fruit, 4 QTLs related to vertical diameter of fruit, and 3 QTLs related to thickness of pulp. All QTLs were distributed on linkage groups LG2, LG3, LG8 and LG15. Among them, 3 QTLs related to fruit traits were detected on linkage groups LG2, LG3 and LG15. The LOD values were 2.46-3.58, which could explain 9.8%-14.4% of phenotypic variation.【Conclusio】There were correlations among the fruit traits of plum in Northeast China, and there were clusters of QTLs loci on linkage groups, which provided a theoretical basis for molecular assisted breeding of plum in cold region.

Abstract Glioma treatment remains a challenge owing to unsatisfactory targeted chemotherapy, where the blood–brain barrier (BBB) hinders the efficient uptake of therapeutics into the brain. Vasculogenic mimicry (VM) formed by invasive glioma cells negatively affects the treatment of glioma. Herein, we developed a targeted biomimetic drug delivery system comprising a doxorubicin-loaded platelet membrane-coated nanogel (DOX@PNGs). The nanogels provide great redox/pH dual responsiveness, while the platelet membrane (PLTM) promotes stability and circulation time. In vitro cellular uptake and in vivo imaging experiments demonstrated that the DOX@PNGs delivery system could penetrate the BBB, target gliomas, and destruct VM. DOX@PNGs increased drug penetration and prolonged mouse survival time during the treatment of orthotopic gliomas. These results indicate this biomimetic drug delivery system to be promising for glioma treatment and may be clinically translated in the future.

With the active promotion of the “carbon peaking and carbon neutrality” goals, science and technology finance (STF) is the important driving force of low-carbon development, and financial networks facilitate the aggregation and transformation of resources in space, so it is of great theoretical and practical significance to investigate the impact of science and technology finance networks (STFN) on carbon emissions (CE). Based on the 30 provinces of China from 2011 to 2019, this article used the STF development level in each province as the main indicator to construct the STFN. The complex network analysis and econometric models are combined, with the weighted degree values and betweenness centrality selected as typical network structure indicators incorporating into the econometric model to explore their impact on CE. Then, the Geographically and Temporally Weighted Regression (GTWR) model is applied to analyse the spatio-temporal heterogeneity of influencing factors. The results show the following: (1) From 2011 to 2019, the spatial structure of China’s STFN has changed significantly, and the status of the triangle structure consisting of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH)–Yangtze River Delta (YRD)–Pearl River Delta (PRD) is gradually consolidated in the overall network, and the network structure tends to be stable. (2) The results of the benchmark regression show that the weighted degree value of the STFN has a significant inhibitory effect on CE, while betweenness centrality shows a certain positive effect on CE. (3) The weighted degree value has a more significant effect on CE reduction in the eastern region, while the betweenness centrality has a more significant effect on CE reduction in the central and western regions, but shows a significant promotion effect in the eastern region. (4) There is spatio-temporal heterogeneity in the effects of residents’ affluence, energy consumption, industrial structure, and environmental pollution on CE.

【Objective】Plum (Prunus salicina L.) is a tree species with great economic prospect in northeast China, and it has important social and economic values. Genetic linkage maps of plum were constructed by molecular markers to provide a theoretical basis for breeding new plum varieties.【Method】Jilin 6 and Longyuan Qiuli were used as the mapping parents. The authenticity of F1 progeny was identified by SSR primers. 14 ISSR and 16 SRAP primers were selected to construct the genetic linkage map of plum by using Join Map 4.0 software and "double pseudo-testcross" theory.【Result】In this study, 72 authentic F1 progeny were obtained. ISSR and SRAP primers produced 5 segregation patterns and 120 marker loci in this F1 population. A genetic linkage map with 16 linkage groups and 38 marker loci with a total length of 528.5 cM was constructed by software analysis. The groups ranged in size from 9.6-71.1 cM, and the average size was 13.9 cM. The marker had a maximum genetic distance of 52.8 cM and a minimum genetic distance of 1.4 cM.【Conclusion】The construction of genetic linkage maps enriched the genetic research basis of plum in cold region, and contributed to the study of QTL mapping, marker-assisted breeding and gene mapping.

BackgroundRed blood cell distribution width (RDW) to albumin ratio (RAR) is associated with poor prognosis in diabetic comorbidities and cancer. However, the association between RAR and prognosis in patients with sepsis remains unclear, which was investigated in this study.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study based on the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care (MIMIC) IV version 2.0 database. The primary outcome of this study was 28-day mortality. Secondary outcomes included 90-day mortality, in-hospital mortality, length of hospital stay, and length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay. Multivariate regression analysis and subgroup analysis were performed to investigate the association between RAR and prognosis in patients with sepsis.ResultsA total of 14,639 participants were included in this study. The mean age of the participants was 65.2 ± 16.3 years and the mean RAR was 5.5 ± 1.9 % /g/dl. For 28-day mortality, after adjusting for covariates, HRs [95% confidence intervals (CIs)] for tertiles 2 (4.4–5.8) and 3 (RAR > 5.8) were 1.33 (1.20, 1.46) and 1.98 (1.79, 2.19), respectively. Similar results were observed for 90-day mortality and in-hospital mortality. According to Kaplan-Meier curve analysis, the higher RAR group had higher 28-day mortality and 90-day mortality.ConclusionOur study shows that RAR is significantly associated with poor clinical prognosis in sepsis. The higher the RAR, the higher the 28-day, 90-day, and in-hospital mortality.

The three-dimensional (3D) model of the middle ear is of great significance to the research of middle ear related diseases. The particular focus of this work is to simulate the impact of aircraft altitude and speed changes on the tympanic membrane (TM) during the descent phase, so as to analyze the pathogenesis of aero-otitis media and the mechanical response characteristics of TM under static pressure. The simulations showed that the stress and strain of TM increase as the altitude difference and speed of the aircraft increase, and the maximum stress and strain areas are consistent with the clinical observation of TM hyperemia. Therefore, among many prevention and treatment measures of aero-otitis media, it is a therapeutic method to directly balance the pressure difference between the inner and outer TM.

In the digital era, the contradiction between regional urban development and land ecological protection is still prominent. Clarifying the relationship and internal interaction logic among digital economy (DE), new-type urbanization (NU), and land ecology (LE) is of great significance to the region’s sustainable development. Based on theoretical analysis, this study examines the relationship among DE, NU, and LE in the Yangtze River Delta through spatial analysis and empirical test with the city data from 2011 to 2020. The study found that: (1) The overall development level of DE–NU–LE in the Yangtze River Delta shows a steady upward trend, the development level of DE and NU lags behind LE, and the convergence trend among them gradually strengthened. (2) The DE-NE-LE and the coupling coordination have different and complex spatial and temporal dynamic evolution characteristics. The ability for coordinated development is enhanced continuously, which presents a typical pattern of “high in the east and low in the west”. (3) The DE has a lasting role in promoting the development of the NU and LE, while the support and stimulation of NU and LE for DE needs to be strengthened. The relationship between the NU and LE shows a mutually restricted trend. (4) The DE has a significant “siphon effect”. While NU and LE both have significant positive spatial spillover effects, which can promote the coordinated development of surrounding cities. This study deepens the understanding of DE–NU–LE coordinated development, and provides a new perspective for sustainable urban development and alleviating land conflicts.

In the network operation and management of rail transit systems, the occurrence of unexpected events causes damage to the network structure, further hindering regional accessibility performance and the function of the system. This study is based on the rail transit operation schedules in 2009, 2013, 2016, 2019 and 2022. We construct a directional weighted rail transit time network (RNNT) with train operation time as the weight, compare the betweenness centrality, sum of the shortest time path and entropy importance, etc., and quantitatively measure the network accessibility, connectivity and its resilience evolution. The results show that the current rail transportation network in China has a “small-world” effect, and there are a few stations with strong connections. The most densely distributed intervals of travel times between pairs of nodes changes from [440, 445] to [207, 210]. The fastest and best-performing disturbance to network connectivity and accessibility performance are both caused by the betweenness disturbance strategy. When the network connectivity remains 80% effective, the ratio of failed nodes under the static betweenness centrality strategy decreases from 3.96% in 2009 to 2.31% in 2022, with weaker connections between node pairs, and their network resilience diminishes. When the network accessibility remains 80% effective, the ratio of failed nodes under the static (dynamic) betweenness centrality strategy increases from 0.13% (0.13%) in 2009 to 0.20% (0.23%) in 2022. Therefore, the rail transit network can protect the corresponding rail stations based on the station ranking of the above strategies, and this research is beneficial to rail transit network protection and structure optimization.

Gymnogobius laevis (Steindachner, 1879) is a small, benthic freshwater fish. In a previous study, it was reported as a rare resident in Heilongjiang Province. In this study, the mitochondrial genome of G. laevis was sequenced. It is 16,519 base pairs (bp) in length and contains 13 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNA genes (12S rRNA and 16S rRNA), 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNA), and two non-coding control regions. The A + T content is 55.71% in the G. laevis mitochondrial genome. A phylogenetic tree shows that G. laevis is closely related to the family Gobiinae based on complete mitogenome sequences.

Abstract The evolutionary dynamics of tumor‐associated neoantigens carry information about drug sensitivity and resistance to the immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). However, the spectrum of somatic mutations is highly heterogeneous among patients, making it difficult to track neoantigens by circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) sequencing using “one size fits all” commercial gene panels. Thus, individually customized panels (ICPs) are needed to track neoantigen evolution comprehensively during ICB treatment. Dominant neoantigens are predicted from whole exome sequencing data for treatment‐naïve tumor tissues. Panels targeting predicted neoantigens are used for personalized ctDNA sequencing. Analyzing ten patients with non‐small cell lung cancer, ICPs are effective for tracking most predicted dominant neoantigens (80–100%) in serial peripheral blood samples, and to detect substantially more genes (18–30) than the capacity of current commercial gene panels. A more than 50% decrease in ctDNA concentration after eight weeks of ICB administration is associated with favorable progression‐free survival. Furthermore, at the individual level, the magnitude of the early ctDNA response is correlated with the subsequent change in tumor burden. The application of ICP‐based ctDNA sequencing is expected to improve the understanding of ICB‐driven tumor evolution and to provide personalized management strategies that optimize the clinical benefits of immunotherapies.

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of the world’s most important cultivated vegetable. In the traditional cultivation methods, the excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers leads to an imbalance of nutrient elements in the soil, an increase in pests and diseases and a decrease in vegetable quality and yield. In the face of increasingly serious environmental and food problems, organic agriculture is considered to be an effective solution. In this experiment, the effects of organic cultivation patterns on the growth, quality, disease resistance in tomatoes, and the physical and chemical properties of soil were studied by different treatments. The results showed that the application of effective microorganisms (EM) bio-organic fertilizer in the cultivation process can significantly improve the yield, quality, and antioxidant enzyme activity of tomato. The use of straw mulching was found to significantly increase the growth, chlorophyll content, transpiration rate, and soluble sugar content of tomatoes. The application of EM bio-organic fertilizer or straw mulching significantly increased the activity of antioxidant enzyme and the expression of LeCHI gene in tomato leaves and enhanced tomato resistance to diseases. Organic production practices were found to significantly improve the soil.

Background and objective Regimens that combine irinotecan or etoposide with cisplatin or carboplatin have been recommended as first-line regimen for extensive-disease small cell lung cancer (ED-SCLC). In our network meta-analysis, we synthesized the direct and indirect lines of evidence to rank the short-term efficacies of these recommended chemotherapy regimens. Methods We searched databases, including EMBASE, PubMed, CENTRAL and clinicaltrial.gov, for relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared the efficacies of these treatments. A risk of bias tool was used to evaluate the quality of the included studies, whereas Stata 13.1 was used for statistical synthesis. Results Our study included 10 RCTs that involved 2,378 patients. Compared with that of the regimen that combined etoposide and carboplatin, the complete remission rate was significantly higher in the group treated with irinotecan combined with carboplatin. The efficacy of the regimen that combined irinotecan with carboplatin was significantly superior over that of the combination of etoposide and cisplatin. Conclusion Our data presented here suggest that the effect of Irinotecan combination with Carboplatin is remarkably superior.

This study validated an instrument for measuring student engagement in the context of Chinese science curriculum reforms. We adapted existing items from well-designed instruments with the context of science learning and formed the initial instrument of the Student Engagement in Science Learning (SESL) consisting of 20 items in four subscales, including cognitive, emotional, behavioural, and agentic engagement. We recruited an expert panel to provide content and face validity during the adaptation process. The final sample of 578 was collected and analysed to provide the construct validity of the SESL instrument. The results from item analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analysis conformed the instrument's convergent and discriminant validity. Independent t-tests of gender and district groups confirmed the concurrent validity of the instrument. The Cronbach's coefficient alpha of the four subscales and the total scale are higher than 0.70, indicating the SESL instrument has the internal consistency reliability for measuring student engagement in science learning. Researchers and practitioners would benefit from the valid and reliable SESL instrument with the four constructs to measure and improve student engagement in science learning.

Background and objective Carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) is widely expressed in a variety of malignant tumors, including-lung cancer. Our previous study has shown that the serum level of soluble form of carbonic anhydrase IX (s-CAIX) was significantly higher in patients with lung cancer than that in the healthy group. The aim of this study is to detect the s-CAIX level in the pleural effusion and its sediment, and to evaluate the significance of CAIX detection in the diagnosis of lung cancer. Methods The s-CAIX level in pleural effusion of 29 lung cancer patients and 27 patients with tuberculosis was detected by ELISA. The expression of CAIX in the pleural effusion sediment of 21 lung cancer patients with malignant pleural effusion and 6 patients with benign pleural effusion was examined by immunohistochemistry. With pathological diagnosis as the gold standard, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of pleural effusion s-CAIX was established for the diagnosis of lung cancer with malignant pleural effusion. Results The s-CAIX level in the malignant pleural effusion was significantly higher than that in the tuberculosis group (P

Studies of the associations between the genetic polymorphisms of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene and recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) have revealed conflicting results. The present meta-analysis was performed to provide a more precise estimation of these relationships and to explore potential sources of heterogeneity that may have influenced the reported disparities.An extensive literature search for relevant studies was conducted on PubMed, Embase, and The Cochrane Library through June 6, 2014. Crude odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals were calculated.10 case-control studies including 1,832 RSA patients and 2,271 healthy controls were identified. Meta-analysis indicated that rs1570360, rs3025039, rs2010963, and rs3025020 polymorphisms in the VEGF gene correlated with elevated RSA risk. The rs1570360 variant was statistically significantly relevant to RSA risk among non-Asian populations. Interestingly, the rs3025039 variant was statistically significantly relevant to RSA risk among Asian populations.The current meta-analysis indicates that rs1570360, rs3025039, rs2010963, and rs3025020 polymorphisms increase RSA susceptibility. Moreover, rs1570360 and rs3025039 polymorphisms may play various roles in RSA susceptibility in various geographic groups.

Background: The accurate identification of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) and different nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) species is crucial for the timely diagnosis of NTM infections and for reducing poor prognoses. Nucleotide matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of- flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) has been extensively used for microbial identification with high accuracy and throughput. However, its efficacy for Mycobacterium species identification has been less studied. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of nucleotide MALDITOF- MS for Mycobacterium species identification. Methods: A total of 933 clinical Mycobacterium isolates were preliminarily identified as NTM by the MPB64 test. These isolates were identified by nucleotide MALDI-TOF-MS and Sanger sequencing. The performance of nucleotide MALDI-TOF MS for identifying various Mycobacterium species was analyzed based on Sanger sequencing as the gold standard. Results: The total correct detection rate of all 933 clinical Mycobacterium isolates using nucleotide MALDI-TOF-MS was 91.64% (855/933), and mixed infections were detected in 18.65% (174/933) of the samples. The correct detection rates for Mycobacterium intracellulare, Mycobacterium abscessus, Mycobacterium kansasii, Mycobacterium avium, MTBC, Mycobacterium gordonae, and Mycobacterium massiliense were 99.32% (585/589), 100% (86/ 86), 98.46% (64/65), 94.59% (35/37), 100.00% (34/34), 95.65% (22/23), and 100% (19/19), respectively. For the identification of the MTBC, M. intracellulare, M. abscessus, M. kansasii, M. avium, M. gordonae, and M. massiliense, nucleotide MALDI-TOF-MS and Sanger sequencing results were in good agreement (k > 0.7). Conclusion: In conclusion, nucleotide MALDI-TOF-MS is a promising approach for identifying MTBC and the most common clinical NTM species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]